Gadgetory

if you were on or considering America's self-proclaimed best Network and you want the best Windows Phone to match your choices are limited to to the Lumia icon from the artist formerly known as Nokia and the new HTC One m8 for Windows which we reviewed earlier this week so which of these Microsoft flagships is cool enough for your me tile I'm Michael Fisher with PocketNow and the only way I know of to answer that question is to compare them so let's do that join us for HTC One m8 for Windows versus Nokia Lumia icon if it's a lightweight Windows Phone you're after you might want to look elsewhere the small phones these are not but their size manifests in different ways on the Lumia the sheer aluminum band bordering the phone makes you feel every bit of its nine point seven millimeter thickness and the square corners and matte polycarbonate back give it a sturdy almost brick-like feel it's only seven grams more massive than the HTC product but it feels much heavier in the pocket and those sharp corners do dig into the palm which isn't very comfortable the HTC phone is thinner and much rounder making it more comfortable to hold and easier to put into a pocket it's chamfered edges and brushed aluminum casing give it a flashy ER look and its twin front firing speakers to make it a bit taller - there were no capacitive keys beneath the display on the m8 nor a hardware camera button both of which are present on the icon but there is an IR port and more importantly a microSD slot on the HTC device while the Nokia goes without in exchange for you fellow futurists out there the icon sports Qi wireless charging support while the One m8 does not let's talk about displays for a second both are 5-inch 1080p screens with a pixel density of 441 pixels every inch but with different technology behind each you get very different results from each most notably the icons screen is capable of almost perfect blacks relative to the one mA it's more grey blue reproduction and colors on the icon also pop with much higher contrast saturation making the tiles of the modern UI really stand out we've often said AMOLED screens are the better fit for windows phones for just this reason and it certainly holds true here the icons screen can also get much brighter but in broad daylight neither is going to be your best friend gloved usage is possible on both but slightly easier on the icon thanks to super sensitive touch annoyingly though the icon doesn't support double tap to wake so you have to press a button to unlock it finally let's take a quick look under the hood the processors here aren't that far apart in either branding or clock speed and theoretically the slightly newer hardware and the m8 should translate to faster app and page loads and better 3d gaming performance but it's tough to see that in the real world here sometimes the icon beats the ma sometimes the opposite is true there's nothing really significant or consistent about these differences and we're already talking software so let's make it official with the screen swipe there's a version difference in Windows Phone here that makes this comparison troublesome our Lumia icon on 8.1 is still waiting for the most recent version of the OS while our m8 came out of the box with the update already installed as Windows Phone 8.1 dot 1 the main differences are minor and include native folder creation VPN support Cortana updates and a few others but since all this will eventually come to the icon as well we'll leave those be for now custom software is a whole other folder though the Nokia used to be the leader here with many exclusive titles in the Windows Store that you could only get if you own the Lumia now some of that still holds true camera and media titles but some big ones like the here navigation suite are now available for all windows phones and with the new m8 HTC brought over its own camera apps from android along with the useful blinkfeed news and social ribbon you still get more fine-grained control over some features on the icon like the screens color profile but unbalanced the software differences between Lumia windows phones and others are getting more minor by the month yet the Lumia line can afford to sacrifice some software specialties because it still packs the best damn cameras you can find on any Windows from now any smartphone period on the icon it's a 20 megapixel optically stabilized sensor made into a Carl Zeiss lens and operated by the Nokia camera the most advanced and versatile viewfinder on the market meanwhile the One m8 goes a completely different direction bringing a four megapixel sensor working in concert with a dedicated depth sensor and HTC's own camera app to offer a more consumer focused viewfinder maybe the simplest way to boil down the differences here is to say that the icon is for people who want the closest thing to a professional camera on their smartphone while the one mA it is for folks who value fun more than raw power despite their big resolution gap each of these is perfectly capable of quick informal shots and each one also does a fantastic job in low-light Nokia's PureView technology edges out HTC's ultra pixel method here bringing more authentic colors and less noise to dark photos but they're both miles ahead of most of the competition when the lights go down HTC's duo camera offers a depth of field effect that Apes a high-end camera but that's easily replicated with a third-party app on the Nokia the principle advantage the Lumia enjoys is resolution normally the software uses pixel over sampling to whip up an image not much bigger than HTC's but having access to the raw 16 megapixel picture on the icon means you get a lot more detail when zooming in on distant objects now surprisingly on the front side the situation is reversed the 1m eights 5 megapixel front facing camera is a much higher resolution than the 1.2 megapixel selfie cam on the Lumia back in the primary objects when you take into account the lens expansions on the Lumia it's for microphone audio array and the smoother video made possible by optical stabilization maybe the results aren't surprising both smartphones are more than fine for casual shooting but the icon was built in large part around its camera and it's the more capable shooter over all in much the same way the m8 was built around it's big boom sound drivers and while the Nokia speaker is pretty loud it's located all the way around back and it just can't hold a candle to the One m8 setup on headphones both devices can get plenty loud but the icons dolby enhancement is a little richer to our ears and less grading at high volumes the icon also does slightly better with FM reception though reception on other videos is comparable and for phone calls we actually prefer the brighter and crisper sound of the One m8 earpiece to the mushy er icon sound each has excellent noise suppression though what about gaming and other high demand tasks well the differences begin to taper off here whether we're running heavy horsepower titles or less strenuous diversions like sparkle to hear each Windows Phone can probably handle whatever you can find in the Windows Store the one eye mates aluminum casing will get hotter to the touch over time but that's about the only difference we saw and guess what the minor difference in battery capacity is also not enough to make for any real endurance advantage on either side keep in mind that both batteries are embedded and non-replaceable though so unless you're aggressively policing your app activity be aware that you might have to hit up the battery saver toward the end of a heavy day let's be straight this is a tough choice they're both class-leading well-made devices and each has compelling features the other doesn't so much of this comes down to personal preference which of those features you value more and which aesthetic you like better the biggest difference is the camera HTC brings more fun to the table but the icon wins by a landslide when it comes to raw capability and when you consider that the Lumia is free on contract right now with Verizon and $100 cheaper than the one I made at full retail we think the Nokia phone offers the better value at the moment but we'd be lying if we said the ma it's more sophisticated build and acoustic dominance wouldn't have us thinking twice at the cash wrap the end of the day the choice is yours so let us know which one you'd pick down in the comments and hit the like button while you're down there if you did enjoy this video for more insight check out our full review of each of these phones here on YouTube and at pocketnow.com till next time this has been michael fisher captain two phones on twitter reminding you to keep your pixels ultra and your view pure see you next time you