iPhone 5 vs Lumia 900: Will Nokia's Best Bet Outshine Apple's Flagship iPhone?

Contrary to earlier reports in the Daily Mail suggesting Apple's flagship smartphone (popularly called the iPhone 5) is expected to be unveiled at the Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) this June, the latest reports from a South Korean newspaper says the next-gen iPhone will only hit stores in October.

"We just got the order. It [the release] will be around October," the Human Resources head at Foxconn's Taiyuan (China factory) told South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper.

Quite naturally, as its release date draws closer, talk about comparisons with other flagship gadgets starts gaining currency.

The next-gen iPhone is expected to feature 4G LTE support (like the new iPad), a quad-core processor (although a dual-core chip with quad-core graphics processor like the new iPad is more likely) and a 4-inch-plus screen reinforced with a unibody casing is also on the cards.

According to recent reports by Business Insider, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White, following a tour of tech suppliers in China and Taiwan, said in a note that the iPhone 5, with its significant improvements, will dwarf previous launches.

"In our view, this will be the most significant iPhone upgrade with a four-inch screen and a new, sleek look that we believe will require a Unibody case," he explained.

In contrast, Nokia's Lumia 900 sports a sleek and elegant design with ClearBlack glass touchscreen and comes with the added pleasure of Nokia extras, topped with a cool collection of apps. Finally, Nokia Music brings Mix Radio to the table to deliver a free and seamless music streaming service.

Check out how the two smartphones stack up...

Display: TheNokia Lumia 900 sports an elegant 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display with 800x480 pixels resolution at 217ppi (pixels per inch). In contrast, the iPhone 5 could flaunt a 4-inch Quantum Dot LED curved glass edge-to-edge display with a high resolution (1280x720) 720p HD screen at a pixel density of 367ppi.

Verdict: Apple's iPhone 5 wins the display contest hands down with its ultra-high resolution HD screen and higher pixel density.

Processor and Memory: The Lumia 900 will feature a 1.4GHz single-core Scorpion CPU based on Qualcomm APQ8055 Snapdragon chipset and Adreno 205 GPU. It ships with just 512MB RAM. In comparison, the iPhone 5 will be powered by a (1.2 to 1.5 GHz) A6 quad-core processor with 1GB or more of RAM onboard.

Verdict: The iPhone, with its significantly faster quad-core processor, is the clear winner in this category.

Operating System: The Nokia Lumia is likely to port Microsoft's latest mobile OS - Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, together with Twitter and LinkedIn Integration, Zune SmartDJ mix support and more. On the other hand, Apple might just bring out its new OS - iOS 6 - along with this launch.

Verdict: Apple's iOS 6 is expected to deliver an enhanced features set alongside a slicker interface. Meanwhile, Nokia's Lumia 900 will sport the best Windows mobile OS yet with advanced features like NFC, improved connectivity speeds and seamless social-networking features. There is no clear winner in this department.

Camera: When it comes to cameras, both devices flaunt great features. The Lumia 900 comes with an eight megapixel rear-facing camera with Carl Zeiss optics, touch focus and dual-LED flash. It offers 720p video recording and a single megapixel VGA front-facing camera. In addition, the Tango Video calls software is pre-installed - this allows video calls over Wi-Fi. In contrast, Apple's new iPhone is expected to have at least a 12 megapixel primary camera with dual-LED flash, besides a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chats alongside a probable 3D functionality.

Verdict: Apple's next-gen iPhone holds the winning edge in the camera showdown, with a powerful 12 megapixel camera onboard, besides 3D recording capability.

Connectivity (3G/4G, WLAN/Bluetooth/USB): The iPhone 5 is expected to feature both NFC and 4G LTE technologies, besides WLAN, Bluetooth and USB. The Lumia 900 is likely to harbour HSDPA or HSUPA 3G networks instead of the 4G LTE service, alongside NFC and high-speed microUSB 2.0.

Verdict: Apple's new iPhone holds a slight edge in this category, owing to its high-speed 4G LTE capability. However, high-speed Internet connectivity is limited by the carrier service and coverage zones limited by infrastructure constraints. So, there is no clear winner in this category. We call it a draw.

Storage: Neither the iPhone 5 nor the Lumia 900 will feature support for external microSD cards. The former will ship with three onboard storage options - 16/32/64GB - while the latter will ship with a 16GB model only.

Verdict: The next-gen iPhone clearly holds the winning edge with support for bigger onboard storage sizes in comparison to a meagre 16GB support with the Nokia model.

Battery: The new iPhone is expected to ship with a bigger 1420 mAh battery to deliver superior battery life. This translates into approximately 8 hours of talk time on 3G networks and up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM) networks. In contrast, the Lumia 900 ports a Li-Ion 1830mAh standard battery. It is rated to deliver up to 7 hours of talk time on both 2G and 3G, while yielding up to 300 hours of standby time on both networks.

Verdict: Flaunting a bigger battery, Lumia 900 is expected to better the iPhone 5 in real-world usage scenarios, irrespective of the factory-rated battery standards.

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