Nokia Goes Big with Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320 phablets

With the new Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320, Nokia is taking the fight to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 and the HTC One Max.

Announced today in Abu Dhabi, both devices feature a 6-inch display that comfortably places Nokia among the smartphone manufacturers embracing smartphones that have screens too large to be considered a phone but too small to be considered a full-fledged tablet.

Instead of taking on the segment leaders with just one handset, Nokia plans to put pressure on the Galaxy Note 3 by introducing one high-end device with a large screen and another device with a large screen made specifically for users who don’t need the latest and greatest processors.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 is the company’s high-end competitor. Featuring 2GB of RAM, a 6-inch display with a resolution 1080p resolution, a wide-angle front-facing camera, a 20 megapixel rear-facing camera and LTE, the Lumia 1520 looks like a large Lumia 925 with colored polycarbonate instead of plastic. Like the Lumia 925, the Lumia 1520 doesn’t include wireless charging built-in. Instead users need to purchase one of Nokia’s charging shells and a wireless charging pad.

The Lumia 1520 uses the same OIS, or Optical Image Stabilization, technology that debuted in the Nokia Lumia 920 and the 808 PureView smartphones.

For the first time in months a Windows Phone is actually on-par with the latest and greatest processors being used inside Android devices. There is a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor inside the Lumia 1520. That is the same processor built into the LG G2.

The device includes 32GB of on-board storage out of the box, however users can add more later with the built-in microSD card reader.

Nokia has also done a little work on the software it pre-installs on its Lumia devices. The Lumia 1520 is the first device to feature Nokia Camera, the app that combines the features of the Nokia Pro Cam and Nokia Smart Camera applications that debuted earlier this year. Its camera and the Nokia Camera application will allow users to zoom in on specific areas of a photograph, just like the Lumia 1020.

Nokia plans to launch the Lumia 1520 in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Europe sometime this quarter. The device will cost users $749.99 without a carrier subsidy.

AT&T has confirmed that it will carry the Nokia Lumia 1520, however it hasn’t detailed how much the device will cost. Available colors include yellow, red, white and black.

Nokia is aiming for the low-end of the market with the Lumia 1320. It features a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1GB of RAM and a 1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. While it also features a 6-inch display, Nokia has opted to only include 8GB of on-board storage inside the Lumia 1320. Users can add more storage using the built-in MicroSD reader though.

Unfortunately, when the Lumia 1320 launches sometime in the fourth quarter of this year it won’t make its way to American shores. Nokia’s press release indicated that the company has plans to make the device available in India, Europe and Asia but no plans to launch the device in the United States.

Read: Nokia Enters The Tablet Race with RT Based Lumia 2520

Nokia also used today’s press event to formally announce its first tablet. Dubbed the Lumia 2520, Nokia is hoping to bring the style and sophistication of its Lumia handsets to the world of tablets. It has also revamped its low-end Asha line with more customizable interfaces and a slightly tweaked designs.