HMD Global has made a splash at MWC 2019 by announcing five new phones, but the Nokia 9 PureView stands out thanks to it’s five cameras on the back. The camera technology, powered by Light, captures a more information than single-lens camera phones. It’s also on Android One, and coming to the U. S.<\/b>
\nIf you can\u2019t stop thinking about the four-camera Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, well, buckle up for the camera wars. HMD Global has just unveiled the Nokia 9 PureView \u2014 a smartphone with a whopping 5-camera array on the back. That\u2019s a total of six cameras when you include the one on the front.
Unlike most smartphones with multiple camera lenses, however, the Nokia 9 PureView doesn\u2019t let you use any of the lenses individually. Instead, they all work together to produce a spectacularly detailed photograph. Here\u2019s how it all works.
Check out our Nokia 9 PureView hands-on review for in-depth impressions on the phone.
Before we dive into the specs for the Nokia 9 PureView, it\u2019s important to know this is a limited-edition smartphone \u2014 when HMD\u2019s stock runs out, you won\u2019t be able to buy this phone anymore. We don\u2019t know exactly what the threshold is, but there\u2019s a chance the Nokia 9 could be sold out within a day, a week, or maybe a month.
Let\u2019s get the easy stuff out of the way: The Nokia 9 PureView (henceforth called just the Nokia 9) has a 6000-series aluminum unibody, that\u2019s sandwiched by Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back. There\u2019s a 5.99-inch POLED screen out in front with a 2K resolution, and there\u2019s no notch whatsoever \u2014 you\u2019ll have to make do with slim bezels on the top and bottom of the screen. It only comes in blue.
It\u2019s an Android One smartphone, which means you\u2019ll see the branding on the back. This means the phone runs stock Android (Android 9 Pie at the moment), which is clean and uncluttered with no bloatware. The Nokia 9 will get version updates for two years, as well as security updates for three years. It\u2019s powered by Qualcomm\u2019s Snapdragon 845 processor, which may be disappointing to some, but it\u2019s specially outfitted to support the five cameras on the back. Why not the newer Snapdragon 855? The phone has been in development for quite some time, and swapping to the newer chip would have inevitably delayed its release far longer.
There\u2019s 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, but no MicroSD card slot. There\u2019s also no headphone jack, so you\u2019ll have to stick with USB-C earbuds or wireless headphones.
Where\u2019s the fingerprint sensor? It\u2019s under the glass on the front, similar to the OnePlus 6T. Finally, there\u2019s an IP67 water-resistance rating to round it all out.
The battery has a 3,320mAh capacity, with support for Qi wireless charging. The front camera packs 20 megapixels, with facial-recognition technology powered by HMD\u2019s proprietary artificial intelligence. Sadly it\u2019s only for unlocking the phone and can\u2019t be used to authenticate payments or access secure banking apps.
Now, onto the real meat of the phone: The five cameras on the back. The Nokia 9 utilizes Zeiss optics, unsurprisingly, but the underlying technology is powered by Light. If you\u2019re unaware, Light is a company that made a camera with 16 lenses \u2014 the L16. Despite having five cameras, there\u2019s no camera bump like on the iPhone XS \u2014 it\u2019s a completely flat back.
The five cameras on the back cannot be used individually \u2014 rather, they capture five photos each and fuse them together for a photo with richer information. More information from these sensors mean as more detailed photo that\u2019s richer in just about every way. They\u2019re all 12-megapixel cameras with f\/1.8 apertures; the middle and bottom center are RGB sensors, and the outer three are monochromatic sensors. It\u2019s the Light Lux Capacitor in the Snapdragon 845 that allows the Nokia 9 to capture and fuse these photos.
Why are three of the five cameras only capturing monochrome data? It\u2019s because monochromatic sensors capture light across the spectrum, so each can capture up to 2.9x more light than a single RGB sensor. That means the Nokia 9 can capture up to 10 times more light than traditional smartphone cameras, allowing it to take some killer low-light photos. There\u2019s also a Monochrome mode in the camera app that lets you shoot true black-and-white photographs, and it utilizes the three monochromatic sensors.
The use of five cameras also means the Nokia 9 can capture a more detailed depth map \u2014 up to 1,200 layers of depth data to be exact. This means more accurate bokeh or blur for all photos, especially with the built in Live Bokeh mode (which resembles Google or Apple\u2019s Portrait Mode, where a subject is in focus and the background is blurred out). You can adjust the intensity of the blur or refocus the photo through Google Photos.
The reason why the Nokia 9 is targeted toward photographers is because it captures a RAW DNG file alongside the JPEG. RAW means it\u2019s a bigger file size because it\u2019s not a compressed photo, which allows for a higher-quality image. You can adjust far more aspects of it than you can with JPEG. Google Photos, the default gallery app in the Nokia 9, has limited RAW support, but an option to download Adobe Lightroom from the Play Store is offered when you set up the phone, which gives you far more control over editing the RAW image. Adobe will also be issuing an update to the Lightroom mobile app so it supports the Nokia 9\u2019s five camera lens profiles, which will offer better image quality and more robust control.
Many HMD Nokia phones have a Pro Camera mode that lets you adjust the shutter speed and ISO, giving you more control over the camera, which is ideal for photography enthusiasts. It\u2019s present on the Nokia 9, but there are two improvements: You can now take a 10-second-long exposure, which is great for very dark environments (if you have a tripod), and there are now finer exposure controls that let you control it even more precisely.
The Nokia 9 PureView will cost 599 euros (around $677), and will be making its way to the U. S. (still as a limited edition) for $699.
Pre-orders have begun in certain markets, and the phone will be available for purchase from March 4. As a launch celebration, it will be available for $100 less from Amazon, B&H, and Best Buy. But be fast \u2014 that $599 price only lasts until March 10.<\/p>\n