Nokia Lumia 1020

[Hellbender]

The Engadget Interview: Nokia Lumia 1020  

 

 

 

As expected, the Nokia Lumia 1020 arrived with 41 megapixels in tow at today's event in New York City. Got questions? Yeah, us too. Thankfully, we had a bit of time to sit down with none other than Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who was fresh off the on-stage Q&A, wearing a slick pair of bright yellow Converse All-Stars, in honor of the eye-popping color scheme of the handset he showed off earlier today. Elop seemed genuinely excited by his new device (even jokingly correctly me when I called it his "new toy"), taking a picture of us immediately after entering the room -- or, rather, he took a picture of our own Richard Lai and zoomed out to reveal me. The concept of re-framing is a huge part of what Nokia's selling -- take a picture first and worry about framing it later. With 41 megapixels, it's easy enough to zoom in or out after the fact.

Richard brought along a trio of handsets for comparison, including the N8, 808 PureView and the recent Lumia 925, so naturally we started with a little history -- much like the press conference itself. Of interest was at precisely what point Nokia began to envision optics as one of, if not the, key focus of its handsets. It was an appropriate visual from Elop's point of view -- the executive sees all of the above as entries in the company's evolutionary line. Nokia's focusing on improving the experience a bit with each and every link, says Elop, with the latest handset building atop of the lessons learned. The Lumia 1020 is, naturally, a culmination of those lessons.

 

http://engadget.a.ec.viddler.com/engadget_hhp6l7942u3qwxw5a6dfu0qf1ujcqs.mp4?fd9f2a1c14aadf1069f046c167f41e2b360f1178af15bbf77dab5afb95007c55eb9ed7628c21d82fb182e4d168d3fb51784a21f74a4d8c691066854a4b9cae4e9500b61f7ef9ecc1a395

 

We asked Elop whether he was worried about cannibalizing 925 sales with this new edition and whether he was worried that the company might lose focus on other parts of the hardware experience, after investing so much of its efforts on optics. We also spoke about Nokia's plans to bring lessons learned with the 1020 to devices for developing nations and about how the company plans to expand its reach in the Chinese market.

Edgar Alvarez and Joe Pollicino contributed to this report.

[999Baht]

I've been waiting for this release today for what seems a very long time. 

I even left work early to find out the full story about it ASAP. 

I want this phone! The problem is that I don't know as yet if or more importantly WHEN it will be released here in Australia. 

We are a little behind with Nokia phone releases and are only just getting the 925 next week!

 

Now I'm considering just getting the 925 until we either get the 1020 or iPhone improves there picture taking abilities. 

[Hellbender]

@999Bhat

Why don't you buy this from USA or other country where you can shop online or take a help of a friend. 

 

If you want buy stuff from USA from outside you can use this site, http://comgateway.com

[Hellbender]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ofzk4_ITB5o

 

 

And here she is, in all of her glory. We've been hearing plenty about the Lumia 1020in the lead up to this event, and now, after a proper on-stage unveiling, we've finally got our hands on one. Granted, it's not the eye-popping yellow version Elop showed off on-stage (we got to play with the white and black versions), but it'll do nicely. As expected, the hardware's a beauty on this thing. There's that slick unibody design we've come to expect from recent Lumia devices, and in spite of amped up optics, the company hasn't really done too much to sacrifice weight and profile. On the front is an eye-catching 4.5-inch AMOLED PureMotion HD+ display 1,280 x 768 pixel display, which nicely compliments Windows 8's bright UI. Nokia's also promised that the Gorilla Glass 3 display works well with gloves and is still readable in sunlight, but we'll have to get back to you on both of those.

Remember that thing we said about the slim profile? We'll there's one important, but understandable caveat to that. The lens juts out a bit on the back of the thing, so if you try to lay it on that side, it won't sit flatly -- but as Elop said, the back is the new front, so maybe rest it on that shiny display, we guess... About a third of the back side is monopolized by that big lens. Along the top, you'll see a large flash along with three buttons -- one for volume (for that amped up speaker Nokia's built in), one for power and one, naturally, for the camera. That, after all, is kind of the point here.

[Hellbender]

Nokia Lumia 1020 vs. 925 vs. 920 vs. 808 PureView: what's changed?

 

 

 

Nokia's sure taken its time, but its 41-megapixel Windows Phone beast is now finally out of the bag. Naturally, we have to compare this Lumia 1020 with its recent siblings: externally it's closer to the 920 than the slimmer 925 or 928, except for its earpiece and, well, the camera. That said, the 1020 is somehow a lot lighter and a little thinner than the bulky 920, while packing the same 2,000mAh battery. Clearly, the lack of built-in Qi wireless charging and perhaps that Gorilla Glass 3screen are responsible for this weight loss.

And needless to say, the Symbian-powered 808 PureView didn't come with as many goodies compared to its Windows Phone cousin -- even the newer lens is faster with six elements instead of five. Feel free to check out our detailed comparison table.

 

 

[999Baht]

@999Bhat

Why don't you buy this from USA or other country where you can shop online or take a help of a friend. 

 

If you want buy stuff from USA from outside you can use this site, http://comgateway.com

Thanks...I might give this a go or better still I'm heading to Pattaya in 43 days so perhaps I can get a friend to buy it for me IF they have the option to buy it outright which going by your above post may be a problem at this stage. 

[Hellbender]

Thanks...I might give this a go or better still I'm heading to Pattaya in 43 days so perhaps I can get a friend to buy it for me IF they have the option to buy it outright which going by your above post may be a problem at this stage. 

 

Good luck mate.

This is a beast in camera phone and nothing comparable till date for sure. Apart from the camera it lacks in many thing in a modern smart phone IMO

[john2028]

Splendid and very professional review Hellbender entailing lots of hard graft.

 

The thing that most concerns me is cramming 41mp on to a tiny sensor. Very few specs. on mobiles ever give the sensor size. The pixels must be incredibly tiny, Over 40 million is a huge figure. Photons striking the pixels form the picture. A limitation is the actual wavelength of light.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sensor_sizes_overlaid_inside_-_updated.svg

 

Click on the link for some important comparisons. The actual area of the sensor is the thing to bear in mind.

 

Not everyone has the same keen interest in photography of course, but a pal at my camera club has just paid £5,000 sterling for a full frame Nikon D3x body alone,( i.e. no lens) That camera has 25mp on an area of 24 x 36mm , = 864 sq. mm. The pixel sizes are huge and for a good reason. If the sensor in the new Nokia is tinier than the smallest one shown in the above link, all of which are in use in cameras and not mobile phones, then I can foresee problems. Cramming pixels has always been a marketing ploy. I will defer judgement until I see some shots from this new model.

 

Advances are in the pipeline for huge improvements in mobile phone flash outputs also. When that comes about, most present models will be out flashed by more powerful models. A bit like some of our members whose 'mine is bigger than your's' threads, seemingly indicate they are devotees of indecent exposure and 'flashing'  (Joking fellas)

 

http://media.ntu.edu.sg/NewsReleases/Pages/newsdetail.aspx?news=9a671d87-3b55-4b78-8764-255b171f7b5a

 

Phones are a bit like computers. They are out of date, a week after you buy them unfortunately.

[john2028]

This BBC review might be of interest. They are usually quite impartial, as they don't rely on magazine advertising revenues, unlike some others parties

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23272758

 

The now Nokia is Windows OS based of course. According to this review Android or iOS accounted for 92% of global shipments in the last quarter. This is a consideration in respect of free software availability. Windows applications are notoriously expensive.

 

The points raised reference flash power is also worth of study, especially with new Xenon capacitors soon to become available.

 

Hope this helps 999Baht and others in making a choice.

[999Baht]

This BBC review might be of interest. They are usually quite impartial, as they don't rely on magazine advertising revenues, unlike some others partieshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23272758The now Nokia is Windows OS based of course. According to this review Android or iOS accounted for 92% of global shipments in the last quarter. This is a consideration in respect of free software availability. Windows applications are notoriously expensive.The points raised reference flash power is also worth of study, especially with new Xenon capacitors soon to become available.Hope this helps 999Baht and others in making a choice.

Thanks for the additional info.

Put simply I currently have an iPhone 4S and love everything about it except the camera especially at night.

I don't want the iPhone 5 (or 5s if it's released later this year) I will wait and hope that the iPhone 6 which is rumored to come out next year will have better photo taking abilities.

 

This Nokia 1020 will be a play toy for a year until then I hope (if its ever released in Australia that is).

The great thing is that with Nokia pushing the boundaries in photos I hope it will push the other companies to develop better camera technology and software in the future.

[john2028]

The great thing is that with Nokia pushing the boundaries in photos I hope it will push the other companies to develop better camera technology and software in the future.

 

I totally agree. Nokia have the best lenses (Zeiss) of any mobile If you only view your shots on the phone or computer screen, or publish on the Web, and never have prints made, I would save your money and stick with your present good set up. Wait until the new Xenon capacitors are on the market. Monitors even HD, usually are only capable of handling around 100 ppi (pixel per inch). You will not notice the difference on your screen, or web use with a newer phone. Only 15% of shots are printed these days. Keen photographers, like myself print at A3+ (48.3 X 32.9mm) at 350 dpi ( dots per inch). That's linear inches by the way. Per sq. inch that's 350 x 350 dots. I'll let you work out the number of dots in the area of the large prints I, and others make. The mind boggles of course. Ink-jet printers are amazing I blame it all on computers chips myself!! I used to play lots of chess at a large chess club. It was attached to Manchester University, with many 'nerds' and County players as members. I don't play chess these days as I can't now beat the tiny prog on my smart phone!! Deep Blue forced Garry Kasparov, the highest ranked player ever, into retirement. Sixteen CPU's wired up in parallel, capable of several trillion calculations per second.!! Poor guy.

 

This posting lark and the way it is improving my touch typing is a mixed blessing. Is Imodium ++ effective for verbal diarrhoea ??

 

Sorry. I live alone also and love a good online 'chat'. Better to spend more time at the club bar probably. At least that's my excuse.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Hellbender]

Splendid and very professional review Hellbender entailing lots of hard graft.

 

The thing that most concerns me is cramming 41mp on to a tiny sensor. Very few specs. on mobiles ever give the sensor size. The pixels must be incredibly tiny, Over 40 million is a huge figure. Photons striking the pixels form the picture. A limitation is the actual wavelength of light.

 

 

Not everyone has the same keen interest in photography of course, but a pal at my camera club has just paid £5,000 sterling for a full frame Nikon D3x body alone,( i.e. no lens) That camera has 25mp on an area of 24 x 36mm , = 864 sq. mm. The pixel sizes are huge and for a good reason. If the sensor in the new Nokia is tinier than the smallest one shown in the above link, all of which are in use in cameras and not mobile phones, then I can foresee problems. Cramming pixels has always been a marketing ploy. I will defer judgement until I see some shots from this new model.

 

 

Phones are a bit like computers. They are out of date, a week after you buy them unfortunately.

 

Appreciate mate and i am just trying to put things in one place, as we all love smart phones and this is one hell of a contender.

 

I was a Nokia guy when Sumsung was considered Chinese phone ;) But Google changed the fate of mobile market. Once the leader is finding it hard to survive and low end Chinese manufacturers are making impressive devices. Harsh world it seems.

This is the best part of technology, "survival for fittest" 

 

Your friend must be a nerd but again nothing comparable to a full frame sensor, those are pro level camera and guess it would be harsh to compare it with a mobile camera.

It is intriguing to see how Nokia is developing consistently some impressive camera for their mobile device which current leaders in smartphone couldn't. That is why this device deserve respect and every appreciation, doesn't matter if i buy or not.

 

You are right about the "They are out of date, a week after you buy them unfortunately" So smart phones are becoming bit costly these days for me as i am constantly upgrading my device ;)

 

I have got some pictures taken from Nokia lumia 1020 for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a Low light picture

 

 

@ 999Bhat

Now you just want this only ;) am i right?

[999Baht]

Appreciate mate and i am just trying to put things in one place, as we all love smart phones and this is one hell of a contender.

 

I have got some pictures taken from Nokia lumia 1020

And a Low light picture

 

 

@ 999Bhat

Now you just want this only ;) am i right?

The photos are amazing...pity they didn't do the zoomy thing with the girls in the low light photo.

Damn I want this phone as my next toy.

"Can I have it dad? Can I have it dad?"

[john2028]

@Hellbender

 

Super addition to your OP. The photos are very impressive. You've now got me intrigued!

 

There will be lots of further reviews on line soon. If I find them interesting, I will post links. As I remarked to 999Baht, if more reviews are favourable , the demand could well exceed supply.

 

I hope Nokia recover from their recent bad spells. They were the first to bring out a really good business phone about 10 years ago. I forget the model, but it had great talk and standby life. The whole of the detachable back formed the huge battery..

 

PS

Found the  model I referred to.  I used one for years

 

http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/03/27/nokia-6310/

 

Cheers

[Hellbender]

@Hellbender

 

Super addition to your OP. The photos are very impressive. You've now got me intrigued!

 

There will be lots of further reviews on line soon. If I find them interesting, I will post links. As I remarked to 999Baht, if more reviews are favourable , the demand could well exceed supply.

 

I hope Nokia recover from their recent bad spells. They were the first to bring out a really good business phone about 10 years ago. I forget the model, but it had great talk and standby life. The whole of the detachable back formed the huge battery..

 

PS

Found the  model I referred to.  I used one for years

 

http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/03/27/nokia-6310/

 

Cheers

 

Yes those pictures are damn impressive and far lot more to come. This is top of the line Nokia device and certainly it will do well in market.

Have you seen how Samsung sales goes up during their flagship device launch time? It's millions units in less than a month. It is because their phone is a complete package. I had many Nokia device and the most loved one is 6600 and N91 the most hated :(

 

Their is one more smartphone which will create a buz soon and i think i want that device. Some pretty new & innovative stuff.

The "Moto X" will try to post a seperate thread.

 

I did had few Motorola phones and they were amazing, I had the phone that called Moto Razer i think, that's a flip open supper slim phone. That was one of the most beautiful phone IMHO

[Hellbender]

The photos are amazing...pity they didn't do the zoomy thing with the girls in the low light photo.

Damn I want this phone as my next toy.

"Can I have it dad? Can I have it dad?"

 

I thought the same too and hard to believe how mobile technologies matured!!! Good for us though. 

I hope you get it soon in your hand

[999Baht]

 

Their is one more smartphone which will create a buz soon and i think i want that device. Some pretty new & innovative stuff.

The "Moto X" will try to post a seperate thread.

 

The Moto X you say???

I think I will google it now.

[999Baht]

I thought the same too and hard to believe how mobile technologies matured!!! Good for us though. 

I hope you get it soon in your hand

I'm working on a plan to get it for my next trip. 

Even if it hasn't come out in Australia yet.

 

As for the Moto X....I looked it up...impressive technology there but I want the best camera on my phone.

[john2028]

A glowing review, especially of the camera.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/11/nokia-lumia-1020-camera-apps

The order book will be swamped.

 

NB

Note however that the review does emphasise the lack of well written Windows applications.

[Hellbender]

I'm working on a plan to get it for my next trip. 

Even if it hasn't come out in Australia yet.

 

As for the Moto X....I looked it up...impressive technology there but I want the best camera on my phone.

I can tell how xcited you are about this device and you deserve the best my friend. Don't forget to post your next trip pics from 1020. It is so far not only the best but the most technologically advanced & superior to the rest. 

A separate thread for Moto X

 

A glowing review, especially of the camera.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/11/nokia-lumia-1020-camera-apps

 

The order book will be swamped.

Indeed a well documented and yes some of their views are very much correct and hope for the best. 

[Little Evil]

Good luck mate.

This is a beast in camera phone and nothing comparable till date for sure. Apart from the camera it lacks in many thing in a modern smart phone IMO

 

Agreed. This is more of a camera that has an afterthought phone built in than it is a phone that has a bad-ass camera built in. Not sure how I feel about it yet. There are so many pluses and minuses. Camera specs and resulting low light images look good, but the phone specs are mid-level at best. Dual core chip instead of quad, no full 1080HD screen, slightly subpar battery capacity, etc.  I know they have the extender grip with the battery booster, but you could build something like that for any phone.  Also, the daylight pics look like they are clipping and the white balance is generally off in all the pictures. Huge +1million for an actual shutter button though.  What ever happened to companies using actual shutter buttons on camera phones. Sony Erricson had that mastered until they fell apart. I loved my k750i and W800 back in the day.  

 

Oh, and Gizmodo used to be awesome before they let Jesus Diaz write articles.

[Hellbender]

Agreed. This is more of a camera that has an afterthought phone built in than it is a phone that has a bad-ass camera built in. Not sure how I feel about it yet. There are so many pluses and minuses. Camera specs and resulting low light images look good, but the phone specs are mid-level at best. Dual core chip instead of quad, no full 1080HD screen, slightly subpar battery capacity, etc.  I know they have the extender grip with the battery booster, but you could build something like that for any phone.  Also, the daylight pics look like they are clipping and the white balance is generally off in all the pictures. Huge +1million for an actual shutter button though.  What ever happened to companies using actual shutter buttons on camera phones. Sony Erricson had that mastered until they fell apart. I loved my k750i and W800 back in the day.  

 

Oh, and Gizmodo used to be awesome before they let Jesus Diaz write articles.

 

Their are many people love great camera in a phone and i guess this device target those group of people and that is it's biggest setback. IF Nokia build Android phones, i can bet they will beat Samsung & HTC by a click. I just wished they did ;(

The camera is so far the best in mobile device and rest 

 

 

Having said that, if Nokia brought this camera as a Point & Shoot device would sell more than a cellphone for sure!!

 

Off course you are right when you say, those mid level hardware spec with a dual core processor is a joke for a premium device.

Rest of it's hardware doesn't appeal me either and windows mobile OS sucks big time! Honestly it's Microsoft killing Nokia and they need to get out from Windows OS which seems just a dream.

 

 Btw Quad core days are gone and by the month of Oct/Nov the market will be flooded with Octa core device.

• A15 Samsung chip is worthless, it is just a dual Quad core. They are bringing a real Octa core soon.
• Snapdragon is bringing their Octa core too.
• Tegra 4 is already out (btw i owed Tegra 2 & 3 device which are great) 
• The big bang will be MediaTek A7 Octa core, Benchmark are remarkably well and yet low cost.
• Texas Instrument was seriously innovation great mobile chip and i think they will be in market soon.

 

I have a quad core phone with 1080P display with 13.1 MP camera and will not trade my phone for this device. I am excited about Moto X but i guess i will wait for Nexus 4 2nd generation and till Oct/Nov to switch my next phone ;)

 

You are spot on about Gizmodo and they used to cover CES quite well.

I don't like Cnet either, they are highly motivated towards few manufacturer (well paid by them)

I love Anandtech and these guys take their job seriously, Engadget is ok but follows Cnet foot print.

[Little Evil]

Their are many people love great camera in a phone and i guess this device target those group of people and that is it's biggest setback. IF Nokia build Android phones, i can bet they will beat Samsung & HTC by a click. I just wished they did ;(

The camera is so far the best in mobile device and rest 

 

 

Having said that, if Nokia brought this camera as a Point & Shoot device would sell more than a cellphone for sure!!

 

Off course you are right when you say, those mid level hardware spec with a dual core processor is a joke for a premium device.

Rest of it's hardware doesn't appeal me either and windows mobile OS sucks big time! Honestly it's Microsoft killing Nokia and they need to get out from Windows OS which seems just a dream.

 

 Btw Quad core days are gone and by the month of Oct/Nov the market will be flooded with Octa core device.

• A15 Samsung chip is worthless, it is just a dual Quad core. They are bringing a real Octa core soon.
• Snapdragon is bringing their Octa core too.
• Tegra 4 is already out (btw i owed Tegra 2 & 3 device which are great) 
• The big bang will be MediaTek A7 Octa core, Benchmark are remarkably well and yet low cost.
• Texas Instrument was seriously innovation great mobile chip and i think they will be in market soon.

 

I have a quad core phone with 1080P display with 13.1 MP camera and will not trade my phone for this device. I am excited about Moto X but i guess i will wait for Nexus 4 2nd generation and till Oct/Nov to switch my next phone ;)

 

You are spot on about Gizmodo and they used to cover CES quite well.

I don't like Cnet either, they are highly motivated towards few manufacturer (well paid by them)

I love Anandtech and these guys take their job seriously, Engadget is ok but follows Cnet foot print.

 

I agree with just about everything you wrote (Anandtech rocks!) with one exception. I don't personally think the Pureview would make a good consumer point and shoot.

 

What Nokia is using for marketing (41 MP sensor) is more of a technology to overcome the shortcomings of camera modules for phones.  It actually takes 5mp shots standard, but uses oversampling of a 41MP sensor to utilize 8 sensor pixel sample pool for every 1 end file pixel. This is done to reduce noise commonly associated with smaller sensors and/or higher ISO settings.  It also allows for usable digital zoom.  Yes, this sensor is not only a higher MP count, but also physically larger than all other camera modules used in phones, but it is still smaller compared to most point and shoot cameras.  Additionally, point and shoot cameras have better lens arrangements for optical zoom, so the fact that you get up to 41MP sampling to help with digital zoom still doesn't compensate for a better optical zoom range.   Bottom line, it doesn't produce 41PM shots--and good thing too.  Who needs a 41MP shot? There's practically nothing you can do with it without post production or down sampling. This camera phone doesn't produce good enough images for professional use, so it's a good thing soccer moms and Facebook junkies are clogging bandwidth trying to upload 41MP shots to the web.  What is does do is produce rather top notch CAMERA PHONE shots that come a bit closer to a high end point and shoot.  

 

I can't believe there's going to be Octa Core chips for phones. My current phone is already more powerful than my first 3 computers put together.

[999Baht]

You are spot on about Gizmodo and they used to cover CES quite well.

I don't like Cnet either, they are highly motivated towards few manufacturer (well paid by them)

I love Anandtech and these guys take their job seriously, Engadget is ok but follows Cnet foot print.

I will have to check out these more closely.

Thanks for dropping so many names of websites for me to check out. 

 

PS Still waiting and checking every day for an update on when the Nokia 1020 will make it's way down to Australia. 

The wait continues. 

I'm seriously considering asking a mate from the US who is coming over to Patts the same time as me next month to get one for me....we shall see. 

[Little Evil]

I will have to check out these more closely.

Thanks for dropping so many names of websites for me to check out. 

 

PS Still waiting and checking every day for an update on when the Nokia 1020 will make it's way down to Australia. 

The wait continues. 

I'm seriously considering asking a mate from the US who is coming over to Patts the same time as me next month to get one for me....we shall see. 

 

If you are looking for just phone info, this Russian website is pretty detailed: http://www.mobile-review.com

 

Only problem in recent years is that it isn't as bleeding edge as it used to be.  This guy used to get all the latest Sony Ericsson and Nokia N Series phones when they came out, but I've noticed that he's not on the pulse as much as he used to be. He writes crazy detailed reports on most models, so when he does finally review a phone, it is well worth a look. There is a tab for English at the top right. Take a look at his HTC Desire V review on the top right to get an idea of what I'm talking about.