Nokia Lumia 1020 Review Part 1

Because we already covered the basics of the Nokia Lumia 1020, we’ll go straight to what this phone is known for—its camera. We’ve unboxed it and we’ve given you guys our first impressions. Now, after a week-long affair with this 41-Megapixel beauty, we can give you the low-down on the smartphone with the best camera installed.

Note from EIC: This is a two-part review series. The first one is done by Colin while the second one will be done by me. At least you guys get two different takes on the Lumia 1020, hehe.

41-ULTRA SUPER MEGAPIXELS OF AWESOMENESS

They weren’t kidding when they said that they packed this phone with a mega oversampling sensor that could somewhat rival that of a DSLR. While that statement is a bit of an exaggeration, we do keep getting consistently crisp images with the 1020.

If you’ve been following our stories about the Nokia Lumia series, you know that Nokia is proud of their Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) technology. We’ve seen it first in the 920 and then it was upgraded when the 925 came. The 1020 is the amalgam of all the fine qualities of all the Pureview technology from the 808 days to one smooth and sleek phone.

From the pureview’s 41 megapixel oversampling, to the 920’s OIS, and the 925’s 6-lens and Xenon Flash combo that ensures you take amazing photos in whatever lighting condition (or even NO lighting conditions), the Nokia Lumia 1020 has it all.

 

 

 

 

 

The Nokia Lumia 1020 has one bit of flaw, though. We found out that the camera prefers ISO to aperture and shutter speed when taking photos on Auto. This produces a bit of grain in lower-light subjects. However, we believe that this is also true for any other smart phone camera around. The beauty of the 1020 lies when you start playing around with the proprietary Nokia Pro Cam camera app wherein you can fiddle with the camera’s aperture, shutter speed and manual focus – treating it almost like a DSLR. With the settings easily calibrated on the screen, the Nokia Pro Cam is to-date the most intuitive camera app for a smart phone.

 

 

In fact, I decided to do some creative photoshoots after  watching The Last Samurai. The results are pretty satisfying for an amateur photographer like myself.

 

 

 

FINAL VERDICT

With an upgraded RAM and an additional camera grip that also acts as your tripod connector and extended battery pack, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is a must have if you find yourself instagramming everything you see around you. What’s that? Windows Phone has no instagram? Well folks, from the Nokia World 2013 in Abu Dhabi it seems that Instagram is finally coming to Windows Phone. In the meantime, there’s 6TAG which some people even prefer over the Instagram client itself. So really, there are no excuses on the OS here. With the SRP tag of Php 35,650 that comes with a Php 4,000 value camera grip, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is definitely worth the purchase. The hardware alone, packed with all the innovations and the sturdiness that only Nokia can guarantee, means that most of the money spent went to quality parts and the R&D involved rather than just going to the brand name. And even with the announcement of Nokia’s 1520 phablet & 2520’s tablet, the Nokia Lumia, standing at 4.5” tall, is one sleek phone you wouldn’t want to pass on.

P.S. All photos here are shot without any filters.