The five-camera Nokia 9 PureView will cost R12 999 in South Africa

At some point in the future we may well get a smartphone covered entirely by camera lenses. But for now, you’ll have to settle for the next best thing: the Nokia 9 PureView.

The penta-camera smartphone made quite a splash at MWC 2019 in Barcelona in March, but on Thursday HMD Global announced that the device is now available to purchase in South Africa.

Specs-wise, this is Nokia’s first new flagship since 2017’s Nokia 8 Sirocco. And it’s by far the most ambitious device we’ve seen from the new Nokia.

The phone sticks to some flagship norms then, including the large 6.0 inch screen with a 2880×1440 P-OLED display, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 screen protection, and support for HDR10.

You’re also getting 6GB of RAM alongside 128GB of internal storage mated to a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. There is no card slot though, pretty curious for a media-orientated smartphone.

Other specs include a 20MP selfie camera, wireless charging, support for Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 3.0 for up to 18W charging, and IP67 water and dust resistance.

However, the real showstopper is the rear camera array.

There are a selection of five cameras arranged in a spiral. All sensors are 12MP with f/1.8 28mm lenses, but two are RGB while three snap black and white only. All the cameras capture data simultaneously.

Finally, being it a Nokia, the phone will arrive with Android 9.0 Pie through the Android One programme.

As for price and availability, the phone is available in South Africa exclusively through Vodacom, starting at R699pm on contact, and R11 849 on prepaid.

For everyone else, the stock recommended retail price is R12 999.

Feature image: supplied, HMD Global/Nokia