The fact that Nokia 808 PureView is the best cameraphone money can buy is sure as shooting. This won't even pass for a pun. The 41 megapixel sensor and the tack-sharp optics deliver what no other smartphone can match and we even saw it successfully stand its ground against much heavier competition.
The Nokia 808 PureView is on its march to becoming iconic, trashing the Olympus PEN E-PL2 Micro Four Thirds camera in our blind test and then matching the Canon 5D Mark III for resolution in the process.
Yet, both of those (admittedly, impressive) achievements came in tests that really played to the PureView's strengths. Strong lighting is where the host of tiny pixels can get the upper hand over fewer, if larger, ones and all the samples we gave you so far were captured in perfect conditions
It's far from certain whether the Nokia 808 will keep its perfect record once darkness falls and noise starts to show its ugly face. We are right there in the camp of the doubters too, so we had no other choice but put the PureView through a series of tests and see its true worth.
We've once again recruited a couple of elite rivals in the face of the Canon 550D and its APS-C sensor and the aforementioned Olympus E-PL2. The Galaxy S III is here too, to put the performance of the cameraphone in proper perspective.
Having mentioned the pixel size of the 808 PureView, we feel we need to make an important note here. Even though the 41MP sensor might lead you to believe otherwise, the size of individual pixels isn't any smaller than those of the Galaxy S III, or the iPhone 4S. Nokia have put a large (by cameraphone standards anyway) 1/1.2" sensor inside the PureView and there was no need to go to extremes to achieve the mind-blowing resolution.
It's only when you compare the pixel size of the Nokia 808 PureView sensor to those inside the DSLR and Micro Four Thirds cameras that you can call them small.
Now, let's cut to the chase and start with the shooting.
FLASH TEST
We start with the most common scenario. All cameras had their ISO setting set to automatic and flash was enabled. Each of the contenders was shot in its maximum native resolution, save for the Nokia 808, which appears twice on each set of crops - once in its full-res 38MP mode and once in the 8MP PureView mode we believe will be most frequently used.We placed the subject about a meter and a half away from the cameras, as we doubt many will shoot such wide-angle lenses from much greater distance. Here go the crops.
The Nokia 808 PureView put its Xenon flash to great use, capturing an amazing amount of detail here. The native 38MP mode did show some noise, but nothing we can't live with, while the 8MP PureView shot is simply stunning.
The Samsung Galaxy S III cheated quite a lot there as it dropped its shutter speed to 1/15 which, combined with a LED flash, allowed it to keep the ISO at 200 only. However in real-life scenarios (when you don't have a tri-pod like we did) photos shot at this kind of shutter speeds are certain to come out blurred due to camera shake more often than not.
But even if we assume that every Galaxy S III owner is an experienced photographer with a super steady hand, its output is still nowhere near the PureView standards.
As for the two large-sensor cameras, the Canon 550D chose to underpower its flash and shoot at ISO 400, failing to match the 808 PureView. The Olympus E-PL2 did better and almost matched the Nokia smartphone in terms of resolved detail, but its photo came out with extremely poor contrast, which means the Finn got the first win for today.
No flash test
For the second test we disabled the flash units to get them out of the equation. That's hardly going to be as frequent a case as the previous one, but it was a good way of testing the 808 PureView performance in those scenarios when flash usage is simply pointless - i.e. when shooting landscapes or when the subject is reflective and the flash will ruin things.Here go the two set of crops from the two images we captured.
Impressive, isn't it? The Nokia 808 in 38MP mode has the most detailed output and even its 8MP PureView mode showed quite a lot of fine detail. Granted, when using 38MP mode the Nokia smartphone images come out the noisiest, but it's the less irritating luminance noise, rather than the color patches that dominate the low-light shots of other smartphones and didgicams.
With the first shot the Nokia 808 PureView kept the shutter speed at the relatively easy to handle 1/25, but it did go the Samsung way with the second photo and dropped to 1/16. The Canon 550D DSLR camera stuck with 1/30, which should normally allow you to capture sharp photos at this focal length if the subject isn't moving while the Olympus chose 1/50 and 1/60 settings, which are certain to avoid camera shake and even motion blur on most occasions. However the higher shutter speeds of the Olympus camera meant that it needed to go for a higher ISO setting, which inevitably took its toll on the image
Key features
- 38 megapixel autofocus camera with xenon flash and 1080p@30fps video recording
- Two capture modes: 38MP/34MP full-res and 3MP/5MP/8MP PureView
- Camera features: giant 1/1.2" camera sensor, mechanical shutter, ND filter, geotagging, face detection, up to 4x lossless digital zoom
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
- Penta-band 3G with 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support
- 4" 16M-color AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
- Nokia Belle OS with Feature Pack 1
- Single-core 1.3 GHz ARM 11 CPU and 512 MB RAM
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and UPnP
- microHDMI port for HD TV-out functionality
- GPS receiver with A-GPS support and free voice-guided navigation
- Digital compass
- 16GB on-board storage, expandable up to 32GB through the microSD card slot
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
- DivX and XviD video support
- Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
- Stereo FM Radio with RDS, FM transmitter
- microUSB port with USB On-the-go support
- Stereo Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP
- NFC support
- Smart and voice dialing
- Scratch resistant Gorilla glass display
Main disadvantages
- Symbian ecosystem lags behind Android and iOS
- nHD resolution wears thin on the 4" screen
- The phone is quite bulky and heavy
- Relatively limited 3rd party software availability
- microSIM support
And of course the flipside is that the smartphone is not of the same order as the cameraphone. The Symbian-powered Nokia 808 PureView knows darn well it cannot match the quad-cores, HD screens and the app stores of the competition.
Retail package
The Nokia 808 PureView comes with all the essential accessories in the box. Ours came with a rather big charger to be used with a data and charging USB cable. We would've liked the stylish round chargers of the N9 and the Lumia line, but it's not a big deal.The stereo headset has a Call key built-in and comes with a choice of three different sets of earbuds of different sizes. An NFC sticker and a leather wrist strap with suede padding complete the contents of the box.
What's in Nokia 808 PureView's box
Nokia 808 PureView 360-degree spin
Here's the Nokia 808 PureView in all its glory. It's not exactly fresh out of the gym, and the massive camera bump makes it look like it's been in an accident. Multiple accidents? It's certainly not a bad-looking fella, though.Design and build quality
Nokia are sticking to the classic white and black, and red for special occasions, we presume. No fancy paintjobs like pink and lime. Also gone is the full-metal body of the N8.The all plastic build is not necessarily a bad thing, considering that at 169g the 808 PureView competes in the super heavyweight division. Plastic was definitely the way to go here.
Nokia 808 PureView and its daddy
The Nokia 808 PureView has a surprisingly coarse finish that almost feels like machined metal, only not as cold. It is nice to the touch and has great grip, which is a must for such a hefty, and top-heavy, piece of gear. We don't miss the aluminum unibody of the N8 because, believe it or not, the 808 PureView easily puts any metal-clad phone to shame. The feel is solid, bordering on lethal. The Nokia 808 PureView desperately lacks sophistication but it doesn't feel like it'll break in your hands.
It's not hard to guess that this kind of camera will require plenty of extra space. At 123.9 x 60.2 x 13.9 mm, the 808 PureView is just a millimeter thicker than the Nokia N8, but that's not taking into account the large hump at the back. At its thickest part, where the camera is, the 808 PureView is 18mm deep.
Despite the size and weight, the device doesn't feel weird in the hand. It didn't take long to learn how to balance the top-heavy phone in portrait. That's where the grippy finish of the rear was most welcome. One scenario where it's not the most comfortable of handsets is typing in landscape mode. And even that's not too bad.
The Nokia 808 PureView in black
Above the display we find the secondary camera for video calls, alongside the proximity and ambient light sensors, and a centrally placed earpiece.
Keeping up with the times, the 808 PureView packs a 4" AMOLED display, with a layer of Gorilla Glass for extra protection. It's a nice choice for screen meant for viewing photos.
So, assuming at some point you will stop ogling the monstrous camera at the back, the front is where your attention will be. Unfortunately, Nokia could've done better than nHD resolution.
360 x 640 pixel screens weren't exactly top of the line two years ago, and they most certainly aren't today. The display has grown up to 4 inches, taking the pixel density down to 184 ppi. With some rival smartphones able to offer nearly twice this number, the 808 PureView has no excuses.
But not everything is ruined. AMOLED offers great sunlight legibility and perfect indoor performance. Not least, the aspect ratio is spot on 16:9. Deep blacks and saturated colors are the technology's trademark features. Although it's not as impressive as Samsung's SuperAMOLED Plus, it's more than competitive elsewhere.
And here's how the Nokia 808 PureView did in our dedicated display test. We couldn't measure the values at 50% brightness since the ambient light sensor couldn't be turned off. You can learn more about the testing process over here.
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