Nokia 808 PureView in focus: round-up of recent reviews

Published by Boc Ly on June 25, 2012

The buzz surrounding the Nokia 808 PureView since its unveiling at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year has barely subsided.

In fact, if anything, the excitement and hype is continuing to gather momentum.

That’s certainly the case if the early reviews are any indication.

So what have they been saying about this revolutionary cameraphone with a whopping 41-megapixel sensor, cutting edge Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia’s new imaging technology?

Here, if you needed further convincing, are some of the first reviews and hands-on tests.

CNET

Unsurprisingly most of the reviews concentrate on the camera capabilities and CNET’s hands-on test is no different.

“The 808 PureView isn’t a smartphone for the masses. For the more discerning photography enthusiasts who are looking for a compact camera replacement — and current N8 users — though, it’s a different matter entirely… If you just want a camera that can also be used to make calls and send and receive e-mails, then the Nokia 808 PureView fulfills this purpose very well.”

Of the phone’s design, CNET said:

“The design of the Nokia 808 PureView can be simply described as solid. Solid in the sense that the construction of the phone is robust and sturdy, which is really no surprise, seeing Nokia’s strong tradition of producing durable handsets like the Nokia 3210. Coupled with the Gorilla Glass display, this phone is built to last.”

The Handheld Blog

This review points out some of the 808 PureView’s other features.

“While the camera is the showstopper here, other noteworthy specs include a 4″ Clear Black display, a 1400 mAh battery, 16 GB of internal storage, HDMI out, an FM Transmitter, Secure NFC and Bluetooth 3.0.”

Obviously, the Handheld Blog, doesn’t ignore the camera altogether. In fact, they’ve managed to secure an interview with Nokia’s imaging guru Damien Dinning, who goes on to talk through the technology behind the 808 PureView.

T3

T3 also gets to the heart of the camera technology on the Nokia 808 PureView, which saw it awarded the Best New Mobile Handset at the World Mobile Congress.

“This sort of megapixel count hasn’t been seen on a phone before, and is usually limited to medium format pro cameras. The Carl Zeiss lens is teamed with Nokia’s pixel over-sampling technology, which has been designed to produce sharp pictures, even in low light conditions, along with the ability to save the images in compact file sizes for easy sharing.”

Their review does have a minor quibble about the 4-inch screen being smaller than they would have liked, but concludes:

“Having said that, images are clear and hues are bright and punchy so we can’t complain too much.”

Nokia 808 PureView

GSM Arena

Reviews don’t come much more comprehensive than this blind test carried out by GSM Arena.

In their own words:

“Yes, we had ourselves a nice little shootout. But rather than simply tell you the score, we’ve decided to make you a part of the action. We give you side-by-side shots of what’s probably the most exciting cameraphone contest we’ve had so far.”

They not only compared the Nokia 808 Pureview with other cameraphones on the market but also a small DSLR, the Olympus E-PL2, with interchangeable lenses.

Judge the photos and see the results for yourselves.

NDTV

NDTV also had another novel way of testing the device. They used the Nokia 808 PureView to actually shoot some scenes of their TV programme and then asked people if they could tell the difference.

The Nokia 808 PureView is out now in selected markets and is available for pre-order in the United States and Europe.

Comments

  • http://UnleashThePhones.com/ Clinton Jeff

    Haha in that video, I was still recovering from hearing “41 megapixels” at the announcement :D Proud owner of a 808 Pureview now! 

    • http://conversations.nokia.com Ian Delaney

      Hah! Let us know how you’re getting on with it, Clinton.

  • http://www.emstracking.co.uk/ Syuzix123

    So? Are you enjoying it all the time?

  • droopyar

    PureView is perfect. Please remember to add on the article the REAL full DOLBY audio, which is also exclusive on 808. Also, the updated BELLE FP1, and phone is updated soon to FP2. this phone is the beast in the mobile scene. You have also many applications skype, facebook, etc. Symbian best phone in the market. 

    • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

      Don’t forget that Nokia N9 also supports dolby audio and used to be THE exclusive phone to support that. 
      N9 and Nokia 808, both outstanding, amazing devices! 

      • http://twitter.com/Hdrules Hradayesh Nimavat

        and N9 records great audio during video recording too….really true stereo sound

        • droopyar

           N9 is meego, not good.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joris-Bos/1205763487 Joris Bos

    Guys, really, please survive the coming months up to the release of Windows Phone 8.. please! Then make pureview Lumia and regain the lead. Nokia for life!

    • droopyar

       there will be many manufacturers of wp8 (huwai, samsung nokia and another), i think nokia must have their own brand updated which is symbian belle fp2 (exclusive)

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/YZ5PG6AKSB46LER2XJYADDW7DE Keith L

      I agree; I’m really hoping that Nokia will have flagship Lumia Apollo phones with PureView at launch time.

  • http://twitter.com/Hdrules Hradayesh Nimavat

    Most of reviewers have reviewed Nokia 808 as great camera phone with okaish smartphone capabilities except those mad reviewers from usa they don’t deserve even review units from Nokia those fools should buy those units if they want to bash the phone!

    • C38S

      One “major” reviewer even said the “Ovi Store” didn’t have any facebook or twitter apps!  That shows that the only thing they did was take photos and ignored the rest of the phone.  Compare that with a proper review I saw of a different device where they spent 1 month using it before reviewing…. oh well, we can’t believe everything that is on the internet.

  • steelicon

    I hope you guys and the higher management realize that the only “flagship-class” device that will be pulling Nokia through this dark times is the “Hyperion”. Incidentally, Hyperion is the Greek god of Light. This is it, Nokia. This product and its OS may yet save your company.

    @Nokia:twitter @selop:twitter @phonedaz:twitter 

    • droopyar

       I agree, nowadays only nokia flagship is Nokia 808 PureView running native nokia OS called Symbian. If Elop and stockholders are intelligent, they will support this phone and launch it WORLDWIDE. Still no news for south america!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/martin.eyles Martin Eyles

    How long till the UK release?

  • steelicon

    Granted that all things being more or less fairly equal, following the logic of dead devices, they should start marketing and selling the already dead and burning platform, as declared on February 11, 2011, for 1¢ also. IMHO the dead and burning platform, as declared on February 11, 2011, has much more things going for it ATM than the very recently departed OS and its ecosystem along with it.

    Frankly speaking, the Nokia 808 PureView RM-807 Hyperion is more alive than dead and so much more going for it as the other product.

    Scan the QR code for the story within the story.

    @selop:twitter @phonedaz:twitter @Nokia:twitter 

  • Pingback: Nokia 808 PureView in focus: round-up of recent reviews | Nokipedia

  • http://phonecompanies.blogspot.com/ Phone Companies

    I can’t think anything when now I see Nokia with WP. Don’t they realize that they have abandoned their power foundation? it is Symbian OS, the best platform Nokia have ever had. I know that WP is a pretty stable OS, but I think it just doesn’t fit with Nokia. And I’m sure that Symbian is still far more better than WP. I don’t know why.. but I have a strong feeling if Symbian can be reborn and be developed again, It will definitely competitive with the current popular OS. Think about it Nokia. Remember your Symbian..

    • steelicon

      According to my friend, at present NOKIA has neither the credibility, resources nor money to re-acquire Symbian and re-hire Symbian Developers. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop made sure of that not happening. Too much damage has been done to NOKIA.

      The only good NOKIA can do now is to BRING DOWN   Microsoft Windows Phone platform WITH IT, to the dark, icy and watery  abyss underneath the burning platform. Along with it @SamsungMobile:twitter @HTC:twitter , etc.,@selop:twitter @phonedaz:twitter @Nokia:twitter @WindowsPhone:twitter

    • Stoli89

       As good as Symbian is wrt embedded OS’s, it was extremely costly to develop inside of Nokia and not competitive wrt speed to market.  In addition, external events overtook it.  For one, the market has unanimously decided that connected hand held computers are more favorable to own/use than converged devices.  The market has also decided the broader and more capable an ecosystem, in terms of services/devices/use cases, the better the user experience.  Lastly, Moore’s law has allowed Symbian’s resource stingy advantages to be overcome by lower and lower cost tech, thereby closing the gap for resource hogs like Android.

      I am a Symbian fan, own a couple of N8′s, and will continue to rely on the Belle OS for some time.  But I am clearly in the minority.  Maybe Western users will come to appreciate Symbian’s low cost of operation and abilities to support Swiss Army type devices, but it will be too late.  By the time this is fully appreciated, they will have been cemented by sunk costs into ecosystems that are designed to generate profit streams. For better or for worse, the invisible hand has weighed in on this one.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZXJP6NNNXEEEHWSXMGNE2VUGEM i-Truth

      I hope Nokia is taking notes and listening to the people and what we want.  Stop playing catch up and give us a 4.5 inch screen with QHD resolution.

      I hope you are secretly working on a new OS to go with your top-notch hardware. Are you listening Mr. Elop?

  • steelicon

    Fan Based / ReMixed Video of Nokia 808 PureView.

    @selop:twitter @phonedaz:twitter @jalakarhu:twitter @Nokia:twitter @NokiaPH:twitter 

    Scan the QR Code to go directly to the video! Enjoy! ^_^

  • Stoli89

    IMO, the 808 is Nokia’s first foray into building a colossal brand around PureView and Rich Recording.  As the flagship camera phone, it is the nuclear ice-breaker, cutting a wide path for WP8 PureView devices to follow.  For this purpose, it has already been a partial success.

  • asahi33

    Is nokia planning to release an update to fix the 808′s purple tint screen deffect as reported by some 808 owners?

    Or they will just ignore it like what they did to the same purple tint problem the nokia n8 & c7 had before?

    before, i was so excited to buy this phone. but when i read in the net about the issue, i am beginning to change my mind. i’m still glad though that i did not rush buying the phone the moment it was first made available in the market, otherwise i might regret buying an expensive but defective nokia phone!