Which One Will You Buy?

It seems to be getting increasingly tough to differentiate between the latest offerings from smartphone manufacturers, although devoted followers of specific brands will probably disagree!

Two of the Smartphones competing for your business are the Nokia Lumia 925 and the Sony Xperia Z1, so let us see how they stack up.

The Xperia Z1 has only been around for a very short time, but is already getting favourable reviews with a large 5-inch display screen with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution at 441 pixels per inch (ppi) density. This compares with the Lumia 925 which has a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels at 334 ppi.

The larger screen gives the Xperia Z1 a more substantial feel than the Lumia 925, which is understandable when you consider the Sony measures 144.4 x 73.9 x 8.5mm and weighs in at 170g, whereas the Nokia is just 129 x 70.6 x 8.5mm and weighs 139g.

While the Xperia Z1 uses the Android 4.2.2 operating system, overlaid with the Sony customised user interface, Nokia has the Windows Phone 8 software and the standard Microsoft tiled appearance.  Performance from the Nokia is adequate from the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus dual-core processor with 1GB system memory, but the Sony Xperia Z1 really flies with the Snapdragon 800 SoC processor and the 2GB of system memory.

Both smartphones have 16GB of internal storage, but while the Sony Xperia Z1 has the ability to enhance this up to 64GB through a microSD card, the Nokia Lumia 925 gives you no such option as it has no memory card slot. This could be a drawback if you like a lot of apps or HD videos on your Smartphone.

If you love to take photos with your Smartphone, then you will be impressed with the rear facing camera built in to the Xperia Z1. The Sony has a massive 20.7-megapixel camera, a large back illuminated sensor and a heap of features including face and smile detection, digital zoom, auto focus, geo tagging, panorama and touch focus.

The Nokia Lumia 8.7-megapixel PureView camera has almost as many features, with optical image stabilisation (the Sony has digital stabilisation), face detection, geo tagging and panorama capability among others. Both Smartphones have the usual front facing camera that on the Nokia is 1.2-megapixels, while the Sony Xperia is 2.0-megapixels.

So on the face of it, the Sony Xperia Z1 seems to win hands down with its larger screen, faster processor and more options. But if you want a Smartphone that looks good, fits in your pocket and performs well enough for the majority of users, then the Nokia Lumia 925 will not let you down. The choice is yours to make!