- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- LG Nexus 4
- Sony Xperia Z
- LG Optimus G
- Samsung Galaxy S III mini
- Nokia Lumia 820
Rated 83% by by c|net (Apr, 2012)The LTE speeds, high-end features, and crazy-reasonable $99 price tag make the Lumia 900 a sure choice for Windows Phone fans looking for a statement piece to help them stand out.
by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The things to expect of all this tech are better colors, better noise performance, more sharpness and more precise white balance.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Nokia Lumia 900 compared to the Apple iPhone 4S
GHz1.4
Windows Phone 7.5 Mango 4G
Rated 70% by by The Verge (Apr, 2012)Data performance was pretty awesome on the Lumia 900 — when I was in range of LTE, of course.
0.8 GHz
iOS 6 3.5G
by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The iPhone 4S is blazing fast on the new dual-core CPU and graphics chip.
screen size
4.3"
3.5"
Lumia 900 by DigiGuru (Apr, 2012)I have to give this phone a 5 star ratingThis is a great phone, liked the size, screen is big enough and also fit in pocket.
iPhone 4S by Jaffrey-W.-Ali--Relentless-Pursuit-of-TechnologyI guess if you play a lot of games then a larger screen may be acceptable, but as a daily smartphone the iPhone 4S is extremely well designed aesthetically and in size.
screen resolution
Lumia 900 by Jun--Jun (Apr, 2012)Nokia Drive is so smooth, accurate, fast and with great detail, even better than my Garmin 900.
iPhone 4S by electronicnut (Mar, 2013)She loved the crisp, clean retina display, the beautiful images it took, and the overall ease of using the phone.
memory
| 0 GB | 0.5 GB | 0.5 GB |
processor
Lumia 900 by dbehling (Jun, 2012)Who cares about dual core quad core because even though i hear it's single core it functions smooth and extremely fast.
iPhone 4S by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)We’ve got a dual-core smartphone and a full fledged cameraphone waiting in the lab.
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 8 MP | 8 MP |
Lumia 900 by Bacchus (Apr, 2012)The 8 megapixel camera on the Lumia 900 takes great photos but some of the pics did come out a little oversaturated.
iPhone 4S by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The iPhone 4S has a strong claim on being the best 8 megapixel cameraphone.
Performance Real world tests of Nokia Lumia 900 vs Apple iPhone 4S
cpu speed
Lumia 900 by GSD--GSD (Apr, 2012)I was playing with a friends new Droid who was bragging about the memory and dual core processor, but the phone lagged far behind in actual performance.
iPhone 4S by M.-Hagler (Apr, 2012)Siri is great and the camera is nice, but the differences in processor speed and screen resolution are not, while noticeable, mind blowing.
talk time
420 min
840 min
Lumia 900 by John-Lonappanalthough I use the phone around less than 30 minutes talk time and very minimal data usage, also disabled all the background processes I have to charge twice a day!
iPhone 4S by c|net (Oct, 2011)Despite the more powerful processor, the company claims that the smartphone will be able to provide 8 hours of talk time over 3G, 14 hours over 2G, 6 hours of browsing over 3G, 9 hours via Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video playback, and 40 hours of music playback.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the Apple iPhone 4S
| Screen uses OLED technology | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| About half of phones are OLED; OLED screens are typically higher contrast and use less power | |||
| Is 4G | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Supports the fastest, most reliable networks | |||
| Supports FM radio | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Listen to music and news from local radio stations | |||
| Significantly faster processor | 1.4 GHz | vs | 0.8 GHz |
| Around 75% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
| Bigger screen | 4.3" | vs | 3.5" |
| More than 20% bigger screen | |||
| More battery capacity | 1,830 mA·h | vs | 1,420 mA·h |
| Around 30% more battery capacity | |||
| Supports multitasking | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Run multiple apps at once | |||
| Better theoretical download speed | 50 Mb/s | vs | 14.4 Mb/s |
| Around 3.5x better theoretical download speed; enjoy lightning fast downloads on modern networks | |||
| Longer standby time | 18,000 min | vs | 12,000 min |
| 50% longer standby time | |||
| Marginally newer | Apr, 2012 | vs | Oct, 2011 |
| Release date 5 months later | |||
Advantages compared to the Nokia Lumia 900
| Much bigger app store | 825,000 apps (Apple App Store) | vs | 120,000 apps (Windows Phone Marketplace) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around 7x more apps; find an app for virtually any task | |||
| Much smaller | 59 x 115 x 9 mm | vs | 128 x 69 x 12 mm |
| Around 40% smaller | |||
| Outputs video to TV | Proprietary | vs | None |
| About half of smartphones can output to TVs; the modern day slide projector, great for sharing your photos & videos | |||
| Significantly sharper screen | 328 ppi | vs | 216 ppi |
| More than 50% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Significantly longer talk time | 840 min | vs | 420 min |
| 2x longer talk time; go days without charging | |||
| More cores | Dual core | vs | Single core |
| Twice as many cores; each additional core lets your phone do more without visible UI slowdowns and jerkiness | |||
| Records higher def video | 1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps | vs | 1280 x 720 @ 30 fps |
| 2.2x higher def video | |||
| Lighter | 140 g | vs | 160 g |
| Around 15% lighter | |||
| Higher resolution screen | 960 x 640 | vs | 800 x 480 |
| 60% higher resolution screen | |||
| Thinner | 9 mm | vs | 12 mm |
| Around 20% thinner | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Nokia Lumia 900 | Apple iPhone 4S | ||
 |  
| 
| |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Rated by 807 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by LimitedGovernment (May, 2012) Rated 100% by by Ryan-RC-Rea--VolvoZuner | Rated by 16 users at amazon.com Rated 40% by by NSH (Feb, 2012) Rated 100% by by Erik (Sep, 2012) Rated 80% by by Pizzabrick (Mar, 2012) | |
screen
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Pierre-Huguet--pierre_h (Jun, 2012)it is fast!!! The screen is amazingly bright with blacks that contrast so well it is easy to read in plain sunlight.
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Francis-Feliciano--Tech-Geek (Apr, 2012)Screen - colors are vibrant, blacks are deep black, and easy to view in direct sunlight.
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Neal-L (Apr, 2012)The screen is gorgeous with rich blacks and smooth, bright and accurate color reproduction.
visibility
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by RushCreek519 (Apr, 2012)SCREEN: side-by-side with iPhone, the blacks are so black on the Nokia (can't even tell where the edges of the screen are), colors are more vibrant, looks great in direct sun (iPhone screen is reflective and washed-out).
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by jb8967 (Apr, 2012)The blacks are pure black...not a dark shade of grey...and this screen really works in direct sunlight.
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Troy (Apr, 2012)I had read about the Lumia's ClearBlack display and thought it would be the same as my Samsung Focus S. The deep blacks and eye-popping colors are there, but the major difference is looking at this screen in direct sunlight - I can actually see what I'm doing without shading it or finding an angle away from the sunlight.
operating system
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Suren-Alla (Apr, 2012)Overall Windows OS apps have different experience and I like tab system...Nokia Lumia 900 4G Windows Phone, Black (AT&T).
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Will-Linders (Oct, 2012)At&t and Nokia are pushing this phone out of the loop to make room for the new windows 8 devices.
network technology
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Dan (Apr, 2012)AT&T coverage and speed have been much better at my house than Sprint was (LTE is insanely fast), and the phone itself is outstanding.
Nokia Lumia 900 | by GSM Arena (Apr, 2012)The phone also runs on AT&T's LTE network.
carrier
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Dan (Apr, 2012)I switched from Sprint to AT&T to get this phone, and I couldn't be happier.
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Markus (Apr, 2012)I am coming from the iPhone 4S and and Samsung Galaxy SII, but think that the Nokia Lumia 900, which came free to me since I started a new contract with AT&T, is by far the best phone of those three and the best phone I had so far.
Apple iPhone 4S AT&T, Black, 16 GB | Rated 20% by by Isaac (Feb, 2013)This phone was not factory unlocked this is a AT&T phone but they unlocked when you update your phone I will not work unless you have a AT&T SIM card and that what happens to me today after I update my phone and went to apple store they told me I have to change my career to AT&T in order to be able to use my phone.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Rated the best by consumers |
 | 2 | Sony Xperia Z Better than usual battery capacity |
 | 3 | LG Optimus G Most built-in storage |
 | 5 | Nokia Lumia 820 4-way tie: Screen uses OLED technology |
 | 6 | BlackBerry Z10 Newest on the market |
 | 7 | Motorola RAZR i Longest battery life during active use |
 | 8 | LG Optimus L9 4-way tie: Has a removable battery |
