Samsung Pixon M8800 8Mp cameraphone
Worth a ponder if imaging performance is a priority
Review Samsung is getting serious with its cameraphones. Having recently landed its first eight-megapixel phone in the UK, the i8510, it's now doubled its tally with the Pixon M8800, its debut 8Mp touchscreen phone.
Jostling for position among a small but growing band of eight-megapixel new-wavers, including the Sony Ericsson C905 and LG Renoir, the Pixon is most likely to draw direct comparisons to LG’s device. The Pixon opts for a now-familiar minimalist look. It has an elegant design, with a mainly black plastic and metal body dominated by a 3.2in, 240 x 400, 262,000-colour display.
Samsung's Pixon M8800: minimalist look
As far as touchscreen operation is concerned, the Pixon is more like an upgraded Tocco than Samsung’s other recent touchscreen big-hitter, the Windows Mobile-powered Omnia. It uses a similarly straightforward user interface as the Tocco, but it has introduced enhanced ‘online widgets’ for the home screen that add web-based mini apps such as weather reports and Google search.
Unlike the LG Renoir, there’s no Wi-Fi support on the Pixon. There is still HSDPA 3G, however, of the 7.2Mb/s max variety.
Samsung claims the Pixon is the World’s slimmest full-touch eight-megapixel cameraphone, courtesy of its 13.8mm profile – a sliver thinner than the LG Renoir. But despite its skinny look, the Pixon hasn’t passed up on any of the shooting abilities of its chunkier i8510 smartphone stablemate.
With a larger display than the Tocco’s 2.8-incher, the Pixon is a taller handset than its stablemate, with a 107.9 x 54.6 footprint – a fraction slimmer than the Tocco and Renoir, and smaller all-round than the iPhone 3G. It weighs in at 122g, making it a slightly heavier handful than the Renoir, though its dimensions make it reasonably comfortable to pocket.
COMMENTS
Further to my last comment..
I have found a big bug with the software of the phone and it is going back.
Before I start, all the numbers involved ARE stored in my phonebook!
If I send a message on the phone to a contact, it will display the name of the contact that I sent it to. Likewise, if they reply it will display their name. However, if I receive a message from someone before I have sent them a message, the phone displays their number and not their name. Also, if I have messages in my inbox or sentbox with the sender's/receiver's name with them and then restart my phone, I find that when I go back into the inbox or sentbox, the names have disappeared and just the phone numbers are displayed. This issue can be resolved by sending a text message to each contact involved, which then updates all messages I have sent and received to/from that person with their name. It will not update the messages with the contacts name if they send me a message, only if I send them a message, and only if I select their name when composing a message rather than replying to a message that I have received from them.
Received and played about..
It's a good phone, there's no doubt about that. The screen is responsive, bright, clear, the qwerty virtual keyboard is great for typing texts, it has push email which works great with my Yahoo account, camera is very nice, the user interface is far superior to Windows Mobile.
But it's got some very annoying problems too. The messaging program is rubbish, I much prefered the one on Win Mo 5, it has annoying things like not telling you how many messages the message that you are composing will take until you click through to send. There are no arrows for scrolling left and right when composing messages, so you gotta be really accurate with your fingers. The default web browser is rubbish, so I put Opera Mobile on it but I would have much preferred Opera Mini. Customisation is nearly non-existant, no themes, no screensavers, auto key-lock is on or off with no option to change the timeout. My Samsung X600 from way back in 2003 allowed me to do these things..
RE: Just ordered...
The on screen pad isn't as annoying as the Tocco, and if you turn it sideways you get a full qwerty keyboard when typing :D
Just ordered..
..I just ordered this phone, and should be getting it tomorrow or Saturday. It's replacing my HTC TyTn, I ordered it on the basis of this review and the one on GSM Arena. My only worry is finding the on screen keypad annoying, but T-Mobile don't have any good qwerty phones at the moment so I'll have to make do..
No mention of supported video playback...
When looking at these high end phones, I am always annoyed that they never cover video support. As these phones are nice replacements for portable DVD players. Provided the codex is right for you.
I am very disappointed in its memory capacity, its very last generation. The i8510 starts with 8Gb internal and you can add 16Gb's, the new N96 thing has 16Gb internal.
The memory shortage combined with no WiFi is a right pain, and these two features really hold the phone back IMO.
I am very impressed (most impressive I think) video recording features. I like the look of it and it ticks most of my boxes.
If you consider it an upgrade of the Tocco, as the author does here, then yes its very impressive. I would like to see the touch screen & camera features migrate across to the next i8510.
Overall I don't think I would be unhappy with this phone even if I had to pay for it.
I think its time for me to try out the search the post above suggests. Then a trip for some hands on. Nothing beats 'hands on'.
