PureView shootout: Nokia 808 vs Nokia Lumia 920

Nokia made a big thing of the camera in the Lumia 920, proclaiming it to be a 'PureView' unit. Digging deeper revealed that this is PureView 'phase 2', with the emphasis on using a standard sized sensor but with Optical Image Stabilisation applied to the whole camera rather than going down the 808's 'phase 1' route of putting in a far bigger sensor and using clever hardware and software to finalise images.

Of course, both approaches have their pros and cons - the 808 has better raw flexibility and Xenon flash but is physically thicker, while the 920 is thinner and has good low light landscape options, but lacks Xenon and the 'phase 1' PureView zoom. 

In addition to the two 'PureView' camera phones, we also added the Nokia Lumia 900 (i.e. the 'old' Lumia hardware based on the Nokia N9 camera module) and the HTC One X (reckoned to be about the best of the current Android-powered smartphones, camera-wise, and on a par with the Apple iPhone 4S/5) into the mix, for comparison purposes.

To put all these leading camera phones to the test, Rafe and I tried seven challenging scenarios:

Test 1: Daylight, landscape

No special lighting challenges, this was all about resolving detail, colouration, and so on. Here's the full shot from the new Nokia Lumia 920, click it to enlarge or to download the original 8 megapixel JPG:

And here's the central region at 1:1 'as is' resolution, so you can see differences in the photographs from, clockwise from top-left, the Nokia Lumia 900, the HTC One X, the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the old Nokia 808. In other words, in this and all the 'square, four way' comparisons below, the old PureView 'phase 1' is bottom left and the newer 'phase 2' (in the Lumia 920) is bottom-right.

NB. The comparison block below is roughly 900 pixels in width - depending on your browser window size, the 'All About' sites dynamic code may resize this block down to fit your window. Please bear this in mind and try to view the comparisons on as big a screen as possible.

Grass and greenery generally is always a killer for JPG images, because the combination of digital artefacts from the sensor and the minute variations in texture and detail from the subject are a recipe for disaster, as shown in the top two crops (and reminiscent of the mess the old Nokia N95 etc. used to make of grass back in 2007). The two PureView camera phones do very well here, I think, with slightly more detail and less artefacts in the Nokia 808 image.

Scores (out of 10): Lumia 900: 5  HTC One X:  6 Lumia 920: 9  Nokia 808: 10

Test 2: Nighttime, artificial light, no flash allowed

Aha - something really challenging this time and right up the Nokia Lumia 920's street - very low light and the sort of thing a camera phone usually makes a mess of. Flash could have been allowed, but it would have unevenly lit the car and would have lost all the atmosphere. Even with the super-bright Xenon flash on the 808. Here's the full shot from the new Nokia Lumia 920, click it to enlarge or to download the original 8 megapixel JPG:

And here are the equivalent snaps on the other three camera phones, again click each to enlarge or download. First Nokia 808:

Then the Nokia Lumia 900:

And finally the HTC One X:

The Nokia 808's version is nicely moody, but doesn't really get the car's silver colour right - great detail though, while the One X's shot is similar, albeit with far more noise when you crop right in (see below). The Lumia 900's camera performs poorly in comparison, with poor exposure and lots of digital noise.

In comparison, the Lumia 920's OIS system enables a shutter time of a third of a second with only very slight blurring, which means that the car itself is shown up exactly as in real life, silver, and with admirable detail elsewhere in the image (grab it to examine it for yourself).

As above, I also cropped right in, to examine details at the centre of the image. As before, clockwise from top-left, the Nokia Lumia 900, the HTC One X, the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the old Nokia 808. 

NB. The comparison block below is roughly 900 pixels in width - depending on your browser window size, the 'All About' sites dynamic code may resize this block down to fit your window. Please bear this in mind and try to view the comparisons on as big a screen as possible.

In fact, it's notable that the Lumia 920 gathers so much light that this central part of the picture is actually over-exposed and thus loses a little detail. Although I prefer the 808's crop for detail, the colour isn't right and the Lumia 920's image is better overall, as you can see above, with more content and a silver car - and with plenty of atmosphere preserved.

Scores (out of 10): Lumia 900: 4  HTC One X: 6 Lumia 920: 9  Nokia 808: 8

Test 3: Indoor, gloomy, close up subject

OK, it's a fair cop, we live in the UK and it's gloomy a lot of the time. Indoors, everything's a bit dim and lacking colour. Here's a test shot of some flowers at a typical 'snap' distance. No flash allowed this time (don't worry, flash fans, that's coming up too), as we want to push the camera units in these phones to the limit in terms of how much light they can gather and how much detail they can resolve. Here's the full shot from the new Nokia Lumia 920, click it to enlarge or to download the original 8 megapixel JPG. Yes, I know it doesn't look gloomy but that's because the 920's doing a pretty good job:

And here's the central region at 1:1 'as is' resolution, so you can see differences in the photographs from, clockwise from top-left, the Nokia Lumia 900, the HTC One X, the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the old Nokia 808:

It's tough to split the two Nokia 'PureView' phones here, the crops from both are beautifully clean and clear, though the 808 just edges it, I think. In contrast, and rather showing the gap in technology between the PureView devices and the rest of the pack, the Lumia 900's shot is blotchy and noisy, while the One X's photo is all a bit soft focus, implying heavy noise reduction by HTC.

Scores (out of 10): Lumia 900: 4  HTC One X:  4 Lumia 920: 9  Nokia 808: 10

Test 4: Outdoors, good light (though shady), but clueless user(!)

One test which we were eager to try was taking photos with no real care and attention. In other words, forgetting years of experience and pretending to be a 'newbie' user, just stabbing carelessly at the shutter icon without really knowing to keep the phone body completely still. Here's the full shot from the new Nokia Lumia 920, click it to enlarge or to download the original 8 megapixel JPG.

And here's the central region at 1:1 'as is' resolution, so you can see differences in the photographs from, clockwise from top-left, the Nokia Lumia 900, the HTC One X, the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the old Nokia 808:

As expected, with Rafe emulating a total camera phone dunce(!), there's significant motion blur on the Lumia 900 and One X photos, with every detail blurred to one side. The Lumia 900's shot also adds a reddish colour cast which isn't attractive. The Nokia 808's photo is quite passable but is ever so slightly blurred, while the Lumia 920's shot (with the OIS, remember) is the crispest of the bunch, with leaf edge serrations showing up. Having said that, the textures and colouring are better on the 808 photo, so it's a score draw overall.

Scores (out of 10): Lumia 900: 3  HTC One X:  4 Lumia 920: 8  Nokia 808: 8

Test 5: Indoors, flash needed, live subject

OK, we say 'live', but Rafe's cat doesn't actually dance around as per Steve's usual 'disco dance' test shot specification (more on that in a future Lumia 920 review part). Still, there's some movement and this would still be a valid test of flash keeping things crisp and well illuminated. Here's the full shot from the new Nokia Lumia 920, click it to enlarge or to download the original 8 megapixel JPG. 

And here's the central region at 1:1 'as is' resolution, so you can see differences in the photographs from, clockwise from top-left, the Nokia Lumia 900, the HTC One X, the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the old Nokia 808:

The Lumia 900 photo is crisp - way too crisp, there's so much edge enhancement and colouration going on here that the shot almost looks like it's of a stuffed toy. The HTC One X makes a bit of a mess of the shot, with its slow LED flash and a (presumably) slightly moving cat head(!) The Lumia 920's shot is good but a little over-exposed, though the new pulse LED flash tech used by Nokia does seem to have frozen most of the whiskers pretty well. Unsurprisingly, the Nokia 808 marches off with the honours here, with natural colours and perfectly frozen detail, thanks to the far bigger sensor and Xenon flash.

Scores (out of 10): Lumia 900: 4  HTC One X:  2 Lumia 920: 6  Nokia 808: 10

Test 6: Sunlight, very fast moving subject

The challenge here is to see how fast each phone camera can gather enough light and keep the photo crisp, in this case shooting a well lit, fast flowing stream. Here's the full shot from the new Nokia Lumia 920, click it to enlarge or to download the original 8 megapixel JPG. 

And here's the central region at 1:1 'as is' resolution, so you can see differences in the photographs from, clockwise from top-left, the Nokia Lumia 900, the HTC One X, the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the old Nokia 808:

Going somewhat against the grain of this comparison so far, I'd say the HTC One X's shot edges it, followed by the 808's and then a rather 'soft' Lumia 920 interpretation and a slightly over-processed version from the Lumia 900.

Scores (out of 10): Lumia 900: 5  HTC One X:  8 Lumia 920: 6  Nokia 808: 7

Test 7: Nighttime, only mood light(!), no flash allowed

Let's put the sensors and apertures of each phone camera to the ultimate test. And a topical one too, with Halloween just yesterday as I write this. A candle-lit pumpkin, with just gentle light flooding the background. Here's the full shot from the new Nokia Lumia 920, click it to enlarge or to download the original 8 megapixel JPG:

And here are the equivalent snaps on the other three camera phones, again click each to enlarge or download. First Nokia 808:

Then the Nokia Lumia 900:

And finally the HTC One X:

The Lumia 900's camera produces the worst results, with a degree of motion blur and an accompanying bottle which is all but invisible. The One X's photo is better, and fairly crisp, but the scene is still underexposed with so little light available and generally unsatisfying. I'd have been very happy with the Nokia 808's photo, capturing the warmth of the pumpkin while still showing details of the surroundings, though I then caught sight of the Lumia 920's photo, which is simply stunning: detail, mood, context, a perfect example of what the 920's camera can do in low light.

Scores (out of 10): Lumia 900: 3  HTC One X: 4 Lumia 920: 10  Nokia 808: 8

Conclusion

Scores aren't everything, though for anyone totting them up during the piece, the totals (each out of 70) are:

1. Nokia 808 PureView 61 pts
2. Nokia Lumia 920 PureView 57pts
3. HTC One X 34 pts
4. Nokia Lumia 900 28 pts

We'll obviously have a lot more on the Lumia 920's camera as part of our formal review coverage on All About Windows Phone, but I'm already able to come to a few conclusions:

• In terms of all round still photography, the 1/1.2"-sensored Nokia 808 PureView, running Symbian, is still the best camera phone in the world - by a small margin. Though add in real world shots of people indoors and at events, where the Xenon flash freezes motion so much better, and the 808 draws further ahead.
    
• Given the constraints on phone thickness, the camera in the new 1/3"-sensored Lumia 920 PureView does astonishingly well with the benefit of the OIS. With a sensor that's barely bigger than that in the Android and iOS competition, it produces shots that are often close to the 808's and occasionally better. Given that the humped Nokia 808, running a smartphone OS which is now facing an End Of Life, isn't for everybody, the sleek Lumia 920 running a 2013 operating system may well be the better option for users who love taking photos. The next-gen LED flash does need more testing and, as with all LED-equipped phones, there will still be issues in low light when shooting people. Watch this space for real world pub tests!
    
• Even used with care, photos from the likes of the 1/3.2"-sensored HTC One X (and, by inference, the iPhone 4S/5 and SGS III) are almost always going to be inferior to those from the similarly sized Lumia 920 - the optical image stablisation did well here - it'll do even better in terms of difference in quality when used by novice users.
    
• The previous generation of 1/3.2" camera units used by Nokia, even with Carl Zeiss optics, are worlds apart from the 920's camera. Worlds. Partly down to the previous Windows Phone 7 software, partly the average hardware, partly the lack of OIS.

A side issue, for AAS readers, is whether the two year old 1/1.8"-sensored Nokia N8 has a better camera than the Lumia 920. The physicist in me says yes, but the OIS on the latter would make it a very close match to call. One for me to test another day!

And so it's on to our review coverage of the Nokia Lumia 920, running Windows Phone 8. Rafe's up first, with an overview of the hardware and software - I'll be testing the stills camera in real life and seeing what a difference OIS makes to video footage in one of the review parts, all coming in the next few weeks.