I know this is an older post and sorry for reviving it, but i purchased a 1020 for me (as i am a photography freak) and 830 for my wife, and had the opportunity to have them tested side by side in real life. Quick answer: For everyday use, definitely go for the 830. If you're as sick a photographer as me but don't have the cash for a proper DSLR, go for the niche device 1020. Here's why:
- For the average photography use (i mean sharing jpeg shot in facebook and instagram), 1020 actually shoots at 5 MP resolution, inferior to what you will get from 830! You will enjoy 1020's camera only if you know what to do with RAW *or* when you use digital zoom, *or* in situations where you need the xenon flash (fast moving objects in low light conditions), in which case 1020 is unbeatable. But these are specialized applications, maybe not worth if you take into account the following:
- 830 has a removable cover, replaceable battery and supports microSD up to 128 GB. 1020 doesn't support any of these.
- 830 includes a new generation of sensors and technologies, such as the low-power motion-sensing technology, SensorCore, that can turn your phone into a fitbit. 1020 doesn't.
- 830 includes Glance Screen, a very helpful low-power information screen that is activated when you pick it up (or you can set it up to always show). 1020 also supports it, i am just stating this because some sites incorrectly say that 830 does not support Glance. Probably confused with 930 that doesn't support it.
-830 doesn't have the "hump", that love-or-hate feature that makes it difficult to hold the 1020. 830's design is amazing, even better (IMHO) than 930's.
- 830 battery life is significantly better than 1020 after using them side by side. I can't explain why, it probably has to do with better power management. Plus the replaceable battery (mentioned above) will allow you to refresh your 830's battery life after a year, when it starts dying too soon.
- 830 supports LTE Cat 4 with speeds up to 150/50 Mbit/s, which is just an example of some technical specs that are superior in 830 because it's a newer generation phone.