Nokia Lumia 925 vs Lumia 920: Camera shootout

Each and every Lumia phone has one major feature that differentiates it from the rest of the series. In the case of the 920, it was the Pureview camera and one of the first smartphones at the time to have Optical Image Stabilisation. Nokia then improved upon the 920 by getting rid of the heft in the Lumia 925. They even managed to add another lens element despite it being thinner, which is great. It’s now time to put both phones to the test and see how much better the Lumia 925 really is. For Rs 5,000 more than the Lumia 920, half the storage and lack of wireless charging, is the camera really worth the premium?

For this test, we focused mostly on low-light photography since that’s where these handsets really shine. Both phones were on the latest Lumia Amber update and all the settings were set to ‘Auto’. The standard camera app was used for the test. The comparison image is a 100 per cent crop from a particular area of the original image. This is a far accurate comparison as you get to see how much detail the phone is really able to capture.

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Night shot 1

Night shot 1

100 percent crop

In our first test, both the 920 and 925 gave decent amount of detail from the stone wall on the left hand side. The grooves in the crosses are also visible. The 925 tends to expose the sky a stop more than the 920 however.

Night shot 2

Night shot 2

100 percent crop

The focus here was on the stained glass painting on the circular structure. The 925 gives more detail than the 920 here. Also, the 920 has a slightly warm tinge overall.

Night shot 3

Night shot 3

100 percent crop

In this image, the focus was on the shadowed region behind the spires. As expected, both the 920 and 925 were equally poor when it came to detailing, but the 925 tends to blow out the sky for the same ISO.

Night shot 4

Night shot 4

100 percent crop

Here, the region under focus was just above the bright light on the stair. Both phones’ cameras blow out the region in front of the stair, but you get good detail on the regions just around the blown out portion. Both were equally good here.

Night shot 5

Night shot 5

100 percent crop

Again both the 920 and 925 give comparable image quality. The 920 is a bit on the warmer side though.

Day shot 1

Day light test

100 percent crop

The building is well exposed on both the 920 and 925 with ample detail. The leaves of the trees on the corners are a green mass with no clear definition.

Day shot 2

Day light test

100 percent crop

Another picture where it is difficult to pick a clear winner as both are well exposed images with good details on the leaves on the left hand side.

Macro shot

Macro test

100 percent crop

Again both phones perform equally well. However, we like the comparatively vibrant colours on the flower with the 920. But, when it comes to details in the background the 925 shines. Both give pleasing soft backgrounds though.
Backlight test

Backlight test

100 percent crop

This was a comparatively difficult shot as the backlight was going to make things tricky. The focus was on the statues and the 920 is a clear winner here giving is a decent amount of detail especially in the faces of the sculptures.

Verdict
If we had to pick a clear winner among both the cameras it would be quite difficult, as both the Lumia 920 and Lumia 925 perform equally well. In the sample pictures, the 920 edges past the 925 in some and vice versa so it’s really hard to pin point a clear winner as it all depends on the lighting conditions. What we’re trying to say is that if you were thinking of getting the Lumia 925 over the 920 purely for the camera, then don’t as the Lumia 920 performs just as well.