Lumia versus Lumia: The Nokia Lumia 520 & 720 compared

The two latest Nokia Lumia releases look like they will be good sellers. The biggest factor that might hold them back is that Windows Phone operating system is not well known in the Philippines. The Nokia brand is another matter. The name Nokia still carries a fair amount of weight around here.

Nokia Lumia 720

There is a big price gap between these two phones. The lowest price I have found the Nokia Lumia 720 is selling for, with a official warranty, is Php13,990.  As for the Nokia Lumia, it can be had for Php7,450 with an official warranty. That is a price difference of Php6,500. Basically, you can almost buy two Lumia 520's for the cost of one Lumia 720. Is the Lumia 720 twice as good?

Nokia Lumia 520

Display. The Lumia 720 has a 4.3-inch display, which is substantially larger than the 4-inch display of the Lumia 520. Both screens are WVGA displays with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution. This actually means that the Lumia 520 has the sharper display, but the Lumia 720 uses ClearBlack technology which gives it better contrast. The Lumia 720 also has a Gorilla Glass protected display, while the Lumia 520 has a scratch resistant display of lesser durability.

Winner: Lumia 720

Power. Both phones have dual core 1 GHz Qualcomm Krait processors, Adreno 305 graphics and 512 MB of RAM.

Winner: Tie

Storage. Both phones have 8 GB of internal storage, expandable via a MicroSD card slot. MicroSD cards of up to 64 GB are officially supported.

Winner: Tie

Connectivity. Both phones support HSPA+ connectivity.

Winner: Tie

Cameras. The Lumia 720 has a front camera, while the Lumia 520 has none. The Lumia 720 has a better camera with a larger sensor and higher quality lens. You can compare image samples at this link: GSM Arena Compare Tool. The Lumia 720 also has a flash for its camera, while the Lumia 520 does not.

Winner: Lumia 720

Battery life. The Lumia 720 has pretty good battery life. The battery on the Lumia 720 is a healty 2000 mAh unit. The Lumia 520 has a smaller 1430 mAh battery. While the smaller 4-inch display on the Lumia 520 will use less power than the 4.3-inch on the Lumia 720,  I estimate that the Lumia 720 will have about 10-15% better battery life on task where the screen is on, and the gaps gets much larger in terms of talk and standby times.

Winner: Lumia 720

Conclusion. No doubt, the Lumia 720 is the better phone, with a a larger and higher quality display, a front camera, a better quality primary camera and longer battery life. But for the price gap, it is clear the Lumia 520 is a really good deal, while the Lumia 720 a nice phone for the money but not as good as a value for money proposition as the Lumia 520.