comparison Speed: Lumia 900 vs. Galaxy Nexus

[Muhammad Farrukh]

[techbeck]

Few things....

What version of ICS is he running? Stock 4.0.2 that came with the phone, or the 4.0.3/4.0.4 update that increases the phone performance?

I would rather see a test using the Chrome browser instead of the stock browser since Google has stated that Chrome will eventually replace the browser that is currently on the phone. Chrome runs much much better...even tho I use FireFox. :)

Battery test is useless as the GNEX has more power hungry hardware than the 900. I could of told you without testing that the battery life would be better on the Lumia.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

I would rather see a test using the Chrome browser instead of the stock browser since Google has stated that Chrome will eventually replace the browser that is currently on the phone. Chrome runs much much better...even tho I use FireFox. :)

Well, I agree, but for now, its not Chrome, so ? :p

Battery test is useless as the GNEX has more power hungry hardware than the 900. I could of told you without testing that the battery life would be better on the Lumia.

Agreed. Never found those numbers to be even close to accurate

[techbeck]

Well, I agree, but for now, its not Chrome, so ? :p

haha, yea, I know. But everyone knows that the Browser is crap.

[jakem1]

Battery test is useless as the GNEX has more power hungry hardware than the 900. I could of told you without testing that the battery life would be better on the Lumia.

The battery test is far from useless. As the video shows, the "power hungry hardware" in the Nexus doesn't make the phone any faster so it's wasting power for no good reason.

[~Johnny]

Battery test is useless as the GNEX has more power hungry hardware than the 900. I could of told you without testing that the battery life would be better on the Lumia.

Well, it's still a valid point for anyone considering buying either of the two.

I'm a little surprised at how well the Lumia held up, although it wasn't really much of a comprehensive test to be fair.

[DomZ]

Few things....

What version of ICS is he running? Stock 4.0.2 that came with the phone, or the 4.0.3/4.0.4 update that increases the phone performance?

I would rather see a test using the Chrome browser instead of the stock browser since Google has stated that Chrome will eventually replace the browser that is currently on the phone. Chrome runs much much better...even tho I use FireFox. :)

Battery test is useless as the GNEX has more power hungry hardware than the 900. I could of told you without testing that the battery life would be better on the Lumia.

As others have already said, it's only fair to test what's on the phone at stock. When Chrome is default then I'm sure there will be comparison with whatever is default on the other devices at the time

The same with the battery test - it is a valid comparison as battery life is one of the major issues with smartphones at the moment and roughly a 6 hour difference can mean a lot to some people

I liked how he didn't try and compare WP with Android, and tried keeping it at a hardware level. Things he could have also done:

- Call quality (I have no basis for this, but I imagine Nokia would have held up well there)

- Tested more apps which are on both platforms (netflix etc) to try and get a better understanding of whether the Lumias processor is a handicap or not

- Speaker quality (when playing music). These tend to universally suck in my experience

- Camera quality

[techbeck]

The battery test is far from useless. As the video shows, the "power hungry hardware" in the Nexus doesn't make the phone any faster so it's wasting power for no good reason.

My point about the battery test being useless is that anyone with 1/4 of a brain would look at the hardware of both devices and would be able to make that assumption themselves. Beefier hardware will always drain the battery faster. That was my point.

[techbeck]

As others have already said, it's only fair to test what's on the phone at stock. When Chrome is default then I'm sure there will be comparison with whatever is default on the other devices at the time

And I agree. I am just curious what the browser tests would be like if they used Chrome instead. Thats all. :) And I am still wonder what version of ICS he was testing with .

[jakem1]

My point about the battery test being useless is that anyone with 1/4 of a brain would look at the hardware of both devices and would be able to make that assumption themselves. Beefier hardware will always drain the battery faster. That was my point.

I've lost count of the number of times I've heard people say that dual/quad-core processors are essential for smartphones because they're faster and more power efficient. Time and again Android fans claim that Windows Phone is lacking because it only supports single-core proceesors. Now we have a video that demonstrates quite clearly that Android fails to take advantage of either the speed improvements or the power efficiencies of this beefier hardware and you say that was always obvious.

[spudtrooper]

By the time Chrome is on new Android devices, i'm pretty sure IE 10 will be on windows phones.

Either way, great competition and great video!

[Mockingbird]

I would rather see a test using the Chrome browser instead of the stock browser since Google has stated that Chrome will eventually replace the browser that is currently on the phone. Chrome runs much much better...even tho I use FireFox. :)

Well, Chrome is not the default browser and by the time that it is, Internet Explorer Mobile 10 will be default on Windows Phone.

Battery test is useless as the GNEX has more power hungry hardware than the 900. I could of told you without testing that the battery life would be better on the Lumia.

I can't recall how many time I've heard claims that dual-core/quad-core SOCs are somehow more power efficient than single-core SOCs.

My point about the battery test being useless is that anyone with 1/4 of a brain would look at the hardware of both devices and would be able to make that assumption themselves. Beefier hardware will always drain the battery faster. That was my point.

I guess you don't need beefier hardware to get good performance though.

[Mockingbird]

Of cause another important aspect is that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is $299.99 on contact.

The Nokia Lumia 900 is only $99.99 on contract.

[manosdoc]

It's not news that Lumia 900 beats Galaxy Nexus, but the simplicity it brings using Windows Phone as an everyday task OS.

People won't buy Lumia 900 because it beats Galaxy Nexus, but because it makes their life easier, simpler, while in an elegant design.

Plus, it asks for less money, thanks to Nokia.

[123456789A]

I like how the additional resolution on the Nexus affords it the ability to display an ad in Angry Birds.

[zhangm Supervisor]

I've lost count of the number of times I've heard people say that dual/quad-core processors are essential for smartphones because they're faster and more power efficient. Time and again Android fans claim that Windows Phone is lacking because it only supports single-core proceesors. Now we have a video that demonstrates quite clearly that Android fails to take advantage of either the speed improvements or the power efficiencies of this beefier hardware and you say that was always obvious.

Let me just leave you with this gem of a comment from one of the FP stories about WP7's task-oriented efficiency.

fast DOES NOT = good.

[sagum]

I like how the additional resolution on the Nexus affords it the ability to display an ad in Angry Birds.

Or rather, the Nokia is running Angry Birds that is an xbox live title. It's a paid for, quality assured, app (based on the xbox live branding). I wouldn't expect any adverts in it.

Its worth taking note that the reviewer really didn't do a perfect test that was actually worth the test. For example, this Angry birds. While its the same title game and the basic gameplay is the game, the actual game was re-written for the Windows Phone and not a simple port over. Hence why they have different styling on the menu controls and graphics.

The network speed tests was useless as well. Different networks? That's like trying to check laptimes in two sports car using different tracks. The same goes for the browser loading pages speed test.

The pixel quality test... I'll just have to take his word for it, because half way through it, he swapped the nokia and nexus around from left to right and I got lost trying to follow it.

However, forgiving all the bad testing done there, it IS what the average consumer would do with their friends when trying to show each others phones off.