Both Sony and Nokia want to win a bigger slice of the smartphone market. Both have released new handsets aimed at winning over consumers and showcasing the manufacturers’ capabilities in producing top of the range smartphones – but which one stands a better chance of succeeding?

The Sony Xperia S is the first smartphone produced by Sony since its split with Ericsson. The initial motion was started towards the end of 2011, and in February 2012 the divorce was finalised in time for the launch of the Xperia S.

The Xperia S is powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor. Until the launch of quad-core smartphones such as the HTC Endeavour in the coming months the Xperia S will be the fastest smartphone in existence. It also has 1GB of RAM with either 16GB or 32GB of on board storage. There is no micro SD expansion, however, which is a slight anomaly for a high end Android phone.

In comparison Nokia Lumia 900 has a single core processor with 1.4 GHz with 512 MB of RAM and 16GB of storage. On paper the Xperia will clearly be the faster device, but the Windows Phone OS found on the Lumia is much less demanding than Android. The Lumia does not have a dual core CPU because it does not need one – pure and simple.

Like the Xperia the Lumia 900 also has no expandable storage, but as it is powered by Microsoft it will have access to the 25GB Sky Drive storage. If you are prepared to give cloud storage a go, and assuming you can easily access either WiFi or 3G when you need it, then the amount of on-board storage starts to become a bit irrelevant.

The Nokia Lumia 900’s display will not make much of a challenge on the smartphone market. At 4.3 inches with an AMOLED touchscreen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution and a pixel density of 217ppi although it will look good it will not stand out. The Xperia S is the same size screen but offers an LED backlit alternative with a much sharper resolution of 720 x 1280 and a pixel density of 342ppi. Its screen is even crisper than the iPhone 4S and its Retina Display. Bright and sharp colours are on offer as it is a Sony Mobile BRAVIA screen providing real time image enhancements.

Both handsets are sleek and stylish. The Nokia is slightly larger than the Xperia and weighs 160g to Sony’s 144g. Although from photographs the Lumia 900 looks almost identical to the Lumia 800, it is in fact a bigger phone. The difference between the Lumia 900 and the Xperia though is only marginal.

The Lumia 900 runs Windows Phone 7.5 which has been praised as an effective operating system ensuring a device runs smoothly. Multi-tasking, integrating social networking platforms as well as incorporating Microsoft programmes like office and PowerPoint make it an attractive operating system for the business market as well as for personal use.

The Xperia S at its launch will run Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread and will be updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at some point in 2012. There is no news on whether the Xperia will see an update to the newly announced Android Jelly Bean. Inevitably because of its impressive processor the OS will run quickly on the Xperia S but it does seem to be a shame that it has not launched with Android 4.0, particularly if, as suggested the release of the Xperia S could signal the upgrade of the entire Xperia range to the new Android platform.

In terms of apps there are plenty on offer for users with the Windows Marketplace having over 50,000 and the Android market hosting around 400,000. Although a criticism often levelled at Windows Mobile is that it has a low amount of apps compared to Android and iOS, 50,000 is more than enough for any sane smartphone user and in terms of useful apps that you will actually find yourself using on a day to day basis, Windows Phone and Android are probably on an even keel.

The Xperia S comes with a 12 megapixel camera which has been quite rightly grabbing most the headlines linked with the device. It has the Sony Exmor-R sensor and Sony has boasted of just a 1.5 second lag between launch and shot. Other features include an LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection and autofocus. The video is capable of 1080p HD capture. The front facing camera on the device is 1.3 megapixels and is also capable of video capture this time 720p.

The Nokia Lumia 900 comes with an 8 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Features include geo-tagging, an LED flash, and autofocus. It can capture video in 720p and has a 1 megapixel front facing camera. This is one of the biggest changes from the Lumia 800. Although the first Nokia Windows Phone seems very similar it lacked a front facing camera for video calls. Such a small little addition but one that can completely transform a phone’s usability.

The Sony Xperia S is clearly a statement of intent from Sony and beats the Nokia on almost every criteria. Integrating with Sony’s entertainment and media networks means it is a great platform on which to watch TV, movies and stream content. The Nokia Lumia 900 is a good device, but Nokia still has a way to go before it catches up with the rest of the market.