Belle view
The Nokia 808 is not currently a stock option handset with any of the usual cellcos, which means that they can’t apply data settings remotely. Instead, you have to input them manually. The problem is that providers don’t have a clue of how to do that because they don’t know the phone yet. Although given it runs Symbian Nokia Belle, you'd think they could read off the script for a Nokia E7.
Swappable battery and micro SD storage expansion too
Alas, the mobile data configuration menu on the phone is anything but self explanatory and the Nokia manual does not shed any light on this either. After spending a long time getting the my cellco to spell out all the necessary data settings, that failed to work, I was left with no other option but to contact Nokia to get a step-by-step guide on where to insert the APN, username and the like from its support staff. Good news is that once I finally got there, posting pictures on-line was truly a no-brainer.
As for the Nokia Belle OS, after some getting used to it, I didn't experience extensive problems in general operation and call quality. However, given that handsets are also used as entertainment devices, learning its ways – and dealing with some less than intuitive approaches to simple tasks – did frustrate my having fun with the phone.
Belle ringer: Proof of concept or a platform saviour?
Alas, Nokia Belle also lacks the support of many applications readily available for Android and iOS – Instagram, being one example that photographers and Facebookers alike will certainly miss. On the positive side, Nokia Maps is exemplary, very useful, efficient and user-friendly. The 808's battery life also outperforms my iPhone by a large margin, at least when it's in battery saving mode.
Verdict
So what's the bottom line here? I have to say that despite its photographic excellence as a phonecam, I will not be rushing to trade in my iPhone nor my camera for a Nokia 808 PureView just yet. The camera and the PureView technology are very attractive but the Belle OS puts me off making such an investment, especially now that Nokia has announced the Lumia 920 featuring PureView but powered by Windows Phone 8. Admittedly, the new Lumia has only an 8Mp sensor, but this is surely just the start.
Indeed, with PureView, Nokia seems to have finally found a way to differentiate and deliver some new, exciting products to look forward to. For now though, if you're looking for a quality camera on your mobile, the Nokia 808 PureView is the best you can get. ®
Catherine Monfils is a professional photographer specialising in portraiture, lifestyle and fashion.
All sample images are supplied for quality assessment purposes only. © Catmon Photography 2012.
More Camera Reviews… |
||||
 Fujifilm
X-Pro1 |
 Nikon
D4 |
 Pentax
K-01 |
 Sigma
SD1 Merill |
 Canon
PowerShot G1 X |
Just how good is Nokia's PureView 41Mp camera tech?
COMMENTS
instagram?!
"Instagram, being one example that photographers and Facebookers alike will certainly miss. "
So Nokia goes to great pains to create the highest quality mobile phone camera ever seen, and then the major complaint is you cannot install an app for degrading the pictures...
Pureview on Microsoft phones.... don't hold your breath it is NOT the same!
They've done the typical thing. Produced an amazing camera on an OS which is able to support such massive changes to the entire way the camera and the graphics functions. They have given this a name and then applied that same name to an OS which can NOT do the same in the hope of conning some people into spending money on a 'new' camera phone in the expectation it is as good as this 'old' camera phone.
It won't be, because it can't be. Maybe by the end of next year some of the magic can have been transferred but don't hold your breath.
As to the battery life comment, the battery life on the 808 - and indeed ALL symbian based phones runs rings around all the other smart phone contenders. The OS was designed from the very start (back in the '80's) to run on batteries - it is basically an evolution of the Epoc32 system that ran in the Psion series 5 hand held computers. Android and iOS are loosely based on linux which is a desk top system, winpho is sat on top of wince which is another cut down desk top. You will NEVER get the battery life out of these other devices that you will out of Symbian.
I would LOVE a copy of this whole article though - I worked on the device :) (not that you would guess I might be biased - but truly nothing else even comes close).
"The best camera is the one you have with you"
Or whatever the quote is. The snag with a decent quality camera (which until now has been "any dedicated camera") is that you rarely have it while you tend to have your phone a lot.
Sounds like Nokia could do well to ditch the phone components and repackage it as toughened, waterproof 'action sports' compact, possibly retaining the satnav optimised for mountains. It's got to be easier to make this design of camera shockproof than it is a camera with moving lens parts.
Re: instagram?!
Instagram...now if ever there was an app for muppets...
"Yeah the idea for the app is we let people make their crappy photos even more crappy!"
"Who wil fall for that???"
"Who do you think..Hipsters!"
