Gadgetory

if you're shopping for a high-end smartphone and can't decide between Android and Windows Phone you might be faced with another dilemma lg g2 vs. Nokia Lumia 1020 I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and we're here to help you with this decision and now for most of you the most compelling portion of this comparison is probably the camera section but as always we want to cover the differences between these devices as thoroughly as possible so let's kick it off with hardware these phones don't just look like they come from different manufacturers they almost seem to come from different planets and it's not just because of the fanciful yellow shade of our Lumia 1020 here nothing is the same Nokia's sharp cornered matte polycarbonate plays host to a four point five inch display with sizable bezels in the biggest camera humph the smartphone world has ever seen by contrast LG's gentle curves and glossy plastic finish suggest a much more typical modern device while it's ultra thin bezels and 5.2 inch display work together with its curious rear mounted volume and power keys to make it stand out just a little bit and though the 13 megapixel camera features optical image stabilization just like on the 41 megapixel nokia device the optics module is felt enough to fit entirely within the casing with no bulge on the back meaning the g2 sits firmly on a table top while the 1020 kind of wobbles around so the Lumia is thicker heavier and more ungainly than the g2 but the resulting cocktail is more substantial its polycarbonate and aluminum feels better than the g2 s slick plastic even if it is slightly top-heavy and harder to hold once you turn on those displays either with a button or with the double tap to wake feature present on each you're instantly shown what device to buy if you're a screen freak well the Lumia is 1280 by 768 AMOLED panel is beautiful in its own right it's crushed in size resolution and screen to phone size ratio by the IPS display on the g2 LG's panel might not achieve the deep blacks of the Nokia display but it's 1080p resolution means it packs almost hundred more pixels per inch than the Lumias is that noticeable and day-to-day use only if you're constantly reading Kindle books six inches from your eyeballs but coupled with the added size and the more authentic color reproduction particularly in white tones the added resolution makes the g2 stand out quite a bit it's the clear winner between the two on the spec front that victory is only compounded the g2 is a product of an Android ecosystem obsessed with raw power and the brand-new quad-core Snapdragon 800 SOC that powers it is worlds ahead of the dual-core Snapdragon s4 running the Lumia the two gigs of ram is the same between the devices and the lack of expandable microSD storage is just as annoying on each but the built-in storage varies considerably between the g2 builds while you're stuck with just 32 gigs on the Lumia 1020 nonetheless you're on telefónica the g2 also builds in support for bonuses like Mirasol and an IR transmitter as well as AC support in its Wi-Fi radio and it's embedded battery while just as non-removable as the one on the 1020 is also fifty percent larger now one might say that a lot of those overpowered specs in the g2 are the bare minimum required to smoothly run an operating system as heavy as a manufacturer skinned version of Android whether that's true or not it's pretty obvious as you flip through the screens of each of these devices that the Android phone is for those who value feature density and an absurd degree of customizability everything on the g2 can be customized from button positions to home and lock screen animations and there are no fewer than three distinct ways to run multiple apps at the same time there are widgets on the home screen widgets on the lock screen and even widgets in the notification tray the g2 is a tweakers paradise if that sounds more like a usability nightmare to you the Lumia 1020 version of Windows Phone is the polar opposite its no-frills interface might not be as novel as it was when it was unveiled three years ago but its simplicity remains as fresh as ever this is still a smartphone Live Tiles flip and rotate to show you info from and third-party apps and the Windows Store now offers many of the same titles of its Android counterpart but the Lumia 1020 is nowhere near as customizable as the g2 and as a result the experience is very consistent both visually and in terms of responsiveness instead of aspiring to be part smartphone and part tablet the Lumia 1020 is content with being a very good smartphone with one particular standout feature that feature is the one we spent a lot of time describing in our Lumia 1020 full review the Nokia's 41 megapixel shooter remains unparalleled for those looking for a nearly professional-grade photography experience on a smartphone in concert with Nokia's pro camera app the hardware allows for manual control of focus and shutter speed and other advanced settings while add-ons like the smart camera app and Windows Phones various lenses bring more consumer-friendly features the g2 puts a much greater emphasis on those consumer features and includes far more of them for users to play with but it doesn't skimp on the high-end stuff either you can also adjust manual focus on the g2 and the 13 megapixel camera is optically stabilized as well floating freely within its housing to dampen vibrations from say walking up some stairs against the Lumia 1020 the g2 zop tackle stabilization actually did a better job of keeping the frame steady in our recent testing but the g2 did take a bit longer with autofocus adjustments and it's audio zoom resulted in an audible history the entire recording session when turned off that hiss disappeared here's a back-to-back comparison and here we go this is Michael Fisher with pocket now is sending some stares checking out the camera performance in video mode of the Nokia Lumia 1020 against the new g2 by LG settings are mostly how the box defaults full resolution on both units 1020 or 1080p rather varying exposure levels and walking at a brisk pace one phone one hand one in the other and let's see what we can do about changing things up optical image stabilization is of course automatic on these units as it is Hardware based not digital optical image stabilization is of course automatic on these units as it is Hardware based not digital hopefully we're getting a good idea of how it withstands just your typical pedestrian style walking audio zoom is turned on on the g2 out of box default is turned off and let's look in the window in still mode it's tough to pick a favorite here of course we love the 10 20s photos as we said in our review but the g2 s camera isn't half bad either each of these phones amps up the saturation quite a bit which you'll either love or hate and each produces sharp and crisp results without of box defaults the g2 shoots 10 megapixel photos cropped to 16 by 9 and the Lumias PureView distillation process creates 5 megapixel photos but you do have the option on each to shoot full resolution images and there of course the Lumia blows away the g2 in sheer pixel count and in zoom ability the nokia phone also tends to generate more authentic images in low light or in photos with areas of both high and low brightness but for normal day-to-day photography each of these cameras delivers photos to be proud of other aspects differ more significantly the speakers on each of these phones are bottom mounted but the Lumias are far more powerful seeming almost twice as loud as the g2 s when playing tracks on Spotify this sound is more similar over headphones while the Lumias dolby effects give Trax a slightly richer sound both phones are perfectly adept media players from an audio standpoint voice calling is close to even as well at least here on AT&T s network in Boston callers said they preferred the sound of our voice on the g2 but said we sounded just okay on both phones on our end we preferred the less clumsy feeling of the g2 for chatting and the rear mounted volume keys actually were pretty comfortable once we got use of them we have a feeling we'd be able to carry on a conversation much longer on the g2 as well the 3000 milliamp hour battery isn't just big on the spec sheet it provides some fantastic endurance in the real world easily surpassing the 1020 in staying power by calling it the simpler choice we don't mean to suggest that the Lumia is any kind of junior smartphone it's a very capable device running a very smooth and reliable platform and if you're buying your mobile device primarily for its camera there is no better mainstream phone out there in many other departments though the g2 offers more capability from RAW processing power to the more robust Android ecosystem to a fully customizable interface and it's camera while not as beastly as the Lumias is better than average for a smartphone shooter if that's the combination you're looking for the g2 will likely be the more deserving recipient of your gadget dollars the Lumia 1020 isn't the only phone we've put the g2 up against we also compared it with the HTC One last week you can find that video on our YouTube channel and please stay tuned for the full review of the g2 coming soon at pocketnow.com and here on our channel page but before you go anywhere please drop us a like if you did enjoy the video leave a comment down below if you have some feedback and follow us on social media so you don't miss future content from PocketNow until next time this has been michael fisher thank you very much for watching and we'll see you soon