I tried using a phone with a 2MP camera. These were the 5 worst things about it

Digital Trends

In 2005 , Nokia loose the N90 , one of the first smartphones with a 2 - megapixel television camera . Almost 20 years later , in 2024 , the only 2MP cameras we see are used to fill up space on the back of down - toll devices , where they fulfill doubtful duties such as adding profundity information to shot taken by the main camera . Except , that is , if you grease one’s palms thereissued Nokia 3210 , which has a 2MP main tv camera on the back .

Is it a nostalgic overload , and the digital tv camera eq of shooting with plastic film ? I determine to find out and quick discovered that it ’s not . Here are five things about it I ’m thankful we do n’t have to treat with today .

Promotional image for OuttaFocus. Hand holding three smart phones.

The image quality

I doubt you really want me to tell you that exposure taken with a 2MP camera are n’t very adept timbre , as the low megapixel count makes this obvious . But I wonder if you actualize justhowgood we have it today , as it ’s not just the megapixels that make using a modern smartphone photographic camera so much better than 20 days ago .

Take a look at the veranda above , where there are two photo select with the Nokia 3210 ’s 2MP camera and two comparing picture choose with theiPhone 15 Pro Max’s48MP chief photographic camera . There’squitea difference . I did n’t even postulate to resize the 2MP photos for easier online showing . In the picture gallery below , you could see a ( varlet ) gallery of other 1600 x 1200 pixel shots from the Nokia 3210 . There ’s no such affair as HDR , optical image stabilisation , or even autofocus . It ’s as barebones as cameras get , but I ca n’t lie — I do n’t detest the photo of the church at all .

Twenty years ago , have a camera on a phone was a novelty , and we took what we could get . I ’m for sure not about to compare what was vulgar then to what we have now because we know the cameras of today are all go to be technologically superior . But the Nokia 3210 ’s 2MP tv camera showed me how I ’m guilty of taking these cameras for granted , from how they ’ve easily and comprehensively documented my life and travel for years to giving me another creative way out that gibe neatly in my sac . This was n’t possible when 2MP cameras were just becoming available .

A photo taken with the Nokia 3210’s 2MP camera.

Nokia 3210Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The storage space

explore life with the Nokia 3210 ’s 2MP photographic camera mean taking photo with it , but I soon met a problem I had n’t encountered for a very tenacious time : an on - screen message informing me the twist ’s computer storage was full . I ’d taken around 30 photos , and despite each taking up less than 500 KB , I ’d maxed out the photographic camera ’s allocation of the phone ’s 128 MB of place . The choice was elementary : transmit the photos to a computer , put a microSD card inside to store more , or delete pic .

Today , the humble microSD wit has been supervene upon by online storage like Google Photos and Apple ’s iCloud , and when we can buy devices with up to 1 TB of internal memory , the concept of run low on storage has been consign to the yesteryear . I can forthwith expect back at photos taken 10 years ago directly on my telephone set , and while the same thing is theoretically possible on the Nokia 3210 , I ’d need to find oneself the right microSD plug-in and insert it to regard those memorable images . The tiny phone only supports cards up to 32 GB , so the forcible catalogue of cards would probably be extensive .

Portrait orientation or nothing

face with purchase a microSD scorecard or transferring photograph to my computer , I chose the latter and was greet by something else unexpected . I ’d take all my photograph with the phone in landscape painting orientation course , as this is how I ’m conditioned to take them , yet the photos had all been saved in portrayal orientation .

That ’s right , there ’s no automobile rotary motion on the Nokia 3210 ’s tv camera , and it expects you to take photograph with the sound held upright in your hand . In hindsight , it makes sense , but my 2024 brain did n’t even consider it until I viewed every photo I ’d take on my computer monitor and found each needed to be manually rotate . Is it the end of the world ? No , but it ’s another prospect of modern smartphone picture taking we take for granted .

No selfie camera

claim a selfie , joining a video call , or using facial acknowledgement . All these commonly used features require a front - facing photographic camera , and just like the original , the menial reprint Nokia 3210 only has a television camera on the back . Interestingly , although it ’s a guessing game to take a selfie because you ca n’t see the screen , it does have a mode to take selfies or radical photos .

The musical mode is activated using the ikon of a someone ’s head and shoulder , and when you iron the button to take the photo , a 10 - second countdown begin . The Assumption of Mary seems to be the earpiece has somehow been attached to a tripod or shore up up against something , and you ’ve have to speedily get in position before the shutter goes off . You still ca n’t see the concealment , so it ’s down to fortune if you and anyone else are in the material body . telecasting calls or face unlock ? blank out them both .

Video is a waste of time

In the same way that taking still pic with our speech sound is now consider normal , shoot TV is just as platitude , and in many shell , we can do so up to an incredible 8 K resolution . Perhaps out of the blue , the Nokia 3210 ’s 2MP camera can also snap picture , but it ’s in a format you ’ve probably all forgotten about — 3GP .

The resolution is just 320 x 240 pixel , which is down in the mouth than theSamsung Galaxy izzard Flip 5’scover screen ’s declaration . It ’s almost unwatchable by today ’s standard , as the standard typically records at 15 human body per second , making it choppy than if I ’d have filmed while at sea . If you think the conflict in still photograph between a mod telephone and a 2MP camera from 20 year ago is dramatic , then the television will really hammer home how far thing have act on .

Leave the old days behind

When I first start using the Nokia 3210 and its 2MP camera , I hoped I would observe a nostalgic tone in the photos I could enjoy . While I like one photo I claim ( the church get wind in the gallery above ) , it was not nostalgic at all . Sure , there are a few filter , including a black - and - white musical mode , but they make the photo lookworserather than better . It was a bit disappointing . Also , remember that while I ’m write about what cameras were like on phones 20 geezerhood ago , I ’m really using a telephone you may purchase newtoday .

Messing around with a 2MP camera in 2024 has been an heart - opener , and it has made me very grateful for the many superb cameras we have today , from theSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultrato theXiaomi 14 Ultra and its Photographer Kit . As I finish up using the Nokia 3210 , I realise that , without a doubt , 20 years ago , I would have needed to own an actual camera if I wanted to take good exposure — and it has been a ripe few years since anyone needed to say that .

A photo taken with the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max’s main camera.