The latest in my continuing voyage of discovery in the world of camera-toting smartphones, I look at the difference optical zoom makes and ask the question "Is it better to have optical zoom or can you get away with just much higher resolution?" I illustrate my points with test shots from the Samsung G810 and INNOV8, plus a guest appearance by the Nokia N93, which also has an optical zoom lens.

"In part 1 of this series, Steve Litchfield looked at exposed camera glass on some phone models and investigated whether scratches really make a difference. In part 2, he investigated the pros and cons of LED/dual-LED/Xenon flashes in camera phones - does Xenon or dual LED flash make that much difference? In part 3, he investigated the fabled 'Megapixel myth' with an objective eye. In part 4, he focussed on the difference between good and poor optics (at the same camera resolution) and in part 5, he pitched all the top smartphone cameras head to head, in detail. In part 6, AAS guest writer Dirk Snoyt took up the theme of camera phone flash research and got all technical on the theme of colours...

Now, I return with a look at the difference optical zoom makes and ask the question "Is it better to have optical zoom or just much higher resolution?"

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