HMD Global raised eyebrows world over when it announced that its next Nokia flagship will carry a five-camera module. We waited with bated breath for the device to launch on the regional market and we recently received the Nokia 9 PureView for review. While everyone is talking about triple cameras, it is indeed a feet for Nokia to launch a device with the first five-camera setup on the market. 

Design

The design of the Nokia 9 PureView follows the same pattern we have come used to in a Nokia device. The device boasts a very good design overall and it feels premium when you hold it in your hands. Nokia has used a mix of glass and metal to construct the phone.

You also get the protection of Gorilla Glass 5 at the back of the device. There is also a 6000 Series aluminum frame that runs around the phone and the device measures 8mm in thickness, which is not bad for a device that packs in a five-camera setup at the rear.

Display

On the front of the device, you get a 5.99-inch OLED QHD+ screen. You also get in-screen fingerprint reader, which unlocks the device pretty quickly. In addition, Nokia offers a 2D face unlock for extra security. The display also supports HDR10 capability and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. 

You also get a 20-megapixel front camera with an aperture of f/1.8 that supports Tetracell pixel-binning for improved low-light performance. The Nokia 9 PureView is rated IP67 for water and dust resistance. One this that surprised us is that though the phone comes with six-cameras at the back, there is no camera bump whatsoever. The Nokia 9 PureView is completely flush, keeping within the profile of just 8mm.

Specifications

When HMD Global announced the new Nokia 9 PureView, we were expecting it to be powered by the Snapdragon 855 processor. However, the Nokia 9 PureView is powered by an older Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845 processor. This is paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB of built-in storage.

On the right edge of the device, you will find the power and volume buttons, while at the bottom you will find the USB-C port. On the top, you will find the dual SIM slot, but lacks a microSD slot, which means you will not be able to expand the built-in storage. The phone is powered by a 3320mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 3.0 and wireless charging up to 10w.

The phone is powered by Android One version of the latest Android 9 Pie OS. This means that the Nokia 9 PureView runs an unmodified vanilla version of Android 9 Pie without any bloatware or other preloaded software of questionable nature and usefulness. The only non-stock software is the camera app, which is provided by HMD Global instead of Google.

What’s Inside the Box?
Inside the box, Nokia bundles an 18W charger, a USB-C cable, and a pair of in-ear headphones with a 3.5mm connector. You also get a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adaptor, since the phone itself comes with only a USB-C port. 

Camera

Many may think that the five-camera setup at the back of the Nokia 9 PureView might come with telephoto or wide angle lenses. That’s not the case here. Instead, Nokia is targeting photography enthusiasts who would like to have the capability of shooting in RAW mode on a smartphone.

The six-camera setup at the back includes three 12MP f/1.8 Monochrome lenses, two 12MP f/1.8 RGB lenses, and a 3D ToF camera. All the lenses have a fixed focal length of 28mm. What the system does is it combines the output of all cameras into one for a supposedly stunning image with unmatched dynamic range. Lossless zoom is on the table, too. 

While this may sound quite exciting, if you are one of those who’s looking for different focal ranges that other manufacturers are offering, you might be disappointed. But, wait till you see the quality of the images captured and a sense of awe comes over you. The cameras can also do 4K at 30fps and 4K HDR video recording.

Performance

To gauge the real world performance of the Nokia 9 PureView, we ran the AnTuTu and Geekbench benchmarks. On AnTuTu, we clocked 276517 points, which is at par with devices running Snapdragon 845 chips. The battery temperature hovered around 33°C, while the CPU temperature was around 35°C when we the benchmarks were underway. 

On Geekbench, the Nokia 9 PureView scored 2397 in the single-core tests, and 8782 in multi-core tests. On both the tests, Nokia 9 PureView was ahead in terms of performance when compared to similarly priced devices on the market.  

Now, let’s talk about the camera experience. Under good lighting conditions, the Nokia 9 PureView is able to shoot some amazing photos. Exposure is pretty spot on in the focus points and there is accuracy in the white balance, too. Colors still look deep, but not over processed. 

The Portrait mode takes very good shots simulating the bokeh effect. The Nokia 9 PureView’s five-camera setup captures 12 times the amount of depth data achieved by typical dual-camera smartphones. Then it processes all this data to provide you with an image with a perfect depth of field. 

The Nokia 9 PureView’s low-light images also look pretty good – the exposure, white balance, and colours are really nice. The Nokia 9 PureView can record 4K at 30fps. However, I wish it could go up to 60fps. Also, since there is no image stabilization, the footage ends up being a bit shaky when you are recording a video while walking. 

What I did not like is the camera app that comes inside the Nokia 9 PureView. Don’t get me wrong – the design and UI of the camera app is fantastic. What not is, is the performance of the camera app – it is very sluggish and the performance is very slow.

There is a delay when you open the camera app. Then, when you want to switch between modes, there is a delay, anywhere between 3 seconds to 5 seconds to switch. Once you have clicked a picture, it takes almost 7-8 seconds for the phone to open up the picture. This is because the camera has to process the data it has captured using the five cameras.  

Verdict
The Nokia 9 PureView is a very good smartphone. It offers a very good design and build quality, offers IP67 certification, good image quality, and overall good performance. However, the camera app performance is not up to mark, and the videos shot using the device were not great.

For a price of AED 2,299, the Nokia 9 PureView is a good device if you are willing to put up with the sluggish camera app, which we hope HMD Global can fix with a software update. 

Price: AED 2,299