Nokia Lumia 920 vs BlackBerry Z10 head-to-head review

Ever since BlackBerry 10 was first delayed and the company formerly known as RIM's previously vast fortunes began to dwindle, numerous smartphone makers have begun circling the enterprise device space.

However, Finnish smartphone maker Nokia was one of the first mobile sharks to smell blood in the water. The Windows Phone backer boldly announced its intention to take BlackBerry's share of the business smartphone market midway through 2012, a good two or three months ahead of Android heavyweight Samsung.

For this reason, we couldn't resist our urge to run Nokia's flagship Lumia 920 head to head with BlackBerry's Z10 to see which smartphone is the best choice for business.

Design and build
The Lumia 920 and BlackBerry Z10 are about as different visually as you can get, despite being fairly similarly sized.

Measuring in at 130x71x10.7mm the Lumia is slightly larger than the 130x66x9mm Z10. The 920 is also far heavier than the 137.5g Z10, weighing a hefty 185g.

This means that in hand the Z10 is slightly more comfortable than the 920, which to smaller handed individuals, or people used to feather light devices like the 112g Apple iPhone 5, will feel slightly cumbersome.

However, when it comes to build quality the Lumia 920 is far better than the Z10. Unlike the unibody 920, the Z10 features a textured detachable backplate. When removed the plate offers access to the Z10's SIM, microSD and battery.

We've noticed the plate has an annoying habit of detaching itself whenever the Z10 is met with even a small amount of force. We also found that the black Z10 we were using was much more susceptible to chipping and picking up scratch marks than the 920.

Winner: The Nokia Lumia 920

Screen
The Nokia Lumia packs a 4.5in 768x1280 332ppi display, while the BlackBerry Z10 comes equipped with a 4.2in 1,280x768, 356ppi capacitive touchscreen.

Testing the two head to head we found that both the Z10's and 920's displays are great. Viewed directly in regular light we would say that the Z10 display's increased pixel density did make it look ever so slightly crisper than the 920's.

However in more adverse conditions the 920 did manage to outperform the Z10 thanks to its ClearBlack and Puremotion technology.

ClearBlack is custom technology debuted on the Lumia 800. The technology helps ensure the display remains rich and sharp, even in adverse lighting conditions by producing deep blacks that make primary colours pop out.

We found Clearblack meant that the 920's display was still usable in bright sunlit outdoor conditions, where the Z10 would struggle and become all but unusable.

Even better, for those constantly on the move, the Lumia 920's Puremotion tech means that you can actually use the 920 while wearing gloves.

While this may sound small, being from Britain, a country with less than stellar weather, we were very happy to finally not have to sacrifice our hand's warmth when replying to an email while out of the office.

 Winner: Nokia Lumia 920