A new mobile phone is a big investment, so you want to know that you’re getting good value for money. But with so many great mobiles on the market these days, knowing which one to go for isn’t easy. Most of us nowadays are somewhat dependent on having a decent mobile phone, either because of work or because we’ve already given up the expense of running an unnecessary home land line, so having a reliable mobile is essential. So how do you make sure that you’re getting a good phone for a good price? Ideally, you should do a mobile phone comparison. This involves finding the spec sheets for the phones that you’re interested in and comparing all their features. But this is not only time consuming, it’s also confusing. There are just so many big numbers and so much technical language on spec sheets that they can be incomprehensible to the average mobile shopper. And that’s where we come in. We’ve looked at some of the best new mobiles on today’s market and done the mobile phone comparison for you. We match up two models head to head so that you can see exactly how they compare and differ. So if you want to know more about the two models we’re looking at today, then read on to make sure you’re getting the best value for your hard earned cash.
The Two Contenders…
Nokia are one of the oldest brands in the mobile world, and they were one of the original innovators of mobile technology. These days Nokia are probably best known for their Lumia line of devices. Nokia Lumias are all Windows phones, and popular mobiles for business people. They do tend to be a little expensive, but the new Nokia Lumia 920 is a solid mid-range hand-set that retails for a pretty affordable price. Huawei are a relatively new player on the UK market at least. The Chinese company specialises in making mobiles that are extremely affordable and yet still have great specs. The Huawei Ascend P2 is another mid-market phone, it sells for a great price and even has a couple of really top end features. So which of these two is the better buy?
The Two Prices…
Obviously price is always an issue when buying a new mobile phone. The Nokia Lumia 920 is going to cost you around four hundred pounds to buy the hand set SIM free. If you want to get the Lumia as a contract phone from a mobile operator then the best deal right now is with Vodafone. They’re offering the phone for no money down on a £29 a month contract. The Huawei Ascend P2 is going to cost you about three hundred and fifty pounds to buy SIM free, so it’s a little cheaper. On contract your best bet is to look at Three, who will again give you the hand set for zero cash down, this time on a £20 a month contract.
Why Go with the Nokia Lumia 920?
There are a few advantages that the Nokia Lumia 920 has over the Huawei Ascend P2, as you might expect from the more expensive device. It is 4G capable, meaning that you have the possibility of getting faster mobile internet speeds. This does mean that you’ll need a specific 4G data plan from your operator though, since without it your phone will connect to slower 3G by default. You get a lot more internal storage on the Nokia with its big 32 GB memory as compared to the 8 GB memory on the Ascend. This means a lot more room to store your photos, music, games and other data. When it comes to the display, quality is simply better on the Lumia. Around ten per cent higher screen resolution along with about ten per cent more PPI (pixels per inch) mean that the screen on the Lumia is sharper, brighter and better defined. Finally, you also get much better battery life. The Lumia gets about sixty per cent more stand by time per battery charge cycle than the Ascend, averaging about seventeen days versus ten and a half days on the Ascend. Plus, it gets about thirty per cent more active talk time per battery charge cycle as well, averaging around ten hours versus the Huawei’e eight hours. This means that you’ll be charging your phone a lot less often with the Nokia Lumia 920.
Why Go with the Huawei Ascend P2?
However, the Huawei Ascend P2 has some pretty nice advantages of its own. It does have the larger screen, since it’s got a full five inch display versus the four and a half inch screen on the Lumia. This bigger display means a couple of things. Firstly, you get a better viewing experience, both for video and for being able to read web pages and documents without too much scrolling. Secondly, typing on that pop up on screen keyboard is a lot easier and more comfortable. Despite the larger screen the Huawei is around twenty per cent generally smaller than the Lumia, as well as about twenty per cent thinner, and it’s a lot lighter too, weighing in at just 122 grams as compared to the 185 gram Lumia. That means that the Ascend is the more portable device. The massive 13 MP camera on the Ascend captures a lot more fine detail than the 8.7 MP camera on the Nokia, meaning that you get better quality photos. And newer Bluetooth support, the Huawei has Bluetooth 4.0 whilst the Nokia has 3.0, means faster data transfer between devices and that your phone uses less battery power when connecting to something like a hands free set in the car. Finally, the Ascend does have a built in FM radio. This isn’t a necessary feature, but some people prefer the radio to having a radio app.
Which to Buy?
Tough choice, since these are both great phones. However, it seems worth it to spend a little extra on the Nokia Lumia 920, especially for the 4G capability and the extra internal storage
Getting a mobile phone comparison was far easier than Phil Turner first thought. All he had to do was a quick search on sites like uSwitch and he had all the information that he needed.
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