Key difference: One of the first smartphones under the brand is the Nokia Lumia 920. The Nokia Lumia 920 was one of the first phones to be developed running on Windows Phone 8. It was launched in November 2012 as its flagship phone. The Sony Xperia ZL is very similar to its counterpart, Sony’s flagship phone: the Xperia Z. However, it differs in some aspects and is also believed that it will be offered for a lower price compared to the Z. Sony has managed to make the ZL even smaller and more compact compared to the Z.

Nokia is a Finland-based multinational communications and information technology corporation. Nokia’s phones have been famously known as being simple and durable. In 2012, it was the world’s second largest mobile phone maker by unit sales, following Samsung. However, the sales of Nokia have been decreasing as more and more of the market shifts towards smartphones such as iPhones and Androids. In an attempt to offset their decreasing sales, Nokia tied up with Microsoft to release its own line of smartphones, the Nokia Lumia running on Windows Phone Operating Software.

One of the first smartphones under the brand is the Nokia Lumia 920. The Nokia Lumia 920 was one of the first phones to be developed running on Windows Phone 8. It was launched in November 2012 as its flagship phone. At the same time, Nokia launched Nokia Lumia 820, as a slightly cheaper alternative to the Nokia Lumia 920.

Nokia Lumia 920 has a 4.5 inch display with a resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels. It is powered by a Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait and a 1 GB RAM. The phone has 8 GB internal memory and an external memory expandable up to 64 GB. It features an 8 MP primary camera with a resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. It also has a 1.3 MP front-facing secondary camera.

The phone is available in a variety of bright colors, such as black, gray, red, yellow, and white. The newest and most distinguishing feature of the Lumia 920 is that the phone is capable of wireless charging. However, the wireless charging mat is not included with the phone and has to be purchased separately.

The device has been criticized as being heavy and bulky. Another issue with the phone, in fact all the Windows phones, is that it comes with the Internet Explorer browser built-in, which can be quite lagging at times, and the phones do not support any other browsers. Furthermore, the collection of apps available on Windows is quite limited, especially as compared to the apps available for Android and Apple.

Xperia Z and Xperia ZL are two phones that Sony has launched in competition to Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. These two phones are similar in design and features, with only slight alterations to the ZL. These phones are Sony’s plan to put itself back on the smartphone market. Sony announced the phones at the 2013 CES in January 2013.

The Sony Xperia ZL is very similar to its counterpart the Xperia Z; however, it differs in some aspects and is also believed that it will be offered for a lower price compared to the Z. Sony has managed to make the ZL even smaller and more compact compared to the Z. The ZL maintains the 5-inch display in the dimensions 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm. The ZL offers the same processor, internal storage capacity, RAM and software. The ZL is also available with 4.1 Jelly upgradeable to v4.2.  The ZL is also slightly heavier than the Z but it does not make that big of a dent on the design.

The major difference is ZL does not offer the dust and water resistance that is boasted by the Z. However, it does offer shatter-proof sheet and scratch-resistance glass on the front.  The back isn’t the glass that is available in the Z but has a matte or textured finish, making it easier and more comfortable to hold. The ZL also has slight differences in button and SIM slow placement. The SIM and microSD card slots are placed on the bottom lower of the back panel, while in the Z the slots are placed above the power button on the right hand side. The ZL also offers a dedicated camera button which is not available in its big brother. The ZL also lacks contact points which are available with the Z. The contact points allow the phone to be connected to a charging dock that is sold separately. The placement of the front camera also differs. The front camera in the Z was located on left-hand corner, while in the ZL it is located in the right-hand corner. However, this does not make a difference when using the phone for video conferencing. Two new features that the ZL boasts is infrared/IrDA functionality and one-touch mirroring. The IR feature allows the phone to be used as a remote with any device that supports IR and one-touch mirroring allows the phone to send, receive and play audio and video files by touching another device that supports the feature. The ZL has yet to be launched and the price has also not been fixed for the device.

The information for the detailed table about the two phones has been taken from the Nokia website, the Sony Mobile website, digitaltrends.com, and GSMArena.com.

Image Courtesy: nokia.com, sonymobile.com