Nokia's Lumia 1020 : the best smartphone camera ever made — too bad it's ... - VentureBeat
Nokia’s Lumia 1020 is the culmination of everything the Finnish phone maker has been working towards over the past few years.
It sports the best smartphone camera I’ve ever seen — something that every other smartphone owner, even iPhone fanatics, will be jealous of — and manages to look unique in a sea of boxy phone designs.
But with everything that Nokia is bringing to the table, it’s a shame the Lumia 1020 ($300 with a two-year AT&T contract) is clearly being held back by Microsoft’s inability to bring Windows Phone into the modern smartphone era.
There’s no built-in way to upload to YouTube (Nokia has released its own YouTube uploading app for the 1020, but you need to download that separately), and there’s still no official Instagram app (Facebook is now blocking one of the more popular third-party Instagram apps from uploading photos).
In my time with the Lumia 1020, I vacillated from loving the camera to completely hating Windows Phone — a platform I used to admire but now just find endlessly frustrating. It’s a phone I want to recommend to every gadget fanatic, yet can’t in good conscience.
The Lumia 1020 is a reminder of why Nokia used to rule the mobile world, and why Microsoft still doesn’t get it.
[h=3]The good: The smartphone camera you’ve always dreamed of[/h]A year and a half after announcing the 41-megapixel PureView camera to an awed crowd at Mobile World Congress, Nokia is finally bringing the full power of its innovative camera technology to Windows Phone. (We’ve seen some PureView elements in the Lumia 920 and other recent models, but those didn’t offer the full 41 MP monty.)
Today, there still isn’t anything else on the market approaching Nokia’s PureView. Apple and Samsung opted for slight megapixel improvements in their most recent flagship phone cameras, while HTC went completely in the opposite direction with its Ultrapixel camera, which offers better low-light performance but only 4 megapixel images.
Why would you need a 41 megapixel camera? Because the last thing you want on your smartphone is a massive zoom lens (see Samsung’s clunky Galaxy Zoom as an example). With an insanely high-resolution sensor, the Lumia 1020 lets you crop in closely to images without sacrificing much quality. It’s basically digital zoom that doesn’t stink.
And, yes, the Lumia 1020’s camera lives up to all the hype. It takes astoundingly clear photos that could easily be mistaken for something from an expensive point and shoot camera. In some cases, you could easily mistake them for DSLR shots. In low light, it is miles ahead of every other smartphone camera (though HTC’s One camera comes close).
Below, check out some shots from the Lumia 1020
Nokia’s Lumia 1020 is the culmination of everything the Finnish phone maker has been working towards over the past few years.
It sports the best smartphone camera I’ve ever seen — something that every other smartphone owner, even iPhone fanatics, will be jealous of — and manages to look unique in a sea of boxy phone designs.
But with everything that Nokia is bringing to the table, it’s a shame the Lumia 1020 ($300 with a two-year AT&T contract) is clearly being held back by Microsoft’s inability to bring Windows Phone into the modern smartphone era.
There’s no built-in way to upload to YouTube (Nokia has released its own YouTube uploading app for the 1020, but you need to download that separately), and there’s still no official Instagram app (Facebook is now blocking one of the more popular third-party Instagram apps from uploading photos).
In my time with the Lumia 1020, I vacillated from loving the camera to completely hating Windows Phone — a platform I used to admire but now just find endlessly frustrating. It’s a phone I want to recommend to every gadget fanatic, yet can’t in good conscience.
The Lumia 1020 is a reminder of why Nokia used to rule the mobile world, and why Microsoft still doesn’t get it.
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Lumia 1020 4 Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
- Lumia 1020 2 Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
- Lumia 1020 1 Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
- Lumia 1020 3 Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
- Lumia 1020 & Lumia 920 The Lumia 1020 is on the left, while the larger Lumia 920 is on the right. Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
- Lumia 1020 & Lumia 920 The Lumia 1020 is on the left, while the larger Lumia 920 is on the right. Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
- Lumia 1020 & Lumia 920 Lumia 1020 is (thankfully) thinner and lighter than the 920 (bottom). Source: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat
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[h=3]The good: The smartphone camera you’ve always dreamed of[/h]A year and a half after announcing the 41-megapixel PureView camera to an awed crowd at Mobile World Congress, Nokia is finally bringing the full power of its innovative camera technology to Windows Phone. (We’ve seen some PureView elements in the Lumia 920 and other recent models, but those didn’t offer the full 41 MP monty.)
Today, there still isn’t anything else on the market approaching Nokia’s PureView. Apple and Samsung opted for slight megapixel improvements in their most recent flagship phone cameras, while HTC went completely in the opposite direction with its Ultrapixel camera, which offers better low-light performance but only 4 megapixel images.
Why would you need a 41 megapixel camera? Because the last thing you want on your smartphone is a massive zoom lens (see Samsung’s clunky Galaxy Zoom as an example). With an insanely high-resolution sensor, the Lumia 1020 lets you crop in closely to images without sacrificing much quality. It’s basically digital zoom that doesn’t stink.
And, yes, the Lumia 1020’s camera lives up to all the hype. It takes astoundingly clear photos that could easily be mistaken for something from an expensive point and shoot camera. In some cases, you could easily mistake them for DSLR shots. In low light, it is miles ahead of every other smartphone camera (though HTC’s One camera comes close).
Below, check out some shots from the Lumia 1020