I purchased the Pureview 808 last week.
Since Everyone knows about the camera I will talk about other parts ...
1) OS etc ... Ok Symbian gets bashed a lot --- actually its not all that bad for a basic phone. Apps in Ovi store suck and are unlikely to be developed further as the OS will be phased out. If you want lots of software look elsewhere .... better yet get a Tablet to complement your phone. In fact that was my solution ---- pair the 808 with the Galaxy Tab 7.7 which has a FANTASTIC screen and has just been upgraded to ICS. Great for Photo Viewing and basic Photo management plus all the Android apps you could possibly ask for.
2) the phone is good as a decent phone --- you can sync contacts via gmail which helps.
3) Screen does not do justice to the camera :>(
4) Screen Size and keyboard not very useful for heavy text input or internet usage.
5) The 808 excels at ..... Camera (Photos and Video), Sound Quality (more on that below) and Location services (Nokia Maps is fantatstic) ..... if you are happy with a phone with only these features then its a fantastic phone. If you need a lot of social connectivity, different apps, or data input on your phone then you will not be satisfied. Ok for modest web browsing if you replace stock browser with Opera Mobile
6) Capacity -- 16gb internal ---- I can confirm that 64GB external (Sandisk) works perfectly as a storage device for music and photos etc. Please be aware however that you will lose the "fast writing" capabilities these cards are made for. These cards were originally designed for Videographers and Photographers who frequently use "burst mode" but on the 808 the card is not supported so it will not write fast enough for this on the 808. Best to record video to Internal storage and copy out later.
Ok this is an Audiophile site so on to the sound .....
7) First I really need to mention the sound RECORDING quality on Video ---- absolutely STUNNING!
8) On to SQ output .... I never had the N8 so cannot compare. I will say that straight out of the headphone jack the SQ is FAR superior to ANY Android, Windows, Symbian ---- HTC, Samsung, or Nokia phone I have owned (About 15 phones total) --- its not even close. Never owned an Iphone so cannot comment. Better than my old Ipod classic though.
9) The stock Music player is so so ..... works well if all you have is MP3 and only a few hundred songs. Does NOT support FLAC and if you have a lot of songs it is night mare. I left my FLAC on my computer and copied over about 7,000 320 bit rate MP3s to my 64GB card. It works --- but you have two options for choosing your music ..
A) View by Genre and you will see all SONGS in the Genre but you cannot play by Album or Artist unless you want to make a playlist.
B) View by Artist Album --- you get a list of all ALBUMS sorted by Artist first. This is fine if you only have 500 songs (50 Albums) --- but if you want to put your entire Music Library on the phone it is very problematic. For example if I want to play ZZtop -- I start at "A" and must MANUALLY scroll through all my albums (In my case over 750 Albums) to get there --- No Search Function or Jump to Letter Z feature. Also makes it impossible to browse by artist or Album within Genre -- you have to Browse your entire Music Library Alphabetically by Artist-Album any time you want to play an album. This seems just amazingly dumb on Nokia's part, but perhaps they never envisioned people wanting to put so much music on their device. There are alternative players available but compatibility is an issue as 808 is so new and most are either ad sponsored or require purchase ---- :>(
10) Despite the great Headphone out SQ -- the geek in me reminds me that I have 3 portable Amps just screaming for more use -- and the 808 does indeed offer USB OTG.so had to give a try ....
11) Of the Amps I own --- Go Vibe Portatube -- but I need a DAC first (Never mind) ....... Ibasso D10 Cobra DAC/AMP --- rejected outright (error messages -- will not recognize). RSA Predator DAC/AMP ---- It works!!! the sound is FANTASTIC ..... but alas .. a warning message "connected to High power device ....draining battery". The Predator charges through the USB connection coming from the phone and (Unlike the Cobra) charging cannot be turned off. I have a working solution -- but an unsatisfactory one as I cannot afford to drain my phone battery so quickly ----- having said that I will try for at least one day playing at least 3 or 4 hours of Music to see exactly how bad the damage is as to battery drain.
12) So ... living in Singapore I go to the ATM and with $$$$ burning a hole in my wallet I go to Stereo Electronics and then to Jaben .....
A) NONE of the IBasso DAC Amps will connect (I Tried them all)
B) Nor will the Pico DAC or DAC/AMP
C) The GoVive PortaTube Dac/AMP --- forget about it
D) HiFiman Express --- NOPE
E) I tried an old Ordance .25 ---- and it worked (sorry I cannot remember if it had the the ability to turn of charging.)
13) So I wound up with an old discontinued GoVibe U-DAC and it functions perfectly without draining the battery and I can hook any of my amps to it through the DAC's line out. Still -- as a HeadFier -- I am not satisfied. There is very little information on the GoVibe U-DAC but I can confirm that it is based on C-Media components rather than the more highly regarded Wolfson or Burr Brown components. C-Media is a Taiwanese manufacture that sells generics etc to various PC audio manufacturers. I have no Idea which exact C-Media componentry is being used in the Go-Vive U-Dac. I can say that it does not sound all that bad with a good amp hooked up to it but it is not shining through nearly as much as connecting the RSA Predator directly to the phone with sound being processed by the Predator's DAC. At the end of the day I have a lower grade external DAC that allows me to avoid double amping if I want to use my headphone amps but I question how much I really an benefiting as the U-DAC is probably not any better than (and may even be inferior to) Nokia's own internal DAC.
14) So the Search continues --- or I may just accept headphone out for the time being.
In the mean time ..
1) I have been searching in Vain for info on the 808's internal DAC --- does anyone know anything about this?
2) I am still keen on finding a small portable external DAC that connects and does not drain battery if anyone else has any suggestions.