Smartphone Wars: Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Versus Nokia Lumia 1020

Here we are, matching up these 2 smartphones. Just take a look.These photography big shots are almost more camera than smartphone.

With their focus on photography, Nokia's Lumia 1020 and Samsung's Galaxy S4 Zoom are the smartphone industry's camera big shots.

While both strive for smartphone imaging prowess, these two devices are really very different. It's best to think of the Lumia 1020 as a smartphone with a good camera, and of the S4 Zoom as a point-and-shoot that can make calls.

For now, I match up the phones' specs and lay out some strengths of each. I'll come back and flesh this out with many more comparisons -- including image quality -- after fully testing the Zoom. The Lumia 1020, for its part, has been fully reviewed.

Camera resolution

The Lumia 1020 has a 41-megapixel resolution, which is a bit of a misnomer because photos resolve to 5 megapixels by default. You can peel off the full resolution images manually, through the computer.

Samsung's camera grabs 16-megapixel shots, but its sensor is smaller than on the Lumia 1020. It is easier, however, to get to the full-resolution output. We'll need to wait on a photo quality shootout to decide which ones takes the better photos.

Phone	Nokia Lumia 1020	Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom
OS	Windows Phone 8	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
U.S. carrier	AT&T	TBA
Camera	41 megapixels	16 megapixels
Zoom	3x digital	10x optical
Sensor size	1/1.5-inch BSI CMOS	1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS
Aperture	F 2.2	F 3.1-F 6.3
Focal range	26mm	24-240mm
Front-facing camera	1.2-megapixels	1.9-megapixels
Video recording	1080p HD rear; 720p HD front	1080p HD rear; 720p HD front
Processor	1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4	1.5GHz dual-core Pega-Dual +XMM6262
Screen	4.5-inch AMOLED	4.3-inch Super AMOLED
Resolution	1,280x768; 331ppi	960x540; 256ppi
Dimensions (inches)	5.1x2.8x0.5	5x2.5x0.61
Weight (ounces)	5.6	7.3
Battery	2,000mAh, embedded	2,330mAh, removable
Internal storage	32GB	8GB
Expansion slot	No	Yes, up to 64GB
4G	LTE	LTE
RAM	2GB	Not listed
Bluetooth version	3.0	4.0
NFC	Yes	Yes

Zoom in on it

The Zoom has all the advantage with a 10x optical zoom that should handily smash the Lumia 1020's 3x digital zoom.

At least that's what we expect for a physical zooming lens. As a general rule of thumb, optical zoom produces higher-quality images than digital zoom, among other things. Of course, we won't know for sure until the test results come in. Stay tuned!

Settings and controls

Apart from high-resolution images and the larger sensor size, Nokia's manual camera controls are a high point. There aren't any preset modes in the default Nokia Pro Cam app, which isn't great (you have to switch camera apps or add lenses,) and the camera doesn't handle close-ups well in automatic settings. However, the sliding controls are convenient for creative snaps.