After months of speculation, including a stint under the moniker "EOS", the Nokia Lumia 1020 is now a reality. And with its launch, the company now has a pair of flagship Windows Phone 8 handsets on offer, with the recently released Lumia 925 in shops already. So, which is the one to go for?
On paper there is a lot more going for the 1020, but how do the two break down when you really start to compare them? Below are the big differences between Nokia’s big two.
Camera
Right from the offset, this is the Lumia 1020’s big talking point. Nokia has been hinting at a PureView-style phone running Windows Phone 8 for a while now, and has finally come good. The 1020 has an incredible 41-megapixel sensor, compared to the 925’s 8-megapixel snapper.
Both are capable of Full HD 1080p video (720p if you want to use the 6x zoom), but the 1020 can do so much more. All that resolution means you can zoom into images an incredible amount, while still retaining masses of detail.
Really, if smartphone photography is your thing, then the 1020 is about as good as it gets right now - iPhone and Android competition included.
Size
All that camera tech does mean that the 1020 carries a fair bit more bulk on its backside over the Lumia 925. The 925 is 129 x 70.6 x 8.5mm in size, whereas the 1020 has the same rough measurements but a bulbous rear.
As well as the size difference, the 925 uses a slightly different construction to the 1020. The phone is put together from brushed aluminium and plastic rather than the usual totally plastic construction you see on Lumia phones, including the 1020. Nokia’s camera giant will ship in white, black and yellow, whereas the 925 comes in grey, white and yellow.
Screen
While the Lumia 925 and 1020 are like for like on the display front, both using a 768 x 1280 resolution screen, the 1020 features the latest Corning Gorilla Glass.
Experience tells us that that the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 found in the Lumia 1020 will be tougher than that of the 925. The Samsung Galaxy S4, which also uses Corning’s latest tech, survived a fair few drops by us.
Storage
The sheer size of the images that the Nokia Lumia 1020 takes means it needs more storage to play with. Some reports suggest the most high-res pictures take up 40MB of space. The 925 comes with 16GB on board, whereas the 1020 doubles that with 32GB of internal storage to play with.
So which should I buy?
Really, if you can ignore the size due to its camera element, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is easily the winner here. The PureView 808 took stunning pictures but was let down by the operating system. Windows Phone 8, though it might lack the apps of Android and iOS, is definitely a better experience than Symbian. As such, if smartphone photography is your thing, then the Lumia 1020 is a bit of a stunner.
If you aren’t hugely fussed about taking professional-looking pics and want the lightest and slimmest possible Windows Phone from Nokia, then the Lumia 925 is definitely the one to go for. It might even work out a little cheaper.