Nokia Lumia 1020 revealed – Windows Phone with 41MP Camera and OIS

Nokia has finally revealed its next super camera phone the Nokia Lumia 1020 which boasts an epic 41MP sensor and runs on a more relevant Windows Phone 8 operating system. It’s internals are roughly the same as the Lumia 920 with a couple of enhancements here and there. On the front you’ll get a similar 4.5″ 1280×768 display but on the Lumia 1020 it uses AMOLED instead of IPS display which is further toughen by Gorilla Glass 3.

Powering the device is a familiar dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 2GB of RAM (double from the Lumia 920) and comes with 32GB of storage. Juicing up the device is a 2,000mAh battery and overall it is lighter at 158grams (Lumia 920: 185 grams) with a thickness of 10.4mm. Just like the Lumia 920, the Lumia 1020 also supports 4G LTE as well.

The camera’s pixel count remains unchanged from last year’s Symbian based 808 PureView but the 2nd generation sensor size on the Lumia 1020 is slightly smaller at 1/1.5″ vs the 808 PureView’s 1/1.2″. Nevertheless the sensor is up to 5 times bigger than typical smart phone cameras, which should provide better detail and low noise performance. Nokia has even included 6 elements Carl Zeiss lenses on the Lumia 1020, which is one element additional from the 808 PureView. The camera features doesn’t end there as Nokia is taking its 2nd generation Optical Image Stabilisation up to the next level with the usage of ball bearings to eliminate blurry shots due to hand shake or fast moving objects.

When taking pictures, the Lumia 1020 is able to shoot 34MP in 16:9 aspect ratio or 38MP in 4:3. Some might argue that it is an overkill to shoot such a high resolution image for mere social sharing over the internet. To address that, the Lumia 1020 is able to take 2 photos (high resolution and 5MP oversampled version) each time the shutter button is pressed. This allows you to share the 5MP version immediately and if you need to edit or manipulate the shot, you would still have the high resolution source at your disposal.

Dubbed as Zoom Reinvented, the Lumia 1020 may lack the bulky optical zoom lens like the ones seen on a Galaxy S4 Zoom but they have a different way of achieving loss-less zoom. Since the original source image is already a high res 41MP, its zoom is achieved by “cropping” a desired 5MP section without the nasty up-scaling that distorts. Effectively you can perform high-resolution zoom up to 3X for still images and up to 4X for Full HD videos. Not forgetting at the front, there’s a 1.2MP camera which is capable of shooting 720p HD videos. For Flash, it uses both Xenon and LED for still shots and video recording respectively.

The Lumia 1020 will be available in striking yellow, black and white. Commercial availability will start in the US on 26th July onwards with AT&T, followed by China and Western Europe shortly after. No exact dates we’re mentioned for other markets except that it is coming soon. The 808 PureView was an impressive phone photography marvel which is marred by a low resolution display and dated operating system. Now with the Lumia 1020, this certainly looks more promising but question is whether Windows Phone platform is appealing enough to draw new converts into their fold.

Head after the break for the official promo and hands-on video.

Nokia Lumia 1020 Videos

Nokia Lumia 1020 Product Images

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