Nokia Lumia 900 vs Samsung Galaxy Note LTE

Introduction:

Somehow, if you managed to watch a tiny bit of television of late, we’re pretty certain that you’ve come across the commercial spot for the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE for AT&T. Right now, there’s no arguing the fact that it’s simply the best Android smartphone on AT&T’s lineup. However, the Nokia Lumia 900 is being positioned as an equal offering from the Windows Phone camp. With that in mind, it’s only fitting that we pit the very best from each respective platform against one another, to find out which one exactly has the guts and glory to come away as the champion.

Design:

Needless to say, these two smartphones couldn’t be any more different from one another in the design department. Between the two, we have to admit that the Nokia Lumia 900 has the slight advantage with its fresh appearance – especially when US consumers haven’t been exposed to a device like it before. Additionally, the Lumia 900 sports a sturdier feel in the hand thanks to its unibody polycarbonate exterior. On the other hand, besides its ridiculously large footprint, there’s nothing compelling with the design of the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE. In fact, it seemingly looks like any other Samsung made smartphone before it.  However, its size is what makes the Galaxy Note LTE so fascinating – and essentially, it’s what makes the Note so unique from most things.


Mainly because they’re raised more, we prefer the volume control and power button found on the Galaxy Note LTE, even more when the buttons on the Lumia 900 are flat to the touch. Conversely, since the Galaxy Note LTE’s Android capacitive buttons are closer to one another, we find ourselves pressing them by accident more than the trio of Windows buttons on the Lumia 900.

Around the edges of both handsets, we find commonalities such as their 3.5mm headset jacks, noise cancellation microphones, and microUSB ports. With the latter, the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE also offers video-out functionality with the aid of an optional MHL adapter, which is something that’s not available with the Nokia Lumia 900.

Certainly, these two are great candidates to replace your point and shoot camera, since they both size up with 8-megapixel auto-focus cameras. Interestingly, that’s where the similarities end as the Nokia Lumia 900 features an F2.2 aperture lens, dual-LED flash, 720p video recording, and a front facing 1.3-megapixel camera. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE offers a single LED flash, 1080p video recording, and a 2-megapixel front facing camera.

With its unibody construction, there’s no way of easily replacing the Lumia 900’s internal battery – while also having no way of increasing its internal storage as well. On the flip side, the Galaxy Note LTE has a replaceable battery and an unoccupied microSD card slot to supplement its internal memory.

Display:

Taking into account that it’s bigger, badder, and more detailed, we prefer the 5.3” WXGA (800 x 1280) Super AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE. Besides its full 1-inch advantage in the size department, its resolution enables us to even distinguish fine text within the web browser with no problems at all. And to solidify its superiority, its color production is remarkably more saturated in tone to catch our attention. In comparison, the 4.3” WVGA (480 x 800) ClearBlack AMOLED display of the Nokia Lumia 900 is still sharp looking, but it lacks the sheer wow factor accompanying the Galaxy Note LTE. Moreover, its resolution isn’t something that’s perceived to be ground breaking in this day and age – so yeah, it’s not as captivating as its rival.

Interface and Functionality:

Seeing that these are two totally different mobile platforms that we’re comparing, there’s no definitive winner between them, because as we know, they both have their own unique elements that set them apart from one another. With the Nokia Lumia 900 and its Windows Phone 7.5 Mango experience, it has a distinctive look and feel thanks to the dynamic live tiles that make up its homescreen. Although it boasts a minimal set of personalization elements, it’s not as deep when compared to the Android 2.3 Gingerbread experience found running on the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE. Knowing that, it’s what sets the tone for the Galaxy Note LTE and its TouchWiz UI, as we’re given a trove of personalization elements with its widgets, live wallpapers, and shortcuts. Enhancing itself more, the S Pen of the Galaxy Note LTE provides us with yet another alternative for interacting with the smartphone.



With the huge size difference with their displays, the Galaxy Note LTE’s on-screen keyboard is obviously sporting the more spacious layout – but aside from that, we don’t find it any bit advantageous. Why’s that? Well, the Windows Phone keyboard on the Lumia 900 is equally usable for the simple reason that it offers one of the best auto-correct feature.



On the surface, these two smartphones share many common email functions, but the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE has the benefit of encompassing us with the total set of features found with the Gmail experience. Additionally, its larger display allows for more content to be viewed without the need to scroll that much.

Processor and Memory:

As we take a peek at their specs sheet, most people will probably take note of the Galaxy Not LTE’s dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8660 processor, even more when it’s coupled with 1GB of RAM. In contrast, others might cringe knowing that the Nokia Lumia 900 is packing only a single-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8055 and 512MB of RAM, but honestly, this is the perfect example of why hardware specs don’t dictate performance. When it comes down to walking the walk, the Nokia Lumia 900 delivers the peppier responses throughout all of its operations. Well, it’s not to say the Galaxy Note LTE is slow, but it doesn’t have the same level of fluidity and tight movements that’s consistent with the Windows Phone powered device.

Unfortunately, the Nokia Lumia 900 is only packing 16GB of memory – with no way of increasing its tally. Lucky for the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE, not only does it match the 16GB of internal storage of its rival, but it can be supplemented by throwing a card into its microSD slot.

Internet and Connectivity:

Right from the start, we absolutely love that these two smartphones offer 4G LTE connectivity, but between the two, the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE presents us with the slightly more favorable experience. No doubt we dig their smooth kinetic scrolling and pinch zooming, but seeing that there’s Adobe Flash support on the Galaxy Note LTE, it essentially translates into giving us that desktop-like experience. In terms of data speeds, we didn’t find any single one being faster than the other – albeit, we only tested it out via HSPA+ connections seeing that LTE isn’t in our neck of the woods.



Being GSM smartphones and all, they’re more than ready for long trips abroad in other countries, but in order to experience LTE speeds, they’re only going to see that domestically under AT&T’s network. Lastly, these two feature aGPS, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and mobile hotspot functionality. However, the Lumia 900 packs Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, as opposed to Bluetooth 3.0 on the Galaxy Note LTE.

Camera:

There’s no arguing that these two prestigious handsets can replace your old point and shoot camera, but as we compare the results, the Galaxy Note LTE minutely comes away as the better of the two. To tell you the truth, their qualities look very similar to one another, but Samsung’s beauty is able to capture our attention because it handles low lighting conditions better. Specifically, the images captured by Nokia Lumia 900 in low lighting displays more evidence of noise, which isn’t something as prevalent on the Galaxy Note.

Even though it has the higher 1080p video recording capability, there isn’t much in terms of visual superiority found with the Galaxy Note over the 720p videos produced by the Lumia 900. In all honesty, they’re both extremely sharp looking with their sufficient details, saturated color reproduction, smooth capture rate, and clear audio recording.

Nokia Lumia 900 Sample Video:



Samsung Galaxy Note LTE Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Well folks, there’s no arguing this one, but the Zune experience found with the Nokia Lumia 900 is light years better than the conventional looking music player in use with the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE. Aided by its snazzy looking Metro UI, the Zune experience is undoubtedly an engaging one. As for audio quality with their respective speakers, Sammy’s bundle of joy seems to be stronger with its output – albeit, it isn’t by much.



Obviously, bigger is better when it comes down to watching videos on a smartphone. Keeping with that mentality, the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE is the absolute choice thanks to its larger display and iridescent looks. Well, both are actually able to flawlessly play our test video that’s encoded in DivX 1920 x 1080 resolution, but there’s no overlooking the wow factor that’s evident with Sammy’s behemoth.

Performance:

Buzzing our friends, we find the calling quality of both handsets to be above average as they boast clear and audible voices on both ends of the line. However, the Nokia Lumia 900 takes the gold seeing that the volume output on the Galaxy Note LTE’s earpiece is on the weak side.

Testing them out in all the same locations in the greater Philadelphia region, the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE seems to provide us the better battery life. Specifically, it’s able to provide us close to two days of normal usage on a single charge, while the Nokia Lumia 900 inches out 1 ½ days before being tapped out completely.

Conclusion:

Rather than getting down and dirty stating which device did better in what category, we’re going to get right to the point and talk about pricing – well, that’s because there’s such a huge disparity. When you’re deemed as a high-end offering and priced at $99.99 on-contract, you’re bound to attract plenty of attention, while coming off as something that’s packing a whole lot of bang for the buck. Simply, that’s essentially the story we find with the Nokia Lumia 900.

On the flip side, however, people will cringe having to cough up $299.99 for a device that’s going to be on-contract for 2 years. Yes, it’s a steep price to own and experience the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE, but it’s fully warranted seeing that it wins in the specs sheet department – while still offering some benefits in the form of its S Pen functions and video-out functionality. On the hardware side, its 5.3” display is a magnificent thing to behold, and simply puts the 4.3” display of the Lumia 900 to shame.

In the end, they both offer all the lovable qualities we expect out of any top-shelf smartphone, but if pricing isn’t a concern, the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE proves to be the more alluring product in the long run. Well, we can say that the Nokia Lumia 900 is a grand device on its own, but it can’t outmatch the prestige that radiates blindingly from Sammy’s juggernaut.

Nokia Lumia 900 vs Samsung Galaxy Note LTE: