2-megapixel camera phones

Round-up by: Andrew Lim

Last updated: 20 Mar 2006

With Samsung launching a 10-megapixel camera phone in Korea this year, it seems that mobile phones are becoming more and more sophisticated. Unfortunately, back on terra Britannia, the mobile phone market is taking ages to catch up and at the moment most manufacturers' camera phone ranges top out at 2 megapixels -- although the Sharp 903 has a 3-megapixel sensor.

However, unless you want to print posters, a 2-megapixel camera phone will usually be good enough. Certainly you can print out a standard 150x100mm photograph at a decent quality. The question is, with the variety of 2-megapixel cameras around, which is the right one for you?

Things you might want to think about include a dedicated shutter button, so that you don't need to navigate to the camera application every time you want to take a quick photo; a good flash, preferably one that doesn't turn things blue; a protective cover for the lens, so that it doesn't get bits of pocket fluff stuck in it; and most importantly over 30MB of internal memory for storing your photos and videos, and if possible an additional memory card slot.

The other thing to take into account is that taking a good photo is only worth it if you can see it on a good screen. So make sure that the camera phone has a bright and sharp screen that doesn't make you feel as though you're looking at things through a pair of foggy glasses.