There are now two smartphones on the market featuring outstanding cameras.  The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom and the new Nokia Lumia 1020 PureView.

Before we compare the cameras of these bad boys, let’s check out how the other features stack up against each other.

Dimension

Nokia Lumia 1020 PureView: Height 130.4 mm x Width 71.4 mm x Thickness/Depth 10.4 mm, Weight: 158g

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom: 125.5 x 63.5 x 15.4 mm, 208 g

Display

Lumia 1020 PureView:  4.5 ” ClearBlack AMOLED with super-sensitive touch technology featuring PureMotion HD+, Brightness control, High brightness mode, Refresh rate 60 Hz, easy to clean sculpted glass, Nokia Glance screen, Lumia Color profile, Wide viewing angle, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Sunlight readability enhancements

Galaxy S4 Zoom: 4.3 inches (~256 ppi pixel density), Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, Corning Gorilla Glass 3

SIM

Lumia 1020 PureView: micro SIM

Galaxy S4 Zoom: micro SIM

Connectivity

Lumia 1020 PureView:  3.5 mm audio jack, micro USB, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 3.0, WLAN IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n, WiFi channel bonding, NFC for payment, Sharing, Pairing, Tagging

Galaxy S4 Zoom: 3.5 mm audio jack, EDGE, GPRS, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Infrared, micro USB 2.0

Data Network

Lumia 1020 PureView: GSM network: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, GSM max data speed DL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps, GSM max data speed UL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps, LTE network bands: 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, LTE max data speed DL: 100 Mbps, LTE max data speed UL: 50 Mbps, WCDMA network: 900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 1900 MHz, 850 MHz, WCDMA max data speed DL: HSDPA – 42.2 Mbps, WCDMA max data speed UL: HSUPA – 5.76 Mbps

Galaxy S4 Zoom: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – all versions, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 – all versions, LTE in some markets

Battery

Lumia 1020 PureView: 2000 mAh built-in battery with a maximum 2G talk time of 19.1 hours, maximum 3G talk time of 13.3 h, music playback time of 63 h, video playback time of 6.8 h, maximum WiFi network browsing time of 5.5 h, and supports wireless charging via an accessory cover.

Galaxy S4 Zoom: Li-Ion 2330 mAh battery, no data on battery life yet

Processor

Lumia 1020 PureView: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4

Galaxy S4 Zoom: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A9, Pega-Dual +XMM6262

Memory

Lumia 1020 PureView: 2GB RAM, 32BG mass memory, 7 GB free SkyDrive cloud storage

Galaxy S4 Zoom: 8 GB (5 GB user available), 1.5 GB RAM

Physical keys

Lumia 1020 PureView: Volume keys, Camera key, Power/Lock key

Galaxy S4 Zoom: Home button, Power/lock key, volume rocker and camera key

OS

Lumia 1020 PureView: Windows Phone 8

Galaxy S4 Zoom: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

Sensors

Lumia 1020 PureView: Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor, Magnetometer

Galaxy S4 Zoom: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

And now the Camera match

Secondary camera

Lumia 1020 PureView: HD 1.2 MP wide angle, 1280 x 960 pixels, f/2.4, capable of video recording, still image capture, video call.

Galaxy S4 Zoom: 1.9MP

Main camera

Lumia 1020 PureView: 41 MP, PureView, 7712 x 5360 camera resolution, with autofocus , Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, 1/1.5 inch sensor size, f/2.2 aperture, 26mm camera focal length, 15cm minimum focus range, JPEG camera image format, Xenon flash, 4.0m flash operating range, with on, off and automatic flash modes.

Optical image stabilization, PureView, Backside-illuminated image sensor, 6-lens optics, High resolution zoom 3x with digital camera add-ons such as Nokia Smart Camera, Cinemagraph lens, Panorama lens, Bing vision, PhotoBeamer, Creative Studio, Nokia Glam Me, and Nokia Pro Camera which lets you play choose between auto mode and manual mode to take full control of over exposure, shutter speed, ISO, white balance and focus – just like on an expensive DSLR camera.

Galaxy S4 Zoom: 16 MP, autofocus, Xenon flash, 1/2.33” sensor size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, 10x optical zoom (24-240mm), optical image stabilization, HDR, panorama, ISO, 16M BSI CMOS Sensor,

It has a zoom ring that gives you access to Quick Launch and Shortcut for multiple camera modes.  it has features such as the Photo Suggest which instantly connects users to huge libraries of images taken by fellow photographers, Smart Mode Suggest which recognizes lighting conditions, scenery, and objects, and instantly recommends the optimal Smart Mode, Smart Mode button which gives you access to a wide range of special modes

The Verdict

Overall, the Lumia 1020 looks better, not because of the color, but because it’s not as bulky as the S4 Zoom.  Also, the Lumia 1020 is lighter by 50 grams, so that’s a plus.

The S4 Zoom’s appearance is okay if you want for a smartphone that looks like a digital camera, but if you want a smartphone with a great camera without looking like you fuzed a camera and a phone, then the Lumia 1020 is your best bet.

As for the camera, hands down the Lumia 1020 takes the cake with its 41MP sensor, which means photos will appear so clear that even if you zoom in on it, you’ll still see details like people’s faces.  Plus, if you like the camera look of the S4 Zoom, there’s an accessory available to make it look like a camera.

Perk points for both devices include their physical camera buttons, making it’s easier for some to take photos by pressing a button than tapping on a screen.  Some says tapping produces blurred photos, while others say pressing a button makes your hand shake – both lead to crappy photos.  Both devices have the physical button and the onscreen button, so the user has the freedom to choose which suits them best.

It still depends on whether you like Android or Windows Phone 8, but if you’re not too picky on what platform your smartphone uses, then go and explore before you buy.