Nokia 808 Pureview- The Prequal

This article almost turned into Nokia Hard Cover CC-3046 review, however I have finally been able to change tack and write something similar to what I had hoped to ! As with many things in my life this story didn't exactly go as planned, and in fact wasn't planned at all.

If you don't know I'm a great big Nokia Fan Boy, I am, so please realise that this is the perspective from where I am coming from, I'm not a blogger , or writer, as it says on my bio, I'm a bloke who messes about with phones a bit..

So the story began a couple of months or so ago when I started to get a bit of a yearning for a new 'toy', I've been using two phones for a good 8 months or so, the Nokia N9 and the Nokia Lumia 800 and thoroughly enjoying them both. I was liking Windows Phone and really enjoying my N9 for tinkering and being 'Geeky', but I just fancied a change and maybe something with a slightly bigger screen, and when the Lumia 900 was released in the UK I went and had a look at it and was impressed, no real benefit over what I'd already got, but the larger screen really lends itself to the Metro UI(and my eyes) and the bigger battery really appealed to me ( I carry two phones because neither of my current handsets seam to last me a day on their battery) as I am a very heavy user. I'd also looked at the Nokia 808 on line and read reviews, because that's the kind of thing I do. Now I'd set a budget for my next purchase and didn't want to give the launch price of the Lumia 900 so was waiting for a price drop, and once the 808 was announced the price looked ridiculous !! So I watched and waited and did my usual web surfing and podcast listening and all my plans and common sense were blown out of the water by bloody Richard Yates !!!! Richard (@richardcyates on Twitter) appeared on the TTUK podcast on the 19th of June 2012 as he had imported a Nokia 808 from Amazon.de as they were unavailable in the UK and also due to the exchange rate, a bit cheaper than the UK pre-order price.

http://www.techtalkuk.com/2012/06/19/techtalkuk-podcast-34-nokias-last-symbian-and-microsofts-first-tablet/#more-855

So on impulse I jumped on the web and ordered a Nokia 808 from Amazon.de. It wasn't 100% impulse, but Richard had pushed me over the edge, LOL. Now maybe I'm a fool and maybe I'm too entrenched in Nokia , but I actually like Symbian and manage with it very well and still love my E7, and as the 808 is the last of the line as such, for me it kinda feels right to get the 'last of the Mohicans' , I have no issue with WP, but as when I chose my N9 over the Lumia at Nokia World because it was unique, there will be chance for me to get another Windows Phone in the future, and with the 808 coming out at similar money to the Lumia 900 I needed to make my choice, so I did.

I am not the greatest photographer in the world, but the best camera phone ever created can only help my limited ability, and good or bad, I enjoy taking photos and it will be interesting learning all the tricks of taking better photos with the 808, and I know plenty of people on the web who I can turn to for advice and tips, so the dye is set and I would be a member of the PureView Club soon, or so I thought ?

When I placed my order , the 808 was out of stock, but it was expected shortly, so I pressed buy and waited, and checked, and waited. I bought a 32gig micro SD card, expecting to need the space for hi-res photos and videos, none of my current phones have expandable memory so I didn't have one laying about, so thought I'd jack up the 808's memory. After checking Amazon daily for about a week, I noticed the Nokia Hard Cover CC-3046 on Amazon, so I ordered one to protect my new investment,specially the lens. Couple of days later I get an email from Amazon.de, copy and paste it to Google Translate all excited in anticipation, and it's the cover that's on the way ! So I now have a hard case and an SD card and no PureView. Another week went by and still no news, also the price for pre order in Germany went up and I was on the verge of cancelling my order, as I considered 600+ euro just too much to spend, thankfully I waited and finally, a month after ordering, I got the mail saying the 808 was due for delivery this week at the order price of 520 euros delivered, I almost did a happy bunnie dance !!

I would never have got the opportunity to use the 808 without buying one, I don't get on trial lists and have had my fair share of good luck and products from Nokia, so I don't begrudge paying for the 808 or the people who do get trials, however , when I do decide to do some sort of a review about my phone, it will be the whole phone, not just the awsome 41 megapixel Camera, as much as I've enjoyed many articles about the 808 during my months wait to get my hands on one, I've been very frustrated by the total dismissal of the OS of the phone, either that or deriding it !! as I mentioned, I still love and enjoy my Nokia E7 running Belle and can only imagine the 808 to be better and faster with it's faster processor, extra RAM and bigger battery, and I certainly look forward to taking some great photos, maybe not to the standard of some of the pros, but with all the 808 output I've seen, I'm sure even I can produce something good if not great.

So the prequal is over , along with the wait, and hopefully tomorrow on the 19th of July 2012 , exactly a month after ordering it, I will be a very proud and happy member of the Nokia 808 PureView Club.

Thanks for reading

Stephen Quin