MWC 2019: Nokia launches new Nokia 9 PureView with 5 rear cameras at $699

While the Galaxy S10 may have stolen all the headlines over the weekend, Nokia is hitting back hard with a smartphone that has five rear cameras. HMD Global recently announced its latest flagship smartphone Nokia 9 PureView.

The new Nokia 9 PureView features a whopping five cameras on the back of the phone. The camera layout on the back of the phone is easily one of the most unique you’ll ever see. So, what’s the purpose of this Penta-camera setup? Nokia states that the more cameras you have, the more detail you can capture.

Only two of five cameras on the back of the Nokia 9 shoot in colour, while the other three are monochrome. Each of the five cameras features a 12-megapixel sensor and an f/1.8 lens. By pressing down on the shutter, all five cameras shoot different exposures simultaneously, which then get merged in an ultra-detailed image. Nokia claims that each of the five cameras can shoot multiple exposures on their own, bringing even more detail to the final photo. This could redefine the level of detail and colour in a smartphone camera if what Nokia claims is accurate.

Nokia partnered with Light to devise this impressive camera setup. The Light’s Lux Capacitor camera-control chip on the Nokia 9 manages the five cameras as the Snapdragon 845 chipset is only built to handle three lenses out of the box. Additionally, Adobe Lightroom will come preinstalled on the PureView handset. Both Nokia and Adobe are developing Lightroom presets specifically tuned to the lenses on this device.

The Nokia 9 PureView is HMD’s most high-end flagship smartphone with other premium features like a 5.99-inch 2K pOLED display panel and an in-display fingerprint sensor. The Nokia 9 is equipped with a Snapdragon 845 SoC and 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It runs on the latest Android Pie OS and features a 3,320 mAh battery capacity. The Nokia 9 PureView will be available in March, fetching a $699 price-tag in the United States.