The Galaxy S4 won't be officially unveiled by Samsung for another week, but that is clearly not enough to stop the spec wars from occurring. Never mind that official specs for the Galaxy S4 haven't even been announced yet, how does what's rumored compare to the Nokia Lumia 920?
It might not seem like the most fruitful comparison to make at first. Most people would expect a spec war write-up against the iPhone 5, but the Lumia 920 has been a surprisingly popular phone for Nokia. The Lumia 920 helped Nokia post its first profits last quarter after what seemed like forever, and now people are wondering if the high-end Windows Phone will stand a chance after Samsung reveals the Galaxy S4.
Despite the lack of official specs, the folks over at Capital Technologies put together a comparison between the two. Here's how they fare:
When it comes to display, the Lumia 920 features a 4.5-inch IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 1280 x 768, alongside a pixel density of 332 ppi. For the Galaxy S4, the spec used was a 5-inch HD Super AMOLED display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, with other reports noting a 440 ppi. That's definitely been rumored for the while now, but lately it's been reported that Samsung might go with a SoLux screen due to manufacturing disruption, so the jury might still be out on this until March 14 arrives.
With the hardware, too, the Galaxy S4's internals aren't quite known yet. There were rumors that the S4's Exynos Octa eight-core processor would be getting the axe in favor of a slower one from Qualcomm, but recent reports suggest that Samsung will indeed go with the Exynos. If so, it's quite easily going to take down the Lumia 920's 1.5GHz Snapdragon dual core. The S4 is also expected to double up on the Lumia's 1GB of Ram by offering 2GB.
The most obvious difference will be in terms of operating system. The Lumia 920 runs on Windows Phone 8's distinct tile interface, whereas the Galaxy S4 will run the newest version of Android, likely Jelly Bean 4.2.
Those who like options for internal storage might also prefer the S4, which is expected to offer three choices of 16, 32, and 64GB. The Lumia has a standard 32GB package, and both phones will allow for micro SD expansion.
Everyone uses their smartphones to take pictures now, and the Galaxy S4 is rumored to sport a 13-megapixel rear camera, plus a 2-3-megapixel front lens. The Lumia, meanwhile, has an 8-megapixel camera with Nokia's hyped up PureView tech, alongside a 1.3-megapixel front camera.
Now with the batteries, it gets hard to predict. The Lumia's 2,000 mAh is a known quantity, but the Galaxy S4's is anything but, especially with an Exynos Octa processor draining it for everything it's worth. That's one area we just don't know about it.
Honestly, that can be said about many of the Galaxy S4 specs. Dimensions and weight remain unknown, but March 14 is only seven days from now. Either way, although the S4 is bound to be more high-powered than a months-old Lumia 920, it's fair to say that Nokia built a pretty impressive phone that will continue to serve its users well. As long as they're Windows fans.
