Video: Nokia 9 PureView camera review in 2020

The Nokia 9 PureView is considered by many the first serious camera phone effort released by HMD since they got the Nokia brand license for phones in 2016. It was the first phone with a Penta lens camera setup on the back, with big promises of capturing better details with superior dynamic range and bokeh effects, as well as being able to capture super detailed RAW images.

To quickly recap the camera specs, the Nokia 9 PureView has 5 identical 12 megapixel sensors, with an aperture of f/1.8, 3 of these sensors are monochrome sensors that capture images in black and white, and 2 of these sensors are RGB sensors that can capture color. In theory, the monochrome sensors should be able to capture more light, and the phone uses all 5 sensors to capture the same image.

At this point, the phone is over 1 year old and if you have watched any reviews for it, you will find that it delivers on some fronts while failing in others. I have been using the Nokia 9 since it was first released and took it with me on multiple trips around the world, and in that time I have managed to fully comprehend and test what this phone is capable of, which is why I created this video to be able to hopefully convey its strengths and weaknesses in the best possible way for somebody who might be interested in picking it up. This is especially important now that we know this phone is the first and last phone to be redeveloped by light co, since they pulled out of the smartphone camera market. Anyways, here is the full video review:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNUt1aY9m4w&w=560&h=315]

So to sum up the video, this a niche camera phone aimed at photographers who know how to adjust manual settings, as well as edit RAW images. If you fall into both camps and are willing to deal with the frustrations that the camera software introduces, you might be happy with what it can do, but for most people, the phone has many compromises. It is also a shame that this concept wasn’t implemented in a better way with bigger sensors, OIS, and a much better software implementations, as the current implementation shows a lot of promise but ultimately falls short.

What do you guys think of the Nokia 9 PureView? Have you used owned one and do you think the video review gives a complete picture of what it can do? Let us know!