Featured 
We just happened to have both Sony Ericsson’s and Nokia’s latest Imaging flagships with us. Both have 12 Megapixel Cameras, and a Xenon Flash for night shots. When something like that happens, you just cant help thinking, Which one is the better camera?
Well, we figured we’d put that to a test.
In one corner, we have the Sony Ericsson Satio.
Announced more than a year ago, this 12 Megapixel Auto-Focus Camera has a Xenon Flash (along with an LED light for video), and nifty features like Touch focus, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, among a ton of other scene settings. Unfortunately though, it runs the S60v5 (Symbian^1) UI which means it’s kinda slow. The fact that it uses Sony Ericsson’s UI on top of it, makes it even slower.
In the other corner, we have the Nokia N8.
Leaked earlier this year, and announced a couple months ago, this 12 Megapixel Autofocus camera, has a Carl Zeiss, Wide Angle Lens, with the largest Image sensor used in any Mobile Phone to date. It also has a Xenon Flash, and Face detection, along with multiple scene modes and settings. The N8 runs Symbian^3 which is the latest iteration of Symbian, with Nokia’s UI on top.
Section A: Close-Up Images.
For this section, the Nokia N8 was set to ‘macro/close-up’ mode. The Sony Ericsson Satio was set to “Auto” since it automatically detects and adjusts to macro.
Image 1 – Flowery :
Satio:
N8:
I’m not sure what happened with the N8 in this pic. The Satio’s image looks a lot clearer, cleaner, and the colors are spot on. The N8 though, is quite blur-ish. The Wide-angle lens isnt that great for close-up’s it appears. I suppose there might have been some grease on the N8′s lens? Good thing that Satio is a nice sliding lens-cover.
Image 2 – Flowery :
Satio:
N8:
Again, taken from the same position, the N8′s wide angle lens has captured more of it’s surroundings than the Satio. The Satio’s colors look more visually appealing, while the N8′s colors are more true-to-life.
Image 3 – Flowery :
Satio:
N8:
Both the N8 and Satio use nice bokeh effects to blur out the surroundings behind the subject. In this case the leaves behind have been nicely put out-of-focus. Again, both images taken from the exact same position, hence the N8 got more of the Flower, while the Satio got more closer.
Image 4 – Trees :
Satio:
N8:
Again, the colors in the Satio’s image are more appealing (look at the green on the leaf in the right side in both images). Both seem to have a problem with light in this shot, but the Satio does a better job of handling it, while the N8′s image seems a bit washed.
Image 5 – Trees
Satio:
N8:
Once again, the same pros and cons.
Image 6 – Flowery
Satio:
N8:
Both cameras do a pretty great job here. The image from the Satio is just a tiny bit high contrast. But otherwise, both are pretty much spot on.
Image 7 – Flowery
Satio:
N8:
Again, the colors on the Satio are more ‘pleasing’ while the colors on the N8 are more true (see leaf in background).
Image 8 – Flowery
Satio:
N8:
Again, the Satio shows that it excels in close-up photos. The Image is clear and the colors while again more visually-pleasing, are mostly great. The N8′s picture by comparison looks a bit washed (but is actually more true), and not as sharp.
Image 9 – Flowery
Satio:
N8:
Image 10 – Flowery
Satio:
N8:
In this picture you can actually see how much greener the leaves are on the Satio’s image, and how much more purple the flowers are. The N8′s picture is more true-to-life but not as appealing. Both do a good enough job, while the focusing in both were off the center, where I wanted it to be.
Conclusion:
In this section, the Satio came out as the clear winner in a lot of cases. The wide-angle lens on the N8 isnt that great for close up images, but it doesnt necessarily mean it doesnt hold it’s own. Again, the lack of a camera-cover on the N8 means there might have been grease on the lens in some images.
Section B: General Pictures.
In this section, both cameras were set to “Auto”. Objects were medium to far-ish distance away.
Image 1 – By the Pool
Satio:
N8:
Again, the colors on the Satio were a lot more appealing. The N8′s image looks washed out, but has more of the surroundings, thanks to the wide-angle lens.
Image 2 – Rickshaw Fare
Satio:
N8:
Now this image was a total turn-around. The N8 actually managed to take a better picture here, going in closer, and nicely taking the background out of focus. The Satio though, fired it’s flash and took a much rougher image.
Image 3 – Mall’d
Satio:
N8:
The Satio’s image again, looks a lot sharper, while the N8 looks a bit off. Look at the lines below the banner on the top, on both images.
Image 4 – Construction
Satio:
N8:
Again, the same situation as the image above.
Image 5 – Ben 10
Satio:
N8:
Here you gotta love that Wide-angle lens. Took the whole banner, while the Satio only got a part of it.
Image 6 – Ceiling
Satio:
N8:
Image 7 – Construction
Satio:
N8:
Image 8 – Sunny Day
Satio:
N8:
Image 9 – Building Bother
Satio:
N8:
Without too much light around, the N8 does a better job of capturing the building, and it’s surrounding in this image.
Image 10 – Schooled
Satio:
N8:
In this image the N8 does do a better job, it’s wide-angle lens getting more of the school, while the camera handled the colors of the dusk behind better than the Satio.
Image 11 – Church Moon
Satio:
N8:
Again, if you look at the colors of the Blue Church in both the above pics, you’ll see that the Satio does have a more visually appealing color, as usual. Both capture a good amount of detail though, with the N8 edging out slightly.
Image 12 – Saint
Satio:
N8:
In this image, the colors on the N8′s image, as well as the detail seem to be a lot better. The wide-angle lens really helps in situations like these.
Image 13 – Church
Satio:
N8:
Again, the colors on both images are different. The satio having the same visually appealing color set.
Image 14 – Crows and Crosses
Satio:
N8:
The N8 does a better job of capturing the sky behind the cross right on top. Overall the N8′s image got more detail in this one.
Image 15 – Hail Mary
Satio:
N8:
Once again the Satio gets more vivid colors, while the N8 gets more detail. Nothing new here.
Image 16 – Taking Flight
Satio:
N8:
I love how totally different the colors of the sky are in these two images, which were both taken at exactly the same moment. The Satio went with a more blue shade, while the N8 went with a more puple-pink shade.
Image 17 – Apartmentaly scenary
Satio:
N8:
Nothing new in this one. The Satio’s colors are a bit vivid (Eg: The green building on the left) while the N8′s look washed out by comparison.
Image 18 – Horizon
Satio:
N8:
Again, the same story. The N8 does a much better job at handling low-light.
Image 19 – Booking Office
Satio:
N8:
Image 20 – Station
Satio:
N8:
I’m not sure what happened to the Satio on this one. It fired it’s flash even though there was enough morning light to go around, which resulted in that image you see above. The N8′s picture was pretty spot-on though.
Conclusion:
Okay so the Wide-Angle lens on the N8 definitely helps it at and landscape, tourist-y pictures. It does a great job in low-light too, where the Satio sometimes fires off it’s flash to keep up.
Likewise, the Satio does a better job at handling too much light (perhaps the N8′s lens were affected by the lack of a lens cover again?), and the colors in it’s images might be appealing to most people out there, but might turn camera purists off.
Section C: Pictures at Night.
The pictures in this section are a combination of Images taken indoors, or at night. The N8 and Satio were set to Auto for most images, but also set to Night Mode or Flash-off for some.
Image 1 – Cake!
Satio:
N8:
Xenon Flash’s fired. Both do a good enough job on this one. Admittedly, the Satio’s image does look more delicious though.
Image 2 – Golden Ceiling
Satio:
N8:
Flashes fired, the N8′s camera gets a cleaner image, with more true-r colors.
Image 3 – Night Parking
Satio:
N8:
Again, the N8′s camera does a better job of handling no/less light. The Shot is cleaner than the noisy image from the Satio.
And the same scene without Flash -
Satio:
N8:
Image 4 – Parked
Satio:
N8:
Again, the N8 does a better job in low-light, showing you more details of the car, and it’s surroundings than the picture from the Satio.
Image 5 – Parked
Satio:
N8:
Once again, the same story. The N8 gets more details on this one.
Image 6 – Hidden
Satio:
N8:
Image 7 – The Pillar
Satio:
N8:
The Satio really struggled on this one. It’s image is quite a bit noisy, while the N8 managed to get more details of the pillar and handle the lack of light, better.
Image 8 – Mall’d
Satio:
N8:
Again, the N8 excels at Night images, giving a cleaner image, with better colors.
Image 9 – Pillar Scene
Satio:
N8:
Again, the same story. The Satio’s image makes the lights more Orange, while the N8′s image is more closer to the gold-ish color.
Image 10 – Muffins
Satio:
N8:
While the Satio gets warmer colors on this one, the N8 gets shelves on the display. Yet, as usual, it’s colors look washed in comparison to the Satio.
Conclusion:
There’s no denying, the N8 does a great job at Night photography. Most of it’s images are very low in noise, and color reproduction is mostly spot on. The wide-angle lens and huge sensor combination really work in it’s favour here.
The Satio though, struggles in situations where it cant use it’s Xenon flash. Although it does produce great shots in the right situations.
Overall Conclusion:
So which one’s the better camera?
Y’know. I thought the N8 would have blown it’s competition out of the water. Granted the lack of a wide angle lens on the Satio is a huge downer, it still managed to keep up with the N8, in some cases. For close-up shots the Satio seems to do a better job. Whereas for everything else, the N8 copes much better. The fact that the Satio has a sliding lens protector also means that it doesnt run into grease-on-the-lens situations which I suspect the N8 had in a couple of the images above.
So which one’s the better camera? I’m tempted to say the Nokia N8. But not by as huge a margin as I thought it’d be. For instance from a camera-perspective I dont really think Satio owners would need to upgrade to the N8 (although the move from Symbian^1 to Symbian^3 will be much welcome for many).
What do you think? Is the Sony Ericsson Satio the better overall camera, or is the new Nokia N8 in a league of it’s own? Let us know in the comments section below y’all!
Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile and mobile-related accessories.
Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus 
or on Facebook or Twitter: Follow @clintonjeff
I'm a proud owner of SE Satio, I'm very much impressed with it.. My friends have N8 and they too like my pics taken from satio.. I haven't used N8 till date but I'm not that impressed with that.. It may have more bigger sensor but results are not up to the mark.. Processor and RAM are almost same.. There is 1 year difference but tech spech is almost same.. May be N8 got 16 GB onboard memory with card slot.. But I stand with satio only.. To upgrade satio there is no need to take N8.. A mere change in os sym^1 - sym^3.. But IT IS a Symbian os.. Famous for its slowness.. For upgrading satio there's an upcoming smartphone.. SONY Xperia S (12MP snapper, 1080p full HD video rec, 1.5 dual core processor, 1GB RAM, Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread.. Upgradable to 4.0 Icecream sandwich) It's not an offence.. I like nokia but hate symbian( though I'm using satio )
THE ONLY THING I WANNA SAY IS GUYS SATIO WAS ANNOUNCED IN OCTOBER 2009 AND N8 WAS ANNOUNCED IN APRIL 2010 AND THEN SATIO WAS RELEASED IN OCTOBER 2009 AND N8 WAS RELEASED EXACTLY A YEAR AFTER SATIO SO JUST THINK FOR ONCE HOW TECHNOLOGY IS CHNGING DAY BY DAY AND U R COMPARING TWO CAMERA MONSTERS WHICH HAVE A DIFFERENCE OF YEAR (365 DAYS AS U KNOW :D)
I took nearly a year in deciding which camera phone to be bought. And seemingly, SE Satio won my heart (thanks to the author). It has more preferable photo schemes, the colours are more appealing and enlivened. Don't lie to me: though N8 captures truer image (thus less preferred colour/tone), any N8 user will in the end go to Picasa and edit it to make it merrier. I'm asking: why bother going to Picasa all the time when you can have an instantaneous colour standardization just a click away? Anyway, I have to admit that N8 at places, does make its producer proud. But then, not as proud as the SE Satio's. :D By the way editor, before taking the photos, have you updated their quality? Update SE Satio, and you'll have a camera phone like never before *true story*
apprenez a vous servi du satio car ayant les deux tel je peux vous dire qu'en vrai n8 n'ai pas aussi bien les images pour ma part ma parraise truque nokia a toujours ete pourri en photo et le satio en pleine nuit n'a jamais fais des photos aussi flou mais bon on comprend desuite que celui qui fait le test prefere nokia donc voila les images dans la nuit m'ont fait penser a mon sati qui n'est pas lent du tout vous n'avez qu'a faire un zoom a l'ordi et vous verrez mais bon chacun c'est preference moi je sais ce que valent les deux et je sais de vrai que satio ecrase de large le n8
Clinton Jeff Are you stupid kid?Every healthy eye would say Satio is way better than N8.N8 does nothing but capturing amateur blurred pics that even doesn't look like a 5MP crap.So you'd better have your eyes check (I'd say double-checked) and then start writing reviews of Still Images. Again,Satio has the best camera around even for video capturing.None of these foolish HD cameras can beat it.I've seen videos captured by vivaz,i8910,and even N8.All of them were fake!!!!No sign of High Definition!
Your so funny dude. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!
you didnt use the cybershot on satio by half pressing the button before getting the shot, it will auto focus on the subject that's why your night shots are poor.
Heh I did just that Poldz. Unfortch the Satio was either hit or miss at that point.
Hey thanks for this very very nice comparison. I'd liked it much. Well I think if SE would improve the skill for doing a better job in low-light and night mode, like the n8 and also having The wide-angle lens, the SE SAtio would win. But I would really like if both companies would unit there brains only to produce one ultimativ photo-phone. My Idea would be to combine the both cameras and so have a phone with 2 very powerful cameras and switch just if it is need for close ups to the SAtio and for the night to the nokia. And also change from the bad symbian to a very fast android and faster touch skills like the new samsung galaxie s2. And combine the sexy desing from n8 but a bit thiner and keep the lens cap and please a better battery and more power full touch system. Could somebody realize my idea ?. Greetz, Tupac Germany.
These are a non-updated N8 images. You can't compare them because N8 has improved nicely with later firmware upgrades. Moreover, you don't seem to know how to adjust settings on the N8 to get better image quality. The N8 is by far better at taking pictures as i've seen in several comparisons.
Hi Alex, that was the point of the review. If you dont adjust any settings on either phone, which one would do better :)
First of all, you are on the satio side , everyone can tell , I have an N8 and I have taken pictures that can easily beat the ones you took using both devices ,yes the satio had richer colors in the first pictures but you cannont deny than the N8 had WAY more realistic pictures focusing on the main porpose of them. My point is , although sony ericsson phones were designed for taking pictures with their supirior cameras, the N8 managed to blow their best camera phone not only in wide angle shooting but also with more lively colors and - in my opinion - more "to-keep" kind of pictures
For some education for the blogger,I own both phones, N8 camera is covered with hard glass,and Carl Zeiss lens can make d pic clearer even with the finger prints on the lens :) Satio is nowhere near...N8 I'd say.
They are equal to me. The Satio wins clearly in close-up and bright daylight, whilst the N8 wins when shooting landscapes and night views. Although the wide angle lens of the N8 gets everything on the picture, it also messes with perspective. So much even some pictures look unnatural. Although the N8 is a better camera overall by a small margin, it loses its edge by lacking a basic thing as a lens cover. I like to flip out my cam and shoot; not cleaning the lens first with a cue tip.
have u remove the plastic protection on n8 camera?because my pics are a lot a hell lot better than yours!!!
Thanks for this very nice and informative caparison. I might hold on to my Satio for a while longer now I think. Really nice shots(especially N8 - golden ceiling). /Stefan
the pics of satio are far better than n8
Wow...great captions...I Think The Satio has the great shots...;)
if u use iPhone 4 the colors appear more appealing even though it is only 5MP..colors in satio are not appealing actually but are artificial..nokia concentrated on more realistic photography...the color tones are too high in satio...u say it is more appealing..color tones in iPhone 4 r much higher..whatsoever not appealing...thats the fact..
while i think satio is best when it comes to day light managing while N8 cannot manage well. but n8 is good if no light of th sun..
Admin you took the image as 9M which takes a wider angle view change to 12M n use close up for slose images ....... eveyone knows N8 is the best .. see in some of the pics satio shows fake colours more sharpnes ... see the gold ceiling .. satio made it bronze !!! n in night view the sati has got a lot of noise ...N8 IS BEST :)
if u look the SE satio it gives royal look in silver colour....it bangs man....
They both have very nice pictures... But the truth be told I think that with a bit of tweaking the settings both would have performed better in their weaker areas. Just a note on the framing of shots. as with all cameras increasing or decreasing the amount of sky visible will impact the overall exposure. on a few it would have been nice to have the N8 closer so each had the exact same view and intensity of light entering the lens. Really great job and obviously a lot of effort Thank you
N8 is way better, I don't think 5.9mm can recieve more light than 28mm :P so N8 is a clear cut winner
Focal length doesn't measure the amount of light that passes through the lens. Thats what the aperture is for (f-number)
gud broooooooo
This whole conversation seems to be biased in favor of N8 (though I myself own N8 only). Because if it is not clear from the above photos, which images are more appealing, then when it will be?
I admit I am biased towards Nokia nowadays as Ericsson abandoned symbian. But you have to admit that my points above are valid.
I'M A AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER AND STILL SATIO'S COLOUR ARE FAR MORE APPEALING, AND I ONLY WISH THAT THERE WAS A WAY WITH WHICH I COULD SHOOT SUCH COLOURS WITH MY N8.
WHY NOT JUST CRANK UP SATURATION AND CONTRAST; OR BETTER DO IT LATER IN PICASA? WOW ALL CAPS IS SO GOOD TO READ (NOT)
i like a n8 so cool yar anasanushaha@gmail.com
I must say I disagree about colours in the daytime shots. I The N8 does produce by far better colours. The softness is slightly confusing though in some images, might be dirt on the lens. Clear winner is N8 over all, for close-ups though, close to draw, but Satio might win as the wide angle is not really perfect for close-ups. /Photographer
Thanks for the Inputs Photo Mikk! Always great to have a real photographer drop by :D
For me main disadvantage of N8 is the right side blur.As you can see best here:N8 http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093190565/sizes/o/in/photostream/Satio http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093748924/sizes/o/in/photostream/
I know what you're saying Monow. It has it's advantages and disadvantages unfortch lol
I agree with you, but keep in min that most people want "pleasing" fotos straight out of the box.I bet the N8 has a "vivid" preset or something.Even I prefer plugging my cameraphone directly to the photoprinter :-)
Yup, there's a "Vivid" mode just for that. Should keep most people happy :D
N8's photos can be edited afterwards to make them look more colourful like Satio's photos. The same cannot be done properly vice versa.
Good point HJV!
So lets go pixel peeping :-D I see some bad color noise in some the Satios images. There also is noise in the corresponding N8 image but its mostly luminance noise. See for example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093788768/sizes/o/ vs http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093208451/sizes/o/ The Images produced by the Satio are oversharpened if you ask me. Digital cameras produce blurry images by nature that need to be sharpened afterwards. The N8 conserves more details than the Satio and can therefore produce better results. If the images seem blurry, just crank up the sharpening before shooting or better, do it on the pc afterwards. See for example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093278799/sizes/o/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093278799/sizes/o/ Also note the Satios color noise even in broad daylight. Take a Look at the Trees in these pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093171267/sizes/o/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonjeff/5093797262/sizes/o/ It's almost impossible to identify individual leaves in the Satios picture. Also keep in mind, that the larger image sensor of the N8 yelds a more shallow depth of field even if the aperture is the same. This is clearly visible in the flower pictures. It looks like the fixed aperture is a downside for macro shots, but only a small one IMO. Does anybody know if tha Satio has a variable aperture? All that tech stuff aside: The Satios image processing is certanly more mainstream-friendly. I hope that Nokia has some nice presets in place so that the average customer can get all the overprocessed images he wants :-) The bad color noise on the Satio is a real no-go for me.
Brilliant Analysis Martin! :D Very well said!
i own a n8. in terms of picture quality, SE satio will never win N8. he purposely did took some bad quality pic with n8. stop cheating yourself and other ppl. SE satio is stupid phone and worst cam phone. the quality of pic n8 you shown is totally sux. even i driving my car and taking pic looks better than that. stupid u.
i got both satio and n8 but satio's picture is better
the n8 sucks its color its camera sucks. the satio is best because of its pics and its feature, its weight, the satio get hanged like N8. SATIO ROCKS
N8! Though my opinion is probably a bit biased, I think that the N8 fits my way of taking pics much better.
uff satio is kool :) i jst dont want to go to a pc and post process every pic i click :)
I am sure that Satio increased the color in real world subjects where N8 brings the snap as it is. No extra addition of color. iPhone4 also adds some color to snaps to make it looks awesome, but that extra addition spoils the subject. Satio snaps may look great for layman which have enhanced colors but true colour exposes in N8
you are wrong, satio colors are exactly same compared what you see. But N8 loose the color details due inferior technology as compared to nokia
you might want to consider that color reception is highly subjective. Your brain renders the colors based on the nerve impulses coming from your eyes, triggered by electromagnetic waves.
get your eyes checked mr. Ive seen other revews on the camera vs satio and the nokia n8 blows it out of the water (much sharper) would you really think that a bigger sesor would lose to satios tiny sesor????? and the xenon flash is much stronger too...... the nokia n8 is the best camera phone out there.
[...] Nokia N8 vs Sony Ericsson Satio: The 12 Megapixel, Xenon Flash Camera Showdown [...]
[...] Se Satio lose to max: i own a n8. in terms of picture quality, SE satio will never win N8. he purposely did took… [...]