So I got try out the Nokia 808 PureView. What’s my two cents on Nokia’s highly but understandably hyped 41-megapixel camera phone?
The Nokia 808 PureView sort of reminds me of the Nokia N93 back in the day. It was, without question, the best camera phone of its time. Build quality was remarkable, and so was its feature set and performance.
The Nokia 808 PureView is in a similar boat. You’d be hard pressed to find another phone today with a 41-megapixel or better sensor, nor can you find one that can perform and churn out pictures as good as Nokia’s latest Symbian treat.
Clockwise (from top left): The Nokia 808 PureView’s kick ass camera (with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash) at the back, HDMI port alongside the charging port and 3.5mm jack at the top, box contents (identical to the Nokia Lumia 610), side buttons (left to right): camera button, lock slider, volume rocker
If the big bad-ass camera slightly protruding from its back isn’t obvious enough, the Nokia 808 PureView was really designed and built with photography in mind. Proof of this is how you can easily and quickly launch the camera app via the hardware shutter button on the side even if your phone is locked (but not password protected, of course).
Just to remind you guys of what I said before, you can’t take a 41-megapixel shot with the 808 PureView. At best, you can take a 38-megapixel shot (with an aspect ratio of 4:3).
Here’s a sample 34-megapixel photo (shot in 16:9 mode) below:
Warning: Unedited photos! The 34MP pic on the left is a 10.9MB file so it will take time to load.
Notice how the cropped shot on the right still looks crisp and clear? That’s one advantage of shooting with a high-megapixel setting.
This one came out as a 10.9MB file. I can only imagine the file size a 41-megapixel pic would be, which is one of the reasons why I’m not missing the 41-megapixel mode on the baby. And beside, who the heck needs to shoot a 41-megapixel photo using a phone anyway?
If you want to save on space, you can take advantage of its other shooting resolutions – 2MP, 5MP and 8MP.
But yeah, today’s market is totally different from the era when the N93 came to being. Now, aside from hardware, the OS is just as important in today’s app generation. The 808 PureView runs on Symbian. Not exactly the top choice nowadays, but to be fair, it’s really not that bad. It’s just that, for me, Android and iOS are better than Symbian right now.
My initial verdict – there’s no two ways  about it, the Nokia 808 PureView is an outstanding camera phone. If it ran Android and retailed at the same price, I’d have no hesitations in getting this one. But since it runs Symbian, that’s one serious factor I have to take into consideration, and I’m sure most of you will too. So, is it a yes or no for me? Let’s just say, maybe.
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for me, NO..
Humans primarily use the camera of their phone for taking pictures which they will eventually upload to Facebook,Instagram, Twitter and the likes. They like the idea of posting images to their social networking sites where ever they are(using 3G) and using this phone to take 10MB images just to be posted on FB over 3G will just kill that. as if facebook will post the pictures at-is resolution. waste of money for me.