Samsung G810 Reviewed; Does S60 Need to be on a Nokia?

[Ewan]

Samsung's stream of S60 devices continues with the camera-centric G810, complete with optical zoom. Andew Galpin and Steve each take a week with the device in order to assess whether it can triumph over Nokia's N95 8GB and N82. And does it matter that it's 'not a Nokia?'

Read on in the full article.

it's really unfair to compare phones with each other,by doing this you miss the whole point.

thanks for this. i actually requested this few days ago. i was holding myself from buying this unit and now...i'll probably hold longer...

[slitchfield]

@unregistered: why is it unfair? The two devices are EXACT competitors....

[viipottaja]

Where's the score?

It does depart a bit from your usual reviews by making it a direct comparison with a (direct or less direct) competitor. I am not sure if that's the style you want to pursue.

[ashu]

i absolutely agree with steve.
After all, these one on one only help us in our purchase decisions is a right manner. They have not compared omnia to n 95 8gig. But this is symbian vs symbian. Apples to apples and not oranges to apples.

Rafe, steve, ewan, tzer2, and everyone at aas, carry on with your super cool job. You guys rock!
These 'spams' will be coming!!!

[snoyt]

Steve, from the G810 lens picture I see that its lens is much less light sensitive than that of the Nokia N95 (being a fixed Zeiss and all), The difference is factor 2 and more at f=5.6 mm. I also noted your pictures were taken in sunny conditions. What about some evening, twilight shots? How do they compare then? Also I wondered if your zoom shots were taken by hand or using something like a DT-22. Especially light cameras are difficult to hold stable in your hand and zoom is in a lot of free hand snapshots no better than digital zoom, so I wondered if the optical zoom comparison was best or worst case shots.

Any samples of the xenon flash of the G810 versus the N82 comparison available on flickr or elsewhere?

[Rafe]

All feedback noted. This review is a bit unusual, but then the G810 is a bit different. The G810 clearly has commonalities with the N95 / N82 - they are positioned in the same (relatively small) consumer segment.

I did try and get hold of a G810 earlier, but by the time we did get it - well it was at the point where the value of a full review was less than a comparison - hope that makes some sense. It also worth reading the i550 review as many of the same thing apply. Outside the camera and physical design the devices are very similar.

Added to that is the fact I'm not sure many people will go for it with the i8510 / Innov8 around the corner unless it was notably better that the Nokia devices (especially given the cost). [at least those who read AAS]. As you have hopefully seen we've already given the i8510 an in depth preview and will follow this up in the review stage too.

snoyt - I didn't play with this for long, but I did notice the shake issue you mention when using the zoom. I don't have any direct comparison pictures, but I'm confident the Xenon flash was weaker. We'll try and do an updated camera shoot out in due course - need to get all the 5 MP+ phones in the same place at the same time!

[hargs48]

The casing although solid,looks like it will scratch quite easily,in the review the back panel looks a bit scratched already...

[slitchfield]

Originally Posted by snoyt

Steve, from the G810 lens picture I see that its lens is much less light sensitive than that of the Nokia N95 (being a fixed Zeiss and all), The difference is factor 2 and more at f=5.6 mm. I also noted your pictures were taken in sunny conditions. What about some evening, twilight shots? How do they compare then? Also I wondered if your zoom shots were taken by hand or using something like a DT-22. Especially light cameras are difficult to hold stable in your hand and zoom is in a lot of free hand snapshots no better than digital zoom, so I wondered if the optical zoom comparison was best or worst case shots.

The banana shot is a good test for lower light levels, since that was indoors on an overcast day. The shots were all taken free-hand, though with care taken to brace my hands and I did check that I hadn't introduced too much wobble...

If the competition was down to the wire then I'd do some proper tripod shots, but it was fairly obvious that the G810's sensor wasn't up to the same standard as Nokia's units..... it's a good camera phone but not the best. Even with the advantage of optical zoom, IMHO.

Can Samsung improve the images in firmware? Maybe. The colour problems could be compensated for in software . Anyway, looking forward to the INNOV8 and hoping that they've used decent recent firmware for it....

The different review style was partly because of it being a 'joint' review and partly because of the obvious N95 comparisons....

We do like to ring the changes every now and then.

for steve.......

this phone was chosen as the best camera phone for 08 and won an award, ture or false.

[slitchfield]

That's as maybe. And with the optical zoom it might even be right, in terms of awards. But the rest of the device drags the camera down and the pale colours really spoil the overall score....

Hey, a really good first article, Andy! Needed more detail which Steve filled in but I really like your writing style. Looking forward to more reviews!


-Jamal.

[hargs48]

I know this is off-topic,but GSMArena has just reviewed the LG KT610,the S60 powered "mini E90", have a read: http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_kt610-review-276.php

the design seems quite interesting...

[andrewgalpin]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hey, a really good first article, Andy! Needed more detail which Steve filled in but I really like your writing style. Looking forward to more reviews!


-Jamal.

Thanks Jamal, i enjoyed writing it and im sure the details will improve over time