Introduction
While Nokia and HMD Global are in the midst of reshuffling their priorities and solidifying their base to be more competent in the mobile world, the end users opinion and experiences matter. Marketing also plays a vital part in setting the tone and expectation with each device.
This , is something that is lacking currently and I hope to see it improve with upcoming Nokia devices. Up front, there are few that actually do a proper coverage on Nokia devices in the hope that the brand is aware of current challenges and improves further. And I am glad to see the current direction where Nokia is heading as there seem to be someone listening to end users plea, to a certain extent.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra, a beast in all sense , is the right device to gauge where we are currently, and the tasks ahead of us, to produce a flagship device, without compromise, and to be the benchmark one day.
I will be covering a couple of devices with me in the articles to come, and in this article, I will be sharing my opinion on two iconic device, the Nokia 808 Pureview, and the Nokia 9 Pureview.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra vs the Pureviews
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is certainly a premium device when it comes to design language, the feel and weight. The large display that subtly curves at the edges reminds me of the seamless transition we got to experience on the Nokia N9. The AMOLED display is beautiful with excellent viewing both indoor and outdoor and its hard to pick a fault with it. At most, the device is chunky and with the protective case, using one handed seems to be a challenge for me, at least.
With that said, I wont be reviewing its performance as the Galaxy S23 Ultra is simply the best out there. As usual, I am more interested in its imaging capability. What makes me excited is that the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 200MP primary sensor. This is the first Quad Bayer sensor that has an effective pixel count larger than the RGB sensor on the Nokia 808 Pureview.
The Nokia 808 Pureview, the very first Pureview device were all about staying true to what we see, with very minimal sharpening and introduced lossless zoom with its Pureview setup. To a larger extent, the same setup is also utilized by Quad Bayer sensor with its pixel binning algorithm. The Nokia 9 Pureview is an entirely new breed of Pureview with a rather complex algorithm and experimental at best.
What is interesting is that, the Nokia 9 Pureview captures at a minimum of 60MP worth of data with each shot and so, it will be interesting to see how it actually fares against the S23 Ultra. But, let’s be real. Both the 808 and the 9 Pureview are very much older devices with limited usage in this modern era, hence the imaging comparison will be limited to day time images.
RAW sample
Watch my video here for more photo samples.
As usual, above photos are shot in auto settings and are not edited. I will leave the interpretation of the outcome to each reader. But to summarize my opinion, the Nokia 808 is truly a masterpiece with good color reproduction and minimal noise. But this device was launched at a time when HDR was not available in mobile devices and tinkering with its setting can allow better capture with less noise. The Galaxy S23 Ultra surprisingly utilizes sharpening despite having a colossal 200MP sensor at its disposal. Images looks generally well, but are brighter than the actual scene and more vibrant akin to the scene optimization that was available on the Nokia 8.1.
And, the Nokia 9 Pureview seems to be a ghost, constantly reminding what it can actually do when it works well. While both devices do not represent the actual scene a 100%, with the S23 Ultra being extra bright and more vibrant, and the 9 Pureview having higher contrast, the closest representation under bright and adequate lighting goes to Nokia 9 Pureview.
When it comes to RAW, under adequate lighting, the Nokia 9 Pureview seems to be performing admirably well. For those interested to know the differences at pixel level, can follow me on twitter as I will be posting detailed comparison there.
Do stay tuned for upcoming comparison.
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