The eagerly awaited flagship Nokia Lumia 1020 with the standout 41-megapixel sensor camera is almost here. Widely regarded as the best camera in a smartphone, Telstra customers have had a longer than anticipated wait for its release. After originally launching internationally in July, the 1020 was scheduled for release on the 17th September. As we know the launch did happen, but not for Telstra. The flagship Nokia was pushed back for almost a month due to a software bug.
We reached out to Telstra for more detail on exactly what this software bug was, but we got the following disappointing response. So while Telstra aren’t talking, its safe to say the issue lied with them given the Nokia / Windows Phone software runs fine on the Optus Network.
Unfortunately we can’t go in to details around the software, however we have completed testing on the final software and are happy to offer the Lumia 1020 to our customers from tomorrow.
For Lumia 920 or 925 owners, the current camera is pretty decent at 8.7-megapixel OIS f/2.0 5-element lens, dual-LED flash. With almost all other specs the same,the 41-megapixel OIS f/2.2 6-element lens, LED + xenon flash, BSI, 1/1.5″, 1.12-micron pixel size. If you decide the extra camera quality is worth the upgrade, then you will sadly loose one feature that was significant on previous flagships. Wireless charging somehow couldn’t fit into the case design.
The 1020 is slightly thinner and decently lighter, so the question remains why couldn’t Nokia squeeze this in? It’s clear they understand fans of the line want this feature, offering instead a wireless charging cover. While it’s not big and bulky, the wireless shell could easily have been avoided by building in the Qi chip which can’t be expensive at this point.
Here’s the rest of the specs for the Lumia 1020.
- Dual-core 1.5GHz MSM8960
- 4.5” display with ClearBlack AMOLED display
- Gorilla Glass 3
- NFC
- 2GB RAM
- 32GB on-board storage
- Free cloud storage: 7GB
- Maximum talk time (3G) 13.3h
- Music playback time: 63h
- Video playback time: 6.8h
- 2,000mAh Battery
- 157.6 grams
It’s pretty unacceptable that the most powerful, most promoted Nokia and Windows Phone device takes 4 months to reach Australia’s biggest carrier. At this point buying the Lumia 1020 is a serious risk, not that its camera will be beaten soon, but that you’re buying a phone that will be outdated in just a few months. An updated model is likely to have Qi built-in and Bluetooth LE.
Also if you’re wondering about colours, Nokia say they make all colours available to all retailers and its up to them to select which they’ll take. This means Telstra has decide to take just the Black version of the Lumia 1020 and leave the white and yellow to others. Its unclear why they wouldn’t offer all 3 colours, more consumer choice is never a bad thing.
Customers ordering online from 15 October will receive a free camera grip valued at $89.95.
