Nokia 808 PureView: Early Production Model Review(s) by Steve Litchfield and the AAS Team ...
Steve Litchfield, the imaging phone guru at AAS and AAWP (and one the Phones Show noted that he recieved a 808 PV at AAS headquarters on Friday (the 22nd) and he an the team plan to publish a comprehensive 8 part review beginning this week and running through the month of July.
"The retail Nokia 808 PureView is now at AAS Towers and I've been poring over it like a kid at Christmas. It arrived in a special 'journalist' edition bag, and in this image gallery I include some of these elements. The bulk is of the 808 though, with comments on screen quality, battery and fit and finish, including in the official hard case. Our full eight part review of the 808 will commence early next week."
Steve published a gallery of 18 expandable images of the device as it was unboxed and they are available here ... allaboutsymbian.com
AAS's Nokia 808 Review Plan
Here's how they intend to cover the 808. Not least because there's no Symbian hardware coming after it, they're going to take their time and review it properly:
Part 1: Hands on with the 808 PureView retail hardware, build quality, a recap of Unique Selling Points, what’s in the box, opinion so far of the 808 as a smartphone and any initial problems
Part 2a: Camera stills and video overview, with samples of each, how it all works and initial comments
Part 2b: Detailed stills comparisons in a wide range of conditions and of various subjects, c.f. N8 (and N82 and N86) and a competing smartphone (probably an iPhone 4S), i.e. by how far does it improve on the N8 and how do other 2012 camera smartphones compare?
Part 2c:Eexploration of creative modes and settings in the 808 stills camera, pushing the limits, exploring the interface
Part 2d: Exploring video capture, zooming, options, samples, Rich Recording, comparisons, focus modes, etc.
Part 3: Nokia Belle FP1 core application set, multimedia, performance, glitches and patches, as appropriate
Part 4: App extras, the 808’s chances in the marketplace, prospects for support and updates, where it fits in Symbian history.
Part 1 is already available and its intro and its backgroundare below. I'll publish some excerpts from the article here tomorrow or Tuesday.
allaboutsymbian.com
Review: Nokia 808 PureView: Part 1 (Hardware, initial thoughts on performance and camera)
Steve Litchfield
All About Symbian
June 24,
allaboutsymbian.com
Symbian's 'last hurrah' is here at last, now in Western Europe and looking good. We've got a review Nokia 808 PureView in the house and here starts our in depth review coverage, starting with a look at the hardware and build, at the 808's performance and feel as a smartphone, and an initial look at the capability of its unique selling point, the monster 41 megapixel sensor and PureView processor.
<... skip several paragraphs ...>
Background
In somewhat simplistic terms, the Nokia 808 PureView is the latest in a long line of Nokia specialist camera-toting smartphones - devices which went beyond the call of duty to bring cutting edge imagery (and usually video capture) to users everywhere. From the transformer N93 to the Xenon-equipped N82, from the variable aperture N86 to the consummate all rounder N8, Nokia's one saving grace throughout a decade of turbulence in the industry is that it has this imaging specialism. (See here for my piece on phone camera innovations over the decade.)
Famously conceived after the relative failure of the N93, which had optical zoom (and numerous compromises as a result), the PureView system was then developed and refined over the years, waiting for technology to be available to make the idea of a massive sensor array and super-fast image processor practical. Now, this bit's important to note - PureView was developed from 2007 onwards on Symbian hardware and this is the reason we have the 808 PureView now.
With the new focus on Windows Phone, I'm sure Nokia would have loved to have put the PureView technology into a device on that platform, but that would have meant a delay, with the tech sitting in the labs waiting for a real world outlet. The PureView technology has been in development for five years and naturally the assumption has been that it would be running on Symbian OS. In addition to the custom hardware integration, the Gallery and Camera applications have been rewritten to accommodate new functions and performance requirements. The underlying platform is not something you can change over night, even if Windows Phone 7.5 allowed the kind of flexibility in its imaging implementation that is necessary to support the custom software and imaging chipset that goes along with the Nokia 808's camera module. As Rafe noted it his earlier piece Nokia has made clear from the start is that PureView will be used in "multiple future products". While Nokia never talks about the specifics of a future products, it is clear that the intention is to move PureView to the Windows Phone Lumia range later this year. The likelihood is that the sensor size and megapixel count will come down in order to meet the constraints of a thinner device design (i.e. less of a camera hump). That does mean that the 808 PureView is likely to remain the ultimate cameraphone device for some time to come.
In that light, critics of Symbian can justifiably view the 808 PureView as a technology demonstrator. However, for regular All About Symbian readers, the 808 fulfills a second role - the last, fastest, greatest Symbian smartphone ever. There's verry little chance we'll see any more Symbian hardware, so this IS IT, for better or worse. Symbian's 'last hurrah'? - Absolutely. ###
More to follow.
- Eric - |
