Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #7960 in Cell Phone Accessories
- Color: White
- Brand: Nokia
- Model: NOKIA 808 RM-807 CV US WHITE
- Released on: 2012-07-06
- Dimensions: .54" h x
2.37" w x
4.80" l,
.35 pounds
Features
- Spectacular image, video and audio quality with astonishing details
- Spontaneous moments captured with a blink of an eye lid & flawlessly
- Relive and share the moments wherever you choose
- Revolutionary.Expressive. Spontaneous.
- Illuminating.Instant Sharing. Nokia Maps. Dolby Surround Sound
Nokia 808 PureView Unlocked Phone with a 41 MP Camera with Carl Zeiss Optics--U.S. Warranty (White)
Product Description
Pure Quality. The revolutionary 41MP Camera
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
203 of 215 people found the following review helpful.
Camera Reigns Supreme; Serious Connectivity Issue.
By Tor Slettnes
This phone is nothing short of a dream come true for any remaining Symbian fans -- all 3 of us! Prior to its introduction at MWC last February, I was getting a bit dismayed by the lack of good choices out there. I was getting bored with my aging Nokia N8 from 2010, but almost 2 years later, nothing else could match its camera, its offline navigation, its connectivity options, or - this may be a bit of a surprise if you read too many blogs - its usability. The prospects of another bone thrown our way from Nokia were pretty slim too: In 2011 Nokia's new CEO, Microsoft lackey Stephen Elop, gave the Symbian OS the death sentence and instead hijacked the company as a tool to use in a last ditch (futile) attempt to promote Windows Phone, thus _instantly_ killing off Nokia's then-40+% share of the global smartphone market.Then - out of nowhere - came the 808 PureView! It was a manna from heaven - as if a divine being had intervened and finally spoken some sense to Nokia! I can't remember having been this excited about a new phone since... well... the N8. I simply could not wait for the official US release here on Amazon, and instead purchased the black version from an importer - warranty be damned! Of course, more sane individuals will want to get the US version here instead. :)This review is quite long, but I figure if you are seriously looking at this phone, the more information the better.UPDATE Oct 4, 2012: It is with a heavy heart that I now have removed two stars from my original 5-star rating. The phone overall is spectacular: The camera, Nokia Maps, and the build quality in particular. However, there is a very serious bug that causes spurious loss of connectivity or reboots when connecting to certain 3.5G (HSDPA) cells -- see the "Bugs" section below for details. The bottom line is that I had to disable HSDPA, and now get only "plain old" 3G (UMTS) download speeds. While this works OK for light "day to day" use, including live streaming with Nokia Internet radio or downloading podcasts in the background, it becomes noticeably slow as an internet device (or tethered gateway for another device).UPDATE Nov 4, 2012: OK, back to 4 stars. I recently "upgraded" to a Sony Xperia TL recently, an Android device which (aside from the Nokia 808 and N8) is one of the better camera phones out there. Turns out, it simply doesn't hold a candle to the 808, especially indoors -- and that seems to be the case for just about anything else out there. Also, I immediately found myself immediately missing the Nokia Belle user interface - I find it to be a just a bit "cleaner" and less cluttered than Android - while at the same time not being completely dumbed down to iPhone levels. More details below. I'll be returning the Xperia.UPDATE Nov 27, 2012: The issue has now been reported to be in the electronics/hardware, rather than the firmware. The first/current batch of phones a capacitor on the main board to be changed. If you purchase the phone directly from Amazon with US warranty, this repair is covered - go to NokiaUSA's web site to get started. Otherwise you (like me) need to contact PALCO Cell Phone Repair and have this done on your own dime (or rather, $62 plus return shipping). I'm sending mine in today. Hopefully future batches of the phone sold through Amazon and elsewhere will have this change included.UPDATE Dec 10, 2012: Got my phone back last Friday. I'm sad to say that since then, I have again had 3 spurious reboots - all while driving/moving through certain areas. As before, once i switch off HSPA, the phone is much more stable. This is just too frustrating. Off again with a 2nd star!UPDATE Jan 23, 2012: Yet one firmware update later (113.010.1508), I'm sad to say that the issue is STILL not resolved. Many speculations exist regarding the cause, but one thing I seem to notice is that it has gotten worse (more frequent reboots, less effective workarounds) over the course of its life so far. At this point, one can only conclude that this phone is abandonware as far as Nokia is concerned.=======================Camera, Camera, Camera!=======================The camera is obviously the main attraction, and is in itself is worth the money. If the 808 were sold as a standalone camera, it would handily beat just about every point-and-shoot camera in nearly every way. Even when shooting at 5MP or 8MP, it easily outclasses even more "pro" compacts such as the Canon G12.The one seeming deficiency that the 808 PureView would have when compared to those dedicated camera is a lack of optical zoom. This, clearly, has to do with size - there is no way to fit in the optics required, especially when considering the sheer size of the photo sensor included with this phone. To give you an idea, the sensor is twice the size of the G12, whose 5x optical zoom already gives it a 2-inch thick body when retracted. And compared to most "ultra-zoom" cameras (such as the Canon SX IS series), the sensor in the 808 is 3-4 times as large!Enter the genius of Nokia's "PureView" technology. This gives you, among other things, "Lossless" digital zoom. (Yeah there are quotes, I'll get back to why).At full resolution, pictures taken with this phone consist of 34 or 38 megapixels (in 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios, respectively). At that resolution, the size of each pixel is equivalent to that of recent 8MP smart phones such as the iPhone 4S or the Samsung Galaxy series. Obviously, photos from those phones can be a bit... meeh... especially in low light conditions. So yeah, scaling up from 8MP of random noise to 38MP of random noise is not really the value proposition Nokia was going for here.Instead, in "PureView" mode, you will be capturing 8MP, 5MP or even 2MP photos - and you will be impressed at how much information is available despite the lower resolution, and at the color "depth" that comes with a much wider dynamic range. You'll truly appreciate how it's not the pixel count that matters, the quality of each pixel. You'll even feel a little bit more smug vis a vis those poor souls who still believe more MPs == better pictures.The idea is that by "binning" several pixels (photo cells) together into larger "super-pixels", each resulting pixel receives more light (signal), whereas most of the noise associated with shifting and reading the signal from the CCD remains constant. In turn, this means less noise per resulting pixel, shorter exposure times, less blur. Less noise also means more efficient compression, resulting in even smaller file sizes (despite the cleaner picture!).So why not simply use a cheaper 5MP or 8MP sensor then? So long as the total sensor area is the same, wouldn't you get the same benefits?There are at least two reasons for this. First, would you even be looking at this phone it it was marketed with a "5 Megapixel Camera"? For all that we decry the marketing race for higher megapixel numbers despite the resulting deterioration in image quality, we are still allowing ourselves to be fooled by it. By placing a "41 Megapixel" label on this thing, Nokia is essentially using metrics that give you a fairly accurate representation of its camera performance vis a vis other smart phones in the market today.The second reason is that this allows for the aforementioned "lossless" digital zoom. In other smart phones (with the exception of video recording modes on the Nokia N8, Sony Ericsson C905a, and a couple of others), once you start to zoom in, you are in effect "scaling up" an image from its native pixel resolution, just as you would if you enlarged a picture in an image editing program. You are not adding any detail, you are only blurring the original.In contrast, the 808 digital zoom works by reducing the size of each "super-pixel", down all the way to its native resolution. So at the far end of the zoom range, you are essentially using only the center portion of the sensor, cropped such that 1 photo cell corresponds exactly to 1 pixel in the resulting image. In simplified terms, you could say that you reduce or eliminate the "oversampling" that PureView otherwise provides.This, combined with the phone's aspheric lens design and other ingenious solutions, allows for optical performance way its physical size would normally indicate. In fact, in a side-by-side blind test conducted by GSMArena.com, it went on to score higher than the Olympus PEN E-PL2 DSLR camera with its humungous "four thirds" inch photo sensor (about 2.5x larger than that of the 808). Granted, these were mostly daytime/outdoor photos at the wide range etc etc -- but the fact that this can even happen speaks volumes!One thing I have not yet mentioned is the awesome video and audio recording quality of this phone. Unless you have professional video recording equipment usually reserved for movie studios and broadcasters, there is nothing else no the market that matches the richness in both video and sound (frequency range, dynamic range) that this thing gives.============================The perfect travel companion============================If you are traveling, this is really the one gadget you want to bring with you! Some reasons:* The camera - obviously! You can safely leave your compact digital camera or camcorder at home.* Nokia Maps. Free navigation, phenomenal map/POI coverage. Unlike Google Maps, map data is stored in vector format, so it is much less data intensive (both for download and storage). In fact, data can be stored offline beforehand, so you don't need any data connection at all to use it.* Other preinstalled Nokia applications, such as Nokia Guides (city guides, restaurant guides, etc) and Nokia Public Transport (very nice and useful if looking for public transit options near you).* Worldwide 3G coverage. This is one of very few phones, like the N8 before it, that has penta-band UMTS network support, meaning it works on any GSM carrier's 3G network worldwide (including both AT&T and T-Mobile USA).* Multiple ways to connect to TV sets to share photos, videos, etc, including HMDI, DNLA, and plain old RGB output for analogue TVs. A dedicated "Nokia Big Screen" application provides a nice media centric interface, and can be paired with and controlled by Wii or PlayStation remote control.Psiloc Traveller comes preinstalled, but requires a license purchase for some functionality (e.g. flight status/updates, Currency Conversion). Free alternatives exist - e.g. FlightAware, "Currencies", etc.====================================Symbian is Dead - Long Live Symbian!====================================In 2010, Symbian was still the world's most used smartphone OS. However, the writing was on the wall; the user interface layer was still largely stuck in the mode of physical keypads, and had not really been keeping up with iOS and Android in terms of usability on touch screens. If this was not clear enough before, it certainly became apparent after the release of the N97, which by all accounts did a lot of damage for Nokia's public relations.Now, Nokia did have a plan to move their smartphones over to their own MeeGo Linux platform (with partial contributions from Intel). To ease the transition for application developers, they had purchased the Norwegian company Troll Technologies and adopted their Q Toolkit (Qt) as a common application development platform. While technically a sensible thing to do, Nokia has long suffered from a schizophrenic personality and out of touch Board of Directors, and despite this move, their constantly changing strategies and mixed messages did not exactly foster a fertile ground for application development. It's hard to build something when the ground is constantly changing under you.So what did the Board do to foster activity in their "ecosystem"? Well of course - they changed directions again! This time, they hired former Microsoft grey suit Stephen Elop as their new CEO. Within months, he announced the end of both Symbian and MeeGo in one fell swoop, and instead hijacked the company as a tool to help Microsoft in a last-ditch effort to force feed the Windows platform onto an otherwise unwilling smartphone market. In most countries around the world, the Nokia brand is still held in much higher regard than, say, Samsung or HTC, and having Nokia in their camp gave Microsoft another shot at returning to their glory days, they thought. Well yeah that has not gone too well, has it.So why then, after all this time, would they now resurrect Symbian from the grave, only to release their newest flagship phone on it!? If their strategy was not confusing enough already, it certainly seems so now!The bottom line is that Symbian was their only OS that could handle the massive amount of processing required for decent camera and especially video recording performance. They have spent 5 years on developing PureView, exploiting every advantage that the lightweight Symbian OS offers; it is not trivial to get this working on other platforms, let alone Windows Phone.Now, they have in fact indicated that while they WILL eventually release the PureView technology on their Windows Lumia phones - however these will initially NOT have the same pixel resolution and optical performance as the 808. Until processor speeds catch up a bit more, this is likely to remain the case.So much the better the 808. In fact, I'll stick my neck out a little: Symbian is the greatest (mainstream) mobile operating system created so far!Part of the reason is technical, as described below. But just as important, all of its main rivals (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, even BlackBerry) carry with them somewhat uncomfortable tie-ins to their vendor, whether it be: * excessive coercion and control of what you can and cannot do with your phone (looking at you, Apple!) * excessive dependency on vendor-controlled services to transmit and store your personal data. Are you comfortable with the way that Android leads to you to use Google services for contact synchronization, emails, and even implicit uploading of photos (often without your explicit knowledge or consent), especially given Google's ever-more aggressive marketing focus?Among these, Symbian remains the most open system, where you, the user, remain in control of your device and the data on it. To me, this is just as important as any technical reason.Another aspect is that Symbian has come a long way in terms of the user experience lately. In many ways it looks and feels a bit like Android, but perhaps a bit "cleaner"/less cluttered. It's a bit hard to explain - but for instance, the drag-down notification panel at the top includes fewer toggles/notices, but somehow more relevant and useful ones. Each home screen is "themed" with its own portrait/landscape layout, wallpaper, etc - which helps you organize them by activity. Icons and homescreen widgets have a bit more consistent look - in Android they are often a mix of different styles (flat/square, rounded; different widget styles, etc). Most of all, Android generally feels just a bit more "intrusive" than Symbian in subtle ways, as if it is constantly spying on your activities.Also, Symbian feels less like an Advertising platform than Android and iOS. While there are thousands and thousands more applications for these latter platforms, often they contain adware that is not present in (sometimes more basic) Symbian equivalents. Cue Nokia Internet radio vs. the likes of TuneIn, XiiaLive, or MediaU for Android - which are all more flashy, but because of the ads, also more cluttered. Or an even more stark example: Endomondo Sports Tracker on Symbian is free (and ad free), vs. the Android version which is ad supported (or $5 to remove ads).============Applications============That brings us right to the topic of applications. As you would expect, once Elop gave Symbian the death sentence, and moreover, that the Qt application environment would NOT be ported to Windows Phone, he also completely removed any remaining incentive for application developers to support this platform. Some of the main "pain points" for me are: * There is no Netflix application. You can however download and watch videos from Amazon via the Amazon Unbox client for Windows. Or rip from your DVDs with Handbrake (handbrake.fr). * There is no Amazon Kindle. No Google Play Books. (Go get a tablet. Or use Ionic reader to read non-DRM books from O'Reilly, Project Gutenberg, etc). * There is no IMDB, Fandango or other application to browse movie listings and show times. Google search works somewhat, but is a bit klunky. * Skype only supports voice calls, not video. MAYBE this will happen now that Skype is owned by Nokia's new sugar daddy, but I would not hold my breath. Meanwhile, there is always Fring.That said, many of Nokia's own applications are very nice, and often unexpectedly useful. For example: * Nokia Situations, available from Nokia Beta Labs. This switches your profile, desktop background, sound themes, etc based on conditions such as GPS Location, WiFi access point, calendar entries, time of day. I have my phone set up to automatically turn to "Meeting" mode (muted ring tone, vibrations) while in meetings, and Offline once I arrive at my home. * Wellness Diary, also from Beta Labs. Once it is installed, it uses the accelerometer and some nifty logic to count your steps, similar to a pedometer, and records a diary for you. In combination with a GPS tracker application like Endomondo Sports Tracker, this provides an excellent way to keep track of your physical activity. * Car Mode, available in the OVI Store. Makes the phone easier to use while driving. The main screen consist of only 3 large buttons: Call, Drive and Music. Can be set up to launch automatically once connected to your Bluetooth car stereo. * Nokia Internet Radio, which lets you listen to streaming radio from hundreds of preloaded stations around the world, or you can add your own. (I use this to listen to the "pledge free" stream from my local public radio station during pledge season, as well as to radio from abroad). * Nokia Sleeping Screen, which takes advantage of the battery savings of the OLED screen technology to give you some visual indicators (clock, message/calendar alerts) while the device is in standby/sleeping mode. Several themes are available, ranging from plain and functional to silly (Yes Nokia engineers can be goofy too at times) - or you can even use modified versions of your own images.Symbian is also the last remaining smartphone OS (aside from BlackBerry to some degree) to support Java MIDlets - applications written on the J2ME platform that was pretty much universal in most phones until the iPhone came along. There are still quite a few of those floating around; for instance I have installed: * Emulators for the Casio FX-601P and HP-45 programmable calculators (for the nostalgic in you) * UpVise, a suite of applications to create and synchronize notes, shopping lists, etc. between your computer (via their website) and your phone.Finally, if you are not satisfied with the likes of QuickOffice, the "real" Microsoft Office (including OneNote, Lync, etc) is available as a Software Update. Personally, I am sticking with QuickOffice for (mostly viewing) the occasional Word or PowerPoint document.============Connectivity============Nokia phones have traditionally been far ahead with regards to connectivity options. For instance, TV connectivity via HDMI, DNLA or plain old TV-out has been supported since the N8. Symbian also has the most complete Bluetooth stack found anywhere: * When playing music to your car stereo, track information is also shown (if supported by your stereo) * Bluetooth HID for keyboard and mouse support since the N95. * As soon as you pair with your computer, you can instantly browse the phone's filesystem just like any other storage volume.In fact, if you plug it into a monitor via HDMI and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and applications such as the PuTTY SSH client (Search "PuTTY for S60"), "RFB Touch" (a VNC viewer), Microsoft Office or QuickOffice, etc., you'll have an ultra-portable little mini-computer while on the go.The 808 is also one of (still) very few phones that has support for Near Field Communications (NFC), which means that as this protocol gets accepted, you can in theory use this phone as your transit pass, to make payments, etc.That said, the 808 brings with it a couple of disappointments as well: * Mac Specific: Since Apple have removed the iSync application from Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), Nokia no longer builds iSync plugins for their phones (even for those of us who run older versions of OS X). This means that there is no easy way to synchronize contacts, calendar and tasks directly with your Mac - though various "online" options exist (e.g. Nokia Sync, MS Exchange - the latter also supports Google sync). * WebDAV support has been removed from the File Manager. This means that you need 3rd party applications to access remote file shares, such as myExplorer (SMB/CIFS), Davi (WebDAV) or PaderSync FM (multiple options). * "Tethering" your phone's internet connection with other nearby devices, such as a laptop or tablet, is a bit more cumbersome with the 808 than with previous phones, at least in the US. - Wi-Fi tethering is possible via third party applications such as JoikuSpot, but it only works outside North America. When attempting to start JoikuSpot while connected to AT&T's or T-Mobile's network, you'll get a "Connection Unavailable" message. - The Bluetooth "DUN" profile allows you to share your connection with a Bluetooth enabled laptop or an Android tablet, but does not work for iPad. (Simply pair your tablet/computer with the phone). - USB tethering works well with a Mac or a PC. (Use the "Nokia Suite" connection profile for a Mac, or "USB Modem" for a PC).=============Stuck in Time=============Since Nokia are putting less effort into Symbian these days, we cannot expect to see much in the way of new features in the OS. For instance: * No 4G (LTE) network support. In fact, this phone only supports speeds up to 14.4 Mbps (HSDPA), not even the 22 Mbps HSPA+ technology that T-Mobile USA (misleadingly) labels "4G". Then again, everything about this phone is less data intensive than on Android: Offline maps/navigation, map data stored as vector data and not images, no automatic (and unwilling?) synchronization of photos with Google+, etc. All in all, your battery will thank you! * No multi-core CPU support. However, Symbian is very lightweight when it comes to resource use, and unlike Android, does not really NEED any more CPU cores to be usable. Certain tasks, such as video recording, are aided via a dedicated DSP. * Screen resolution is WVGA (640x360 pixels). Most people won't notice, though. In fact, the screen looks brilliantly crisp and vibrant - much more so than on my wife's Samsung Galaxy Note (5.3" screen, 1280x800 pixels). However, these specs do not look so good in phone reviews where the reviewer (literally!) puts the screen under a magnifying glass. * The standard web browser is getting a bit long in the tooth, and not really performing by today's standards. You can get some speed boost by installing Opera Mobile or Opera Mini, but in that case you loose support for Adobe Flash. * The standard QWERTY touch pad is a bit outdated and cumbersome to use. Much like the iPhone's, where you need to switch layout to enter numbers or symbols, then back again. A better one IMO is Swype, which is of course famous for its "sliding" motion to generate common words, and which supports long-press for alternate symbols, and even-longer presses for nearly every character you can think of. It can be downloaded from the Nokia Store - do NOT get it from Nokia Beta Labs (see below)!That said, the UI has undergone quite a bit of polish leading up to Nokia Belle (the version of Symbian that's included here). Similar to Nokia's own Maemo/MeeGo OSes as well as Android, home screen widgets are now variable size; a notification panel can be dragged down from the top, etc.================Bugs, Bugs, Bugs================Now for the interesting part. If it is not obvious by now, owning the 808 PureView will test your patience in many ways, as there are a few issues you need to work around to truly enjoy it to its fullest.* As described in the introduction, this phone has stability issues with certain HSDPA (3.5G) networks, where it will from time to time reboot on its own. Or, there will be weird bugs throughout: The screen saver may fail to work and the display is left on even if you lock the phone. The touch screen controls may disappear from the camera interface, or when you launch the photo gallery from there photos will all appear to be black. Nokia Sleeping Screen may be missing digits from its digital clock. Etc. On the Nokia discussion board, people have reported success after getting this phone repaired at Nokia Care Centre's (all such success stories have been from people outside the USA). However in my case, sending the phone in for repair did not help. The only workaround that has addressed the problem for me (95% of the time) is to disable HSDPA: Settings -> Connectivity -> Admin. settings -> Mobile Network -> High speed packet access -> Disabled. Even then, it will OCCASIONALLY reboot when moving through especially treacherous areas, such as where I usually go running. To ensure that the phone stays on even through these areas, I need to temporarily disable 3G completely: Settings -> Connectivity -> Network -> Network Mode -> GSM* The "Nokia Multimedia Transfer" tool for Mac OS X does not seem to receive updates anymore, and the version that currently exists does not correctly import photos into iPhoto. This is not a huge issue though, since your Mac will natively recognize this phone as a camera when plugged in via USB - however it will then attempt to import ALL photos stored on your phone (including wallpapers, contact photos, podcast icons, etc) - so you will want to select which photos you want to import each time. NMT is still useful to synchronize music and videos with iTunes - though you can also use other (3rd party) tools such as Salling Media Sync for the job.* WiFi connectivity a bit spotty, especially when using the "Store" application. It often takes multiple attempts to even log in, let alone download large applications. Ironically, you're more likely to succeed downloading over 3G instead of WiFi.* Moreover, Nokia has not yet fixed an issue that appeared in the original Belle release, where you will not be able to connect to "enterprise" WiFi networks that are secured with the EAP protocol. (802.1x, PEAP, etc). :(* Google Maps will crash/exit unless WiFi is enabled. In any case, the Symbian version does not seem to be receiving updates anymore, and the most recent version available is a bit more clunky than Nokia Maps (for instance, lacking pinch-to-zoom functionality).* The reason I mentioned "Endomondo Sports Tracker" above is that its more famous competitor, named simply "Sports Tracker" (originally "Nokia Sports Tracker" from Nokia Beta Labs) does not work gracefully with the GPS in the 808. It acquires a GPS lock almost instantly, but then loses it just as fast. To use it, you'd have to keep the GPS alive with another application (like, say, Endomondo or else utilities such as "GPSInfo"). Yeah thanks but no thanks, I've switched to Endomondo.* DO NOT install Swype 2.1 Beta (from Nokia Beta Labs) on this phone! While Swype 1.0 from the OVI store works fine, the Swype 2.1 split keyboard design conflicts with the Belle Feature Pack 2 release, and the keyboard will be covering the input field into which you are typing. Moreover, uninstalling Swype 2.1 Beta does not work cleanly, so downgrading back to v1.0 will not work correctly! (The Swype keyboard will not be effective until you perform a hard factory reset). So: Stay away from Swype from Nokia Beta Labs!==============Practicalities============== * This phone uses a micro-SIM. If you don't already have one, you can cut your mini-SIM using a micro-SIM Cutter. Be careful though, there are some reports of contacts shorting against the metallic area of the SIM tray, thus causing instability and reboots of the phone. If you are queasy about this, better go get a new micro-SIM from your local AT&T or T-Mobile retailer. * It supports micro-SDXC cards just fine. I currently have a 64GB card in mine, for a total of 80GB storage. :) One caveat I found is that this does not work so well over USB in "Mass Storage" mode, because computer operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) do not yet support this card. "Media Transfer" and "Nokia Suite" modes work just fine though. * I highly recommend getting a cover for this phone. The metallic area around the camera window on the back is a bit prone to scratches, especially since the phone normally rests on it. Also given the ergonomics of the phone, it is a bit prone to slipping out of your hands when holding around it. I have had mine flung into the air and back down on hard concrete - but thanks to the cover, not a single scratch! :) * The USB charging port is on top. I don't particularly like this, because whenever Brodit/ProClip gets around to releasing a vehicle dash cradle for it, it will most definitely contain a charging connector for you to plug in in addition to docking it. (Unlike their N8 cradle, which was really quite nice!) The silver lining is that you could just use their generic cradle, and thus be able to accommodate the phone even with a cover. :) * This phone can act as a flashlight, using its LED autofocus/video recording beam. Hold down the lock/unlock key on the right side for 2-3 seconds to turn on/off. * Some people complain that this phone is expensive. Keep in mind that it is unlocked, not subsidized by a contract. This pays off in the long run. If you have a "Data Unlimited" plan from AT&T, you pay $15 or $10 per month; compared to their smartphone data plans where you pay $30/month for 3GB of data. That adds up to a difference of $360-$480 over the 2-year contract term for one of their smartphones. (T-Mobile also offers some discounts when you "Bring Your Own" phone, though lesser).===============The Bottom Line===============I realize that this is not a phone that will satisfy everyone. Most users are more likely to be swayed by metrics such as CPU frequencies, screen resolution, fastest downloads, number of applications in their respective "app stores", and - counterproductively as far as the camera goes - a ridiculous attention to slimness. Oh, and sticker price - honest or not.Having used Nokia phones for a while now, I simply could not see myself compromising in specific areas, such as multitasking capabilities, connectivity options, attention to protecting your data, and most of all of course, the camera. (My previous phones were the N8, the Sony Ericsson C905a, the N97, and the N95 - all the "top" camera phones of their time).So despite the flaws mentioned in this review, once you have this phone set up and working as it should, there is nothing on the market that can match this phone for what it is. While CPU benchmarks will render today's top Android phone completely obsolete within 6 months from now, and the industrial design of the new iPhone will make last year's model look like a "has been", the 808 PureView will reign supreme in its niche for years to come - it's just that far ahead! Even Nokia are unlikely to match its camera performance anytime soon, now that Damian Dinning, the person mainly behind Nokia's PureView technology, has left for a position at Jaguar/Land Rover.If you are OK with these caveats, you won't regret getting this phone! While "App Store" retail therapy or fast internet surfing may give you some short term pleasure, the photos you take with your phone will be with you for years to come.
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
Very pleased with this smartphone
By jb8967
For all of the Nokia bashing by the media over the past few years, the 808 has been a breath of fresh air for me. The PureView tech on this device makes dedicated picture and video devices a thing of the past...at least when it comes to high quality point and shoot cameras. In fact, unless you absolutely need a DSLR, this phone will do it all. Sound quality is also off the charts...with the "Rich Recording" and full DOLBY capabilities inside the 808. It also packs a super sized XENON flash for night-time stills AND a hi powered LED for evening video (+ flashlight).Browser: The default browser is OK but lags behind the competition. Easily solved by installing Opera Mobile and/or Opera Mini. Opera Mobile is leading most benchmarks. Like the browser on the iPhone, Opera does not support flash. However, the default browser is Flash Lite capable.UI: Very smooth and fluid. Belle FP1 is IMO on par with Android 2.3...in terms of the user experience.Apps: Of course, you will have to settle for less apps (~30K for the 808). That being said, 9 times out of 10 I have found a Belle version of a popular app...or at least a near proxy. No Kindle Reader app. Skype does not yet offer video calling via its client...though the device itself is fully capable.As for games...the dedicated GPU is a screamer...so it performs well. From Angry Birds, to Raging Thunder 2, Real Golf 2011, Fruit Ninja...there's plenty to choose. However, it cannot compare to the game selection offered by Apple.Battery: Excellent...close to 2 days with average use. Also removable.Build: Solid. The polycarbonate chassis feels good in the hand and exudes quality. The camera hump is not so huge, considering the massive sensor inside. The curved gorilla glass on the front of the device is terrific and really adds to the unique design. The camera is also protected by gorilla glass.Screen: For me, the visibility in sunlight is incredible. Colors really pop. It's a full RGB AMOLED (with Nokia's Clear Black tech), so even though the 640x360 resolution is much less than the competitions' resolution...the end result is quite OK for me.e-mail: E-mail client is solid.Keyboard: OK, but getting an upgrade soon. You can also use the SWYPE keyboard, which can be downloaded for free.Navigation: Two words: awesome + global.Call quality: excellent.Signal: Nokia is tops, as usual, in the signal reception area. In addition, this is a pentaband 3.5G phone...so you can take it just about anywhere in the world. Works on both AT&T and T-mobile stateside.I can do a lot with this phone in terms of media creation and consumption. It handles all sorts of CODECs, allows full file access/wireless file transfer (wifi, BT), USB On The Go, etc. etc.To really get the most out of this device, I installed: 1) Opera Mobile-free, 2) Gravity (for my Google Reader, Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter requirements)-15 bucks, 3) MS Office Suite-free, 4) Skype voice only-free, 5) Molome-IM client for free, 6) Nokia Social-free, 7) CuteBox for dropbox-free and/or SugarSync-free and/or Skyfiles-free, 8) HandySafe Pro-3 bucks, 9) Nokia Sleeping Screen-free, Nokia Big Screen-free (for HDMI output with remote to big screen TV).
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful.Pureview 808 change my perception of a smartphone
By John P Duong
So lets start of by saying this is my first Symbian Phone and first Amazon Review. I have used Windows Mobile, Andriod, Windows 7 and now new to Symbian. I was excited about the 41 megapixel camera with Pureview Technology. I was not sure with all the negative reviews from Engadget, Mobileburn, Laptop.com and TheVerge that this phone would be utter crap besides the Camera. They are wrong and I think the bias has shown that Symbian and Belle FP1 is actually usuable and that Nokia has crafted an amazing piece of hardware.The reviewer's from the major website made this phone to be huge and unusuable. The phone feels right and the bump helps you balance the phone. The polycarbonate shell is premium unlike the other manufacturers who cheapen the hardwareThe first thing is of course the Camera..top in its field in both Video and Photos but the sound you record at CD quality with Rich Recording is in itself a revolution. The sound that you record will be amazing as you play it back. Try it at concerts.The screen with its nHD is not appealing with some but Clear Black Technology and Amolead makes the pictures you take and the videos you play look amazing. 1080p and a ton of codecs such as MKV, AVI, MP4 and more play flawlessly on the 808 then most of the smartphones who chug and lag with all those multi core setups. Also the 808 has the best visibility of any phone in the sun period.Storage is 16gb internally and you can add a 64gb card!!!The Nokia difference is in its software. I had a Lumia 900 and I loved Windows phone but I like what Nokia did in the software that made my Lumia so special. Since I have upgraded to the 808 I am using Nokia Transport, Drive, World Gaze, City Lens, Guides, Map, Nokia Bubbles, Sleeping Screen. Some that are even better on the Symbian platform.The app store is not incredible and not close to Android, iOS but there are many things that will work.Gravity: Best Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and social media app you will ever use on any platformSituations: Great Management Profiler that will adjust to how you use your phone and is very customizableMicrosoft Office : Excel, Powerpoint, Word, One NoteSkyfiles: SkydriveFmobi: FacebookWhatsapp: Messaging with dataLinkein:Cutetube: for Downloading Youtube videosWhat you will be missing will be things such as Amazon, Ebay but wierdly there is a paypal app. I know that if you like a lot of apps and you download a lot and need the latest then this is not the phone for you. What this phone is for me is:Best Camera for taking pictures in day and night. I started to find things outside to appreciate moreSound that is rich and Video playback with Dobly Digital is incredible.A removable battery, Battery life is great for heavy use in a day and average use will last two days.NFC for sharing pictures, videos with a tapExpandable memory up to 80 gigs! in total. Enough for movies, videos and all sort of stuff we like to bring with usThe loudest speaker you have ever heard in a phoneFM Transmitter to wirelessly transmit to any unused radio frequency great for PODCAST and music. Rare in SmartphonesDLNA for those playback TVs that have that capablitlityMicro HDMI to play all my videos, pictures and music on my HDTV....also playing Angry Birds on a 73 Tv rocksAlso I use the pureview 360p zoom as a binoaculars.It is my favorite device that I have ever had the pleasure of using.
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