Imagine my amazement when my editor handed me the Samsung SGH P850 equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera. What?!! A 3.2 megapixel camera in a mobile phone? Unbelievable!

Does this mean that I have to finally retire my old-reliable digital camera soon?

Samsung SGH-P850

3.2 Megapixel camera

With the Korean giant’s recent advances in digital camera technology, it is only logical that these innovations be applied to Samsung’s mobile phones as well. While the imaging capabilities on the current crop of handsets max-out at 2-megapixels, the P850 includes a 3.2 megapixel camera which can produce images sharp enough to print up to A4 or about bond paper size.

If you ask me, I usually have my photos printed on 4R (4”x6”) size. The largest I ever had printed was 5R (5”x7”) which was sufficiently shot by my old 3.2 megapixel digicam.

While my digicam has significantly less shutter lag (the delay after you press the shutter button until the camera actually takes the shot), the P850 makes up for it with a multi-shot feature which takes up to 15 high-resolution shots in rapid succession with just the press of a button. From these, you can be sure that you will capture the best-pic.

Further loaded with auto-focus, flash, timer, ISO sensitivity and a bunch of other shooting options, capturing those precious moments is easier than ever.

The P850 is also a very competent MP4 recorder. Videos are smooth, audio is reasonably clear, and length is limited only by the remaining memory. Should you find the ample 75MB built-in memory insufficient to store your ultra-high pixel files, the P850 also has a slot for memory cards in microSD (Transflash) format.

Samsung SGH-P850

Is it really a mobile phone or a camera?

Clamshell phones usually exude style and sophistication. While it is being marketed as a highly-functional fashion device, I find the P850 very plain-looking as a phone. A colored external screen lets you view the time, missed calls, or caller ID without even opening the phone. Flip it open and you will find the large screen on the top half while all the keypad buttons are on the lower half. It is bulky but not heavy. With its black and silver motif, there is really nothing spectacular about P850’s looks.

Swivel the screen over and you have a different story. Retro-looking in its leather-wrapped body, the P850 is reminiscent of a stylish old-school camera. With a dedicated camera/shutter button and a swivel screen that transforms into a viewfinder, it certainly looks like a digital camera. Designed to be held horizontally for a true camera feel, it is actually easy to confuse the P850 with a stand-alone digital camera – until you talk into it.

Multimedia-wonder

As a high-end mobile phone, it comes as no surprise that the P850 is equipped with a music player which supports MP3 and AAC audio files. With the bundled earphones, sound quality is clear and crisp enough for the average user. It also has dual loudspeakers which blurts out the usual loud but tinny sound that most of us have learned to tolerate.

Samsung SGH-P850

The P850 is also equipped with a document viewer which can display MS Office documents, Adobe PDF, HTML, and JPEG pictures on its large 2.12-inch 262k screen. The P850 also has a TV-out function (popularized by the Samsung D600) that allows a larger audience to view files and pictures from the phone directly to a TV screen.

The P850 is a triband phone which operates within GSM 900, 1800, 1900 networks. It is not 3G capable but it has GPRS, Bluetooth, and USB connectivity.

Bottomline

All in all, the Samsung P850 is a no-nonsense convergence device loaded with most of the features found in today’s high end phones. Its main selling point is its top-of-the-line 3.2 megapixel camera.  If you are in a rush to own a high-quality camera-phone the Samsung P850 is an excellent option for you. (Jojo Perlas)