- 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
- Nokia Lumia 920
- Nokia Lumia 820
- HTC 8X
- Samsung Galaxy S Advance
Rated 80% by by c|net (Nov, 2011)The Samsung Focus S, introduced by AT&T, is a beautiful device: it's thin, it's light (maybe too light), and it sports a gorgeous 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a quite good 8-megapixel rear-facing camera.
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.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Samsung Focus S compared to the Nokia Lumia 900
GHz1.5
Windows Phone 7.5 Mango 3.5G
Rated 80% by by c|net (Nov, 2011)Samsung has a knack for making some pretty nice cameras, and the Focus S is the lucky recipient of an 8-megapixel lens and a 1.3-megapixel front-facer.
1.4 GHz
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.
screen size
4.3"
4.3"
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.
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.
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.
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.
Performance Real world tests of Samsung Focus S vs Nokia Lumia 900
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.
talk time
390 min
420 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!
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the Nokia Lumia 900
| Has a removable battery | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; Old batteries can be replaced inexpensively | |||
| Much lighter | 111 g | vs | 160 g |
| More than 30% lighter | |||
| Much smaller | 67 x 126 x 8 mm | vs | 128 x 69 x 12 mm |
| Around 35% smaller | |||
| More highly reviewed by consumers | 86.52% | vs | 77.89% |
| More than 10% more highly reviewed by consumers | |||
| Quite a bit thinner | 8 mm | vs | 12 mm |
| More than 30% thinner | |||
| Faster processor | 1.5 GHz | vs | 1.4 GHz |
| More than 5% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
Advantages compared to the Samsung Focus S
| Is 4G | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; Supports the fastest, most reliable networks | |||
| Significantly better theoretical download speed | 50 Mb/s | vs | 7.2 Mb/s (HSDPA) |
| Around 7x better theoretical download speed; enjoy lightning fast downloads on modern networks | |||
| More battery capacity | 1,830 mA·h | vs | 1,650 mA·h |
| More than 10% more battery capacity | |||
| Marginally newer | Apr, 2012 | vs | Nov, 2011 |
| Release date 5 months later | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Samsung Focus S | Nokia Lumia 900 | ||
 |  
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Rated by 90 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by Troy (Nov, 2011) Rated 100% by by Click (Nov, 2011) Rated 100% by by E.-M.-Wodka (Jan, 2012) | Rated by 807 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by LimitedGovernment (May, 2012) Rated 100% by by Matthew-R.-Hall (Oct, 2012) Rated 100% by by J.-Leon--J.L (Apr, 2012) | |
screen
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 83% by by c|net (Apr, 2012)I compared the Lumia 900 with the Samsung Focus S, which has an identical screen size and WVGA resolution (800x480 pixels).
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 83% by by c|net (Apr, 2012)I compared the Lumia 900 to the iPhone 4S screen (above) and the Samsung Focus S (below), with brightness on full blast.
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 60% by by Kenneth-StevensonThe capacitive touch screen is slower and less responsive than the Focus S.[The following is solved with a case - see "update" below].
focus
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by IShareTek (May, 2012)I've carried every version of the iPhone including the 4S, the original Samsung Focus, the HTC Trophy, the Samsung Focus S, and the HTC Titan.
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 60% by by Kenneth-StevensonI've had the Samsung Focus and the Focus S and now the Lumia 900.
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by Todd (Apr, 2012)The phone is a bit thicker than the FocusS, and if you saw my review of the Focus S, I really didn't like the phone being that thin.
size
Nokia Lumia 900 | Rated 100% by by R.-L.-Lewis (May, 2012)It is certainly heavier than the Focus S or other Samsung models, but I've discovered this added weight, combined with the matte finish, assists with gripping ability.
visibility
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 Todd (Apr, 2012)As a current WindowsPhone user (Focus S) I'm very familiar with the software and the OS.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Rated the best by consumers |
 | 2 | Nokia Lumia 920 Most built-in storage |
 | 3 | Nokia Lumia 820 2-way tie: Longest battery life during active use |
 | 4 | HTC 8X Sharpest screen |
 | 5 | Samsung Galaxy S Advance Long standby time |
 | 7 | Nokia Lumia 800 4-way tie: Supports FM radio |
 | 8 | HTC 8S 3-way tie: Supports Flash |
