Review: Nokia 808 PureView

 

NOKIA 808 PUREVIEW
Dimensions (WxHxD: 123.9 x 60.2 x 13.9 mm;
Weight: 169 g; CPU: 1.3 GHz ARM 11; RAM: 512 MB;
Display: 4-inch, 360x640 pixels; Camera: 41 MP with
autofocus and Xenon flash; Storage: 16 GB; Video:
1080p @30 fps.
Price: Rs 31,700
www.nokia.co.in


Nokia’s 808 PureView is designed to offer mobile phone users a delectable camera. It looks like a generic Nokia handset, with a four-inch capacitive touchscreen and Nokia’s ClearBlack technology. Visibility in all conditions is great. The micro HDMI port proves handy, but there is no cable or adapter. The rear of the phone’s polycarbonate body houses a protruding lens with a Xenon flash. Without a lens cover, chances of the lens getting scratched are high. The 808 also has an NFC antenna, and comes with 16 GB of onboard memory.

It has a 1.3 GHz processor at its core and a separate GPU processor to run graphics and stabilise the camera. All of this runs on Symbian Belle. The handset doesn’t feel too slow, but the Symbian’s keypad is still in need of dire improvements. The user interface is lag-free but definitely not the easiest to use. With Dolby mobile and lots of codecs supported even in 1080p, the 808’s media performance is good, notwithstanding the lack of customisable EQ settings.

Nokia’s Music Store enables you to download plenty of free music. The FM transmitter is a bonus. With features like NFC, Wi-Fi, 3G/EDGE and Bluetooth support, the PureView is well-covered in terms of connectivity. Although the 808 features USB on-the-go and HDMI, Nokia has not bundled the 808 with compatible cables; but you won’t necessarily need them as you have DLNA.

The phone gives you lots of free apps, like Nokia Drive, one of the best navigation apps for mobile handsets, with well-designed, free, offline maps. The social networking app only allows you to connect to Facebook and Twitter. Setting up e-mail is as easy as on Android or iOS, but the user interface isn’t optimised for viewing e-mails.

The 808 has a 41 MP camera, and while many claimed it might just be interpolated images, this doesn’t seem to be the case. This is easily the best camera phone in  the market. Focusing is quick, and the app’s user interface is easy to use. There’s an amazing level of detail that you can catch, although the phone doesn’t handle macro photography well. The Xenon flash is handy. Photos shot in the panoramic view look good with no visible seams.

The 808 PureView’s 1400 mAh battery is stable, but nothing above average.

Its price—Rs 31,700—is a little steep, especially with plenty of competitors in the Android segment. They might not offer the same kind of camera functionality and quality, but they do offer better options in terms of overall usability.

Courtesy: CHIP