Samsung's love affair with touchscreen phones has produced some gems -- and some stinkers. The latest direction both LG and Samsung are taking touchscreens is the high-end camera phone. The Samsung Pixon aims to delight you with an 8-megapixel camera, but is it an annoying pap or a bona fide Rankin?
The Samsung Pixon is currently available for free on a monthly contract.
Design
Compared to the LG Renoir, the Pixon takes itself a little more seriously. A solid-feeling black casing houses a large touchscreen and on the back an 8-megapixel camera that juts out in a similar fashion to the one on the LG Renoir. Unlike the Renoir though, the Pixon's lens cover opens and shuts automatically.
The Samsung's touchscreen is as responsive as the Renoir's screen, but not as responsive as the iPhone's or T-Mobile G1's. You may find that at times the screen doesn't respond as expected, but with a little practice it is usable. Unlike the iPhone, there are mechanical keys for taking pictures, which is a relief.
The Pixon's software is Samsung's own mix of cute icons and widgets. You can drag several apps on to the homepage for easy access and flick photos left and right as you would on an iPhone -- there are no multi-touch gesture controls, however. It looks good, but it's no Google Android, which we hope to see on Samsung phones soon.
Features
Just like you'd use a standalone camera, to take a picture you hold the Pixon sideways and press the dedicated shutter button. A simple to use on-screen interface offers up a series of camera options, including shooting mode, flash, exposure value and auto-focus, among others.
Pictures in daylight and well-lit areas came out really well -- colours were balanced and the pictures looked sharp. In low light we were less impressed by the picture quality, because the dual LED photo lights didn't provide enough illumination. It would have been great to see a xenon flash on the Pixon instead.
Similar to the LG Renoir, the Pixon's texting interface offers a traditional on-screen keypad layout or a full Qwerty keypad, depending on which way you hold it. While it can be fiddly at times, it does work and after some practice you'll be able to tap out messages fairly easily.
Viewing photos is a noteworthy experience, as the Pixon gives you the option to view one photo at a time or zoom out and view them as if they were sprawled out on a table. You can use your finger to flick each photo to the side and view the next one -- it's actually very useful when you're trying to view several photos in one go.
You can geo-tag pictures, marking the location they were taken using the Pixon's GPS. We expected to be able to use the GPS alongside Google Maps, but oddly the option doesn't appear. Shooting video was a more satisfying experience -- the Pixon allows you to shoot at up to 120 frames per second, which creates a smooth-looking video.
on Mobile Phones 
Facebook 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Twitter 
RSS Feeds 
Send Us Tips
User reviews9
Add your review
Emily Mellish 11 August 2011
Comment: can you use your nails to use the touch on this phone? i have a blackberry and i hate it, i want a touch screen but i always have false nails on, would i be able to use it?
Anna Waters 3 December 2010
Good: The Camera
Bad: People say the touch is bad?
Comment: Is the touch bad? Or is workable?
I am looking for a new phone , And thinking this one?
Should I?
HELP.
phph001 21 August 2009
Good: Excellent camera
Bad: terrible PC software, terrible operating system
Comment: The only decent point of this phone is the camera. I thought I would be upgrading when I changed from a Nokia N95, but what a disappointment. The Nokia has GPS, can be used as a mobile modem, and talks to Macs as well as PCs. The games are free. You can even make a phone call with it. With the Pixon, as soon as you get to one of those exchanges where you press 1 for this and 2 for that you take it from your ear and find the screen is already blank. You then have to press the screen to restore it, the hold button to release the available functions and then the screen again to bring up the keypad. Do these designers ever actually use their kit? The GPS puts you within a mile of your actual position, which may be OK in the Sahara, but is not a lot of use in town. One might as well not bother, which is what the user manual thinks, because the subject of GPS does not appear there at all. Nor does it mention the infuriating habit of the photo browser of sliding all the pictures rapidly past the screen if you tilt the phone slightly. Getting to the picture you want is a real pain. The PC suite software is the worst written bit of programming I have come across in a long time.
I'm going back to the N95. It's not got a touch screen and the camera is medium, but it is an excellent phone and the GPS does work.
See all 9 user reviews