• Brushed metal body parts
• Quad-band GSM, dual-band HSDPA
• 2.6″ 256K-color TFT display of QVGA resolution
• 8.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection
• WQVGA video recording at 30fps
• Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality
• Wi-Fi with DLNA support
• Bluetooth (with A2DP) and USB v2.0
• Accelerometer sensor
• 118MB of internal memory and M2 memory expansion (8GB card included)
• Stereo speakers
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Kickstand
• Walkman 4.0 music player with Shake control and SensMe
• FM radio with RDS
• Multi-tasking support
• Smart dialing
• Comfortable keypad, nice sliding mechanism

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• Video recording limited to WQVGA
• No lens protection
• No DivX/XviD video support (though it’s touted as a video-centric phone)
• Kickstand construction could’ve been more reliable
• No office document viewer

When you fist take the W995 out of the box you’ll be surprised by its size — it’s a lot smaller than it looks in pictures. It’s really well constructed, the slide mechanism is reassuringly sturdy and the keypad is, for a change on a Sony Ericsson handset, well spaced out with a good layout.

We’re pleased, no, overjoyed to report that the W995’s music offering is superb. The W995 comes equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack and sound quality is great. Even the stereo speakers sound good, which is rare for any mobile phone — annoying teenagers at the back of buses, take note.

The W995’s GPS worked well with Google Maps, useful if you tend to get lost in town. HSDPA (3.5G) and Wi-Fi, made browsing the Internet relatively enjoyable but we recommend downloading Opera Mini. Finally, we appreciated the addition of an FM radio that isn’t a high-end feature but we like it.

Sony Ericsson has a history of making good camera phones and yet for some reason it doesn’t seem to like putting great cameras in its Walkman phones. The W995’s 8.1-megapixel camera is fine if you’re taking shots in daylight and stand very still but everything else we tried came out poorly.

The camera’s lack of xenon flash didn’t help it in low light and there seemed to be a significant shutter lag, so if you’re taking an action shot then it’s likely to come out blurry. Our only other complaint is about the YouTube and iPlayer apps that didn’t seem to always offer smooth playback.

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.