Samsung is pitching the G800 as a digicam that can make calls. I've been eager to test the Samsung G800 ever since its official launch back in late October. After all, everyone wants to see the first 5 megapixel camera with optical zoom.
Cool features:
* 5 megapixel auto focus camera with 3x optical zoom and xenon flash
* Large 2.4" QVGA 256K color display
* Support for EDGE and 3G (with HSDPA)
* Support for Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
* Stereo FM radio with RDS
* Very stylish design
Some disappointments:
* Bad display processing
* Poor sunlight legibility
* Slow memory card reading
* No standard 3.5 mm audio jack
* Volume/Zoom key is very hard to press
* Quite chubby
I know that optical zoom is not new to cameraphones - the 902 and 903 models by Sharp, as well as Nokia N93 and N93i, spring to mind. What makes the Samsung G800 so special is that it comes with a five megapixel sensor and a xenon flash, which makes this handset's camera unmatched. G800's greatest market share rival will no doubt be Sony Ericsson's top shelf cameraphone K850. It has practically the same specs other than optical zoom and, in our opinion, price will play a major role in this duel.
Big phone or small digicam?
Samsung G800 is eye catching but don't expect to be overwhelmed when you take it out of your pocket - that is, if you can get it in your pocket. With dimensions of 101 x 51.1 x 18.8 mm it doesn't sound that big, but in the real world, it's a handful. The metallic finish makes it really sleek and stylish.
The top of the front panel has the earpiece at dead center and slightly below the top edge. The right of the speaker grill is the home of the secondary video-call camera, which can also be used for taking VGA resolution pictures. Under it is the 2.4" 256K color display with QVGA resolution.
Continuing down the phone's front is the D-pad, with a soft key on each of the oblong navigation button's sides. The final three soft keys on the navigation pad are located above the lower rim of the slider - the Call key, the Clear key and the End key.
By sliding the phone open you see the keypad. The keys are completely flat but touch orientation is very good. The keys are quite large and that results in very fast typing without looking at the keypad. The point is that Samsung G800's keypad will be appreciated by those who live to text message.
Under the keypad is the microphone pinhole, placed almost on the very edge. The top of the G800 has nothing but the couple of loudspeaker grills. The left side of the handset houses the USB port and the microSD card slot. Each has a protective cap, so the phone's side looks sleek and esthetic. At the bottom is the expected wrist strap eyelet, jutting out from an otherwise nearly even surface.
The right has the keys that are meant to be used mostly with the camera - the dedicated camera key and the zoom rocker. The zoom rocker doubles as a volume controller.
The bottom contains no buttons or switches at all, so we go to the phone's back. Sliding the stylish cover open we see the 5.0 megapixel camera lens and the Xenon flash. Opening the battery cover reveals the Li-ion battery. Under moderate usage (about an hour and a half of using the different phone features a day and a few calls now and then) the phone was able to last for about two days. Not a record setter, but with all the features offered this is no doubt adequate.
After removing the battery you see the SIM card slot. There are no lock mechanisms for it here but it doesn't need any as it fits smoothly in place.
The backlighting of Samsung G800 is adequate, no more, but has no obstacles to usability. Even in the darkest environment you won't have problems working with the handset. In addition, there is enough light on each key to make distinguishing them an easy task.
Poor display
Samsung G800 comes with a large 2.4" TFT display of QVGA resolution. It is capable of showing up to 256K colors, which is just what you would expect from most Samsung mobiles these days. Because of this, I was let down by the display quality.
The performance in extremely sunlit conditions was very dissatisfying. The glossy panel really cuts legibility and makes it near impossible to navigate through the menus unless you know them by heart. Finding the right angle for looking at the phone is a difficult job in most cases.
 
A camera that rings well
Telephony is almost a secondary function in Samsung G800 but don't let this scare you. The sound during calls is crystal clear and yet loud enough so that you won't have troubles communicating with whoever you are calling. Samsung G800 has as many as five different dialing styles: Quill pen, Sticky note, Living world and two "Normal" fonts.
You can change the font size from small to large and the font color and the background color, so you can customize practically any element of the dialing screen according to your liking.
The phone searches and automatically suggests contacts whose numbers contain the digits you have typed. Further, you can choose to search with a spelling option, to look up names containing the letters corresponding to the digits you type.
The Samsung G800 user interface is not as revolutionary as its camera claims to be. In fact, the way you control it is the same as with previous Samsung models. In fact, its little brother - Samsung G600 - has a more advanced version of the same user interface.
The main menu is available from the stand-by display through pressing the left soft key or the confirming center of the navigation key. The right soft key is strictly for the phonebook. Each direction of the navigation key can be assigned a shortcut of your choice from a list of 27 items.
Stand-by display looks are typical of Samsung feature phones. The top bar shows signal strength, battery status, network connectivity (GPRS, EDGE or 3G) and the currently selected ringing mode. The ringing profile is marked by an icon in the top right corner.
The bottom bar gives the description of functions assigned to soft keys. The animated traveler background with the analog clock and date is gradually becoming synonymous with Samsung. As you know, it sets the background image to the country where the phone is currently being used. Further, the background wallpaper is animated: birds are flying in the sky, clouds are moving etc. From 7 pm till 6 am night mode takes over: the sunny sky gets dark, while houses get lit up.
The main menu displays as either a 4 x 3 grid of icons or as a standard list. Sub-menus can be made to get displayed as pop-up windows accessible via the horizontal navigation key. Should you not like that, you can turn this option to off and rely on direct access. Samsung continues shipping their phones with different versions of the UI.
The Phonebook
The phonebook of the Samsung G800 stores up to 1000 contacts with multiple fields. It can display the names on the phone memory or on the SIM card, or both at the same time. A large variety of fields is available for each contact. Further, you can add each field more than once, which allows you to add up to 5 numbers per contact.
Of course, different ringtones and pictures can be assigned to each contact. Videos can also be assigned for this purpose should the user find that necessaryshould that be how you roll.
Finally, it is worth a mention that contacts can be organized in groups or sent via Bluetooth. The groups can have their own ringtone or picture but sadly there is no option for call filtering based on existing groups. The call log can be launched by pressing the Call key when in standby or from the main menu.
Lots of Messaging
Samsung G800 handles all four popular types of messages: SMS, EMS, MMS, and email. A single editor is used for the first three, while email has their own. Messages are converted from SMS to EMS or MMS by simply inserting an image. Of course, a T9 dictionary is also present here for text input assistance.
Sent messages can be saved if that is your thing. Five hundred SMS, 30 push messages, 200 broadcast messages and 30 configuration messages on Samsung G800. MMS and emails are not limited in number but by the available memory on the phone.
The email client is adequate and can manage up to five accounts - POP or IMAP; download is user-defined, opting between headers only and entire messages. Any files from the phone memory as well as business cards, calendar events, tasks or notes can be emailed as attachments.
The file browser in Samsung G800 is just like in most other Samsung feature phones. There are different tabs for the phone memory and the memory card but they have similar folder structures.
Images, video, music, sounds, all different file types have folders which allows the handset to sort the memory contents. Operation of the file browser is one of the best among non-smartphones. You can copy or move files one by one or by multiple selection, and you can create and delete new folders. Furthermore, you can sort files in a given folder by name, date, type or size to easily locate a specific file.
Everywhere throughout the file manager, you can pick files you would like to lock to prevent accidental deletion. A flaw we have found in many Samsung handsets is unluckily also present in G800 - the unusually slow card reading.
With 160MB of internal memory and a microSD card slot, the Samsung G800 will tempt many as a portable music player. Luckily, the music player application is really easy to use and well-supplied featurewise in the Samsung G800. You can filter tracks by author, album, genre or you can choose to play either the tracks you've recently listened to, or the ones that you've played the most. If that doesn't seem enough, you can create your own custom playlists.
Connectivity
When it comes to connectivity, the Samsung G800 has nice functionality for this price range. The USB slot is slightly modified so you cannot use the TV out cable from older models.
A USB cable comes in in the package and the G800 supports two USB connection profiles: Media player and Samsung PC Studio; there is no Data storage profile. It will be a real pity if this is not fixed in the retail version but probably it will be taken care of.
Support for Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP profile allows listening to your favorite songs on a stereo Bluetooth handsfree. Quick network data transfers are ensured by the EDGE and 3G with HSDPA support.
Browsing the internet
The Samsung G800 is supposed to be an entertainment device. Because of this, it is important that its web browser performs well or otherwise it may leave quite a large crowd of people disappointed. Luckily, the browser is above par. It displays pages nicely but we cannot help but feel that the 2.4" screen could be put to a better use in the smart-fit view.
Large parts of screen space get wasted when displaying pages and they look a bit unnatural. If you are used to mostly browsing on your desktop PC, this will take some getting used to. If you activate the desktop browsing mode, it makes up for it to some extent but navigating around web pages is so much more difficult that way.
In both cases the web browser of Samsung G800 is able to do what you expect it to, sometimes with a little extra effort. It highlights the active hyperlink or text entry field to ensure better browsing experience. Overall, the browser is good enough for the phone but still not among the best we've seen.
Organizer is worthy
The Samsung G800 calendar offers three standard views - daily, weekly and monthly. The events are five types: appointment, anniversary, holiday, important and private. The Calendar stores up to 100 appointments, 50 anniversaries and holidays and up to 20 important and private events. Much like with the U600, you choose which calendar view should be default and you pick the starting day of the week - the options being Monday or Sunday.
The number of alarm slots is no change from the Samsung U600 - five, with many configurable options - snooze time, repetition, etc. You can choose a custom ringtone to wake you up at a preset volume level or choose if your phone should automatically power up upon alarm activation. This feature comes in handy if you have the habit of switching off your handset at night.
Standard offerings include the voice memo recorder, a world time application, a calculator, and a unit converter. The memo and task applications are there for making notes. A countdown timer and a stopwatch are also available.
In summation
Samsung G800 is a strong contender: If you are looking for a cameraphone with a great camera, then this is it. It is not the best looking mobile around, but it has its own brushed-metal style that some of us appreciate.
The Samsung G800 is not without flaws - The slow memory card reading and the issues we had with the display have no place in a high-end cameraphone.
To me, the Samsung G800 seems more of a proof they could do it than a viable 5-megapixel solution. It leaves a mark that will hold at least until midrange handsets start to offer 5 megapixel cameras and optical zoom.
   
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