Occupying the mid-range smartphone segment is tough enough for any phone, but Samsung and Nokia have enjoyed a lot of success with their Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 and Nokia Lumia 520 phones in the last few months.
Even though they may not be as pricier as their high end counterparts, these phones offer incredible value for money and almost most of the features from the top end phones. This is especially true in the case of the design itself. The Lumia 520 remains is one of the best designed phones in this segment.
The Galaxy S Duos 2, meanwhile, adopts the design that has been so successful for Samsung in the last few years. They have been able to make a replica of the high-end phones, but one that features technical specifications that are similar to its competitors.
Almost Identical Screens
Both these phones come with almost identical screens, which are hard to separate. They are 4 inch displays that offer 480 x 800 pixels of resolution. This means that a pixel density of 233 PPI makes it very difficult to separate both phones in this regard. Yet, the differences come in the technology employed by both companies. Samsung offers the TFT capacitive touchscreen with its Galaxy S Duos 2, while Nokia offers the significantly better IPS panel.
This panel is widely known to offer better viewing angles along with greater contrast ratios as well. Further, the Nokia also comes with a scratch resistant display that is good enough to protect most blemishes.
Big Differences Inside
The two phones vary a lot in terms of the strategy employed to woo customers. The Galaxy S Duos 2 is an Android phone, which comes with the ability to support two SIM cards. The Lumia 520 can handle only one SIM card, while it also runs on the Windows Phone 8 operating system. Microsoft has worked extensively in order to make the user experience similar across a range of devices. There is not much difference to separate the Lumia 520 from its high end cousins.
The same cannot be said of the Galaxy S Duos 2, which gets the Android 4.2 operating system. However, it has to make do with only 768 MB of RAM and a dual core 1.2 GHz processor. Even though the Nokia phone trails Samsung in both these features, the Windows operating system provides a smoother experience.
Similar Cameras
The Galaxy S Duos 2 and the Nokia Lumia 520 comes with five megapixel units in the rear facing cameras. They are more than adequate to do the job, while also providing the user with the ability to record 720p HD videos. The Samsung phone, though, excels by having a front facing camera, which will come in handy for video conferencing.
The batteries on these two phones are very similar with ratings of around 1500 mAh and 1430 mAh on the Samsung and Nokia respectively.
The Samsung retails at around $140, while the Nokia is around $120 for the factory unlocked versions.
Related ItemsNokia Lumia 520Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2
