Samsung M8800 Pixon

Posted on 14. Feb, 2009 by IBM in Reviews.

Samsung M8800 Pixon gets its kick from touchscreen and imaging and hopes to be the definitive cameraphone. The inspired TouchWiz interface and massive screen are the right gateway to getting the 8 megapixel camera and real high-end video unleashed. The Pixon obviously plays second fiddle to the INNOV8 in the Samsung portfolio but dares to challenge it in the imaging department. Picture this.

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Key features:

3.2″ 256K-color TFT LCD touchscreen display of WQVGA resolution
8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and lens protection
Camera geo-tagging, auto-panorama shot, face, smile and blink detection, digital image stabilization
WVGA video recording at 30fps
Slimmest 8MP phone
3G with HSDPA support
Quad-band GSM support
GPS receiver
microSD card slot
DivX, XviD and MP4 video player
SRS (Surround Sound System) Virtual 5.1CH
TV out functionality
FM radio with RDS
Bluetooth and USB v2.0
200 MB internal memory
Landscape on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard
Accelerometer sensor
Multitasking
Office document viewer
ShoZu integration (direct image and video uploads)

Main disadvantages:

No Wi-Fi connectivity
No voice-guided GPS navigation
Stylus as dongle only, no stylus compartment
No smart dialing

Final words

We really loved the Samsung F480 and we were more than happy to welcome its successor. Now, if you look at it that way, upgrading the Tocco is a serious task but the Pixon seems well up to it. It’s true though that quad-band GSM support and accelerometer are the only non-imaging related upgrades. The rest – 8MP camera, high-res video recording, DivX/XviD playback, and TV out – leave no doubt that the Pixon is all about multimedia.

And that brings us back to how Samsung handle their cameraphone strategy. Efforts at this point are shared between an 8MP all-in-one and an 8MP touchscreen. Being humbled by the INNOV8 may seem just right for the Pixon but it’s interesting to see how it handles pressure from the true – and loaded – competitors like LG Renoir and SE C905.

Anyway, the Pixon may be a couple of high-tech goodies short but what’s there makes perfect sense. The nice and sharp TouchWiz UI, cool web and music, and high-end imaging sure sell.

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