Nokia Lumia 1020 review

Nokia Lumia 1020

Nokia first debuted its headline-stealing 41-megapixel camera sensor on the 808 PureView back in 2012. 

Its image quality impressed critics, but its Symbian software was dead on arrival. Nokia has brought the PureView technology back with the Lumia 1020, this time paired with the same Windows Phone 8 software found on its other Lumia phones.

Along with the unusual image sensor, the Lumia 1020 has a 4.5-inch, 1,280x768-pixel display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 4G connectivity and a bright yellow, one-piece polycarbonate body.

You can get the Lumia 1020 free from £37 per month on a two-year contract or SIM-free from £550. It's far from cheap, so does the camera and colourful body justify the expense?

Should I buy the Nokia Lumia 1020?

The Lumia 1020 is able to capture the best quality images I've seen from a phone, thanks to its large, high-resolution sensor and manual camera-controls. Even in full automatic mode, the Lumia is able to capture superb images with impressive dynamic range and a high level of detail.

It might be brilliant as a camera, but it doesn't particularly impress as a phone. It has many of the same specs as the much older Lumia 920, including the screen resolution and dual-core processor. The Windows Phone 8 app store is still poorly stocked and often receives recognisable apps months after Android or iOS.

If you're an enthusiastic photographer who values image quality above all else and would love to always have a good camera in your pocket then the Lumia is for you -- no other phone comes close. Otherwise, you might be better off looking at Android phones. The Sony Xperia Z1's camera impressed -- particularly with its underwater skills -- and the vast selection of apps in the Google Play store provides a wide choice of editing and sharing options.

Nokia Lumia 1020 - Design and build quality

There's absolutely no question that the 1020 is part of Nokia's Lumia line. Its body is a one-piece polycarbonate affair in the same squashed oval shape as the Lumia 920. My model came in a bright yellow colour, but they're also available in black or white if you're not fond of such vivid hues.

It's physically extremely similar to the 920. It has the same 4.5-inch screen size, with the buttons on the side, and the ports and the speakers in the same place. It's slightly thinner though and at 158g, it's a bit lighter too. The 1020's enormous camera unit on the back makes it easy to distinguish between the two though.

The black disc that makes up the camera pokes out of the phone's body by about 3mm. At first glance it looks like it might get in the way, but I didn't find it any more difficult to slide into my pocket than the 920 and it was perfectly comfortable to hold. It also acts to slightly tilt the display towards you when it's sat on your desk, which I appreciated.

The one-piece polycarbonate body makes the phone feel extremely sturdy -- there are no flimsy back panels or loose edging to damage here. There's little flex in the body and the solid materials should easily be able to put up with a few good knocks. The buttons too have a satisfying click to them, so the 1020 feels like an extremely well built piece of kit. My only issue was that the matte yellow plastic scuffs easily, but some buffing with a cleaning cloth sorts that out.

Around the edges you'll find volume and power buttons as well as a dedicated camera shutter button. There's a micro USB port on the bottom and a 3.5mm headphone jack on top. If you get the phone from O2 you can snag an exclusive 64GB model, which has plenty of room for all the high resolution snaps you could want. The standard model has 32GB of storage, which is still pretty capacious. There's no expandable storage option though, so you'll want to transfer your pics to a computer if you've been snap-happy on holiday.

Nokia Lumia 1020 - Display

The 1020's 4.5-inch display has a resolution of 1,280x768 pixels, giving a pixel density of 334 pixels per inch. That's the same size and resolution of the older 920, so it's a bit of a shame not to see increased space or pixels -- both of which would come in handy for reviewing those glorious high resolution photos.

Up against larger, Full HD phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the HTC One, it doesn't particularly impress, but don't be too downhearted. The display is still very sharp, with icons and text appearing very crisp. It's also extremely bold thanks to the deep black levels and high contrast. It's bright too and is easily readable under bright office lights, and I found it worked well under the bright Italian summer sun.
Camera software
There are two camera apps to choose from. The standard Windows Phone 8 camera app will load automatically when you press and hold the shutter button. It's a very simple interface with options to change scene modes and white balance. If you want to just do some casual shooting, the standard camera app will probably be best.

Of course, you didn't buy the 1020 for casual shooting, did you? Instead, fire up the Nokia Pro Cam app -- you can set this as the app that loads when you hit the shutter button. Pro Cam gives manual control over shutter speed, ISO, white balance and focus -- although sadly not aperture -- using on-screen rings. It's pretty simple to do, but the small icons aren't easy to tap in a hurry -- make sure you're not snapping away urgently.

It's quite a neat way to learn the mechanics of manual photography. You can keep all sliders on automatic, only changing one at a time to see how it alters the image. Lower the shutter speed, for example, to take those long-exposure shots of car headlight trails at night.

The Smart Cam app is on board too. This takes multiple images of a scene in order to select the best shot, change faces of individuals in a group so everyone looks their best, remove moving objects or combine pictures into one of those cool action sequence photos.

Nokia Lumia 1020 - Image quality

With all those different shooting options and its big 41-megapixel sensor, it would be something of a letdown if the 1020's pictures weren't up to much. Thankfully though, it's able to capture some superb images. I whisked it off to Italy to put it through its paces. My first shot of this cathedral in Siena is a great example of the 1020's skills. Taken in Pro mode, but with settings on automatic, you can see the sensor's abilities in capturing a very evenly exposed scene.

To help with that, Nokia has a case for the 1020 that turns the phone into much more of a standard camera. It widens the grip, adds a small external battery pack, a bigger shutter button and a standard tripod screw mount in the bottom. When using the phone simply as a camera, it's really comfortable to have on, but you'll want to take it out when sliding it into your jeans.

Windows Phone 8 software

Camera app aside, the Windows Phone 8 software on the 1020 is identical to the software you'll find on Nokia's other Lumias. It's made up of large, colourful live tiles on a scrolling homescreen, with an app list available with a swipe to the left. It's perhaps best seen as a combination of the simple operation of iOS on the iPhone, with the live widgets and customisability of Android.

However you want to see it, it's fairly simple to use and shouldn't take you long to get to grips with. If you're new to smart phones, Windows Phone 8 isn't a bad choice.

A couple of my favourite features are the People and Me hubs. They combine all your social networks, phone and email contacts into one place, allowing you to see everything that's going on. You're also able to quickly post to all connected networks from the Me hub, without needing to go into separate apps.

Apps and Nokia software

It's big downside though is its app store, which is still woefully understocked compared to its Android or iOS rivals. Some big names are available like Spotify, Netflix and Skype, but there's a hell of a lot missing and even the popular titles tend to arrive on its shelves long after they've debuted on other platforms.

There's no love from Google on Windows Phone 8 either -- official YouTube or Gmail apps aren't available. While you can sync your Gmail account for email and calendars, it won't sync your contacts and Google recently turned off support for push email on Windows Phone. Your email will therefore only be able to update every 15 minutes. That might not be a problem for many, but I rely on having instant email, so I found the 1020 unsuitable for work use.

To help plug some of the gaps in the app store, Nokia has loaded up a whole bunch of its own apps. They mostly revolve around its mapping software, Here Maps. The maps app itself is able to show a wealth of local information about businesses -- restaurant listings show contact details, map locations and user reviews, for example -- and you can view all locations in an augmented reality view around you using the camera lens.

Nokia Drive meanwhile provides turn-by-turn GPS satellite navigation for drivers (and can be used offline), while Here Transit shows the location of local public transport (trains, buses, London tubes) complete with departure times, letting you input your destination and see what the quickest way to get there is. Nokia's additions undoubtedly add great value to the phone and certainly help dull the pain of the poor app store. They are also available on the cheaper Lumia's though, so if you really fancy the software but want to save a bundle, snap up the Lumia 620 instead.

The phone is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, again matching the older Lumia 920. For the vast majority of tasks you'll likely want to do with the phone, the processor provides enough power. Swiping around the interface is very swift and navigating around menus is free of any noticeable lag. There's also not a lot in the app store that can really push the phone's limits. Cowboy shooter Six Guns played absolutely fine, but it also plays fine on older-generation Android phones, so it's not much of a success on the 1020's part.

There is a minimal delay in opening the camera app. It's hardly sluggish though, so it's not something I'm going to hold against the phone.

Nokia Lumia 1020 - Battery

A 2,000mAh battery sits inside the 1020, which is fairly standard for most smart phones. Huge devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 have the space to slot in a 3,000mAh cell, but a fatter battery would of course make the phone even chunkier than it already is. Its dual-core processor is less demanding of power than the quad-core chip in the Note though, so it should be a lot more efficient with power.

That's pretty much what I found in my own use. Nokia reckons you can squeeze out a decent 13 hours of talk time from the phone, which I reckon is about accurate. With normal phone use, you won't struggle to get a full day of power from it. If you're shooting hundreds of snaps on holiday then you can expect the power to drop pretty quickly.

If you keep the screen brightness down and avoid using the flash too much then you can probably get back to your hotel in the evening to give it a boost before going out to dinner. As a general rule with most smart phones though, expect to charge it every night if you don't want to live in fear of it conking out.

Nokia Lumia 1020 - Conclusion

As a camera, the Lumia 1020 is able to capture absolutely excellent images that you'd typically expect to see from a decent compact digital camera, thanks to its large sensor and manual controls. Its Windows Phone 8 software still suffers from a big lack of apps though and its internal specs won't impress dedicated tech nerds.

If your primary concern from a phone is image quality and you're not fussed about having the latest apps, the Lumia 1020 will suit you well. If you're looking for more of a compromise, then a high-end Android phone will probably be more suitable.