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Camera Comparison: Nokia Lumia 1020 vs Galaxy S4, iPhone 5, Lumia 925, One

posted by Ray S. / Jul 27, 2013, 11:13 AM

Camera Comparison: Nokia Lumia 1020 vs Galaxy S4, iPhone 5, Lumia 925, One

Ever since the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 1020, there's been little doubt that it'll be the smartphone to claim the prestigious title of “Best Cameraphone”. However, we can never be sure of something until we've seen it with our own eyes. That's why we're pitting the ambitious Lumia 1020 against the hottest smartphones out there. It's here that the 1020 has to face the Galaxy S4, iPhone 5, Lumia 925 and the One. Fearsome opponents, right? Well, if the Lumia 1020 is man enough, it'll surely be able to trump them with its chubby 41MP PureView camera. Let's hit those camera shutters and see what happens!

Note: We're using the Panasonic Lumix GH2 camera for reference.

Do we need to say anything at all here? The Lumia 1020 is the clear winner with that enormous 41MP PureView camera that manages to capture even the finest of finest of detail. Throw its lossless zoom capabilities into the deal and it becomes simply unbeatable in this category. As expected, the GS4 and the iPhone 5 can't quite match the 1020, but are still admirable performers.

[img full gallery3 [[136516:"Nokia Lumia 1020",136517:"Samsung Galaxy S4",136518:"Apple iPhone 5",136519:"HTC One",136520:"Nokia Lumia 925",136521:"Panasonic Lumix GH2",136522:"Nokia Lumia 1020",136523:"Samsung Galaxy S4",136524:"Apple iPhone 5",136525:"HTC One",136526:"Nokia Lumia 925",136527:"Panasonic Lumix GH2",136528:"Nokia Lumia 1020",136529:"Apple iPhone 5",136530:"HTC One",136531:"Nokia Lumia 925",136532:"Panasonic Lumix GH2"]]:"Detail samples" /]

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247 Comments

1. xperiaDROID

Posts: 5629; Member since: Mar 08, 2013

Nokia Lumia 1020 FTW!

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 11:20 AM 27

6. KINGJUAN27

Posts: 210; Member since: Jul 02, 2012

Where's the Sony Xperia Z in this list? :/

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 11:28 AM 10

9. xperiaDROID

Posts: 5629; Member since: Mar 08, 2013

PhoneArena excludes Sony on every comparison. So if PhoneArena excludes the Honami on the next camera comparison, well, I must say that they're "Honamily" biased.

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 11:32 AM 21

22. raunak

Posts: 507; Member since: Oct 12, 2011

There is just no way they leave Honami out. Xperia Z was horrible but seeing as Honami will pack a bigger sensor, it'll be atleast as good as S4.

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 11:53 AM 8

216. CX3NT3_713

Posts: 2342; Member since: Apr 18, 2011

Lol @htc one. 3

posted on Jul 29, 2013, 8:19 PM 0

164. Arman

Posts: 47; Member since: Jul 08, 2013

S4 has the same sensor with better algorithm.. so there is no point in using Xperia Z. its a sad day for journalism.. when S4 in night get the same score as 1020 and even 925. or in macro PA used a new term liveliness when 1020 get the same result as GH2 with natural color W/O oversharpening.. Im really sorry but its not worth it.. don't lose our trust with false information just like your galaxy S4 battery test when iphone and Htc one had less than 5 or 6 hour of web browsing.. when both of them are industry standard for that.. lumia 1020 is without a doubt the best camera phone on the market.. but with huge margin .. not 9 to 8 margin..just look at lowlight shooting you posted.. the only camera with detail is 1020.. sometimes 925...

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 12:06 AM 11

188. deburocks

Posts: 126; Member since: Apr 20, 2013

Ur right bro.. This is a paid article by samsung. Lumia 1020 wins every comparison. Why in rhe world s4 is in d same league? Even 925 camera is better then s4. Another biased article frm phonearena. For them samsung and apple are the only innovative companes , Others just dont exist..wake up ray s.

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 8:01 AM 6

210. Boogieman

Posts: 31; Member since: Jun 02, 2013

Biased scoring for sure. Apple better than Lumia 925 and HTC One....IN LOW LIGHT...GO GET A LIFE! They must be brain dead to believe that anyone will believe that. And then they write that the 1020 is best in low light but still it gets the same low light score as the S4....WTF!

posted on Jul 29, 2013, 4:55 AM 3

183. skyguy7567

Posts: 148; Member since: Nov 17, 2012

Total grief. Xperia Z's camera is excellent. The most natural colors and crystal clear images. S4's images are fake. Although they might LOOK better, it's actually nowhere near realistic. PA's just 'Yeah. 41 MP we must give it 10 otherwise we will look bad. It's really horrible. Ah, those samsung stuff. No matter what give them at least 9. We will exclude Sony cause our rating will make us look horrible. We rated it 7 before, and people was angry.' Samsung or apple fan. The guys here. No longer trustworthy.

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 7:32 AM 4

10. WHoyton1

Posts: 1635; Member since: Feb 21, 2013

Its not very good looking though....or very good software wise...

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 11:33 AM 11

12. xperiaDROID

Posts: 5629; Member since: Mar 08, 2013

But it has the best camera on a smartphone.

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 11:36 AM 11

13. Shatter

Posts: 2036; Member since: May 29, 2013

Why not buy an android phone and a cheap DLSR?

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 11:38 AM 12

64. haseebzahid

Posts: 1853; Member since: Feb 22, 2012

because 1020 is one to rule them all not best OS but defenetly pays off with whatever it has inside including rest of the hardware

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 1:39 PM 3

108. Shatter

Posts: 2036; Member since: May 29, 2013

$650 for a dual core snapdragon is worth it? No not at all I can get way better phones from china for half that price that have better cpu, 1080p screen, android, etc

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 4:03 PM 5

114. papss unregistered

And zero support.

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 4:58 PM 8

119. -box-

Posts: 3991; Member since: Jan 04, 2012

Do those china phones get the google play store yet? I had a Viewsonic tablet a few years ago when 2.2 was new and had to use Amazon and GetJar and such for apps since it wasn't play-certified or whatever. Powerful and capable tablet spec-wise, but almost completely useless for what I needed. Won't even bother with anything unless it's Windows now (until if/when something better comes)

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 5:12 PM 0

129. steelicon

Posts: 318; Member since: Apr 02, 2011

FYI: You can have the factory customize Jellybean 4.3 International version with Google Play Store. I have been to Shezhen and Guangzhou, Guangdong, PRC. You can have every configuration you have because of Android being open source. Even a custom 55MP sensor camera with mechanical shutter and Xenon flash with high intensity fast shutter double LED video light. How's that for starters? :-)

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 5:35 PM 4

198. haseebzahid

Posts: 1853; Member since: Feb 22, 2012

which quad core do u get the camera that is better then many point to shoot i guess none in the android section this is only one phone so its defenetly worth but as expected its price will go down fast just after the GDR3 update is announced mark my words. For android i seen enough of quad cores wasted for no good performance same old performance with new and new CPU thats a joke OS but 1080 is a nice thingie

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 12:28 PM 1

203. phil2n

Posts: 519; Member since: Apr 30, 2012

Id**t. talking about the screen. can you really distinguish 720p and 1080p resolution by just looking at it?..

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 8:55 PM 0

127. gazmatic

Posts: 803; Member since: Sep 06, 2012

because the cheapest dslr cost how much?

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 5:33 PM 0

180. Oxygen

Posts: 125; Member since: Mar 29, 2012

You can get a great mirrorless for $200 online.

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 4:57 AM 1

104. akki20892

Posts: 3902; Member since: Feb 04, 2013

I don't why gs4 ahead of lumia 1020, I'm seeing lumia 1020 all photos are amazing.

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 3:46 PM 5

106. akki20892

Posts: 3902; Member since: Feb 04, 2013

Correction: in some category gs4 score more than lumia 1020, r u guys kidding me that gs4 score more than lumia 1020 100% fan score this.

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 3:50 PM 6

137. Jason2k13

Posts: 1436; Member since: Mar 28, 2013

You must be a fan boy to if you think the GS4 picture sucks, why don't you judge with your eyes cause that's what the reviewer did, and if he prefers some pictures of the GS4 better than that's his opinion everyone has different taste and preferences.

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 7:29 PM 5

184. skyguy7567

Posts: 148; Member since: Nov 17, 2012

You go check your eyes. samsung's photos LOOK good, but completely unrealistic. Nokia or Sony's cameras, on the other hand, give the most realistic photos. I'm not an old man so my eyes are still great. samsung fanboys never say that their photos are real, they just say the photos are 'great' that's cause the fake colors make stuff look really good. Have you ever seen child storybooks draw castles like bright grey or something? In reality it's just ugly dark grey with vines all over it. After leaving the infant age you will find that those pictures don't look good. Colors really mean something, and that's something that samsung is still far away from.

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 7:38 AM 5

155. taikucing unregistered

Panasonic Lumix GH2 FTW!

posted on Jul 27, 2013, 10:08 PM 5

204. shahulvm

Posts: 124; Member since: Apr 01, 2012

Phonearena's will bow down in the following manner: 1. Samsung 2. Apple... So from a review site, it has become a advertisement site. PA is starting to lose the trust...

posted on Jul 28, 2013, 10:00 PM 6

245. ShenAlJoker

Posts: 113; Member since: Jul 19, 2013

+1 Nokia will rock the world this fall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

posted on Aug 16, 2013, 1:02 AM 0

248. nnnnn

Posts: 1; Member since: Sep 28, 2013

There is no qualified photographer writing this document. proud western world!!! Nokia Lumia 1020 pixel size is 1uM xperia Z is 1.1uM iphone 5s is 1.5uM new hTC one is 2uM Nicoh GR is about 4uM Nikon d7000 is about 4uM Canon 70d is about 4uM dont play the useless technology and deceive stupid customers 5 inch phone is not small. 1.1uM pixel size is a stupid design.

posted on Sep 28, 2013, 5:58 PM 0

249. Boogieman

Posts: 31; Member since: Jun 02, 2013

How can the S4 get higher score in colour reproduction compared to lumia 1020. Compare with their reference camera the Panasonic the 1020 certainly is A LOT closer with more vivid colours than the s4. The yellow flower is one example. Very bleached on s4 while colourful on 1020 and panasonic. The over contrasted (in white) pink flower on the S4 shows how bad it handles the image where you dont see the contrasts in white as you do on lumia. And look at the unnatural greens on the leaves for the S4 - once again trumped easy by the lumia and panasonic.

posted on Sep 29, 2013, 7:27 AM 0

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