When two, three or even four camera’s just won’t do.

Nokia, the great pioneers of the mobile phone have gone through varying stages throughout the 20 plus years, wowing us with the small form factor devices of the 3310 and 3315 age. Being the first to ever add MP3 playability in to their full keyboard 5510 and introducing us to one of the first mobile computing-like experience with their Symbian range.

Having had a brief fling with Microsoft and their mobile OS, Nokia embraced Android a couple of years back, and since the acquisition from ex-Nokia folk banded together forming HDM Global, they have bought the familiar touching hands back to the future.

Their latest flagship smart phone, the PureView boasts five cameras in a circular formation on the rear of the device. Nokia have always liked to be different and walk their own path – try out design and UX (User Experience) initiatives that others have never thought of.

The PureView is pure Android. No skinning, no bloatware and built with a mobile camera for the professionals.

Using Carl Zeiss lenses in its PureView camera array, the Pureview will snap richly detailed, full HDR that rivals some of the bigger players in the fierce mobile market.

Spec wise, the PureView is somewhat up there with the more pricier devices but is using last year’s Snapdragon 845. Why this was added and not one of the more heftier ones now available I can’t say, but it does keep the retail cost of the phone down for sure, and is more than enough grunt to keep your mobile photography going and going.

The processor is coupled with 6GB RAM and a 128Gb ROM (storage). These are on lower side of the current flagship spectrum – however I feel that Nokia gave all that you need in the PureView, as I have not experienced any choking, lag or otherwise.

A downer for me though (and the only negative) is that the storage is not expandable.

My take on the non storage expansion is that this is an Android One phone – Google want you to use cloud storage; Google Drive. Coupling the pure Android experience with a phone you do not need to add extra’s to. Simplicity in use and built for the pro mobile photographer.

Nokia has excluded dual SIM functionality for New Zealand. The Nokia 9 PureView is both dust and water resistant.

The TOS (Time of Flight) rear camera array weighs in at 12MP per Zeiss lens (60MP combined) and the front one is at 20MP. This is an astounding Front Camera pixel count and one of the highest out there. Within the Front Camera placement is a 3D facial scanner, facial unlock is super instant. The under the glass finger print sensor takes a bit of patience at times though and does require a rather firm press to unlock.

Nokia’s PureView does not feature the current trend of an ‘all-screen’ or notch that was first championed by Apple on their iPhone X and then totally shrunk to a tear drop by Huawei, or removed completely by Samsung in their S10 and OPPO in the Find X.

With a FHD PureView display, the top and side bezels on the 5.99 inch phone are not too bad, giving an almost 80% screen-to-body ratio. The back of the PureView is a somewhat slippery metallic finished glass that does feature wireless charging (but not reverse charging though).

Having so many cameras on one device Nokia have done a marvelous design job keeping the lenses within the case and not protruding from the slimmed body. This is an achievement in itself.

There is no audio jack, you will need to use the supplied USB-C to 3.5mm adapter for any wired headphones. Interestingly (and oddly) Nokia included cabled earbuds in the box… with a 3.5mm pin.

Being that PureView is built for mobile photography, users will notice a delay in processing their pics after taking a photo. The less than 1 second delay is the phone data crunching your high resolution HDR photo to an optimal and crucially detailed level.

There is a menu of differing modes such as Slow Motion, Bokeh, Monochrome, PIP, Panorama, Square and more, but the PureView does not do too well in low light without a flash.

Again, I believe that it is Nokia’s full intention to keep it on point.

Now we get to the battery. Despite having a lower than most 3320 mAH it seems to be more than enough for the handset. Without the additional bloatware and reskins that we see in almost all Android smartphones, the Nokia 9 PureView purrs along for around a day and a half before screaming out for a charge.

The Nokia 9 PureView is absolutely unique. A one of a kind handset that fuses some of the tried and true with merging technology – all the while keeping it pure and simple to use.

The post Nokia 9 PureView (Android One) Smartphone Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, today announces the Nokia 9 PureView, featuring the world’s first five camera array with ZEISS Optics to put next generation computational imaging technology into the hands of photography enthusiasts. Every picture taken with the Nokia 9 PureView is HDR. All five cameras work together simultaneously to capture your image and Nokia 9 PureView fuses it together into one 12MP photo with outstanding dynamic range and unparalleled depth of field.

The Nokia 9 PureView features the world’s first five camera array system with ZEISS Optics. It has two colour sensors for accurate, vibrant colour images and three monochromatic sensors which give sharpness and detail. All five sensors work together to collect up to 10-times the amount of light than a single sensor of the same type.

Every shot taken by the Nokia 9 PureView uses all five cameras to capture at least 60MP of imaging data. To process and fuse the images, Nokia 9 PureView has maximised the heterogenous computing architecture of the Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile platform assigning tasks across ISP, DSP, GPU and CPU. Featuring a dedicated imaging co-processor that individually adjusts exposure and white balance on each camera across the scene, the Nokia 9 PureView gives you a glimpse into the future of smartphone photography.

The Nokia 9 PureView will be coming soon to Spark NZ, Skinny NZ and Harvey Norman in New Zealand.

Spark’s Mobile Lead, Renee Mateparae, said this is Spark’s second year exclusively carrying Nokia smartphones in New Zealand and they are performing well in market.

“Kiwis have a soft spot for Nokia and their latest offering, the Nokia 9 PureView, does not disappoint. Every aspect of our important moments can be captured. With its five cameras working perfectly together, each photo picks up exquisite detail – from the tone of the sunset to the clear image of a car zooming past – the Nokia 9 PureView misses nothing,” said Renee.

“Nokia smartphones have always pioneered imaging innovation. True to that legacy, we are taking a significant leap forward in introducing the most advanced computational imaging system on a smartphone – the Nokia 9 PureView. Designed for photography enthusiasts, the Nokia 9 PureView is the only smartphone to capture images simultaneously from all five lenses to give you an image capture so rich that post processing possibilities are endless. On top, we bring power editing suites like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Google Photos depth editor right to your fingertip – now explore every detail with your Nokia 9 PureView.” states Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer, HMD Global.

Every image captured on the Nokia 9 PureView is HDR, with up to 12.4 stops of dynamic range and a full scene 12MP depth map. This means each 12MP JPG image benefits from outstanding detail in areas of both bright sunlight and shade.

The unparalleled high-fidelity 12MP depth map created with each JPG enables beautiful Bokeh and provides the opportunity to explore your inner artist using Google Photo’s built in depth editor. Now you can re-focus, adjust blur and saturation across the scene, even after you have captured the shot.

Designed with the needs of photography enthusiasts at its heart, Nokia 9 PureView also features the ability to capture images in uncompressed RAW “DNG” format and edit them directly on the phone yourself thanks to our partnership with Adobe Lightroom. It has been said that 50% of the art of photography is in post-production and with Nokia 9 PureView you have every opportunity to shine.

The Nokia 9 PureView features an update to our popular Pro Camera UI – delivering even more control over your photography. Now capture exciting time lapse photography with support for exposure times up to 10 seconds. In addition, the new Pro Camera UI on Nokia 9 PureView includes the ability to adjust the Exposure Value in increments of just 1/3 of a stop, letting you adjust exposure compensation with more control than ever before.

The Nokia 9 PureView is packed with advanced technologies. Utilising heterogenous computing, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform intelligently splits imaging workloads across various technology cores. The Nokia 9 PureView also features a bright 5.99” 2K pOLED screen with PureDisplay technology and integrated Qi Wireless charging. The PureDisplay screen technology features HDR10 support letting you enjoy crisp details, great contrast and rich colours in supported content. The Nokia 9 PureView screen also features an integrated fingerprint sensor, with security features further complemented by advanced biometric face unlock technology.

To top off the flagship-level quality and attention to detail, the Nokia 9 PureView has a flawless finish that radiates the thoughtful design you expect of every Nokia smartphone. All five cameras are seamlessly integrated into the 8mm slim phone ensuring there is no camera bump. Be assured that the Nokia 9 PureView will get through the knocks and mishaps of real-life with a 6000 series aluminium chassis with our signature dual diamond cuts and the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back.

The Nokia 9 PureView launches with Android 9 Pie out of the box. It joins the comprehensive line-up of Nokia smartphones in the Android One family, which means it delivers the latest Android innovations and software experiences. Nokia smartphones with Android One offer great storage and battery life right out of the box.

Android 9 Pie includes AI-powered features to make your device smarter, faster and adapt to your behaviour as you use it, so your smartphone experience gets better with time. The Adaptive Battery feature limits battery usage from apps you don’t use often, and App Actions predicts what you’re about to do so you can get to your next action quickly. These features further streamline your device’s functionality and your overall Android experience.

The Nokia 9 PureView will receive three years of monthly security patches and two major OS updates, as guaranteed in the Android One program. In addition, Google Play Protect scans over 50 billion apps per day to keep your phone safe from malware, making the Nokia 9 PureView among the most secure phones on the market. It also comes with easy access to helpful innovative services including the Google Assistant, which helps you get things done throughout the day, as well as Google Photos with free unlimited high-quality photo storage.

The post Nokia 9 PureView – World’s First 5 Camera Smartphone appeared first on Shane the Gamer.