After weeks of rumours, Finnish phone giant Nokia finally lifted the lid on its new Lumia 1020 smartphone that boasts a second generation PureView 41 megapixel sensor. This rear-facing camera sensor features optical image stabilisation, backside-illumination, a Xenon flash for still images, and LED flash for video.  

Having a large camera sensor protruding the back of the device means that the Lumia 1020 is not as thin (129 x 70.6 x 8.5 mm) or light (139 g) as the companies most recent smartphone flagship - the Lumia 925. The Lumia 1020 measures 130.4 x 71.4 x 10.4 mm and tips the smartphone scales at 158 g, which luckily makes it noticeably lighter (185 g) and around the same size (130.3 x 70.8  x 10.7 mm) as the tank-like Lumia 920 (review).

The Windows Phone 8 operating smartphone is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and boasts 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB worth of internal storage, as well as  7 GB free SkyDrive cloud storage. Also onboard is a 1.2 MP wide-angle front-facing snapper, 2000 mAh battery that supports wireless charging via a special cover, LTE (4G) connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 n, and NFC.

The belly of the photographic beast

The rear-facing 41 MP camera of Nokia’s Lumia 1020 features Carl Zeiss optics with six physical lenses that according to Nokia helps deliver crystal clear pictures even within low light conditions. In addition, this smartphone assist users in capturing blur free videos with the help of optical image stabilisation, and stereo sound thanks to Nokia Rich Recording (first seen on the Nokia 808 PureView). Nokia Rich Recording is able to handle sound pressure levels six times louder than conventional smartphone microphones, allowing for greater recording depth and quality.

Using a new feature called dual capture, the Lumia 1020 simultaneously takes a high resolution 38 megapixel photo and then creates a 5 MP version of this image as well. The former can be utilised for endless editing opportunities, whilst the latter is most useful for sharing via social networking sites.

Instead of the normal clean but functional Windows Phone 8 camera interface, users will employ Nokia's Pro Camera application to snap pictures. This application sports improved camera features as well as an enhanced interface that visually demonstrates how settings will affect the final photo or video.

The Lumia 1020 features the Oggl Pro application that delivers the most advanced smartphone camera controls to exploit the power of the PureView sensor. Nokia also revealed that popular applications the likes of Vine, Path and Flipboard will soon become available for Windows Phone.

Other features

Users can review their photos and videos on a 4.5" (768 x 1280; 334 ppi pixel density) PureMotion HD+ AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. This touchscreen sports Nokia’s ClearBlack technology for improved readability outdoors in direct sunlight, as well as the firm’s super sensitive touch technology for utilising the display whilst wearing gloves.

Although we already liked Nokia’s PureMotion HD+ screen on the Lumia 920 (although in LCD guise in that case), it must be noted that it does not match the full HD resolutions of today’s class-leading premium smartphones the likes of the Galaxy S4 (review) and HTC One (review).  

The Nokia Lumia 1020 will be released on 26 July in the US, whereafter it is expected to arrive in China as well as key European markets during the quarter. This smartphone will be available in yellow, white and black. Unfortunately, no local release info is available yet, with Nokia South Africa just stating that details on availability and pricing in other markets will follow soon.  

In related news, Nokia also recently revealed that South African Asha feature phone users are now able to send and receive Office emails via their mobile phones, thanks to the release of Mail for Exchange app for the Nokia Asha 311, 310, 309 and 308.