The Nokia Lumia 920 or the Huawei Ascend P6? It all Depends on Your Priorities

When you're shopping for a new mobile phone, the choices in front of you can be rather overwhelming. There are thousands of different handsets to choose from, which makes knowing which one is the right one for you difficult. Then there's a lot at stake when you're buying a phone, too, since most of us only buy a new mobile around once every two years, so you want to make the right decision.

Budget smart phones can be lacking in the kind of performance and features that you need in a phone. On the other hand, a top of the line model is not only going to cost you over £500 but may also have lots of features that you have no use for. For this reason, a mid- range phone tends to be the best buy for most people, as it's a good compromise between cost and features.

How can you choose the right phone though? You could spend a few hours going through mobile spec sheets and comparing features on models until you find the best buy. Mobile spec sheets are a little confusing though, since they use lots of technical terminology and big numbers making them tough for the average reader to comprehend. That's why we're here to help you.

We've looked at some of the most popular mid-range models on sale, and compared them in head to head competitions so that you can easily see which phone is the best value for your hard earned cash. If you want to know that you're getting a great phone for a good price then read on to find out what today's two models have to offer.

Introducing the Two Phones...

Nokia are one of the oldest brand names on the mobile market, and they were one of the original innovators of mobile technology. They're best known these days for their Lumia line of Windows phones. The Nokia Lumia 920 is a good mid-range model that has a lot of great features for its price. It also has the great quality build that you'd expect to see in a Nokia phone.

Huawei might not be as well known a brand as Nokia, but they are starting to get a reputation for producing good quality phones for low prices. Their newest mid-range model is the Huawei Ascend P6. The Ascend is a great little phone, and has some impressive specs, but can it really compete against a Nokia phone?

What You'll be Paying...

If you want to buy your phone SIM free so that it's not attached to any one mobile operator, then the Nokia Lumia 920 is going to cost you about £350. The Huawei Ascend P6 is cheaper, and will run you about £310.

For people who prefer to sign a mobile contract with an operator, then different operators have different prices. The best deal on the Nokia model right now is with Talk Mobile, and you'll get the phone for no money down on a £25 a month calling plan contract. The best bet for the Huawei is also with Talk Mobile, and again you'll get the device for no cash down, but this time it's on a £20 a month contract.

Don't worry about changing operators to get a better deal. As long as your current contract is finished, changing will be fast and easy. Just remember to ask for your PAC code before cancelling your service, and then pass that PAC code along to your new operator in order to keep your current mobile phone number.

The Similarities...

Both of these phones have the same 1500 MHz processing power, so they're equally fast and responsive. They both also have the same 8 MP in built camera, which is the standard size for this price range.

The Nokia Lumia 920...

The Nokia Lumia 920 does have a few advantages over the Huawei Ascend P6, as you'd expect from the more expensive phone. It has far more internal storage, with a 32 GM internal memory versus the 8 GB memory on the Ascend. This means that you can store 4 times more music, photos, and other data on your Nokia.

The Lumia also has better Bluetooth support, running Bluetooth 4.0 rather than the older 3.0 version on the Ascend. This means that you'll get faster data transfer and that you'll use less battery power when connecting. The screen on the Lumia is better quality than that on the Huawei. The combination of 10 per cent higher screen resolution and 10 per cent more PPI (pixels per inch) mean that the picture on the Nokia is brighter, clearer and better defined than that on the Ascend.

Finally, though both phones have the same resolution camera, the camera on the Lumia can shoot high resolution, full HD video and that on the Huawei can't.

The Huawei Ascend P6...

Huawei Ascend P6 does have a few things going for it too though. It does have the larger scree, measuring in at 4.7 inches, versus the 4 and a half inch screen on the Nokia. This means that you get a slightly better viewing experience, and that typing on the on screen keyboard is a little easier.

The Ascend also has a better battery life. It gets around 50 per cent more talk time per battery charge cycle than the Lumia, averaging around 15 hours of active use as compared to just 10 hours. This means that you'll need to charge your phone a lot less often.

The Huawei is the more portable model as well. It's around 50 per cent smaller than the Lumia, and around 40 per cent thinner too. The Ascend is also lighter, weighing in at just 120 grams versus the 185 gram Nokia. This means that the Ascend is just more comfortable to carry around with you all day.

Which is Better?

We like the bigger screen on the Huawei Ascend P6, but if we have to choose the better phone it's got to be the Nokia Lumia 920. The increased internal storage in particular makes the Nokia a better choice.

Phil Turner found websites like uSwitch very useful when searching for information about her PAC code.