Camera Phones Plaza

We've been fans of Nokia's Series 60 and S60 smartphones for years. Though they lagged behind the Palm and Pocket PC Phone competition in the bells and whistles category, they offered fantastic usability, great call quality, generally strong reception and nice styling. In 2006, S60 has caught up, and perhaps surpassed the competition, now offering 2 and 3MP cameras that are hard to beat, integrated WiFi on some models, QVGA and higher displays with high color depth, the usual Nokia great RF, smartphone syncing and Office capabilities and even QWERTY keyboards in models like the E61.

The Nokia N80 is part of Nokia's new Nseries of Symbian OS smartphones running S60. These are strong business phones (if you can forgo a QWERTY keyboard) with a multimedia bent. And let's face it: there are plenty of us who need a smartphone but also want a super camera, multimedia features and even an FM radio. Competitors have left us out in the cold and 2006 may be the year that Nokia wins us over. The one problem is Nseries phones aren't offered by any US Carrier as of this writing. So you'll need to buy one from nokiausa.com if available or otherwise from an importer. They're sold by Nokia and importers unlocked for use with any GSM carrier, which generally means T-Mobile and Cingular in the US.

First a tip: hold the camera still for 2 seconds after you hear the shutter sound. Or simply watch the viewfinder until the image post-view appears. That's the shutter lag, which wouldn't be so annoying if the shutter sound were in sync so one would know when it's OK to move the camera. If you get blurry photos, follow our 2 second rule and you'll get clear, pleasing shots. For some reason, macro mode doesn't have this shutter lag, but all other modes, including Auto, do. The N73 really doesn't take photos more quickly but the autofocus action on screen gives you a clue when it's safe to move the camera, as does the in-sync shutter sound.

The N80 is one of the few 3MP camera phones you can get in the US (the Samsung a990 from Verizon is the only US carrier offering, with other Nokia phones and Sony Ericsson imports filling in the rest of the field). Photos are truly very good if you follow the 2 second rule, and the N80's images lay to waste the average 1.3MP offering. Photos are fairly sharp and you can increase in-camera sharpening somewhat before images look harsh. There's a good amount of detail and you'll clearly see individual leaves and blades of grass in landscape shots, with focus falling off around the edges.

The camera has good shadow detail by camera phone standards and contrast is set conservatively by default which helps maintain shadow detail. You can of course also crank up the in-camera contrast but be careful of reducing detail and blowing out colors. Better to do your post-processing using your favorite image editor on the computer. And in-camera settings for contrast and sharpening don't stick; if you exit the camera app and re-launch it, these will be back at their defaults.

Colors are reasonably true with a noticeable warm bias and contrast is a bit low, leading to somewhat hazy shots. These are easily fixed in Photoshop and other image editors, and the N80's faults are indeed fewer than most camera phones. The Samsung a990 in comparison has very contrasty (but pleasing) images that have a slightly worse case of the warm to magenta color cast. To be fair, the a990 competes more directly in the camera department with the Nokia N73, since both have autofocus lenses, rather than the N80's fixed focus lens which can never be as sharp.

Our only other complaint is no lens cover, something a 3MP camera warrants. Like most all Nokias, the N80 does not do well in low light situations: take a photo in a dark place, even with the flash on, and be ready to do some serious noise reduction on the PC later.

File size is larger than N73's photos which is interesting given the greater detail and wider range of colors in the N73's photos. When taking the same subject at the same time of day from the same vantage point with both cameras set to their highest resolution we found that the N80's photo file size averaged 25% larger. N80 photos run between 800k and 1.3 meg for shots with a good amount of detail and color variation while the N73's are generally around 850k. More aggressive JPEG compression on the N73 is the likely cause.

The camcorder can shoot video at a maximum of 352 x 288 pixels in 24 bit color with AAC 16kHz mono audio at 15fps. It has 3 quality settings, high, medium (both MP4) and low for sharing (MMS) in 3GP format. Video quality is good by camera phone standards, though not as impressive as the N80's still shots by any means. It is clear overall with some artifacting and noise visible in shadows and dark areas. The video stabilization feature does a good job of reducing handheld jerkiness, but does reduce detail a bit.

Key features:

* Brilliant display
* Symbian OS
* Incredible web browser
* miniSD card slot (128MB miniSD card included in the package)
* Very good 3 megapixel camera with flash
* Excellent audio quality
* FM radio
* 40 MB internal memory
* All connectivity options - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IR, USB
* UMTS and EDGE support

Main disadvantages:

* Rather big dimensions
* Top row of the numeric keypad is hardly reachable
* No compatibility between Symbian 3rd Generation and lower versions
* FM radio lacks RDS
* No automatic keypad lock when slid in
* Camera lens is not protected



Read full review here.

As the world's thinnest phone, the Samsung SGH-X820 is an amazing device: It is as good at making calls and surfing the Web as it is at turning heads. It makes the Motorola SLVR L7 look like a brick, and puts other thin phones to shame with its 2-megapixel camera and elegant, fun interface. The super-slim profile means you must forgo a memory card slot, and the battery life is on the low side for a GSM phone. The coup de grace: It's available only through independent retailers.

Pcmag has a review of this ultra slim phone. Here are some of their thoughts.
At 0.3 inches thick (by 1.9 inches wide and 4.4 inches tall) and only 2.2 ounces, the X820 is nearly two-dimensional. Turn it on its side, and it disappears. Yes, it's wide and flat, but so are almost all thin phones. The keys are comfortable and well spaced, and the 176-by-220 screen is unusually sharp and bright, readable in even blazing sunlight. Watch out for the unpleasant visual effects of sweat and face grease on the matte-black surface, though.

Outdoor shots taken with Samsung X820's flashless 2MP camera are a touch dim, but very well balanced and sharp. The images, unlike those from a lot of other camera phones, don't wash out in the foreground when there's a bright background. The camcorder mode captures clear 15-frames-per-second videos at 352-by-288. But like other high-end Samsung phones, it struggles with blur indoors.

Read full review here.

>LG gave further indications as to when we can expect the new coloured versions of the popular Chocolate phone, as well as previewing two new editions when I met them this week.

I saw the two new 'premium' versions - gold and platinum. These look the same as the classic version, but with a thin gold or silver strip running through the middle, with Gold/Platinum inscribed on it. Looks wise, they reminded me slightly of a packet of cigarettes, but the kind that might tempt a non-smoker to take it up. Besides this, the main enhancement is the inclusion of a 2 megapixel camera with light, where the previous model only had 1.3 megapixels. These are expected to arrive with us mid-November, making them prime Christmas list fodder. They'll come at a similar price to the classic version, which was free on many networks with a £35ish contract.

Further to that, I got a proper look at the pink and white versions, both coming soon. The white version is designed to feel like an iPod Nano, with the same sheen to the paint and silver edging. n fact, it's one of the more successful imitations, as the size and build quality of the phone lends itself well to it. Weirdly, when you first pick it up it feels thicker than the 'classic' Chocolate. This provokes several minutes of looking at the two side by side from every possible angle, only to discover that in fact, they're exactly the same size. It just goes to prove that black is most definitely slimming. This is going to be available in the next 10 days, and in all likelihood, by next Friday (11th). Carphone Warehouse have a two week exclusivity deal, after which it's expected to be everywhere.

The pink version is the hot pink we're all used to from the Motorola RAZR, with the same red glowing buttons we expect from the classic Chocolate. Despite pink and red clashing no doubt it'll be a huge seller. LG expect this to be THE pre-pay handset at Christmas time, when it's expected to retail at about £150. The official launch will be in October, available on both pre-pay and contract.

Via TechDigest.

Sony Ericsson released this phone a few months ago, billing it as the phone to take advantage of the 'capture and share' mentality we apparently now all have towards our photography. TechDigest reviewed the Sony Ericsson K510i and here are some of their conclusions:

"It's a lightweight phone weighing only 80 grammes, and although it's a candybar shape it has a slightly parallelogram knock to it, which makes it a little different. The back is a soft touch material (similar to the Motorola PEBL) and the whole thing is available either in black or purple.

Anyone who has had a Sony Ericsson before will be familiar with the interface, which is navigated by the mini joystick under the screen.

Connectivity options are good, with infrared, Bluetooth and a bundled USB cable for transferring files. It's also got Push email, although I'm not sure that the people that own this phone would necessarily need it.

The camera comes with a lot of gimmicky features, like the ability to add clip art and a frame to the pictures. There's also the choice of shoot modes. Panaromic takes three photos, providing you with a strip of the previous photo to the side so you can match up shot at each picture. There is also the 'burst' option, which takes a series of four photos in quick succession so you can pick the best."



Read full review here.

The T609 is one of the latest phones offered by T-Mobile USA. After the popularity of Samsung’s T809 slider phone, T-Mobile decided to offer a flip phone with similar features and usability. The phone comes with a charger, battery, and hands-free headset but no memory card. This rather small phone is equipped with Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a Micro SD card slot, and many other features which makes the T609 a great phone for many people.

PhoneArena reviewed this phone, and here are some conclusions. There are a lot of options in the camera, the shooting mode includes (single shot, multi shot, and mosaic shot). Also you can select between effects like (Black & White, Negative, Sepia, etc.), there are many frames to choose from, and the phone also has a self timer option of (3, 5, 10 seconds). The video camera can record for about one minute at 176 x 144 pixels, and despite the low resolution it would have been better if you had unlimited length for your videos, because a memory card can be inserted.

Pressing the right side button launches the camera which takes about two seconds – a relatively quick one. Instantly it’s very easy to switch into video mode if desired or changing the amount of pictures you want to take. The T609 has the option of taking up to 15 pictures consecutively using the multi shot function, which is perfect for capturing that ultra cool Ferrari driving by. The camera can take up to 1.3 megapixels photos. When taking photos at the maximum resolution, it takes about three or four seconds before taking the next picture.