Review: Samsung G800
Samsung G800
Samsung have proved to the phone industry they are a technological genius with the release, at the end of October, the first 5 mega-pixel camera with optical zoom in a mobile phone, in the world. This has undoubtedly withdrawn the attention away from the release of the iPhone. The launch of the Samsung G800 in the UK will be November 12th 2007, and will be the most advanced camera mobile phone on the planet.
The closest rivals to this sensational design are theSony Ericsson K850i and Nokia N95, which both have 5 mega-pixel cameras. But with the G800 introduction of a 3x optical zoom, certainly surpasses them. An optical zoom is very rare in a camera phone because of size restraints as it’s most common in dedicated digital cameras. The lens in the camera allows you to zoom into a scene and maintain the full 5 resolution of the picture unlike other camera phones that lose resolution, such as the N95 and K850i. The G800 is the first in the Samsung range to have a real xenon flash as an alternative to the weaker LCD flashes that are usually in other camera phones. Samsung are the chief of digital cameras and have evidently used their knowledge to produce a world class mobile phone with the G800. Face detection and Wide Dynamic Range are other new features that have been introduced to the digital camera world. What the face detection does is detect the presence of a face in a photo and amends the exposure and focus to modify the appearance of a face.
The Samsung G800 is not only a stunning looking phone, it is the highest spec camera slider phone. That’s why it leaves all other competitors lagging behind in the digital camera status. OK, it’s not the slimmest phone out there but is still compact and trim and great for 2 handed camera use. The phone on the back is like a real digital camera complete with gliding lens cover. The lens for the camera is an inner zoom and not one that extends outside of the body of the phone. That is the secret of such a small compact device.
The G800 has an innovative Graphical User Interface which offers the same as a digital camera when using the camera feature on the handset. The big 2.4 inch LCD display screen is perfect for viewing images. There is an On Screen Display which illustrates a range of camera indicators in a horizontal preview mode. The G800 has picture editor and supports direct printing to a Pictbridge compatible printer. Video footage can also be recorded at very high quality and has a built in video editor.
The G800 isn’t just a camera phone it’s a great music player too. It has all the major formats such as; MP3, AAC, AAC+, 3-AAC+ and stereo FM radio. Also included is a wireless Bluetooth headset. The internal memory of the G800 is 160Mbytes which allows 40 music tracks, but can be increased with a MicroSD memory card.
The support for Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and a TV-Out is fantastic. The G800 is a 3G phone, in fact it offers support for the most up-to-date high speed 3G, otherwise known 3.5G. The 3G performance is 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, which offers download comparable speed to broadband. The phone has a built in web browser, can operate RSS feeds and mobile Blogging. There is also support for Email attachments and a document viewer that can view most file formats, which include Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF.
The Samsung G800 is an exceptional phone. At the close of 2007 Samsung have introduced the world to a phone that has set the standard high. And we most certainly think it will be the mobile phone of the year.
Specification: Samsung G800
- 5 megapixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom, xenon flash and autofocus
- Video camera with built-in video editing
- Display: TFT, 256k colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2.4 inches)
- MP3 player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, 3-AAC+, WMA formats)
- Stereo FM radio
- Speakerphone
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3 / IMAP4/ SMTP)
- Document viewer
- Java games
- Personal organiser functions
- Offline mode
- WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
- xHTML web browser, RSS feeds, mobile blogging
- High Speed Downlink Packet Access (7.2 Mbps, HSDPA) - 3.5G
- Memory: 160 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, TV-Out
- Triband (GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900) plus 3G
- Size: 102 x 52 x 19 mm
- Dimensions: 101 x 51.1 x 18.8 mm
- Weight: 134 grams
Consumer Reviews: Samsung G800
