Nokia Lumia 920 vs LG Optimus G


The Nokia Lumia 920 had its fair share of comparisons made when it won our Battle of the Flagships 2012 but it wasn’t fair to leave it just at that, and hence we are doing the Lumia 920 vs the flagships series. We are looking at the Nokia Lumia 920 vs the LG Optimus G today. The LG Optimus G was one of the first devices to have been manufactured in collaboration with LG’s own companies like LG Innotek, LG Display and LG Chem and it is certainly one of LG’s best Android flagships till date. The Nokia Lumia 920 is Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone device and is probably the best Windows Phone on the market right now. So, how do they compare? Check out the in depth video comparison below and read past the break to know more. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wymaum2vYU

The LG Optimus G is easily the best designed LG smartphone we have laid eyes on. Don’t mistake us, but we want to specifically highlight the LG part, when we say it is the best designed LG smartphone. Previously, the devices were bland and were almost exclusively black or grey, but with the Optimus G, they have stepped up their game with a decent design and materials to complement that design. It looks like most other smartphones, a boxy rectangle with curves on the corners but it definitely has that distinct look which makes it stand out. Compared with the Nokia Lumia 920 though, it looks a bit more traditional, and that’s largely due to the Lumia 920’s fabula design in which Nokia made the unconventional design conventional with repeating the design philosophy since the Nokia N9.

With the dimensions of the Optimus G coming in at 8.7mm for the thickness and weighing in at 147g, while the Lumia 920 is thicker and heavier at 10.7mm thickness and 185g of weight. The Lumia 920 is definitely heavier and thicker than most other smartphones of its class, and compared to the LG, which itself feels a bit heavy in the hand due to the glass back, it feels like a tank. But it’s a good thing that both these devices feel like a tank, it is reassuring. However one thing we have to note is that the glass back on the Optimus G tends to be a concern, and it definitely requires a bumper if you plan to keep it safe from frequent falls. Both these devices are made of dense plastic, with the Lumia 920 being unibody polycarbonate.

The internals of the LG Optimus G are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset which is a 1.5 GHz quad core chip, with graphics powered by the Adreno 320 unit. Safe to say that this is one of the most powerful mobile chipsets right now, and easily blows past the Snapdragon S4 Plus 1.5 GHz dual core chip with Adreno 225 graphics on the Lumia 920. There is no competition here, but for daily usage, both these device are fairly adequate. Other internals like the camera, for example, are Nokia Lumia 920’s territory and the Optimus G is no competition, even with its 13 MP camera, which is overall decent, but the Lumia 920 with its PureView technology, beats most other smartphones in video and low light camera performance. The PureView technology in the Lumia 920 is for the optical image stabilisation that’s in the works, and works well for increasing the exposure of the 8.7 MP sensor and its f2.0 Carl Zeiss lens. It helps in increasing the exposure in low light by keeping the camera stable, and also massively reduces the camera shake. So, without a doubt, it’s Nokia Lumia 920’s are of expertise here, when it comes to the camera.

Other things with respect to the internal hardware, is the amount of RAM and the internal storage capacity. The Lumia 920 has 1 GB of RAM while the Optimus G has 2 GB of RAM. Both the devices have 32 GB of internal storage but lack an expansion slot and a removable battery cover. And finally, the software on both these devices comes to question. The Optimus G runs on Android 4.0.4 ICS, two versions behind the latest version of Android, with a custom skin on top, from LG. The Nokia Lumia 920 runs on Windows Phone 8, and has added exclusive Nokia apps. To go in-depth, it would be better to take a look at the video above, which might help more.

Concluding, the Optimus G is a damn good device, but there are more enticing options in the Android world, like the cheaper Nexus 4, the more appealing Galaxy S3 etc. But when it comes to Windows Phone, you are left with fewer choices, and out of them, the Lumia 920 is the best hardware you can get, only if you can put up with Windows Phone and its limitations. You can read the other comparison posts here. Look forward to the next one!


Author: Bharadwaj Chandramouli

Bharadwaj is a content creator who has been obsessed with technology since the early days of smartphones. He loves talking about tech, is a fan of good design and photography. You can follow him on Twitter @gadgetbuff_ to know what he's upto!