Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs Nokia Lumia Icon – What to choose?

Today we’ll be looking at two of the best smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3, one of the Android flagships, and Lumia Icon, a high-end smartphone designed by Nokia. While Nokia Lumia Icon runs with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 runs on a heavily skinned Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, dubbed TouchWiz. Both of them representing two well-respected platforms, it’s not an easy task deciding which is best, but we’ll try anyway.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is definitely trying to dominate the smartphone market with its variations, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9000 with 3G connectivity, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9002 with dual SIM card support or with Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 with 3G & LTE connectivity. Besides these, the Galaxy Note 3 handset is only 8.3 mm thick, with the same amount of bodywork above and below the display, giving it a sleek appearance. The display features Super AMOLED capacitive 5.7 inch touchscreen, with incredibly robust color, contrast and brightness. With Dual Shot app, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection and image stabilization, Galaxy Note 3’s camera is quite admirable and very appreciated.

In what regards the price, the Galaxy Note 3 is not cheap, but this inconvenient should be overlooked considering the quality. A well built smartphone with very attractive looks, with an endurance rating of 75 hours, a camera that ensures both image and sound quality, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was created to satisfy the pickiest potential buyers.

• CPU -Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 (N9005, N9002)/ Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 (N9000) / Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (N9005, N9002)/ Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (N9000)
• GPU – Adreno 330 (N9005, N9002)/ Mali-T628 MP6 (N9000)
• OS – Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.4.2 (KitKat)
• DISPLAY – Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.7 inches (~386 ppi pixel density) with Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• MEMORY – microSD, up to 64 GB, internal storage 16/32/64 GB storage, 3 GB RAM
• BATTERY – Li-Ion 3200 mAh battery
• CAMERA – Primary camera 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash; Secondary camera 2 MP, 1080p@30fps
• VIDEO – 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps (N9005, N9002)/ 1080p (N9000)
• BODY – 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm (5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 in)
• WEIGHT – 168 g (5.93 oz)
• WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
• EXTRA – S Pen stylus

Nokia Lumia Icon

Lumia Icon is easily considered a digital photographer’s delight, with its 20MP PureView camera with digital image stabilization, ZEISS optics, double LED flash and many other manual controls. The device is expected to produce great photos and videos, it’s been set to save two files for each shot: a full 19MP image for cropping or editing, that can be reframed later on to your liking, and a 5MP image, ideal for online sharing. The recording quality is also outstanding, with great sound even at high volume levels (80 dB), thanks to the four built-in microphones.

Nokia Lumia Icon’s 5 inch OLED display is a huge selling point for the device. The resolution is at 1080X1920, enabling the device to have a PPI of 441 pixels per inch. The super sensitive properties of the touchscreen gives the possibility to operate it with a pen or a fingernail, even through a glove.

• CPU – Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400 / Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
• GPU – Adreno 330
• OS – Microsoft Windows Phone 8 Black
• DISPLAY – Corning Gorilla Glass 3 / Clear Black Display, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density) with AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• MEMORY – 32 GB, 2 GB RAM, No SD Card
• BATTERY – Li-Ion 2420 mAh battery (BV-5QW)
• CAMERA – Primary camera 20 MP, 4992 х 3744 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, autofocus, dual-LED flash; Secondary camera 1.2 MP, 720p
• VIDEO – 1080p@30fps, video light, stereo sound rec.
• BODY – 137 x 71 x 9.8 mm (5.39 x 2.80 x 0.39 in)
• WEIGHT – 167 g (5.89 oz)
• WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot

Conclusion

While both devices are worthy of praise, considering image and sound quality and of course the large displays and sleek appearances, we’ll draw the line here and pay attention to the other aspects. Of course, the Nokia Lumia Icon may take better photos or record better, but Samsung Galaxy Note 3 surpasses every other feature. The Galaxy Note 3 is better designed and has better hardware performance, but the most important thing is that it has a much stronger battery, the endurance rating is 75 hours, compared to the Lumia Icon’s 40 hours. Regarding the software, the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean is very reliable, but Microsoft Windows Phone 8 is also very much appreciated, so in this case it all narrows down to your preferences.

So, if you’re in search for a new smartphone, you could be pleased with the Nokia Lumia Icon, but Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a better choice.