Microsoft Lumia 950 XL vs. Lumia 1520 Camera Samples

Microsoft launched its new Lumia devices with much fanfare last week, and many of the company's fans are now waiting for the shipments to begin, but in the meantime, everyone can try out the phones in the official stores where demo units are freely available.

And thanks to these demo units, we can take a closer look at the phones' real capabilities before they actual ship, so here's the new Lumia 950 XL camera against the one available on the Lumia 1520, the company's previous flagship phablet.

Reddit user guyman101 has shot these photos in a Microsoft store to let us know how the new flagship compares to what is often being referred to as its predecessor, a phone that has been around for nearly two years and came with the best the software giant had to offer in the past.

Camera specs

First and foremost, let's see the specs.

The Lumia 1520 comes with a 20-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, autofocus and dual-LED flash. The phone can shoot photos with a resolution of 4992 х 3744 pixels. The camera has a 1/2.5'' sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size, PureView technology, dual capture, geo-tagging, and face detection features.

The Lumia 950 XL also sports a 20-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and optical image stabilization. Features are very similar, and PureView tech is also offered, but the new model comes with a triple-LED RGB flash, which should significantly help in low-light conditions, at least theoretically.

As far as video recording is concerned, both models can shoot in 4K at 30 FPS and 1080p at 30 FPS. The Lumia 1520 also comes with a 1.2 MP front camera, while the Lumia 950 XL features a 5MP unit that can shot at 1080p.  

On paper, the two phones seem to be very similar, even though the 950 XL comes two years after the 1520. Obviously, it does boast some improvements here and there, and post-processing is most likely more effective thanks to Windows 10 Mobile.

In terms of photo quality, there doesn't seem to be such a big difference, which isn't necessarily the best news for potential buyers who expect to see outstanding results. Both Samsung and Apple have phones on the market that excel in terms of photo quality, so it remains to be seen if the Lumia 950 can face the challenge.

Have a look at the photo samples below to see the difference.

Lumia 950 XL camera sample

And the same photo shot with Lumia 1520

Selfie taken with the new Lumia 950 XL

And the same selfie with the Lumia 1520