Camera Phones Plaza

What phone could possibly be better than Samsung M8800 PIXON? If you enjoy good quality camera phones than you already know the answer. For everybody else, the answer is Samsung M8910 PIXON 12. Samsung did not rebrand its mobile camera phone line, the extra 12 from the phones name represents the number of megapixels on board the M8910. However if you are confused about were the Samsung i8910 HD stands, you should know that the i8910 HD is not in the camera phone line. Although it sports a great camera the Samsung i8910 HD was designed for video recording, while the Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 focuses on photography. Also the "i" branded phones are smartphones while the "M" ones stand for multimedia.

Even if the Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 is a new device it's still having some important disadvantages: video recording output is not the same quality as the camera performances, it lacks smartphone capabilities, no stereo speakers, no 3.5 audio jack on board while the smart dialing only works for numbers, not contact names. However the M8910 is equipped with Wi-Fi and SatNav software with embedded GPS chip. Also as an upgrade feature (comparing with the Samsung M8800PIXON specs) we now have Xenon plus LED flash. Although the old software was not bad, Samsung improved the Touch Wiz interface. The Touch Wiz is extremely fast and worth to be high praised. The PIXON 12 was designed by Samsung. Therefore the stylish black finish and the excellent quality are implied. The Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 front is quite sleek with glass framing the display, while the surface around the controls are brushed aluminum.



The dimensions are a little over the average for this model line. It has a height of 108 cm, wide of 53 cm, deep of 13.8 cm and weights about 119 grams. The PIXON 12 only has gotten a little thicker than the M8800 PIXON. On the top of the M8910 we have a micro USB dock secured with a plastic flap. The second camera and proximity sensor are above the display. On the left side we have the micro SD card slot, while on the right we have the control keys. On the back of the phone we have the camera lens with a combination of LED and Xenon flash module.

The back cover is made out of metal. The Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 is equipped with a 3.1 inches AMOLED resistive touch screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels (WVGA, up to 16 million colors). The screen boasts vibrant colors, resolution, sharpness and contrast. The resistive screen of the Samsung PIXON 12 is sensitive enough. It's rather close to the iPhone sensitivity. The Samsung M8910 display is very convenient to use with its automatic brightness adjustment that works considerably better than the Omnia HD. A great feature is that M8910 sports the Capacitive Touch Screen technology. Therefore the device does not have sensors and rather includes a special oxide layer on top of its screen, which reacts to touches of your fingers. Even if the PIXON 12 display gets washed out under direct sunlight, it is still far better than any other TFT displays.

Another great feature is Gesture UnLock. Basically allows the user to draw a specific letter on the stand by screen that serves as s shortcut (to a contact or application). The PIXON 12 is equipped with a standard 1000 mAh Li - Ion battery. You may end up charging the phone every night because it is rated for 230 hours of standby and 4.5 hours of talk time. However the battery is directly influenced by the way you use the phone. If you are careful enough you may succeed in keeping the charger away for 3 or 4 days. Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 comes with the latest edition of Touch Wiz interface. While at the standby screen, the display's base is occupied by a bar containing 4 shortcuts. On the left is an arrow, tapping which will expand the application bar, allowing you to drag any widgets to the screen.



The widgets are small applications that you can use to customize your home screen. The menu is now rearranged, stretching over 3 different screens. Basically the main menu is arranged in a flat iPhone like structure. The menu is fully customizable so no need to worry on it getting dull. The Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 runs in 2G network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and in 3G network: HSDPA 900 / 2100. The connectivity is ensured by GPRS Class 10 (4+1 / 3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps, 3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps with HSUPA, WLAN, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and v2.0 micro USB. You can set up the M8910 to connect in mass storage mode or media player mode or to prompt each time the device is connected. In mass storage mode you only get access to the expandable memory and not to the internal memory. Therefore when you select the mass storage mode you cannot use the phone functions. The highlight feature of the M8910 is the 12 MP digital camera, 4000 x 3000 pixels, wide 28 mm lens, autofocus, Xenon flash and power LED flash. The camera has special features like: tracking touch autofocus, geo - tagging, smile and blink detection, wide dynamic range, smart auto mode, image stabilization and beauty shot. The 12 MP camera modules come with higher quality lens than the 8 MP ones.



The video recording of the Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 failed to impress as much as the quality of photos taken. The camera records in two modes: D1, 720x480 at 30 frames per second and in QVGA mode with 120 frames per second. The music player used in the Samsung M8910 PIXON 12 is upgraded than the one from the original PIXON. It has new icons, a new way of displaying album artwork, it is filtering better tracks by author, album and genre. It's unnecessary to say that the organizer is flawless. The phone is shipped with 150 MB internal memory. You can expand this small value with micro SD memory cards (up to 16 GB). The content of the retail package includes the M8910, charger, data cable, two piece handsfree. Samsung does not expect the M8910 to be a commercial hit. This device is more a statement then a phone. However if you are not looking for a music player phone (iPhone) or a smartphone (N97), if you are just looking for a solid phone with great specs and a flawless 12MP camera then you are looking for M8910 PIXON2.