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Nokia Lumia Icon vs Samsung Galaxy S4 vs LG G2 specs comparison

posted by Daniel P. / Feb 12, 2014, 12:02 PM

With its 5" display and great Lumia 1520-esque specs, the Nokia Lumia Icon seems to have hit the sweet spot for Windows Phone lovers. It is way more compact than Nokia's phablet, yet still offers the same top-shelf hardware. It's inevitable that we pit it against the reigning 5" champs from Korea - Galaxy S4 and LG G2.

With a 5.39 x 2.79 x 0.39" body, against the 5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 dimensions of the G2, and the more compact 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31" chassis of the S4, the Icon sits somewhere in the middle. It's a tad wider and chubbier than the S4, while the G2 is only slightly taller than the Icon, but has a larger, 5.2" display, so the round goes to LG here.

When it comes to displays, we have 5" Full HD AMOLED screens on both the S4 and Icon, with 441ppi pixel density, against the 5.2" LCD panel with 423ppi on the G2. Knowing Nokia's ClearBlack displays with high brightness mode and excellent viewing angles, the screen is likely to be a tad better than the S4 one in terms of maximum nits achievable, probably putting it on an even keel with the G2 in that respect, but with lower reflectivity ratio, meaning good outdoor visibility.

The Galaxy S4, as the oldest phone, is powered by a Snapdragon 600 processor, while the Icon and the G2 sports the next-gen Snapdragon 800, though in real-world terms that's unlikely to be of much significance. All sport 2 GB of RAM, while the Icon and the G2 come with 32 GB embedded memory and no memory expansion slot. The S4 counters with just 16 GB, yet it offers a microSD card option.

Nokia Lumia Icon seemingly has the best camera, as it sports a 20 MP shooter with superior optical image stabilization, against the 13 MP shooter with OIS on the back of the G2, and the same resolution camera on the S4 that has no image stabilizing. We should wait for the first samples, though, before drawing any conclusions, as the G2 and S4 both offer excellent mobile photography.

Nokia's handset, however, also has the great advantage of sporting the record four HAAC microphones, just as on the Lumia 1520, for recording distortion-free stereo sound on your videos, so besides shake-free footage, it will also offer excellent sound to go with it. Thus, as far as hardware goes, the Lumia Icon seems to have the upper hand against these two, except in the battery department. All that is left now is for Nokia to release the Icon in more locales, rather than keeping it only as a Verizon exclusive.

Nokia Lumia Icon vs Samsung Galaxy S4 vs LG G2

Display

Display size

5.0 inches

5.2 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920 pixels

Pixel density

441 ppi

423 ppi

Technology

AMOLED

Super AMOLED

IPS LCD

Screen-to-body

71.04 %

71.91 %

76.28 %

Peak brightness

450 cd/m2 (nit)

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 8974-AA

Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 8974

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974

Processor

Quad-core, 2200 MHz, Krait 400

Quad-core, 1900 MHz, Krait 300

Quad-core, 2260 MHz, Krait 400

GPU

Adreno 330

Adreno 320

Adreno 330

RAM

2 GB LPDDR3

Internal storage

32 GB

64 GB

32 GB

OS

Windows Phone, 8

Android (5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.2, 4.3, 4.2.2)

Android (5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.2, 4.2.2)

Battery

Capacity

2420 mAh

2600 mAh

3000 mAh

Talk time

34.30 hours

Stand-by time

18.0 days (432 hours)

34.2 days (821 hours)

Talk time (3G)

16.40 hours

17.00 hours

21.30 hours

Stand-by time (3G)

15.4 days (370 hours)

34.4 days (826 hours)

Stand-by time (4G)

13.3 days (320 hours)

Music playback

75.00 hours

62.00 hours

Video playback

9.00 hours

11.00 hours

Camera

Rear

Single camera

Main camera

20 megapixels

13 megapixels

Features

Optical image stabilization, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Autofocus, CMOS image sensor, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Sapphire crystal lens cover, Optical image stabilization, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Specifications

Aperture size: F2.4; Focal length: 26 mm; Sensor size: 1/2.5"

Aperture size: F2.2; Focal length: 31 mm; Sensor size: 1/3.06"; Pixel size: 1.14 μm

Aperture size: F2.4; Focal length: 29 mm; Sensor size: 1/3.06"; Pixel size: 1.12 μm

Video recording

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 2560x1440 (QHD), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps)

Recording format

MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV

Features

Optical image stabilization, Continuous autofocus, Video light, Video calling, Video sharing

Digital image stabilization

Optical image stabilization

Front

1.2 megapixels

2 megapixels

2.1 megapixels

Video capture

1280x720 (HD)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Design

Dimensions

5.39 x 2.79 x 0.39 inches (137 x 71 x 10 mm)

5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches (136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm)

5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches (138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm)

Weight

5.86 oz (166 g)

4.59 oz (130 g)

5.04 oz (143 g)

Materials

Back: Plastic

Features

Notification light

Options

8 Comments

1. Kishin

Posts: 706; Member since: May 30, 2013

Its finally out.

posted on Feb 12, 2014, 12:10 PM 3

2. Oğuzhan_77

Posts: 112; Member since: Nov 18, 2013

wow i love it but only in verizon. i wait for lumia 1820 5.2 2k SND805 and good cam.

posted on Feb 12, 2014, 1:41 PM 2

3. UglyFrank

Posts: 2194; Member since: Jan 23, 2014

We can pretend the S4 isn't 10 months old

posted on Feb 12, 2014, 3:21 PM 1

4. wolfsaviorzx unregistered

Too bad I still wouldn't be able to run non-authorized apps. Until microsoft has the same policies as their desktop OS. I won't be buying one of their phones. I'll keep my freedom and stick with Android.

posted on Feb 12, 2014, 3:56 PM 0

5. papss unregistered

There is only one choice here.. Had the G2 and it was mostly great other than its very poor build quality and the os, s4??? Right.. I would never own that piece. The Lumia is the only choice here

posted on Feb 12, 2014, 5:14 PM 0

6. tazos87

Posts: 5; Member since: Feb 01, 2014

I don't know,but the G2 has better ratio of screen & size... entertaintheking.com/tech-news/2014/2/12/which-smartphone-has-the-largest-screen-to-phone-size-percentage

posted on Feb 12, 2014, 5:34 PM 0

7. _Bone_

Posts: 2155; Member since: Oct 29, 2012

2400mAh for such a thick heavy deivce OUCH!

posted on Feb 12, 2014, 5:43 PM 0

8. -box-

Posts: 3991; Member since: Jan 04, 2012

Second paragraph seems to be off. Icon is bigger in all dimensions against the S4, but shorter and thicker than the G2. Looking forward to the Icon's successor on T-Mobile with Windows Phone 8.1. 1820 or an evolved 925 and 1520 mash up the size of the Icon, but better-looking.