This is the third in a series of articles giving real world, honest feedback from Symbian users of varying levels of expertise who have tried moving to Windows Phone in general and the Nokia Lumia 710 in particular. Here Stephanie Brear, admittedly a user quite far from the Symbian cutting edge, finds that the 710 is a 'massive improvement' from her 5230 - perhaps not surprising, but a good example of the type of user upgrade that Windows Phone is perfect for.
I commented the other day that the Rich Recording in the Nokia 808 PureView has the potential to change the way we capture our lives, digitally - i.e. when no scene, no noise environment is off limits and everything comes out accurately, why be restricted by the technology, why not go for it and shoot anything you really enjoy, anything you love. The same applies just as strongly to the PureView zoom - add the two together and your smartphone becomes the ultimate phone for the Digital Creator, whether now on the Nokia 808 on Symbian, in the near future on Nokia Lumias on Windows Phone 8, or on another manufacturer's implementation of similar technology in a year or two.
As regular readers will know, I do like to pick head-to-heads which are appropriate - it's maddening when I see another blogger pitch items which are a wild mismatch in terms of form factors, prices and use cases. Here we have three mid-priced smartphones, all offering good value for money, all definitely phone-sized rather than superphone-sized. One powered by Symbian, one Windows Phone and one Android. What are their pros and cons, which comes out on top overall?
The lack of uptake of the Nokia 808 by networks in various countries is something that still provokes controversy. Are the networks mad? Is the device not good enough? Or - and this is a theory that's worth considering - is it actually better for the long term success and reputation of the 808 for it not to be ranged on contract anywhere? Yes, totally mad, but also making total sense, as I shall explain....
It's all very well having a high end autofocus camera in your Symbian-powered Nokia N8 or 808 PureView - but having a great camera doesn't necessarily mean that you'll automatically take great photos. My last 'photo tips' piece on All About Symbian was three years ago, making it high time I updated my thoughts on taking better shots for 2012.
I've had surprisingly many requests to include the Nokia N86 in my upcoming Nokia 808 PureView camera comparison review part, comparing the native 8MP with the 8MP PureView mode - and I was preparing to disappoint the requesters, since my comparison phones were the N82, N8 (i.e. staying with the Xenon blood line) and HTC One X. However, never one to let the side down, I popped out just now and shot a sequence of test shots, analysed below. Summary: keep the N86 if you're into snapping flower macros, otherwise the 808 blows it out of the water.
A month ago, I put the (then upcoming) 808 PureView against the (also upcoming) Galaxy S III in tabular, opinionated form. And, having now used both smartphones, reckon I got the verdict spot on. However, the SGS III is a monster form factor, with 4.8" screen, so I thought I'd cast around for something current and cutting edge that's more the Nokia 808's size. Aha - the HTC One S, with almost identical specs to the flagship One X, yet within a more conventionally-sized phone form factor. Read on for my head to head.
It's now coming up to 21 months since most of us got our Nokia N8s (and other Symbian^3 phones shortly after) - that's a long time in the smartphone world. And there's a good chance that your N8 has been from Symbian^3 to Anna to Belle and has also had all manner of demo software, patches and updates thrown at it. Unsurprisingly the result can be something of a software mess and there comes a point where you're fairly low on system disk space and strange hesitations in the OS become a regular occurrence. You may wish to do what I did and spend a happy hour or two rebuilding your N8 (or C7 or whatever) - in case you don't feel confident about getting everything back, you might like to take note of my workflow below and bookmark it for your own checklist?
You'll remember guest writer Ow Kah Leong bringing us just about the first unboxing and first impressions of the Nokia 808 PureView, from Singapore, where the device went on sale first? I wanted to catch up with him again and find out how he was getting on with the 808 after almost a couple of weeks. Here are his notes.
OK, so not so much of a fight, since there can only be one winner, but I did think you'd be interested in some direct comparisons between shots grabbed in sometimes light-challenged conditions on the N8, still the best camera-toting smartphone in much of the world, and identically-taken shots from the 808 PureView, available for over a week now in parts of the world. The examples below, plus some of the anecdotal useage comments, come in conjunction with AAS guest writer Mark Wilkinson, working in China.
