Nokia Lumia 720 vs. Sony Xperia L: How Do Stack Up Against Each Other?

The Indian smartphone business, which is touted as the one of the world's rapidly growing markets in the world, is witnessing a surge in low-cost smartphone launches from both MNCs and local players.

According to recent reports, domestic manufacturers seems to have gained a formidable hold in the smartphone market thanks to their knack of selling their devices at very low prices.

Now, MNCs Samsung, Nokia, LG, Sony and others are now following suit to introduce feature-rich smartphones at affordable prices. Two such recently released smartphones - Nokia Lumia 720 and Sony Xperia L - fall in the same price range and also feature similar specs. What remains to be seen is if the new Xperia L will have an impact on the sales of Nokia's popular Lumia phone.

Here is a brief comparison of main features between Nokia Lumia 720 and Sony Xperia L:

Display:

Nokia Lumia 720 sports an IPS LCD screen with 480x800p display resolution and pixel density close to 217 ppi (pixels per inch). Sony Xperia L sports a similar 4.3-inch TFT LCD screen with a slightly higher display resolution of 480x854p and pixel density of 228 ppi.

Processor:

In terms of power, both Lumia 720 and Xperia L pack similar 1GHz Qualcomm based dual-core processors and Adreno 305 GPU, but of different processor versions. Nokia smartphone houses a MSM8227 chipset whereas Sony device features the MSM8230 variant.

Camera:

Nokia Lumia 720 boasts of a 6.1-megapixel camera with exclusive an Carl Zeiss lens and a 1.3-megapixel HD front camera.

Sony Xperia L sports an impressive 8.0-megapixel camera with the company's exclusive Exmor R camera lens technology and a VGA secondary camera on the front.

Mobile Operating System:
Like all android smartphones, Sony Xperia L holds an upper hand as the Nokia Lumia 720 runs on new Windows Phone 8 OS which houses a tiny collection of just over 150,000 apps. In comparison, the Android ecosystem has more than 700,000 apps.

Keeping this in mind, the Android v4.1.2 Jelly Bean powered Sony Xperia L will have the advantage of getting hold of any new apps and games in the market, as many application developers across the world prefer Android's open ecosystem compared to Windows Phone 8 OS.

Price:

Lumia 720 is priced ₹18,090, whereas Sony Xperia L is priced ₹18,990, almost ₹1000 more than the Nokia smartphone. But the Sony smartphone justifies its price-tag owing with its sturdy body case and an impressive camera.

As per recent reports, Sony Xperia L is up for pre-orders at Infibeam.com and it is likely to hit stores in a few days. On the other hand, Lumia 720 is readily available in all leading stores across India.

Here is breakdown of specifications of Nokia Lumia 720 and Sony Xperia L: