Nokia Lumia 1020 review: Specs of the Windows Phone flagship include a Snapdragon dual-core Krait processor that clocks in at 1.5 GHz, a 4.5-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 2 GB RAM, 32 or 64 GB of internal memory, Microsoft Windows Phone 8 OS (upgradable to 8.1), and a powerful 41 Megapixel camera.

Clearly packaged as a camera phone, the Lumia 1020’s selling point is mainly its shooting capabilities. The rest, however, do not stand out from the market.

Measuring 5.13 x 2.81 x 0.41 inches and weighing 158 grams, the smartphone has a colorful design and a curvy body that looks inspired by the Lumia 920, and the smaller Lumia 820.

It’s 4.5-inch AMOLED display, on the other hand, has a resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels with a pixel density of 332 ppi.

Both the slim design and the average yet bright screen of the Lumia 1020 are art par with other handsets in its range. The aspect that Nokia and Windows could have tweaked, however, was the OS. The version of Windows Phone 8 exclusively for Nokia which is used in this device is called Amber. It only adds a few features, but overall, it hasn’t really improved much. It features common apps like Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Foursquare and more.

However, the OS failed to include apps such as Instagram and Vine. This is a bit of an irony considering how useful and entertaining it would have been to use Instagram, one of the biggest photography and social networking apps in posting pictures taken from one of the best camera phones in the market.

Nonetheless, the clear highlight of this handset is the 41 MP primary camera with 7152 x 5368 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, auto/manual focus, Xenon & LED flash. Many critics are saying that with the help of its PureView camera sensor, the Lumia 1020 shoots even better than the HTC One, Apple iPhone 5S and Nokia Lumia 925. Not to mention it also has a secondary 1.2 MP camera for selfies.

If you take away the 41 MP monster camera, the Lumia 1020 would have been rated as a mid-range smartphone with simple specs. Having that said, Nokia could have added better features to complement its camera.