Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs Nokia Lumia 1520 Bigger better faster

Introduction

We venture again into the realm of phablets, one that at the beginning seemed to promise little more than a short burst of action, has become the scene of some of the most thrilling battles this industry has seen. The showdown were about to witness though could well be the climax and a new beginning, all at once. A new dimension of a rivalry thats been going for years but is now more heated than ever.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 emerged from every battle without so much as a scratch. The lineup has defined the segment and the third generation is an impressive all-rounder with rock-solid still imaging, probably the best video a phone can produce, processing power to spare and plenty of value-adding software features. The S Pen also makes sure the Note 3 caters to artists and creative in a way hardly any device would.
Nokia is only just entering the phablet space, but years of design and imaging excellence are finally made to count, now that Microsoft has finally taken the platform up to speed, enabling support for the latest in screen resolution and computing power. What once put the N and E series at the top of the smartphone food chain must be running in the veins of the Lumia 1520 too.
Ironically, its phablets where Windows Phone is finally able to stand up to Android in a meaningful, unconditional way. In the end though, there couldnt have been a more appropriate scene for this battle. A battle that may never have happened. A killer droid against a droid killer.

Nokia Lumia 1520 over the Samsung Galaxy Note 3

• A little more screen real estate
• Bigger camera sensor - 1/2.5" vs 1/3.06" and higher resolution - 20MP vs 13MP
• Optical image stabilization
• FM Radio
• Superior battery life
• Four microphone setup, WDR audio recording
• Offline maps and voice-guided navigation

  Samsung Galaxy Note 3 over the Nokia Lumia 1520

• S-Pen stylus input and good software backing
• Notably Cheaper
• More compact - 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm vs 162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7 mm
• Lighter - 168 g vs 209 g
• More RAM - 3 GB vs 2 GB
• 64 GB of built-in storage version
• Slightly higher-clocked chipset - 2.3 GHz vs 2.2 GHz
• 4K (2160p) video recording over 1080@30fps
• 2 MP 1080p front-facing camera vs 1.2 MP 720p one
• Temperature and humidity sensors
• IR port for remote control functionality

These two are powered by identical Snapdragon 800 chipsets and have massive full-HD screens. Its Super AMOLED against ClearBlack LCD, PureView against S Pen, Nokia against Samsung, Android against Windows Phone. Apps and services is where the battle will be fought too. PureView and the software behind it, Nokia Music, Nokia Drive and Microsoft Office against the stylus-enabled apps and features, the latest TouchWiz treats, and the Google services.

Both devices at HQ
What will decide this one though is perhaps between the lines of the spec sheets, and the fight will be one to watch, we promise you.

Design and handling

Lets get something straight right from the start - were dealing with two devices that are well above average in size. The Lumia 1520 and the Galaxy Note 3 are phablets that cant match the portability of the standard 5" flagships.
At 162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7 mm the Nokia Lumia 1520 is notably larger than the 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm Galaxy Note 3. The 0.3" difference in screen size partially explain the larger footprint, but theres no escaping the fact that the Galaxy Note 3 also has much slimmer bezels, particularly above and below its screen. Giant slabs like these two are particularly sensitive to that kind of thing and you can really feel the difference.
The Nokia phablet is also a lot heavier at 209 g compared to the far easier to swallow 168 g of the Samsung device.
While both smartphones opt for a plastic bodies theyre very different in terms of styling and layout. The Nokia Lumia 1520 continues its makers lineup of polycarbonate unibody designs. The clean lines and high-quality materials make this one a real looker and an instantly recognizable member of its family, but we have to admit at this point the design is starting to get a bit played-out. Introduced as far back as the summer of 2011 with the Nokia N9, the polycarbonate goodness has now lost its wow factor even if it still remains one of the better designs out there.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 on the other hand debuts a new soft-touch plastic back panel, which mimics leather with impressive ease. The faux stitches also contribute to the look and the overall result is quite pleasant and stands out. Had this been the first iteration for both designs, wed probably have a hard time picking between them, but since the Galaxy Note 3 is the only one to bring a dash of novelty we are giving it the nod when it comes to looks.


Nokia Lumia 1520 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 side by side
Both hand over dominance at the front to the screens but while the Lumia 1520 features a seamless all-glass design with only capacitive buttons and a recessed speaker at the top, the Galaxy Note 3 has protruding home button and earpiece. And while the Lumia screen feels like its sloping towards the edges the Note 3s ends with a sharp rendezvous with the faux metal rim.
If we were to assign a theme to each device wed have to go with soft and rounded for the Nokia Lumia phablet and sharp and squarish for the Samsung one. However each device feels solid in the hand and overall solidly built.
The Nokia Lumia 1520, in its matte black finish, is more slippery than the Galaxy Note 3 and thanks to its bigger body isnt as comfortable to hold and operate with one hand. The Galaxy Note 3s textured backside adds a lot more grip and the smaller size and sharper edges help it fit better in the hand.

Handling both beast
So lets talk controls for a bit. At its front, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has the standard layout to which weve got accustomed to. Under the 5.7" screen there are three buttons - a physical home button an two capacitive side-buttons for menu and back. The tow side keys are backlit when used, but when their backlighting is not on, they blend in and seemingly disappear.
Above the screen theres the protruding earpiece, proximity and ambient light sensors and a 2 MP 1080p-video-capable front-facing camera.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 up front
The Lumia 1520 has the majority of its frontal surface dedicated to the 6" screen. Under it theres the standard Windows Phone capacitive button trio - center-placed home button, and a Back and Search keys on its sides. Under them lies the main in-call microphone of the Lumia 1520.
Above the display there is the earpiece, which also has the proximity sensor built-in, the ambient light sensor is located next to said earpiece and finally, theres a 1.2 MP 720p-video-capable front-facing camera. Given that the display on the Lumia 1520 has a resolution of around 2 MP its unclear why Nokia went for a front-facing camera with such a low resolution.

Nokia Lumia 1520 up front
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has the power button on the right side and the volume rocker on the left - there is nothing else on either side of the device. The microSIM and microSD card slots, along with the removable battery are located under the unremovable back panel.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 side view
The nanoSIM and microSD card slots of the Lumia 1520 are located under lids on the left side of the device. Youd need the ejector tool Nokia provides in order to pop those lids open. The rest of the controls are located on the right side, as per Windows Phone usual. Those are, in order, the two-piece volume button, power button and two-step physical camera shutter button. The camera key is a rare find on modern day smartphones outside the Windows Phone realm.
A solid feature on the Nokia Lumia 1520 is that you can unlock the screen using a double tap, which saves you the need to reach for the power button. The help text warns that enabling that will eat into your battery life, though.

Nokia Lumia 1520 side view
Both smartphones have buttons with good feedback and we cant pass judgment as to which ones are better. However the power button and volume rocker on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are tougher to reach as they are mounted too high up on the device, while those same keys on the Lumia 1520 come closer to the thumb, which in our minds makes the bigger Nokia Lumia 1520 easier to use, in regard to buttons.
The noise-reducing secondary microphone on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is placed on the top of the device next to the 3.5 mm headphone jack. Completing the tally, on top of the device lies the infrared blaster, which can be quite handy for controlling home appliances and TVs.
On the bottom lies the speaker under a small grille, the primary microphone, the S Pen holster and a microUSB 3.0 with a compatible microUSB 2.0 port built right into it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 top and bottom
The Nokia Lumia 1520 does with only microUSB 2.0 and lacks the nifty IR blaster - there go two points from Nokia, but only if you care about those features.
The 3.5 mm headphone jack sits alone at the top of the gigantic Nokia, whereas the microUSB port is placed at the bottom.

Nokia Lumia 1520 top and bottom
Anyway the 13 MP camera lens has its own protruding pedestal at the center of the top and shares it with the single LED flash. Theres also a Samsung logo in the center.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 view from the back
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a much bigger camera lens protruding from the back and its accompanied by a double LED flash. The second microphone is above the camera and flash and the loudspeaker grille is at the bottom. The back of the Lumia 1520 lacks the textured finish of the Galaxy Note 3 but still feels just as elegant at your fingertips.

Nokia Lumia 1520 view from the back
Overall both devices are hard to handle single-handedly and reaching the top part of either display would be nearly impossible for the average Joe. The Lumia 1520 is undoubtedly the bigger device out of the two. Its slightly wider and noticeably taller but thanks to an intuitive placement of the controls on the right side it is a little easier to unlock it, set the volume level and operate the camera.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Although the Nokia Lumia 1520 has a friendlier button layout, a real camera key, and tap-to-wake up, theres no going around the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is smaller, lighter and overall, easier to operate. Thanks to its textured plastic back panel its also less slippery. However in terms of build quality wed have to consider this round to be a tie.

Displays

Moving on to displays. Both devices have top-notch screens. First off, the Nokia Lumia 1520 is more generous in terms of size - 6" vs the 5.7" of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Resolution is the same - 1080 x 1920 but the pixel density is slightly higher on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - 386 ppi against the 367 ppi of the Lumia phablet. However at these densities you can rest assured that both devices offer sharp and crisp on-screen content without pixilation anywhere to be found.
Its also worth noting that while Samsung offers a Super AMOLED unit on the Note 3, the Nokia Lumia 1520 comes with a ClearBlack IPS LCD - but more on the natural characteristics of these panels in a bit.

The displays are gorgeous
In terms of software adjustments, both manufacturers offer rich options for their devices.
The 1520 comes with the Lumia Color Profile option in the settings, which gives you two sliders to play with - one for color temperature (which spans the cool, neutral and warm range) and color saturation (natural to vivid).

Lumia Color Profile settings
Nokia Glance screen keeps the clock and notification counters visible even after you lock the screen. This could be set to appear only for a little while after you lock the screen, intermittently on and off and always on. Theres a separate always on setting for when the device is charging. A Night mode allows you to pick a different color for the Glance screen info - Red, Green or Blue - if the default White setting is too bright for your sleepy eyes.

Nokia Glance Screen settings
Samsung has included different color modes for the Galaxy Note 3. Dynamic is the most saturated of them, while Professional photo provides real colors. While different modes dont give you as much freedom as the fine tuning sliders of the Nokia they still provide enough flexibility and are somewhat easier to use.
Then theres adapt display, which optimizes the color range and saturation when youre browsing content through the gallery, camera, browser, etc. The mode, however, wont apply setting when youre using third-party apps.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 display modes Finally, to save power the Galaxy Note 3 can automatically adjust screen tone depending on the on-screen content. Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 doesnt provide always-on glanceable information while locked, which would have been nice given that the AMOLED needs only illuminate a couple of pixels to display clock and unread message count, leaving the rest of the pixels off. Oh well.
The LCD on the Nokia Lumia 1520 has the standard pixel alignment of the RGB matrix - an equal amount of red, green and blue pixels lined together in a row. The screen on the Galaxy Note 3 uses the diamong PenTile matrix type, which is known to be the cause for visible pixelation - but thats not a problem on screens with such a high pixel density. The PenTile matrix uses OLED sub-pixels of different sizes as each color has different levels of power efficiency and longevity. Sub-pixel rendering is employed to properly distribute each of the primary colors.

Nokia Lumia 1520 • Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Looking at the numbers in our display test both devices look really good without being the best. Being an AMOLED, the screen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has the deepest blacks and a practically infinite contrast ratio. Its the maximal brightness thats usually the weakest point of these displays.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has pretty good (read deep) levels of black and almost double the brightness level at both 50% and 100%. As for contrast the Lumia 1520 is a good performer with solid numbers but falls short of leaders in this field, such as the LG G2, HTC One or Sony Xperia Z1. But both phablets beat the Sony Xperia Z Ultra in the contrast section.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Nokia Lumia 1520	0.22	263	1174	0.43	522	1207
Samsung Galaxy Note 3	0	149	∞	0	379	∞
Oppo N1	0.25	285	1118	0.47	553	1164
HTC One Max	0.14	224	1591	0.40	629	1572
LG G Flex	0	131	∞	0	411	∞
Sony Xperia Z1	-	-	-	0.38	580	1513
Nokia Lumia 1020	0	172	∞	0	398	∞
LG G2	0.10	149	1522	0.45	667	1495
Sony Xperia Z Ultra	-	-	-	0.47	467	1001
Sony Xperia Z	-	-	-	0.70	492	705
Huawei Ascend Mate	0.23	222	982	0.67	711	1053
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3	0.12	160	1364	0.32	440	1379
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4	0	201	∞	0	404	∞
HTC One	0.13	205	1580	0.42	647	1541

Next up is the sunlight legibility test. It provides readings on how well the screen performs in bright outdoor light by showing the contrast level. The AMOLED unit on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 proves unreflective thanks to it having one less glass layer, which compensates for the average brightness level.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 proved to be very reflective, which cost it dearly and put it way behind its competition.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 3.997
• Nokia Lumia 1520 1.813

To sum up - both devices have great displays with good color reproduction and solid numbers on brightness, blacks and contrast. When dealing with displays usually more is better but in this case it was the outdoor visibility performance that was the true deciding factor. Feel free to count this round in the Nokia 1520 favor in case the sheer screen size is more important to you than the outdoor legibility.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

Battery life

Battery performance would be an interesting fight between these two phablets. The Nokia lumia 1520 has 200 mAh more than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - a total of 3400 mAh vs 3200 mAh.
Right off the bat the Nokia Lumia 1520 wanted to send a message. It managed a whopping 10 hours more in the call test compared to the Galaxy Note 3 for an insane 28 hours. Still the Galaxy Note 3 got a great 18 hour result in this test, which is a really good result on its own, too.

Talk time

• Nokia Lumia 1520 28:34
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 18:12

Next up is web browsing where the Lumia 1520 once again bested the Galaxy Note 3 by almost three hours. Thats a score of 12:40 minutes. Anyway, we have a solid score from the Galaxy Note 3 here as well.

Web browsing

• Nokia Lumia 1520 12:40
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 9:04

And finally, the Galaxy Note 3 was able to pull one victory under its belt in the video playback test. The Lumia 1520 got a stellar result, nonetheless.

Video playback

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 13:32
• Nokia Lumia 1520 12:31

Combining the results and taking into account the standby power consumption, we get an outstanding 107 hour endurance rating for the Nokia Lumia 1520. Thats the distance the device can walk in between charges and thats a lot more than the already great battery-wise Galaxy Note 3 did.


Winner: Nokia Lumia 1520. The Samsung Galaxy Note is a genuinely great performer in our battery life test but the Lumia phablet was simply out of this world.