Samsung Pixon (M8800) review

The Samsung M8800 (Pixon) is Samsung’s latest attempt at replacing your digital camera by combining a great 8 mega-pixel camera and a high end touch screen mobile. So is it really time to say goodbye to your current compact?

The Samsung Pixon

As for styling the Pixon is dominated by a large 3.2” touch screen display which allows for clear and high quality playback of your videos and photos, as for the phone’s capabilities the specifications are as follows:

Samsung M8800 Pixon specification:

• Dimensions:107.9 x 54.6 x 13.8 mm
• Weight: 121g
• Battery:
  – Talk Time: 220 mins
  – Standby Time: 290 hrs
  – Capacity: 1000 mAh
• Display: 240 x 400 pixels/3.2 inch
• Network:
  – GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band)
  – 2100 HSDPA (Single-Band)
• Camera: 8 mega-pixels (auto-focus)
  – Dual LED Flash
  – Shake Reduction
  – WDR (Wide Dynamic Range)
  – Face Detection
  – Smile Shot
  – Face Link (Face Tagging)
• Video:
  – Hi-Resolution VGA Video Recording
  – 30fps Video Recording (VGA)
  – 120 fps Slow Motion Video (QVGA)
  – Supported formats: MP4, 3GP, H.264, H.263, DivX & XviD
  – Video Streaming
• Music:
  – Supported formats: MP3, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA
  – FM Stereo Radio (RDS)
  – Windows Media Player Sync
  – DNSe (Digital Natural Sound engine)
• Memory:
  – Phone Book (2000)
  – Dilled Calls
  – Missed Calls
  – Received Calls
  – 200MB (internal)
  – microSDHC (external)
• Connectivity:
  – TV Out
  – Bluetooth (2.0)

What’s in the box?

I wont go in to any detail here as matt has already recorded a great Samsung Pixon unboxing video.

General

At 13.8mm thick and weighing just 121g the Samsung Pixon is surprisingly small considering the large amount of features packed into the device. The general style of the phone is similar to several of the LG touch screen devices. In your hand the Pixon feels fairly substantial and as for build quality it certainly feels like a quality device.

The phones overall appearance is more likened to that of a digital compact camera with a simplistic layout and with most of the the controls being handled via the touch screen display the Pixon is fairly clutter free with regards to buttons.

The Front of the device as mentioned is home to the wonderful 3.2” Touch screen with the call buttons below and a single button for navigating menus. A forward facing VGA camera is also located on the front of the device for video calls.

Samsung Pixon front view

The left side of the phone is home to a micro SD slot below which is a quick launch button allowing for easy access to the phones music player, camera or messages and finally a hold button for locking the device.

Samsung Pixon left side

On the right a button for controlling volume which also becomes zoom control when the phone is in camera mode. Below this a playback button allowing for quick and easy viewing of photos and videos. The camera button is the final button on the right side of the phone and is used to launch the phones camera function as well as doubling up as the shutter button for capture.

Samsung Pixon right side

The Proprietary connector input for headphones and the phones charger is located on top as is is the phones battery cover release.

Samsung Pixon top view

The back of the device is very similar to a compact digital camera largely due to the impressive looking 8 mega-pixel camera which is obviously this phones big selling point. Above this is an LED flash and below is a fairly powerful speaker which is great for music playback. The camera lens has an automatic lens cover which is activated when the phones camera function is launched and remains closed when the camera is not in use.

Samsung Pixon back view

Highlights & Lowlights
+ 8 megapixel camera
+ Responsive Touch Screen
+ Easy to use
– No WiFi
– small internal memory

Review

The Samsung M8800 is a great looking phone full of promise and I am pleased to say that in many respects it has lived up to my personal expectations. The First thing that struck me about the Pixon was its size, for a phone with so may features I was certainly expecting the Pixon to ave more depth but the fact Samsung have managed to squeeze all of this into a device 13.8mm thick is a great achievement.

As it is the first thing you will see when you unbox the Pixon it makes sense to start by talking about the touch screen display. I am sure I am not the only one who has not always been the biggest fan of touch screen displays on phones I have often found them to be over sensitive and for this reason make tasks such as texting very difficult indeed. I can honestly say though the Pixon has changed my opinion on touch screen displays, it is not perfect but it is certainly one of the best I have used. The screen is clear and crisp which makes navigating through the phones menus quick and easy.

As far as using the Pixon day to day call clarity is good and I had no problems with the receiver, as mentioned texting as well as carrying out any other tasks which involve you typing such as sending emails or adding event to your organiser are easy to do either using a classic numeric text pad layout or by using the touch screen QWERTY activated by rotating the phone horizontally. Browsing the net is as expected nothing special and the lack of wi-fi is a disappointment. The phone includes the standard organisational tools such as calender and memo’s also included are widgets similar to vista these allow for quick access to your favourite applications as well as providing some fun extras such as photo viewers and world clocks.

The Samsung M8800’s party piece is its 8 mega-pixel camera this includes a number of functions which manage to match those included on an average priced compact digital, the camera includes face recognition, auto focus, anti-shake, blink detection to mention just a few. Videos can be recorded using high-resolution VGA recording at either 30fps or 120fps for slow motion playback. The picture Quality of the Pixon is certainly accomplished for a mobile for but also would be considered more than acceptable for a standard digital camera. The phone also managed to perform well even in low light situations which is a common problem. When combined with all the other features such as the included multimedia functions it really is a suitable substitute for many mid range digitals but will be replacing your high end compacts just yet.

Speaking of multimedia functions the phone has support for MP3, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA with clear playback either through the mobile’s in built speaker on headphones. As for memory the phone has 200mb of internal memory however support for up to 16GB with the use of microSD.

Standards such as battery life not great with the Pixon stated as 220 minutes talk-time and around 290 hours stand by however obviously these will vary depending on the amount and type of use you put the phone through with tasks such as browsing taking the battery life allot quicker. The M8800 supports Bluetooth 2.0 and TV out allowing for big screen playback.

Conclusion

In conclusion the Samsung M8800 (Pixon) is an attractive stylish piece of kit packing a big punch in the form of an 8 mega-pixel camera. The phone has some great features and the clear and responsive touch screen allows for quick and easy navigation as well as text input. The phones’ picture quality is not perfect and may struggle to match many 8 mega-pixel digital cameras currently available on the market however that said a combination of the Pixon’s camera and video capabilities along with it’s multimedia functions leads us to a great phone for the popular party goer, the phones puts to much emphasis on the camera and relatively little in terms of accessibility through features such as Wi-fi to be a great corporate phone but with this being the time of year for parties the Samsung Pixon is perfect party accessory.

Review by: Nick

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