By Leonard Goh
29/08/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39050603,62045305,00.htm

Announced about a month ago, the INNOV8 (otherwise known as the i8510) is possibly Samsung's highest resolution camera-phone outside Korea. At 8 megapixels, the INNOV8's only competitor so far is the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot C905, which is expected only later this year.

We had a chance to play with a near-production sample of the INNOV8 at a recent Samsung event in Vietnam and we have to admit that this camera-phone is certainly an innovation in its class. While Samsung has reiterated that the INNOV8 shouldn't really be classified as a camera-phone but more as an all-round device that can handle both work and play, we beg to differ. For one, the camera features are by far one of the best we've seen on a handset, and pitting them against an actual camera really didn't seem to be too much of a stretch.

Thus, to put things into perspective, we decided to pit the INNOV8 against the current Sony Ericsson flagship camera-phone, the K850i and Samsung's digital camera, the i8.

We based the comparison on three criteria--ease of use, features and image quality. Some critics may argue that this is an unfair comparison, given the differences in specifications and product categories. We have taken these into consideration and will look at only the relevant features. Hopefully, the comparisons provide a better indication of the current imaging standard in mobile phones today and perhaps offer a glimpse of what can be expected in the near future. Click here to view a summary table for the three devices or read on for a more detailed comparison.

Ease of use

Like the i8, the K850i has a dedicated button to power up/down the camera. But for the INNOV8, holding down the shutter button for 2 seconds will activate its shooter. We didn't have any issues with this implementation since it wasn't much of a hassle.

Accessing the commonly used functions such as flash, exposure compensation, self-timer and focus on the INNOV8 is pretty straightforward with the four-way navigation pad, as with the i8. The INNOV8 comes with an optical mouse feature (similar to the Samsung i780's), which, when activated, also lets you navigate the menus by swiping your fingers in the relevant direction. While this may seem convenient, we find the controls for the K850i more intuitive--functions are mapped to the four numeric buttons below the shutter and they can be easily accessed with the thumb.

Both the INNOV8 and the K850i have a switch along the side of the handset for toggling between the camera, camcorder and playback modes. In our opinion, this is more convenient than the i8, which has one activation button for shooting and playback and another for camcorder function.

Features

While going through the INNOV8's camera menu, we realized that it has an almost similar suite of features as the i8. Both devices feature face detection and digital image stabilizer which increase the ISO sensitivity automatically in low-light situations to allow for faster shutter speeds. On the other hand, the K850i comes only with the common settings found on most camera-phone offerings, including image resolution, focus (normal, macro or landscape), scene modes and flash.

While some of the latest high-end camera phones offer face detection capabilities, not all of them work effectively. The INNOV8 was quick to detect profiles and continued to track them as they moved around the frame. This responsiveness is usually reserved for cameras and we were surprised it was so effective on the set we had. The icing on the cake for the INNOV8, morever, is the Smile Shot (Sony pioneered this feature, called the Smile Shutter, on its Cyber-shot point-and-shoots). Samsung is possibly one of the first manufacturers to introduce this feature in a mobile phone. Once the device spots a grin in the scene, it will trigger the shutter. Oddly, this also works when someone in the background smiled.

The K850i and i8 both feature Xenon flash tubes for lighting up scenes, and the INNOV8 uses dual LED for the same purpose. Samsung told us the decision to use LED was to accommodate users who want to capture video in dimly-lit environments. Unlike Xenon flash tubes it can be turned on for the whole duration of the recording.

Samsung also claims that the INNOV8 has the highest ISO sensitivity for a camera-phone. At ISO 1,600, this rivals some point-and-shoots currently on the market and is only a notch below the i8, which has maximum ISO 3,200. For the K850i, it maxes out at ISO 400.

	Samsung INNOV8	Sony Ericsson K850i	Samsung i8
Megapixels	8	5	8
Flash type	LED	Xenon	Xenon
Image stabilizer	Yes. Digital IS	None	Yes. Digital IS
Optical zoom	None	None	3x
ISO range	ISO 50 to 1,600	ISO 100 to 400	ISO 80 to 3,200
Face detection	Yes	None	Yes
Video resolution	640 x 480 pixels @ 30 fps / 320 x 240 pixels @ 120fps	320 x 240 pixels @ 30fps	640 x 480 pixels @ 30fps
Additional features	Built-in accelerometer	Built-in accelerometer	World travel guide

Image quality

Not surprisingly, the INNOV8's image quality surpassed that of the K850i's. The thing about higher-resolution cameras is that it has to be coupled with bigger image sensors for optimum results. In the case of the INNOV8, the sensor is smaller than those in dedicated point-and-shoots, which was why we were initially skeptical of the 8-megapixel camera-phone.

When viewed at 100 percent, it is easy to see that the INNOV8's picture quality is on par with the i8. The edges may not be as well-defined, but at least there is still a decent amount of details in the shot. In comparison, the images from the K850i showed backgrounds which were a tad smeary and pictures tend to be over-sharpened with slightly jagged edges.

The camera on the INNOV8 really shone when we started shooting under optimum outdoor lighting conditions. Details were immaculately rendered and colors were rich without being over saturated.

Samsung has clearly done a good job with the pre-production unit of INNOV8, particularly its onboard 8-megapixel camera. While photography buffs may complain that it lacks an optical zoom lens, we are guessing that the onboard suite of imaging features will satisfy them. Could this gadget spell the demise for compact shooters? Well, Samsung told CNET Asia the handset is not targeted at discerning shutterbugs. But from the look of things, point-and-shoots have to buck up soon with more new innovative features or face being made obsolete by the ubiquitous camera-phone.