Paul Briden 15/12/2017 - 8:57am

The Nokia 9 could support both telephoto and wide-angle lenses

Nokia's just updated its camera app for the Nokia 5 as part of the Oreo Beta, with the update adding support for wide-angle and telephoto lenses; something none of the current Nokia Android line-up support, suggesting it may be a preliminary move to prepare for such capabilities on the Nokia 9 and other Nokia phones launching inside 2018.

The application shows support for 2x telephoto zoom; which the Nokia 5 cannot use. Similarly, the current Nokia 8 only has one field of view for both camera lenses. At present no phone camera in production supports both telephoto and wide angle lenses at the same time, suggesting that perhaps Nokia could be about to launch an industry first.

As well as the Nokia 9 potentially leveraging these new changes, we had previously been left scratching our heads as to why Nokia also apparently plans to reboot the Nokia 8 very soon as well - considering that phone has not been on the market long. As well as the alleged 18:9 display and possible waterproofing, it is possible it will also feature updated camera hardware. Increasingly, however, as we hear more about the Nokia 9 and Nokia 8 (2018) we're wondering what the difference between the two will actually be!

Imaging is one of the big areas where a phone brand can really make a name for itself. The camera is where Google’s Pixel phones have excelled for the past two years and is is also what let down the Essential Phone so much when it was first released.

Getting the camera right is key for any new release, especially a high-end, flagship release like the Nokia 9. In addition to this, Nokia has a very good pedigree in this regard with its PureView camera which first launched back in 2012.

All of the above points to the Nokia 9’s camera being very impressive, indeed.