Samsung G800

Posted by Rhiain Morgan on Wed 28 Nov 2007

With an optical zoom, autofocus and zenon flash the 5MP G800 it a phone that thinks it's a camera.

5MP is the current must have for camera phones, don't you know. In a bid for the budding Testino's buck, Samsung has also stuffed the G800 with an autofocus, flash and a 3x optical zoom.

With illuminated keys and brushed metal back, this is sumptuous beaut, but (like Nokia's N95) the payoff for cramming in so much tech is the over-generous girth. At 19mm deep it's closer in size to a compact, then our U600 (11mm). And while weighty, you'd worry that it's tough enough to cope with daily knocks.

Lights, camera, action

Held horizontally, using your index finger to hit the shutter and the G800 really feels like digital camera. Comfort is scuppered by the poorly positioned zoom control, which you have to stretch for. Far from being silky smooth, it's also slow; jumping like a dose of kangaroo petrol on a cold morning.

With exposure tweaks, face detection and scene modes, features easily rival a basic compact. Pictures have good colours and heaps of detail, but shutter lag means you need to keep the camera really still to avoid them looking like they've been taken through a smeary window. The Xenon flash is excellent for close-ups, although struggles with large spaces.

More than a camera

With a radio, decent music player, picture blogging, HSDPA, a document viewer and secondary camera, this is much more than a camera with a phone tacked on. And with decent-sized keys and a terrifically bright screen, it's a pleasure to use. But it suffers from an identity crisis; it's bulky to use comfortably as a phone, while slower than a digital camera. But if you can live with these niggles, this is one well-spec'd cameraphone.