Nokia 9 PureView with Penta-Camera Setup and Snapdragon 845 Announced for $699

The long-expected and extensively leaked Nokia flagship with the alien-looking penta-camera setup on the rear has finally been unveiled at MWC 2019, and is called the Nokia 9 PureView. This is unlike any other generic smartphone as Nokia claims to have worked extensively with Qualcomm and Light to optimize the optics on the Nokia 9 for pro photographers.

The body of the Nokia 9 PureView is constructed out of metal with Gorilla Glass 5 on either side. There’s a 5.99-inch display on the front without any of the 2019 bells and whistles of a tear-drop notch or a punch-hole camera. There’s a sizeable forehead and chin which makes the viewing experience unhindered, something that is considered as a visual treat by many. The panel itself is an OLED one with a 2K+ resolution. The battery is a 3320 mAh unit and the fingerprint scanner is embedded under the display.

The major highlight of the Nokia 9 PureView undoubtedly is that penta-camera setup at the back with Zeiss optics. All five sensors are rated at 12MP each, and while two of them capture color images, the other three capture monochromatic pictures which helps with better contrast, depth and exposure. The monochrome sensors can also reportedly capture up to 2.9 times for light then a normal RGB sensor which puts the Nokia 9 PureView ahead in terms of low-light photography.

Since the depth information is being captured by a dedicated 12MP camera, the bokeh can be well edited even after capturing the image. This was made possible due to Light’s collaboration with Nokia and Qualcomm to tune the ISP in the SoC.

The SoC? Well, that’s unfortunately still the last-gen Snapdragon 845 as HMD needed time to tune certain aspects of the chip to help with the camera optimization. The Snapdragon 845 isn’t really a bad chip by any means though, and being a niche product aimed solely at camera enthusiasts, the lack of a latest chipset may not really be felt. Also, given that the phone runs vanilla Android, being a part of the Android One initiative, smooth performance and quick software updates are a surety.

HMD Global says that the Nokia 9 PureView will be available for pre-order starting today in selected markets for $699/INR 50,000 and delivery will start from March. Availability in remaining markets will be announced at a later stage.

from Technology Personalized