The second encounter: Nokia 808 Pureview Hands-on

Hey I just met you and this is crazy!….oh wait, we already met during the Lumianation

Remember the Nokia 808 Pureview? Yeah, we already got a hands-on of the phone a month ago during the Nokia Lumianation launch.  Then a few weeks ago, the media was given a chance to get a hands-on of the Nokia 808 Pureview. So here it is folks, the second round of the Nokia 808 Pureview hands-on! So what can we expect with the Nokia 808 Pureview? Well, the phone got a 4 inch clearblack AMOLED display which can be found on most Nokia smartphones these days like the Nokia Lumia 800 and of course, there’s a 41 megapixel camera inside the phone which is the most striking feature of this phone.

The Hardware

The Nokia 808 Pureview doesn’t feature a groundbreaking design just like the iPhone 4 when it was launched. The Nokia 808 Pureview’s construction reminds me of the first S60 touch screen phone, the Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic. The Pureview is thick especially the upper part on where the sensor and the camera was placed and yes, the bulge at the back is very noticeable but even though the phone is too thick for me, I didn’t experience any problems about handling it.

The body of the Nokia 808 was made of Polycarbonate but this one has a grainy polycarbonate body compared to the smooth polycarbonate body of the Nokia Lumia 800 and 900. No other surprising features on the body. Music lovers gotta love this phone because not only the camera is good but also the loudspeaker. The speaker is very loud and crystal clear.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 side by side with the Nokia 808 Pureview

The 4″ display is kinda disappointing because it is only at nHD 640×360 which is way behind the HD (1280×720) displays and WVGA (800×480) that can be found on most smartphones. Why is it disappointing? Well we can get a very large 38 megapixel picture but we can’t view the picture at a large resolution. Anyway, the good thing about the AMOLED Clearblack display is that its sunlight legibility is good.

Powering this device is a 1400 mAh battery which I think is too small especially when you always use its camera. Inside is a MicroSD card slot and a MicroSim slot. So yeah, you’ll have to cut your Sim Card if you have a regular size sim card. But hey, most smartphones that are available right now are requiring a micro sim like the Samsung Galaxy S3.
 

The Camera

One thing is for sure, the Nokia 808 Pureview can replace most of your point and shoot cameras but it can’t replace your Micro 4/3 and DSLR cameras. The 41 megapixel camera is the best thing I’ve used so far. When you’re on the Pureview mode which is maxed out at 8 megapixel, you can zoomed in at very very far distances without losing the quality. Yes I mean it, you can zoomed it at a VERY VERY FAR DISTANCE with FULL quality. I’m not a great photographer but hey, the Nokia 808 Pureview is really great! The Nokia 808 Pureview’s 41 megapixel camera is mind blowing!

Check out some pictures that I tooked using the Nokia 808 Pureview:

And then here’s the picture at 100% zoom. Pretty impressive right?

The camera can capture images very swiftly. No lags at all. I also noticed that in full resolution, the noise are noticeable at 100% zoom but hey, the camera is still great for a phone. You can also customize most of the settings at image or video mode. Here’s a video that I took using the Nokia 808 Pureview. Check out how far can I zoom this baby.

Awesome. I almost fell to the ground on that video.

The Software

So there’s Symbian Belle inside the Nokia 808 Pureview. Some of you might be disappointed for not having the latest Windows Phone but hey I think that’s a good decision because current Windows Phone 7 users won’t get the Windows Phone 8 update which is lame and Symbian Belle is kinda fast on this phone and I didn’t experience any crashes and lags at all on this phone.

Anyway the phone’s great, I didn’t experience lags at the gallery even when opening large images. Pinching when zooming isn’t that laggy too. Pretty amazing. Nokia really polished the laggines and crashes at Symbian Belle. I was pretty amazed with the Nokia Big Screen which was demoed by Mr. Mike Smith of Nokia Philippines. The phone has just a single core 1.3 Ghz processor but it was able to display full HD and play pictures and videos at full resolution. Too bad, I can’t zoomed in to the images that are displayed on the screen.

Mr. Mike Smith playing with Nokia Big screen

The Controls on the Nokia Big screen

The Verdict and the others

So if you are really into mobile photography and some playing media stuffs then you might want this phone. There’s a Nokia store on where you can download apps and games if you’re getting bored. But hey, this phone is made for mobile photography. You can shoot images and videos at a far distance without losing the quality. The 41 megapixel camera is really the big thing here, it can replaced your point and shoot cameras oh and there are available accessories for the Nokia 808 Pureview like the case and the clip for the tripod.

A decent case for the Nokia 808 Pureview with a cover for the camera

The clip for the tripod

Here are the things that are in box

My reaction after using this phone:

I want one!

Check out the other pictures of the phone:

Check out my first hands-on of the Nokia 808 Pureview here