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| 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.
