It might not be quite billed that way, but there’s little doubt that the Samsung Pixon M8800 wants to be taken very seriously as a touchscreen camera phone. After all, when a handset comes packed with an eight megapixel camera – the equal or better of many digital cameras – it means business.
The camera is certainly excellent, and the automatic lens cover is a very thoughtful touch. The pictures as are crisp and clean as can be expected, whether in sun or shade, although a Xenon flash would have been a distinct improvement. Those into video will like it too, since the handset manages that as well as slow-motion, and geo-tagging of images for those to whom it’s important. Anyone wanting to upload pictures, though, will have to use the 3G function – oddly, the Pixon M8800 isn’t equipped with Wi-Fi.
There’s a good music player, but no 3.5mm headphone jack, something far too many manufacturers seem to overlook, and which would give immediate improvement.
The touchscreen isn’t very responsive, which makes texting a slow, awkward procedure, and the browser that comes loaded with the phone is really surprisingly poor – users would do better downloading an alternative.
Anyone looking for a serious camera phone should well investigate the Samsung Pixon M8800. On that level it’s excellent, although the Xenon flash would have put it in the superb category. The downside is that you’ll have to put up with the rest of the phone, which could have been a great deal better. In the long run, a good digital camera might be the right choice.
