Nokia, once the biggest mobilephones maker on the planet is definitely facing difficult times. Its partnership with Microsoft to create an alternative to Android and iOS and “disrupt” the smartphones market hasn’t really paid off. Both the companies are looking to change that scenario with their respective new launches. Microsoft – with the Windows Phone 8 and Nokia with its Windows Phone powered smartphones.
That brings us to Nokia’s latest flagship, the 4.5 inch Clear Black Pure HD+ display toting, Windows Phone 8 powered Lumia 920. Visually identical to the Lumia 900, which didn’t exactly set the sales charts on fire, the Lumia 920 is a completely different beast inside. While we would be taking a detailed look at the Lumia in a separate article, in this one we would be taking a look at the 920’S claim to fame – it’s amazing video capture ability with optical image stabilization.
Nokia was kind enough to let us get hold of a Lumia 920 and gave us an opportunity to check it out for a day. The intention was to check out the image stabilization capability of the device in “shaky” circumstances. To test it, what better place than the (slightly) choppy seas off the Mumbai coast!
Luckily, we had a spare unit of the HTC made Windows Phone 8 flagship – the 8X with us as well. Well, what followed next was this comparison video that we took. This video was taken at the same time using the HTC 8X and the Lumia 920. I had both these handsets in either of my hands so the lighting condition, sound and colors had no variance. All settings were set to default and the video was taken in full HD resolution.
What we observed was that the colors on the Lumia 920 video look vibrant and richer. You can see the difference in the color of the sky to understand what I am on about. Also note the color of the water in the 920- compared to that of the 8X. The sharpness of the structures in the background too seem better on the Lumia 920. While this was not a very scientific test, you might also notice that the Lumia 920 video also happens to be a lot less shakier. This we believe is the much talked about Optical Image Stabilization at work. Overall, at first glance, the Lumia 920 IS THE phone to get if you require better quality video recording. One grouse we had with the Lumia 920 was that the HTC 8X was able to capture sounds better – in the windy environment in which this was captured. In fact, the audio you hear in this video was taken on the 8X. Wind noise was too much on the Lumia 920.
Taking a look at these videos, which one do you think is the better phone when it comes to imaging and video recording?
