With the release of the Nokia Lumia 920, Apple and the iPhone 5 faced off against one of its fiercest competitors yet. The Nokia Lumia 920 vs. iPhone 5 battle also represented one of the first major exchanges in the next-generation PC vs. Mac wars, which is to say, Apple iOS vs Windows Phone 8.
Nokia Lumia 920 vs. iPhone 5: Camera
This is an area where the Nokia Lumia 920 trounces the iPhone 5. The Nokia Lumia 920 camera boasts an 8.7 megapixel PureView sensor, compared to the iPhone 5, which has only 8 megapixels.
The Nokia Lumia 920 sensor features a f/2.0 aperture, backside illumination and optical stabilization technology that Nokia calls "floating point lens." iPhone 5 sports a f/2.4 aperture and also has backside illumination. For snapping low-light photographs, however, the Nokia Lumia 920 is simply the best smartphone on the market.
Nokia Lumia 920 vs. iPhone 5: Operating System
The first batch of Lumia phones released by Nokia could not truly be considered a formidable opponent to iPhone 5 since they shipped without Windows 8. The Nokia Lumia 920, then, is one of the first smartphones with the chops to go toe-to-toe against an iOS 6-powered iPhone 5.
The Nokia Lumia 920 arguably implements Windows Phone 8 better than any other handset to date, and Windows Phone 8 itself is arguably the most gorgeous mobile OS currently out there. Glancing at the Lumia 920's dynamic tiles interface offers far more information than iPhone 5 grants on its home screen.
iPhone 5 on the other hand, runs iOS 6 — easily the most intuitive and robust mobile operating system on the market. The Nokia Lumia 920 offers no analog for iOS 6's notification center, which will be tough to overcome, as will be the relative dearth of apps available in the Windows Phone app store.
Nokia Lumia 920 vs. iPhone 5: Screen
The Nokia Lumia 920 is perhaps most competitive when it comes to its screen. The Lumia 920 sports a 4.5-inch LCD display that understands touch input even when you're wearing gloves. The Lumia 920 boasts a resolution of 1,280 x 768, which produces a ppi of 332.
iPhone 5 has a slightly lower ppi of 326, even in spite of the fact that it features a small screen at 4 inches. The resolution for the Retina Display on iPhone 5 is 1,136 x 640, still very impressive, but not as vibrant as the Nokia Lumia 920.
