Samsung Pixon
Review
Phone
rating:

In a nutshell: The Samsung Pixon is a touchscreen phone
with an outstanding 8 megapixel camera and a stunning 3.2 inch display.
With 3G video calling, a music player & FM radio, accelerated
web browsing, GPS and plenty of memory it's a very well equipped
all-rounder. The only thing missing is WiFi support.
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The
Samsung Pixon M8800 is an enhancement of the Samsung
Tocco F480. It's a gorgeous touchscreen phone with an amazing
8 megapixel camera. The Pixon is a bit bigger than the Tocco, but
nevertheless it's
a good size phone - not too wide, not too thick, not too heavy -
with a massive LCD display covering nearly the entire front face
of the phone. It's a beautiful screen with 262k colours and ultra-high
resolution (240 x 400 pixels): perfect for viewing those 8 megapixel
photos!
As
the name Pixon suggests, the 8 megapixel camera is the main feature
of this device. Samsung's camera phones have been delivering excellent
results for years, and in fact it was another Samsung phone
(the Samsung i8510) that first broke
the 8 megapixel barrier. The phone is converging with a dedicated
camera design, and packs in loads of camera-related gadgets. Smile
Shot makes sure that the camera takes a picture when your subject
is smiling (assuming that they do actually smile now and again)
and face detection autofocus ensures that the image is as sharp
as it can be. A new feature called Advanced Shake Reduction does
what the name suggests, although we belong to the old fashioned
school that says you should just hold the darn camera steady. We
wonder if most of these features are actually designed to help people
take photos of their mates when drunk. If so, some automatic voice
alerts might help - "Don't point the camera at the floor, stupid!".
The dual Power LED flash isn't a match for a xenon flash, but isn't
bad. One of the cool features is the video camera, which like the
LG Renoir can record at up to
120 frames per second, so you can then play back in slow motion
and laugh at your mates looking stupid. You can also make video
calls using the secondary front-facing camera.
The
large screen is also perfect for running a touchscreen-based user
interface. Samsung have been refining their touchscreen phones throughout
2008, and they're now at the point where this can be considered
a mature technology, suitable for the mass market. We personally
love the user interface, and find that it responds rapidly and accurately
to the touch. Heavy duty texters often seem to have a hard time
with touchscreen phones however, so if you're one of these types,
you should definitely try the phone out before committing to buy
it. Everyone else can enjoy tapping and turning the phone, dragging
and dropping icons and images around the big 3.2 inch screen. Lovely.
In
case you were wondering, this isn't a smartphone like the Samsung
Omnia. So this makes it an easier phone to use, although less powerful
obviously.
Musically,
the Pixon does everything that you'd expect a high-end phone to
do. It plays music in MP3, AAC, AAC+, Enhanced
AAC+ and WMA formats and also has an FM radio with RDS. With 200
MB of memory built in you can store around 50 MP3 tracks, or more
in a compressed format such as WMA. You can also add a microSD memory
card up to 8GB, which provides enough space for thousands of songs.
Like other Samsungs, the Pixon lacks a 3.5mm audio jack, so you'll
have to use the proprietary headphones supplied or buy a Bluetooth
wireless headset.
The Pixon comes with GPS and assisted GPS, which
is an improvement on the earlier Tocco.
This may not replace a Garmin or TomTom, but is a welcome addition,
and can be used to geo-tag photos in case you forget where they
were taken (see our earlier comments regarding drunken photography!)
The Pixon has an excellent web browser. With a
big screen and HSDPA giving download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, this
is an excellent platform for the mobile web, but we're sad that
Samsung didn't include WiFi support in the phone. That would have
been the icing on the cake.
In
summary , this is a brilliant camera phone with an amazing camera
and a beautiful touchscreen user interface and equipped with GPS
an FM radio and plenty of memory. If you're not bothered about the
lack of WiFi, it might be the perfect phone. If WiFi is a deal breaker
for you, take a look at the LG Renoir,
Samsung i8510 or the Sony
Ericsson C905, all of which have an 8 megapixel camera and
WiFi.
Just
one final word of caution. Samsung's previous model, the F480, did
have an intermittent problem of dropping calls. We believe that
this has been fixed in the Pixon's firmware, but we just wanted
to cover ourselves by mentioning this.
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Features
of the Samsung Pixon include:
- 8 megapixel camera with face detection autofocus,
smile detector, auto-panorama, 16x digital zoom and dual power
LED flash
- Video recorder & 3G video calling
- Display: TFT, WQVGA, 240 x 400 pixels, (3.2
inches), 262,000 colours
- GPS and assisted GPS
- Music Player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, Enhanced AAC+,
WMA formats) plus FM radio RDS
- 72-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
- Speakerphone
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
- Document viewer
- Java games
- Memory: 200 MB plus microSD memory card slot
(up to 8 GB)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
- Internet: WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA (7.2
Mbps), web browser, podcasting
- Quadband (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G (UMTS
2.1GHz)
- Offline mode
- Size: 108 x 55 x 13.8 mm
- Weight: 122g
- Talktime: up to 7 hours (2.5G), up to 4 hours
(3G)
- Battery standby: up to 310 hours (2.5G), up
to 280 hours (3G)

Samsung Pixon
Consumer Reviews
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Average
rating from 31 reviews: 
Reviewed by Chris from UK on
7th Jan 2009
(Follow up for Raj) PLEASE READ IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE YOUR BATTERY
LIFE!! Go to Network settings in settings and click network mode...
Set the phone to GSM900/1800 which sets it to 2.5g. Battery life
on mine has doubled at least. Not sure what features I have lost
by changing the setting but everything still work fine. ie internet,
photo messaging etc. Enjoy the phone!
Rating: 
Reviewed by lucy silver from uk on
6th Jan 2009
This is an excellent phone.Had it three weeks now. The camera is
outstanding and the format is easy to use. It is much better than
the Samsung Armarni that I had where you kept hitting the incorrect
keys. The only could of blips I have had are that when you go to
send a picture message it sayd that it wont re size to enable it
to send. But if you leave it and try a little later it will re size
and send. The manual that comes with it is very basic for such a
complex phone, so you have to just have a play with it. The only
other annoying thing is the tilt function on viewing the pictures
but you can over come that. Reccommend you get a cover or case as
it does scratch easily and unlike the Armarni phone it does not
come with a case or cleaning cloth. A little disapointing when you
spend that money that they can not throw in a case. ALso, really
annoying that the earphones they give do not stay in your ears!
lol BUT STILL..... go buy it x
Rating: 
Reviewed by Jonathan from Derby, England
on 3rd Jan 2009
I have to say I'm so pleased with this phone. I few people have
complained that it doesn't have GPS. So what it has a 8 mega pixel
camera. Samsung never advertised the phone as having GPS so websites
which says it has navigational GPS are wrong. The GPS is for Geotagging
photo's which is something many keen photographers are getting into.
I was unsure about texting on the touchscreen but as soon as I started
to use the phone I found texting just as easy as a keypad. I'm still
finding new features whenever I use it. The only thing I would say
is Samsung put a very poor manual with the phone it explains none
of the camera features and it's only by accident did I find out
how to set a custom ISO speed.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Mike from London, England
on 2nd Jan 2009
I had a Samsung D500 years back and loved it. In between I've had
a a couple of SEs and most recently the LG Viewty but it was only
a matter of time before I went back to a Samsung and I'm glad I
waited for the Pixon. Touch screen is great, reception much better
than the Viewty, good size and feel, camera is first class. Battery
life is excellent too (I was on 1 bar for about 3 days with normal
use!). Only lacks wi-fi but that's a minor point! Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Reviewed by D fraser from York on
2nd Jan 2009
I was looking for a phone with an excellent camera and was stuck
in choosing between two mobiles that had both had excellent reviews,
the sony c905 and the samsung pixon. After reading yet more reviews
i decided on the samsung pixon. my first ever touch screen mobile
so i was a little apprehensive as i'd had mixed reports, but i am
delighted with the result. i always find new phones a little frustrating,
getting used to the features etc but the pixon is so easy to use
i fell straight into it. the camera is excellent and texting so
simple, i have to disagree on all negative comments as i don't feel
any of them apply, believe me if i can use this phone any one can!
it has everything you would expect and more, i find the phone contact
searching excellent although i will say being a female with nails
helps a lot so i would understand if a man with larger fingers might
find it a little frustrating. but on whole i have been very pleased
with my choice.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Steve from England on
2nd Jan 2009
Having had a SE' for many years, I wanted to try something new,
and this little beauty came along. Firstly, the camera is outstanding
and video quality very good. Texting on the touch screen is much
easier than I thought it would be. I love the style of the phone
and it has a good feel to it. Downsides for me are two things. Searching
for a contact in your phone book is a total pain and needs a skill
of touch....and secondly, the reception is a little weak. Getting
two bars indoors, where as on my SE' I would get full signal. But
outside it's full on. All in all I love the phone. Clarity of calls,
volume of ringtones, ease of use, in most things, and a fabulous
screen display all add up to a fantastic phone. Loses one star for
the hiddeous phone contact searching though.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Zarqua Slagiqusluta from
UK, Newcastle on 28th Dec 2008
This is an outstanding phone with excellent interfaces.I love it.
It also has music recognition. The best phone- I used to have a
renoir bout swapped it for this. This phone is much faster and the
camera is much better
Rating: 
Reviewed by Mr.D from U.K on
23rd Dec 2008
Recently I have had a number of the latest handsets. In my opinion
the iphone 3g is a great hand set. It has a silky smooth UI and
loads of great internet and music related features. The App store
looks and works great and the phones display is the best out of
the various handsets I have had... But... While the iphone does
a number of thing very very well, basic things like MMS it can't
do at all. Its 2mp camera seems feeble and this is made worse by
lack of settings of any kind and it can't record video, which is
disappointing. Then there was the Omnia. The specs were great, the
features were endless, but with about 3 different ways to access
some of the software and more than 1 type of the same application
available to you (Contacts for example) it overwhelms you and thus
isn't really usable as an everyday quick phone. Its Internet Browser
and Picture viewer are not as pleasing to the eye as the iphone
but thats about it really. The other phone I had was the Sony Ericsson
C905. To be honest, its a great phone with a great still camera
and reasonable video capabilites. However, its tiny screen grates
on you if you're used to life after the Viewty, I now have a Samsung
Pixon and I must say, I'm very please with it. Its Browser and Picture
viewer are a little basic but very function. (I've noticed that
when zooming in on a picture it can pixilated). Its camera is very
good as is its video capability. the flash is weak though. It has
GPS but you have to download Google maps to make use of the feature.
It doesn't seem to be explained that you have to do this, as I spent
ages going through the menus looking for the GPS map feature before
I realised it wasn't on there. If this phone had Opera Browser available
for it, a xenon zoom, a picture viewer correction that stops pictures
breaking up under zoom, and wi-fi then Samsung would have absolutely
sewn up the Touch screen market. In my opinion, these few additions
would have made this phone. Wi-fi aside, perhaps some firmware updates
or downloadable programmes? Not too sure if this is possible as
the Pixon isn't really geared up for downloadable content from what
I've seen so far. My main negative is the very poor battery life.
But that's it!
Rating: 
Reviewed by Nick from UK on 22nd
Dec 2008
Good phone with camera, really like the touch full qwerty keyboard
when you turn the phone long ways when you write a text. Had some
problems as have other i know with the touch screen. Quite often
when you click on an icon or phone number, it selects the wrong
one - rather irritating. Only way to sort it is to turn phone of
and recalibrate on switching back on - have contacted Orange about
this going to see what other handsets they offer.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Gaz from Scotland on
16th Dec 2008
Great phone, texting is hard compared to usual, so is finding a
letter in your phonebook, GPS can only find my location within 1000metres
so doesnt ever know what road im on. Biggest issue is battery life,
its rubbish.. Touchscreen is excellent, so is everything else about
the phone. Shame about the few problems really.. I still like it
alot though! :-S
Rating: 
Reviewed by jatt from uk on 14th
Dec 2008
perfect jus da right fne 4 a touch screen tpre of fne
Rating: 
Reviewed by An amazing phone! Brill Camera!
from 5 stars on 13th Dec 2008
K. Appleton
Rating: 
Reviewed by jonesdude from uk on
10th Dec 2008
Warning! If you get this phone from Orange, it will come with their
own branded software and some features removed. Mine has No google
maps application and the widget for Google Search has been changed
to use Orange search engine. Also the look of the widget icons etc
are changed to Orange style. These are a couple of things i've noticed
straight out the box. I'm waiting for it to charge and try it out
fully tonight to see what else Orange has messed with!
Rating: 
Reviewed by Raj from UK on 8th
Dec 2008
I got this phone last week and i love it! The camera is amazing,
texting is also a breeze. Upgrade from a nokia 95 8 GB. Quite frankly
i find this phone much better than the n95. Anyway, i was reading
the below comments and i found this by chris.... " Anyway, the only
thing I'll mention is that my battery didn't last that long (two
days) and the signal kept cutting out in my flat but this was due
to it being on the 3g setting. I switched it back to 2.5g in network
settings and now its great" How Do You Do That. Much Appreciated!
Raj ;;!
Rating: 
Reviewed by Simon from UK on
5th Dec 2008
Got this phone three days ago and think that it is all that I was
told. The screen is great, it is responsive and the camera is brilliant.
Only thing for me to get use to is when you are looking at your
photos, if you tilt your phone then they start to move as if they
are dropping off the phone. Bit freaky but I will get use to it.
Needs a decent sat nav application on it.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Karen from UK on
5th Dec 2008
I have had the phone for a few days, and I love it. The touch screen
is brilliant so responsive. With practice I have now mastered the
phone book which initially was a bit tricky. I actually find texting
easier on this phone (but I'm not a huge texter so someone else
could disagree). So glad I waited for the Pixon to come out, it
was worth the wait.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Eilidh from Scotland on
5th Dec 2008
Got it yesterday and I think I am in love, upgraded from an N95
and it took me about a month to pick the phone that I wanted and
I am glad I picked this phone. I think it is smart with a great
camera and not too bulky or heavy, will do me well in festival season
as I will not have to carry camera as well. Loving the touch screen
and finding it easy to use. Much better that the iphone and a good
choice made.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Ian from UK on 3rd
Dec 2008
Had mine over a week now and still well impressed with it, best
phone I have ever had.Camera is awsome much better than my old Nokia
N95 and Sony K800i,recieved pictures are good as well as it has
a great display.Texting is a breeze with my fat fingers and its
touch screen is fast and very responsive like already said.Its a
good size phone with a nice big clear screen,would be great if it
had an optical zoom but hey they probably wont be long to come out.One
thing that bugs me is all them emotions for texting,theres loads
and I nor people I have asked really understand most of them,pitty
they cant show them as smilies or animations like on my old sony
Ericsson.However it is still a super cool phone,I love it. :)
Rating: 
Reviewed by Chris from UK on
3rd Dec 2008
Had this phone for a week now.. It is absolutely brilliant. A lot
of reviews have commented on the lack of WIFI or GPS sat nav.. so
what?? Get a different phone.. you already know the specs from reading
them so don't leave pointless comments!! Anyway if you stuck WIFI
and GPS on the Pixon then surely Samsung won't be able to sell the
Omnia!? Anyway, the only thing I'll mention is that my battery didn't
last that long (two days) and the signal kept cutting out in my
flat but this was due to it being on the 3g setting. I switched
it back to 2.5g in network settings and now its great. Battery is
still going after 5 days. The only real disappointment is when you
re in the phonebook and you are searching for a name by using the
slider on the left side of the screen. Its too fiddly and you can
easily click on someones details!
Rating: 
Reviewed by JZ from UK on 2nd
Dec 2008
Does a good job, although I think its a little large, not as good
as the Omnia but then again this isnt a smart phone, wish it had
wifi personally, but if you dont use it its no great miss..not a
bad phone at all, certainly better than most of its competitors
in this class.
Rating: 
Reviewed by GuitarDemon from UK on
1st Dec 2008
There are a lot of reviews here which are incorrect. I've only had
my phone 2 days, and was in two minds whether to get it or the LG
Renoir because of the negative comments here. But now i know that
a lot of the comments passed are untrue, I know I have made a good
choice with the Pixon. The interface is fast, touch screen accurate
and a pleasure to use, GPS using Google maps picks up a location
quickly, HSDPA internet access is lightening quick, camera is phenomenal,
screen is huge and crystal clear. I've only just started looking
at the phone's features, but so far I'm well and truly amazed.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Adrian from UK on
1st Dec 2008
Just upgraded from a LG Viewty, which I was happy with, but the
Pixon is far superior. As with others comments found the scrolling
down contacts somewhat annoying, and Ross's comments on the picture
scrolling very frustrating. On the whole though very impressed.
Ross software for video conversion, "ConvertVid" from Nuclear Coffee
Software, easy to use.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Phone Hoe from UK on
30th Nov 2008
I upgraded my nokia N95 and I also have a samsung G600. I have had
my phone for 3 days now and its wicked no faults or disappointments
with it so far. The zoom in and out button at the side is great
for scrolling down and when you write a text message if you turn
it on its side it turns into a qwerty keyboard. I also like the
widgets are quick and easy to use.. My bad I have found one annoying
setting when you are in a call the screen continually locks i have
not been able to find the setting to turn that off. The camera is
ace but I havent utilised it properly yet. On the old samsungs you
could put a password on you memory card this one doesnt which means
that if you want to password your photos it puts it on everything
including videos and MP3 (Dont ask what im protecting..lol)I havent
tried the DIVX yet nor the video in slow motion. The phone feels
and looks nice. The WAP is very fast and very easy to use I thought
I would miss WIFI but I dont. I am very happy with t his phone good
purchase..
Rating: 
Reviewed by Stefan from Serbia on
28th Nov 2008
This phone can use GPS only for geotag...hahaha so poor xD
Rating: 
Reviewed by PaulG from Unitened Kingdom
on 27th Nov 2008
Had it a day. Great phone for taking pic and videos. Games that
come with it are a waste of time (trial versions). Agree with other
reviewer about phonebook annoyance - have to scroll to find contact.
Says DIVX playback but it's very picky about bitrate. out of the
10 divx files i put on the phone only 3 worked. Another annoying
thing is phones and videos and photo's aren't displayed full screen.
There seems no option to fit to screen either so you end up with
quite allot of wasted screen space in landscape mode. These gripes
aside it performs well in all other aspects and the camera - the
main reason i bought the handset - is better than my kodak digi
camera! overall a good buy.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Chrisyb from UK on
27th Nov 2008
Just got the phone yesterday and its pretty damn good. Certainly
a funkier looking phone than the Omnia. It doesn't have wifi but
who cares.. use a computer...
Rating: 
Reviewed by Ady from UK on 27th
Nov 2008
Well i have had my pixon for a couple of days and i love it. Although
it is a frustrating phone if your not used to touch screen. As a
phone it does well clarity is great and the earphones that come
with it are quality, better even than a jawbone headset. As a camera
it is very good although i am still playing around to find the best
in it. the pc software that comes with it is useless i just cant
fathom it out and 7 out of 10 times results in unable to connect
with phone. Music wise it is good and the redio is very good with
clear crisp reception, again the earpiece coming into its own. The
touch screen in annoying in the fact that if you open your phone
book you have to slide an icon down the screen to get to the corresponding
letter to match the name your searching for, it often stops scrolling
and tries connecting to whatever number your finger last hit. this
is maybe just me and still getting used to it. I got mine from phones4u
in store it a £35 pm 18 month contract, the phone was free. looks
wise it is impresive very sexy and the built quality is great with
a metal back plate on it although it is quite a heavy phone its
managable.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Ian from UK on 25th
Nov 2008
Can you disable 3G on this phone?Cant see it in the settings or
little manual that comes with it,on my old sony w760i you have an
option for 3G and GSM or GSM on its own.One thing I have noticed
is that the signal isnt as good on the Pixon as the w760i on o2,where
as my w760i has full signal the pixon is half of that.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Ian from UK on 25th
Nov 2008
Just had mine delivered today and its superb,I havent been to good
with touch screen phones before with my fat fingers but this is
real easy to use.Got it free from mobiles.co.uk on a £30 a month
o2 contract,god knows what o2 and voda would charge for it directly
going on what they are charging recently for new phones!!
Rating: 
Reviewed by nasir from UK on
23rd Nov 2008
hello this phone desrves 5 stars. i just got this phone on a contract
and absolutely amazed with the features.
Rating: 
Reviewed by Ross from UK on 23rd
Nov 2008
Having had the NokiaN95 for nearly 2yrs now, i thought it was about
time for an upgrade. I have spent the last month or two, looking
and reading about the new phones out. I.e Renoir and C905. Having
played with both, i just felt they were not up to what i would call
"standard" So went into Phones4U and lucky me they had the pixon
in stock (been very hard to find) So had a wee play with it, and
must say i was SHOCKED at how sexy it looked and felt. Only problem
was the phone only came on O2 and Orange and im on vodafone, so
sorry to say i've left voda and joined O2. Having got it home and
having a proper play now for around 24hrs, i can tell im gonna be
a very happy chappy for a long time to come. The touch screen is
very responsive, unlike the Renior. it does not take 2 or 3 times
of pressing the icon you want for it to work. first time every time!!
The camera is top stuff, im a contacts manager for a building company
so i take anywhere near 20 pics a day, so a phone with a good cam
is a must, and so far im very impressed. Lots of functions, clear
crisp photos and one hell of a flash! brightest i've ever come across.
The stylest you get is very kewl! alomst like a proper pen. Couple
of down points. Transfering Music on to the handset takes forever!!
a normal sized album has taken around 25mins, which is really silly
for a "drag and drop" system. I've not been able to get vids on
the yet. need to find away of getting files on my comp from AVI
to another format (anyhelp welcome) Games on the handset are only
trials. you hardly get to use them, very annoying. but you do get
the dice game, while it has not point! its still funny and shows
how the phone could be used. Viewing pics, now this has really annoyed
me to the point where i could give it back (still have 13days to
decided) when it viewing mode and looking at puics if you tilt the
phone to show someone or even move the phone decides to scroll through
the pics, gonna be hard to find the pic you want if everytime you
move your arm it scrolls...and it does it pretty dam quick. Battery
life looks like it could be on the weaker side. havent had the chance
to see how long it last, as pluggin it into the comp via usb charges
it. You will defo need a bigger memory card. 1gb is far to small
for a phone like this. currently looking at getting 4gb. Overall
I love the phone, its size is good. and feels well weighted. Im
sure this phone will be able to take on the Iphone ...easy
Rating: 
Samsung Pixon
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