Say cheese! It's time for a closer look at the Nokia 808 PureView, the phone with the frankly daft 41-megapixel camera.
The Nokia 808 is a showcase for the Finnish company's new PureView camera technology. You probably don't need 41 megapixels, but it shows just how powerful the technology is.
A 41-megapixel photo takes a lot of processing power to handle, but I tried it and the 808 takes these enormous snaps instantly, and is super-fast and responsive to look through photos, edit them, and zoom in on the smallest details.
The 808 has a 1/1.2-inch sensor, which is substantially larger than the average camera phone sensor. Each pixel measures 40 microns. The Carl Zeiss lens has an aperture of f2.4, and there's a 6x zoom -- although it's not an optical zoom.
Although it's technically got 41 megapixels on the sensor, the 808 shoots pictures up to 38 megapixels, in 4:3. Or you can go 16:9 at 34 megapixels. The file size for these full-blown snaps is around 10MB, according to Nokia.
You can also snap at a more level-headed 3, 5 or 8 megapixels.
Click through our photos above to see the Nokia 808 PureView in action, or hit play on our video below to see my first impressions of the phone.
PureView has been in development for a few years, which explains why Nokia hasn't put it into a more advanced Windows Phone. Non-camera features, like the usual phone features and some more advanced apps, are powered by Nokia's much-maligned Symbian software.
If the last time you saw Symbian was on on one of Nokia's woefully dated feature phones, you may be pleasantly surprised: the current version of Symbian, known as Symbian Belle, is actually quite slick and easy on the eye.
It's a candy-coloured version of a smart phone, with playful rounded icons for your apps including basic stuff such as a calendar and address book, and proper apps like Shazam, YouTube and Adobe Reader.
The Maps app is particularly good, including glossy and responsive 3D views, a night view that switches the map to darkness, and a terrain view.
I'm certainly excited about the 808 PureView. 41 megapixels may be a headline-grabbing marketing exercise, but there's plenty of cool stuff also included here that I'd love to see in more cameras. I've even chosen the 808 as my favourite phone of MWC -- although my colleagues have their own thoughts on that subject.
Do you agree? Tell me your thoughts on the 808 in the comments or on our Facebook page. For more mobile news, head to mwc.cnet.co.uk.
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Comments 8
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anonymous 3 March, 2012 13:46
plz send video & prize lists more fechers
anonymous 3 March, 2012 14:38
Can't wait to get one.i just cant think what iphone and android can do that symbian cant. The whopping 41m is like a slap to those critics.
anonymous 3 March, 2012 18:18
@second anonymous: I was wondering the same thing because I was wondering the same thing. The answer is APPS. Symbian belle actually looks quite nice- but nobody uses it- hence it is going to have a very limited selection of apps and even worse it will probably wont have future suport unless people buy it in droves, which is unlikely. As much as I want to switch to this phone, I am not giving up on apps on android such as Spotify, Sky player, Onlive and many others.
anonymous 4 March, 2012 00:33
Depends what you want from a phone, I was was about to buy the Sony Xperia S but Nokia are reminding me of the good old days of my N95. Android phones are getting too big, thin and easy to break. The 808 looks an ok size and built to last and the camera/video is something I would use for a lot more than the Galaxy S2, the camera did not impress me compared to an old 8mp Nokia 86, a lot older. If you like loads of apps fine and like sleek its not for you, but Nokia is stable with Flash player support and HTML5 web browsing. I am hoping to get one now instead of the sony, but you never know....
anonymous 4 March, 2012 14:16
This phone takes picture better then Nikon camera 2500
anonymous 5 March, 2012 05:21
It would make sense for Nokia to leave smartphone market and enter the camera market and compete with Nikon, Olympus, canon etc,
Instead of making a smart phone, they have made a smart camera, because there is nothing else smart about it.
41 mega pixels is an over kill by atleast 33 mega pixels by my standards for a phone. Nokia should spend more time improving their phones software then improving its Camera.
anonymous 8 March, 2012 16:27
All I want to know is if I shell out the money, what carriers can I use it with in the US?
anonymous 18 April, 2012 16:33
will this phone take off? and why would you need so many megapixels as 41?! its an usual idea for a mobile phone and operating system that will date as there isnt enough support as apple ios and android.i cant see it doing well.come on nokia zzzz get with the times