Review: Nokia Lumia 1020

On February 2012, at MWC in Barcelona, Spain, Nokia announced a device that would shake up the mobile industry – that was the Nokia 808 Pureview, with a 41mp camera sensor. Everyone got excited, not just because Nokia had kickstarted the new camera wars in smartphones, but because it meant that Nokia would be bringing that technology to Windows Phone.

Fast forward 18 months, and we have the Nokia Lumia 1020. A stunning device, packing a 41mp sensor and optical image stabilisation – in essence, the ultimate camera-phone! The Lumia 1020 is the best of Nokia’s Lumia range, powered by the best of Microsoft’s Software (okay, its not the most up-to-date device, but the changes in the new update aren’t that significant).

While some may feel it is rather chunky (I didn’t notice it until I swapped back to the Lumia 925 to send the 1020 trial back), its a small compromise to make when you think about the tech you’re carrying around with you. The camera’s ability to fully zoom in, snap a shot, then zoom out after that shot, is amazing! I used it a fair few times over the month I used the Lumia 1020.

Here are a few camera samples and a video from a music festival I attended:

http://youtu.be/H76CzZNufVQ

There were also bushfires in the area near my uni, so I got footage of a helicopter filling up – the blades seem to move so slowly in the footage, where my eyes couldn’t distinguish them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Rv2jN2QR8

You’ll notice I have focussed on the camera – that is because that’s what the Lumia 1020 is all about. Take it away, and you’ve just got your standard Nokia Lumia device. Windows Phone is unchanged in anyway, which is nice in the sense that you can seamlessly go from, say, the Lumia 925 or even HTC 8X, to the 1020, and have no learning curve (yes Android, I am looking at you).

I had a few grievances with the Lumia 1020 though, all software related. Like my Lumia 925, the lock screen has a weird bug, where it will occasionally not show the time or notifications, and swiping it away to unlock doesn’t actually unlock it. You can see the screen below, but tapping it will lower the lock screen again. You need to manually press the lock key on the right side of the device.

Another bug is with the Lumia 1020 unlocking itself in my pocket. Not only had a made calls unknowingly, I had also taken a photo in my pocket, attached it to an SMS, added the caption “jjjjjjjhjhgfgvh” and sent it to my cousin. I decided to put a Lock Code on it – boy was that a mistake! The 1020 unlocked itself, entered the code wrong and locked me out for several minutes, right when it was a crucial time for me to use it. (Nokia engineers, if you’re reading this, enable the proximity sensor to disable unlocking the screen via any method).

Overall, I really liked spending time with the Lumia 1020 – not only did I get great images, I had regular people saying “oh my god, is that the Nokia with that insanely good camera?” and “WOW! Look at those pictures – my iPhone is sh*t”. Looking forward to seeing how well the camera on the Lumia 1520 performs.

Category: Nokia, PureView, Reviews