latest handphone: Samsung pPixon 12

Samsung didn't only slap on a 12-megapixel camera on the Pixon12. Along with the higher-resolution image sensor, the touchscreen handset has also been fitted with a Xenon flash and Wi-Fi connectivity, which weren't available on the earlier Pixon.

Feature:

Samsung Pixon12 vs. Sony Ericsson Satio: See how these two 12-megapixel camera-phones stack up in a shootout.

Design

The Pixon12 and Pixon may be a close match in design, but they're hardly two peas in a pod. The onboard speakers have shifted to the faux-leather lip at the back and a polished chrome strip now runs along the sides. There's also a Xenon flash in addition to LED, plus a clear plastic layer to protect the camera lens shutter.

We love the clearly defined zoom/volume bar which has excellent tactility. There's a marked difference between half-pressing the shutter and pushing it down fully. The camera button nestled between is a nice touch, but not entirely necessary since Samsung could have enabled the option to activate the camera by holding down the shutter. We suspect the reason could be to mimic the power switch on dedicated digicams.

The Pixon12 and Sony Ericsson Satio may both have 12-megapixel cameras, but they bring very different experiences to the table. That was what we felt when we held the two devices in hand. The Pixon12 has a smooth pebble-like feel, while the Satio resembles a polished, elegant brick.

Oddly, the Pixon12 comes with a leather cover with cut-outs for the camera, but no way to view what you're shooting. So you'd still need to fish out the handset to take a picture. A 3.5mm adapter is bundled, unlike the Satio, so even though the Pixon12 does not have a built-in 3.5mm port, you can still plug in your personal earbuds using the accessory. A 2GB microSD card is included.

Features

The highlight here is obviously the camera, but we'll come to that later on. The device runs on the proprietary TouchWiz software. If you've seen the Omnia II or Jet, you'd be familiar with the Pixon12's user interface. There are three home screens where you can drag widgets from the sidebar to. The same mini application can reside on all three displays, but there's no reason anyone would do that. Most of the widgets are not worth mentioning, besides taking up too much screen estate. So while the concept is viable, it's barely functional. You can arrange the icons on the main menu by tapping the grid on the top right corner. Swiping right brings you to the different menu pages. The good thing about this layout is that you get to see all the applications directly from the main menu without having to scroll or dive into the sub-menus.

The Pixon12 uses a resistive touchscreen, but there's no stylus. We're not fond of the haptic feedback on Samsung touchscreen devices as the pulse-like vibration feels unnatural, but that's just us. Fortunately, scrolling was smooth throughout the software and the OLED screen displayed deep and vibrant colors. Typing on the onscreen numeric and QWERTY keypads was also pleasant and accurate. However, the tiny dropdown selection of alternative words with T9 enabled left much to be desired.

Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync is supported on the Pixon12, so that's good news for business users who want to receive their work email, as well as synchronize with their office Exchange server. Ours worked without a hitch and we had all our data downloaded onto our review unit within minutes. Setting up public email accounts such as Gmail requires you to key in the server addresses. Admittedly, this isn't rocket science and the required information is readily available on the Web. But it's still a hassle. Comparatively, Nokia has made this action simple by requiring only the username and password.

The Webkit-based browser on the Pixon12 is decent, though scrolling can be a tad "bumpy" on occasion. Double-tapping automatically zooms in on a particular area, as well as launches Web links. The latter is a little counterintuitive as it's repetitive actions. On the bright side, you can have several windows open at the same time and Flash is supported, so that's great. A few times the browser crashed and promptly restarted our review unit for no apparent reason. We hope that's just our device.

Google Maps is preinstalled, but Samsung is also providing the Route66 software for turn-by-turn navigation. We had to go into the menus to activate this for our review unit, though Samsung says this is switched on by default for the commercial sets. The application is a complete end-to-end GPS software with 3D landmarks and real-time navigation for six months after which expect to pay a fee.