A high powered imaging device, the Samsung M8910 Pixon 12 offers a quality, high resolution 12.0 Megapixel camera, complete with wide angle lens and variable aperture. The Pixon’s camera has a Xenon flash for excellent results in low level light conditions, plus offers an LED light for video recording. A capable multimedia device, thePixon 12 has multiple format support for video playback, including DivX and XviD , plus offers a TV Out function to view the media gallery on a large TV screen. High speed data connectivity is covered with support forHSDPA and HSUPA, as well as WiFi, and the M8910 comes with a built in GPS receiver, with AGPS support included.

The Samsung M8910 Pixon12 is a top of the line cameraphone but some may find it guilty of not being a smartphone. It’s got the ultimate in still photography but not the best video a handset can offer. It’s a dream-come-true upgrade but can the mishaps of the original Pixon spell trouble? Awaiting its official launch, the Pixon12 is standing tall against the odds.

When it comes to capturing your moments and sharing them with the world though, the Pixon12 will hardly let you down. On top of the industry leading camera, the phone has all the connectivity options you may need.

Taking the 12 megapixel camera out for a spin

If you checked out our previews last week you’ve probably already seen the Pixon12 camera in action. It’s a worthy piece of equipment and the first of its kind to hit the shelves. Now that we had some more time to play with it, we managed to put it through a series of tests that showed its performance in more detail. We also completed a little shootout between it and the Nokia N86 8MP, which at this point some people find as the Pixon12 toughest rival (at least before the Sony Ericsson Satio gets released).

Samsung marketed the M8910 Pixon12 as sporting 28mm (in 35mm terms) wide-angle lens just as the Nokia N86 8MP. For those of you unfamiliar with the material, the 28mm lens gives you roughly 20 percent wider angle of view when looking in the viewfinder. As it turned out, the Pixon12 camera is actually using a 30mm, rather than 28mm lens, which is still wider than the 35mm competition but not what Samsung promised (and less than what Nokia N86 delivers). This was confirmed by both our field tests and the EXIF data recorded by the Pixon12 itself.

Another interesting discovery we made reviewing the Pixon12 is that it comes with a variable aperture like the Nokia N86. The Pixon12 however only offers two aperture values compared to the three available on the Nokia N86.

The Pixon12 shoots at F/2.64 to let a standard amount of light in and stops down to F/3.61 when light conditions allow it. Technically the photos at smaller apertures (indicated by a larger F-stop value) should be sharper and with greater depth of field than those at larger ones.

Just as on the Nokia N86 8MP though, Samsung didn’t provide any kind of manual control over the aperture value. The handset decides which of the two values to use automatically. That is as good as it gets for almost every user out there, but why not give the few enthusiasts the choice.

Fwooar! The Samsung i8910HD (originally Omnia HD) is a damn sexy phone. It is the first phone with a high-definition camcorder (hence the name) function and has the world’s largest OLED display – 3.7 inches in diameter. It is a Symbian smartphone with an 8-megapixel camera, touch screen interface, Wi-Fi and A-GPS. Is there nothing this beast is not it?

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Dazzling AMOLED screen, high definition video recording, 8-megapixel camera, customizable home screen; meat Symbian operating system, good-looking user interface

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Sluggish when running multiple apps; no predictive text with Qwerty keyboard; installing apps not as easy as with other phones; no live data on homescreen widgets