Samsung G800 Review
Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The world's first phone to offer a 5 megapixel
camera with optical zoom, the G800 sets the benchmark for camera phones.
It's also a beautifully designed slide phone that's fully equipped with
an MP3 player, FM radio, accelerated 3G (HSDPA), 160 Mbytes of internal
memory plus a memory card slot, and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
Review: November 2007. Updated June 2009.
Samsung have taken the phone world by storm by announcing at the end
of October 2007 the release of the world's first 5 megapixel camera
with optical zoom in a mobile phone. If the plan was to draw attention
away from the release of the iPhone, then this has certainly done the
trick! Launching in the UK on 12th November 2007, the G800 will be the
most advanced camera phone in the world.
Samsung have pulled off both a technological and design marvel with
the G800. Its closest rivals are the Nokia N95
and Sony Ericsson K850i, which
both have 5 megapixel cameras. But the G800 trumps them with the introduction
of a 3x optical zoom. An optical zoom is common in dedicated digital
cameras, but is very rare in camera phones, because of size constraints.
It enables the camera lens to zoom into a scene retaining the full 5
megapixel resolution. By contrast, the digital zoom used in the N95
and K850i (and other camera phones) loses resolution when zooming. The
G800 is also the first Samsung phone to have a real xenon flash instead
of the weaker LCD flashes usually seen in camera phones. Samsung are
one of the key manufacturers of digital cameras, and they have clearly
used their expertise in the field to create a world beater with the
G800. Other new features that have been imported from the digital camera
world are face detection, and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR). Face detection
detects the presence of a face in a subject and adjusts the exposure
and focus to optimise the appearance of the face.
However, we have to point out that judging from our user reviews, a
lot of people have trouble getting good quality pictures from the G800,
particularly in low lighting conditions. How can we explain this? One
issue that Samsung really need to sort out is to make the highest resolution
the default setting on their camera phones, because the default setting
is low resolution. If you don't change the setting, you're effectively
using a VGA camera! Another problem is that the G800 incorporates a
lot of camera features (anti-shake, face detection, WDR, ISO settings,
etc) and this means lots of settings to worry about and lots of things
potentially to go wrong. So if you're looking for a point-and-shoot
camera, look elsewhere. We've decided to deduct one point from our rating
for this reason. Many of these comments also apply to the Sony
Ericsson K850i, which has also generated a lot of complaints from
our users about the camera quality - again in low lighting conditions.
Our conclusion is that phone manufacturers should concentrate on making
their camera phones as simple to use as possible, as juggling settings
isn't really what you want to be doing with a camera phone. But for
camera enthusiasts, we still rate the G800 as one of the top 3 camera
phones of 2008 (the Nokia N95 and Sony Ericsson K850i being the other
two.)
 As
you can see from the photos, not only is this the highest spec camera
phone, but it's also a sexy-looking slider that beats its rivals hands
down in terms of looks. It may not be the slimmest phone around, but
it's certainly more compact than the N95 and is a good size for two-handed
camera use. Turn the phone over and the back is like a real digital
camera, complete with a sliding lens cover. The secret to making such
a compact device is that the optical zoom is an inner zoom, where the
lens does not extend outside the body of the phone.
The G800 also has a new camera Graphical User Interface which provides
the same environment as a digital camera when using the camera function
on the phone. An On Screen Display shows various camera indicators in
a horizontal preview mode. The large 2.4 inch LCD display is ideal for
viewing images. There's a built-in picture editor, and direct printing
to a Pictbridge-compatible printer is supported. High quality video
recording is also available, and a built-in video editor is provided
too.
As well as the photographic functions, the G800 incorporates all of
the features seen in previous high-end Samsung phones. The music player
supports all major formats (MP3, AAC, AAC+, 3-AAC+, WMA formats) and
wireless Bluetooth
stereo headsets. A stereo FM radio is also included. The G800 is
superbly equipped with memory too: 160 Mbytes of internal memory is
sufficient to hold around 40 music tracks, and you can expand this with
a microSD memory card.
Connectivity is excellent too, with support for Bluetooth 2.0, USB
2.0 and TV-Out. Interestingly the G800 is a 3G phone too, in fact it
supports the latest high-speed 3G nicknamed 3.5G. Specifically, the
3G implementation is 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, which offers download equivalent
to broadband speeds. A web browser is built-in, and the phone can handle
RSS feeds and mobile blogging. Email with support for attachments is
available and a document viewer can view most common file formats (Word,
Excel, Powerpoint & PDF).
The G800 was an outstanding phone. After a year in which Samsung appeared
to stumble, at the close of 2007 it launched a product that set the
standards in camera phone for the year ahead. But looking back with
the benefit of hindsight, the G800 wasn't a huge popular success and
Samsung now seem to have abandoned the development of optical zoom cameras
in their mobile phones.
Features of the Samsung G800 include:
- 5 megapixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom, autofocus and Xenon
flash
- Video camera with built-in video editing
- Display: TFT, 256k colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2.4 inches)
- MP3 player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, 3-AAC+, WMA formats)
- Stereo FM radio
- Speakerphone
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3 / SMTP / IMAP4)
- Document viewer
- Java games (Java MIDP 2.0)
- Personal organiser functions
- Offline mode
- WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
- High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps) - 3.5G
- xHTML web browser, RSS feeds, mobile blogging
- Memory: 160 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, TV-Out
- Triband (GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900) plus 3G
- Size: 102 x 52 x 19 mm
- Weight: 134g
Samsung G800 User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 101 reviews: 
Reviewed by danny from united kingdom on 29th
Mar 2012
i have this phone its got cool features and its got extended zoom so
its really 9 megapixel and its beter then my blackberry torch
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Timmy from Dubai on 20th Feb 2008
the phone is class. buy it guys!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jim from UK on 19th Feb 2008
Got this on a Vodafone contract on the basis of the 5MP camera with
x3 Optical Zoom. As a phone, what can I say? It works. It's a phone.
The build quality is great - the slider doesn't feel like it's going
to come loose or snap! The menu system is intuitive and easy to use.
However, I am struggling to get decent quality images that rival my
ageing FinePix S5500 (4MP). Now I wouldn't expect a camera phone to
slap a dedicated digital camera down, even with more MP (and 4 to 5
isn't a massive leap) but it is a bit of a worry, although I expect
it will either be me missing a setting somewhere or a future firmware
upgrade. My main gripes though, are the transfer software and the headphones.
Now, I don't normally use the proprietary softwre bundles with phones
as basically, they are next to useless. The software with this phone
handles contacts and diary information well but *always* loses the connection
after it has uploaded two or more pictures or videos - which it does
appallingly slowly. Set the phone to "Mass Storage" for uploads and
it happily rips along (from the supplied 1GB memory card) The headphone
gripe is a common one for me and I suspect other people too. My ears
must be freakishly different, but the buds don't stay in. Also, I would
rather keep my Sony buds, but, I can't as there is no 3.5mm jack socket
on the phone or connector. Come on Samsung!
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Reviewed by dan from scotland on 18th Feb 2008
had k800i and read reviews for k850i didnt fancy it and thought i would
try the g800. big mistake, phone is rubbish to use and menu is no different
to a fifty quid phone. pay big money you want a bit of class for your
cash. camera is big let down too after k800i, sending this back while
i still can. gonna take my chances with the k850i.fingers crossed i
wont get a dog...
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by jbby from turky on 17th Feb 2008
it the best phone out
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Reviewed by Cal from England on 16th Feb 2008
Using this phone for over a week. I think it is a very good phone with
a quality feel. It also looks fantastic. After using a sony ericson
k800i before this i was a bit disapointed with the quality of the samsungs
camera, as this is the main shouting point about this phone. But after
following James Thompsons instructions it has made the camera loads
better in poor light conditions. The menu is very easy to navigate,
simple and clear. Would be nice to have more themes and i cant figure
out how to change the message tones. Apart from that it is a stunning
phone but not sure if it is better then my old k800i.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Shane from UK on 11th Feb 2008
had problems with the camera at first but follwed the instructions by:
James Thompson from Scotland on 6th Feb 2008 and everything works well
now... no blur or dull images! looks good and although you might feel
a little disappointed with the features if you have just swapped from
a PDA but the only thing that I feel is lacking is a Wi-Fi connection.
battery life lasts about 2 days when used regulary for internet browsing
and calls - good enough really unless you rarely have access to a electrical
outlet. If you think that it is heavy - you really need to get down
the gym; its certainly no heavier (noticeably) than any other quality
phone. Above all i'm satisfied - not completely, but mostly.
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Reviewed by Tracy F from uk on 11th Feb 2008
I too have never sent a phone back until this one and also are a big
lover of Samsung phones. My gosh! this phone is terrible. Terrible size,
terrible weight, and so terrible to navigate. Honestly, it took me 3
days to work out how to turn off the keypad tones and that was with
asking several of my friends. If you are looking into new phones, dont
even think about getting this one. Its a waste of time, and now i have
to wait another week before i can get a new phone, what will that be....
well thats what im looking up now!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Andy C from UK on 10th Feb 2008
Well i'm afraid this is the first phone i have ever sent back. I am
a big fan of samsung mobiles. My last phone was a D900 chrome, before
that a D600, a D500, a D410 and more going back even further. In fact
the only phone i have owned other than a samsung was the sony Z7. This
is why i'm so disappointed. I should have held out for the F490, but
as yet it's still not available in the UK on any network. This phone
is simply too big and bulky. It does have Samsungs usual build quality
and it looks good until you pick it up and feel how heavy it is. Someone
thought i had a remote control in my hand rather than a mobile! I bought
this thinking that i could use it to capture those all important moments
while my daughter is growing up and beginning to walk, without having
to have my sony digital camera around or my samsung camcorder. But the
quality just isn't good enough in the camera, so as a phone carrying
that extra weight it's just not worth it. Most of the people i've seen
with lower pixel cameras on sony erricson phones get a better quality
still picture. I personally think its down to the lens, sony and nokia
use carl zeiss lenses, LG schneider-Kreuznach lenses, Samsung needs
to find a quality manufacturer to sort theirs out. Yes it has mega options
for setting up but this seems to cause more problems. The whole point
of a camera on a mobile phone should be point and shoot capabilities
surely. What make it more gauling is the rest of the phone is set up
really well, all the usual samsung easy to navigate menus and great
features, its just simply too big and too heavy. It looks like i'm going
to have to order the LG viewty instead which is 22g lighter and half
a cm thinner.
Rating: 
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Reviewed by ROPPA from ENGLAND on 7th Feb 2008
It looks a million dollars but that old saying looks are'nt everything
is very true of this phone. Build quality is great and looks stunning
but thats where it ends, the camera for indoor usage is rubbish the
pictures like others state are grainy or blurred or both. It comes with
no apps. or games you cant theme it like on the se or nokia's. Its compact
but as for weight dear me, all I can say is dont fall in a lake or It
will have you to the bottom in minutes. Do yourself a favour and buy
the N82 its 10 times better.
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Reviewed by James Thompson from Scotland on 6th
Feb 2008
Like most people I have had big problems with the camera especially
in poor light conditions.Having spent days experimenting with different
settings i have found that the best setting for poor conditions is to
have the ISO at 400 the flash on auto and most importantly have the
WB set at "Daylight" you will find the colours rich and clean and not
the greyish dull type exposures you get on the auto settings. Believe
me this will transform the camera from being just ordinary to exceptional!!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Andy from UK on 6th Feb 2008
I have a G800 and Occasionally when using the radio the screen changes
to blue and the word download appears on screen. At which point none
of the buttons work and it won't switch off. The only way to re-boot
is to take the battery out, Can you tell me what this is and how I can
stop it happening ?
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Reviewed by vic from uk on 6th Feb 2008
Got phone 24hrs ago,very impressed overall.On text,phone does not default
back to T9.Is this a one off? Camera very good in light,not as good
in low light,(poor flash,got to get very close)no blurry pics as yet.Using
a 1gb micro sd card as someone suggested.Perhaps its working.On the
negative side,bluetoothing a pc is painfully slow and cable not much
better.Instruction manual woefully inadequate,(still,who reads them
anyway)?.All in all very happy with phone,just wish it was a little
slimmer
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Reviewed by Dave K from England on 6th Feb 2008
I have had this phone 5 days now and its excellent! After owning Nokias
for the last 3 phones I took the plunge and went for the G800 after
seeing my fiance's G600. Its easy to use, good to look at and has some
great features. Yes its bulky (but I hate small thin light phones) and
the camera is sometimes frustrating but as a whole i am extremely pleased
with it. The camera has come in for some critisism but if you stick
at it and experiment for long enough you can get some excellent pictures
day & night. I will say that my fiance's G600 seems to have a brighter
flash even though its not a xenon! You can alter the profiles to suite
your own tastes (Hev you can add your own mp3 tone via profles/messages).
The reason that i gave it 4 stars not five is that compared to Nokias
I think texting is weaker and more difficult to carry out. All in all
though recommended, get one!
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Reviewed by Melissa from UK on 3rd Feb 2008
Thanks Kelly - what does 'reflashing' mean, is it the same as restoring
factory settings? Also, does anyone know how we can find out if/when
firmware upgrades are released, and how to get them? Thanks!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Neil from Ireland on 3rd Feb 2008
Got the phne last week and first impressions, looks great, until you
pick it up and look from the side, heavy and thick, but apart from that
it's the best looking phone out there, and when you realise the feaures
it has you understandf the size. Like everyone else im wondering about
the faults. 1) Some picutes come out blurred, 2) Flash only works wel
when close up, further then a foot or two away it doesnt work, 3) why
cant u keep image stabiliser on all the time. What i want to know, mainly
about the flash strength and the blurred pictures, is will a firmware
upgrade fix this, can it be fixed or will these problems live with the
phone forever?
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Reviewed by Hev from England on 2nd Feb 2008
I have just got this phone G800, I love it but i cant find the tones
for sms text messages? It just beeps when i get a message. Does anyone
know if these can be changed? I know Samsung sms tones are usually limited
on their handsets but i cant even find where they would be on the G800?
Can anyone help pls? Thanks
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Reviewed by neil swift from lancashire england on
1st Feb 2008
Actually bought this after originally buying the Sony W910i of which
I only kept for 2 days and was very disapointed. This is about the fouth
Samsung phone that I have owned and I think it an absolute cracker.
Yes the phone is a little bulky but boy does it feel quality. The camara
is geat unlike some peoples comments below, I feel it is just a matter
of getting used to Samsung phones. Music sounds great, especially through
the headset and the FM radio is clear as anything.Texting is easy to
use and you can actually set your own tone as the text alert, a common
criticism with Samsung phones in the past. Buy it and you will love
it. Best Samsung so far.
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Reviewed by Lee from Canada on 31st Jan 2008
Im dissapointed. I thought this would be the last camera phone i'd have
to buy for awhile but boy was I wrong. It sucks battery life like no
tommarow and doesnt have any wi-fi feature. The camera is practically
useless because everytime you try to take a shot the images always come
out blurry! Even with anti-shake on yielded the same results. Also the
photo quality is mediocore for being 5MP. In my opinion if you want
a good camera phone then I'd recommend the Nokia N73 or Sony Ericson
K800i over this.
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Reviewed by Carl from England on 26th Jan 2008
I have now had the G800 for some time and having used it i would say
its a very good phone for those who want good looks and applications.
You do however need patenice to set it all up. As others have said the
instructions are poor but you do just find everything yourself. Camera
is very good but needs careful operation so just take your time with
this. One thing it doesnt say on this site is that it can take up to
a 4GB Micr SD card. All in all i like it and it does have one thing
my old N95 doesnt have... a quality feel!
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Reviewed by Nick from UK on 25th Jan 2008
Pro's - Nice looking, feels quality, decent options Negative's - Poor
battery life, camera isn't great, no games, options could be laid out
a little better. Not a bad phone but I wish I'd gone for something different.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Kelly from UK on 25th Jan 2008
Reply for Melissa, Have had the same problem with the T9, searched everywhere
but in the end called Samsung direct. The short answer to your question
is that you can not delete words from the T9 without re flashing the
phone and then invalidating the warranty........ Thanks for the info
on teh pics, finding the flash to be rubbish.
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Reviewed by Melissa Harrison from UK on 23rd Jan
2008
Hello again everyone, just a quick update. I have put a 1GB microSD
card in, and suddenly the picture quality has improved A LOT. Not sure
why this should be the case but the difference is marked. After much
experimentation I have also found the following settings helpful (in
the Settings menu, when you actually have the camera on - and remember
to click 'save' after changing anything, they'll revert otherwise)...
Anti-shake: off, Extended zoom: off, Wide dynamic range: off, Contrast:
50, Saturation: 0, Sharpness: 50. Quality: high, ISO: 200, Exposure
metering: normal, Autofocus: on. Auto WB doesn't work and you have to
set it yourself for every image. Turning the ISO up to 400 improves
the reach of the flash (but increases graininess, of course). One final
thing that's driving me mad about this phone: I hate using t9 but decided
to make the switch seeing as this phone won't let me turn it off permanently.
However, I have now filled up the t9 dictionary within 6 weeks of gett
ing the phone and it won't learn any new words. I'd now quite like to
delete some of the ones I taught it at the beginning, which I wouldn't
have if I'd known it would run out of space, but can't. If anyone knows
how to edit the t9 dictionary, or reset it, I'd be grateful!
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Reviewed by Phil from Bristol on 22nd Jan 2008
Love it, everything is working fine, had it a week or so,feels good,what
i like is when you open a text you can zoom out to see easier by pressing
the right side of the control cursor. Great clear sreen,easy to use
thanks Samsung!
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Reviewed by Ted from UK on 21st Jan 2008
really like this phone, never had a samsung before, its fairly easy
to use. few pointers i agree with below...instructions are v basic and
not much help, but as its fairly simple, you kind of work most things
out in the end. pity there was no games included, but have downloaded
some and that was v quick! havent tried connecting to pc yet, will do
that tonight, but am disappointed in taking shots indoors or at night...wasnt
expecting crystal clear pics, but the quality is much the same as my
old phone (although this is much better in normal daylight conditions).
Unfortunately i want to take a lot of pics indoors or in the pub! am
hoping some tinkering around with the settings will improve this...
but generally am v pleased with the phone...
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Reviewed by Sarahbee from UK on 21st Jan 2008
Can anyone please help??? My friend just got upgraded from the D900
to the G800 and loves the phone, only problem is the skin colour is
set to black, on the old D900 this could be changed to white, we cannot
find how to do this on the G800. Also can't seem to read texts while
on a call, does anyone know if these two things are things that Samsung
have taken off this new model? Thanks for any help.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Dara from UK on 19th Jan 2008
I have had this phone for a couple of weeks – I always think it
is better to comment after a period of time and I am a bit surprised
that some comments have been made on here be people who appear to have
owned the phone for a couple of hours! I agree with one of the other
comments that I really am not sure how to rate the G800. I had and really,
really liked a SE K800. In many ways the G800 is a great phone. Its
functions are great, the interface is good. I like the appearance (in
particular the large screen), though I realise that the relatively large
size will not be to everyone’s taste. As a functioning telephone,
it is great. Now for the rub. The camera is good. Not great, but good.
The camera is a VERY sensitive animal and the phone does not have the
talk-and-point-and-click spirit that made the K800/10 such a great machine.
There are a vast number of settings on the G800 and the camera is not
at all easy to get to grips with. It should be noted that the instructions
with the phone are terrible and better instructions are something that
Samsung should provide, especially with such a complex camera. When
you get it right, the pictures are fine, but the settings are so sensitive
it can have a bit of a hit-and-miss feel, I think that is reflected
in the other comments. Possibly the camera is more suited to the more
occasional user that rather than someone who uses it indiscriminately.
The zoom optics are excellent and are the one feature that really set
the G800 apart from the crowd. The flash is also nowhere as effective
as that on a K800, but I suspect a bit of firmware could fix that, at
least in part. The auto ISO setting also seems out to me but again,
I expect that this could be corrected. I was a bit disappointed, not
with the phone per se but because this is not a real step forward from
the K800 and the 3.2 megapixel ranges. If anything it feels like a step
forward from the generation before, my much liked D600. If you are looking
for a great step forward from the 3.2 megapixel camera phones from SE
and Samsung, you will be disappointed. If you want a simple point and
click camera, or you don’t have much patience, don’t go
for a G800. But if you are looking for a nice looking phone with a good
camera there is nothing at all wrong with the G800. But you will need
to persevere.
Rating:
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Reviewed by phillip cooper from west yorkshire on
18th Jan 2008
This is the best camera phone i've used.Very easy to operate, it's very
tactile you just dont want to put it down i love it....
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Reviewed by BabylonSick from Sweden on 17th Jan
2008
I totaly agree with this comment Its a lovely phone but the camera is
awful. Every single picture I take comes out either slightly blurry
are very very very blurry. I sell cameras for a living and have changed
every possible setting to take out the blur and nothing works. The anti
shake is meant only to be used in macro mode and using it in normal
shoot mode will only make pictures even more blurry. I see people are
having problems with the flash making their pictures come out dark.
To counteract this so into settings and go to the ISO setting and change
it from Auto to 400. I'm really disapointed with this fone and I'm taking
it back tomorrow after having it for only a day. Samsung could have
made it so much better so why didnt they? Dont buy this dmned phone,
it is the most utter piece of junk ever. The 2mp camera on my sisters
SE is far better than this. All the images taken inside turn out way
way too dark, and without a flash, they are too blurry to be considered
images taken with a "camera", more like random painting. The only way
to make the images taken inside a bit brighter using the flash is to
change the ISO manually, and always, and even then the images are either
too bright or too blurry or both.
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Reviewed by Mohamed from Turkmenistan on 17th
Jan 2008
It very nice telephone! I like! Good for sexy time! Fits in my turban!
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Reviewed by Ben Rive from Jeraey on 16th Jan 2008
My last phone was a samsung d500 witch at the time i fought was great
i lost it and fought get a gd new phone so i ordered the samsung g 800
and when it came down (finally );)i spent least 2 hours on it the camera
worked great who cares if its nt as gd as a digital camer what do u
expect the menus were easy to get round i found text annoying i think
its looks gr8 unless ure wering jeans with small pockets it will be
fine but on the whole i think its looks gr8 (better than competitors)
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Reviewed by Mark from Wales on 14th Jan 2008
Had this phone for a week now, and to be honest it has really grown
on me. After reading some of the reveiws i was a bit nervous about my
upgrade from my reliable D900,but lets move with the times and I am
glad I did, everything is working as it should be, battery and camera
are great.A very sturdy and well made phone and fits pleasingly in the
hand.Very pleased with it and give it the big thumbs up!
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Reviewed by Melissa from UK on 10th Jan 2008
Got this phone after waiting six months for the K850i only to find that
a) I hated it and b) It was buggy. I had to send two models back as
they were faulty. The camera on the G800 is not nearly as good as on
the K850i. The flash is very weak, the shutter delay is very long, the
camera struggles in all but the brightest light and it has an annoying
habit of displaying a perfectly crisp image for a second after pressing
the shutter, then 'resolving' it to a blurry, out of focus shot. Oh,
and while the image editing software is good fun, and improves the look
of pics on the phone, when you transfer them to a computer the colours
etc are often very 'off' - so you'd be wise to use proper image editing
programmes on the computer rather than tinker with them in-phone. However,
since neither phone truly rivals a dedicated 5MP snapper I have decided
to stick with the phone I actually prefer, which for looks, build quality
and reliability is the Samsung (having said that, it has dropped two
calls and frozen once since I got it). If you're moving from a Nokia
or SonyEricsson the Samsung OS is a bit tricky to get your head around,
and can be frustratingly illogical. Stick with it, though, as it all
becomes clear and is actually quite pleasingly quirky in use. My main
gripe is with the fact that I can't turn T9 off permanently. This is
a major frustration for me as I don't like using it and now either have
to turn it off every time I want to send a text, or grin and bear using
it. Inputting text manually is annoying, too, as for who knows what
reason they have not put the apostrophe in the shortcut menu, meaning
it takes several keystrokes to use it. The alternative is using poor
punctuation, but if I wanted to do that, I'd just use T9. The build
quality is excellent and the slider action is sturdy and satisfying.
The phone is pretty big and heavy, though, and be aware it doesn't come
with any interchangeable themes, so WYSIWYG when it comes to how it
looks - apart from a wallpaper image, of course. Finally, I had terrible
trouble importing my address book from my old SonyEricsson phone. New
users beware, you are best off importing your old contacts into Outlook,
editing them there, then syncing with the Samsung - otherwise they go
in surname first, then first name, and can't be changed around - not
to mention lots of other formatting oddness. I think this might be the
fault of the SonyEricsson system, though. Don't get this phone and expect
an amazing camera: it isn't. It's decent enough, though.
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Reviewed by James Thompson from Scotland on 9th
Jan 2008
I have had this phone a couple of days and am having difficulty in knowing
how to rate it. I do admit to being a bit set in my ways when it comes
to mobile phones and in particular Samsung which for me up till now
have been easy to use and pretty reliable. However I upgraded from the
excellent D900 to this and am baffled why Samsung have changed some
of their formats on the G800 is this just change for change sake?? One
particular irk and it is an irk I bluetoothed all my contacts from the
D900 to the G800 with no problems however I had to return the G800 to
the phones4U shop because of a fault and before handing it back I tried
to transfer my contacts ( 400 of them!!!) by bluetooth to the new G800
only to discover you can't do that with this phone. It will accept your
contacts from bluetooth but not send them WHY!!!!!! I really can't comment
too much on the camera yet as I need some more time to suss it out but
I would suspect it will be no more than average. The battery life is
atrocious it needs charging daily even with very moderate use God only
knows what it will be like if I start using all its applications regularly??
Samsung boasts cutting edge technology why can't they give us a battery
which will support a power hungry device such as the G800 there is after
all plenty room for one!!! Will I keep the G800??? I really don't know
yet,this one is on an 18 month contract which is a long time to be unsure
about a phone I had no such feelings about the D900 when I got it a
year ago. Perhaps I should stick the SIM into my D900 and E-Bay the
G800.... lets wait and see!!!
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Reviewed by Andrew from United Kingdom on 8th
Jan 2008
Its a lovely phone but the camera is awful. Every single picture I take
comes out either slightly blurry are very very very blurry. I sell cameras
for a living and have changed every possible setting to take out the
blur and nothing works. The anti shake is meant only to be used in macro
mode and using it in normal shoot mode will only make pictures even
more blurry. I see people are having problems with the flash making
their pictures come out dark. To counteract this so into settings and
go to the ISO setting and change it from Auto to 400. I'm really disapointed
with this fone and I'm taking it back tomorrow after having it for only
a day. Samsung could have made it so much better so why didnt they?
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Reviewed by jade from england on 7th Jan 2008
I recently got this phone and i have to say, although i love the design,
i feel it is somewhat lacking in features. i was suprised to find that
there were no basic games or real music samples included with the phone.
also the photo quality is not as good as expected. however, the biggest
problem i have found with it is trying to load photos onto the pc, it
takes FOREVER! Not very impressed
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Reviewed by Justin from England on 5th Jan 2008
I ordered the G800 as a second phone to back up my HTC S710 which although
very good lacks a good camera. Here are my good and bad observations:
The Good: Looks very smart, Camera is excellent in daylight, Optical
Zoom works well in daylight. 3g works well. The Bad: Quite Big by todays
standards. Camera is poor at night, Xenon Flash is very disappointing
considering how everyone raves about it. Keyboard is a little fiddly.
Conclusion: Its a big phone that looks smart but the camera simply is
only very good in daylight. It is not the finished article and I actually
think the photos on my old Nokia N73 look better at night on screen
than this. A great shame because it really could of been the complete
camera phone, but I guess I will have to keep waiting..........
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Reviewed by shagoto from australia on 5th Jan
2008
it's the best phone ever i have seen
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Reviewed by Full Metal enterprise from England on
4th Jan 2008
So Am I the only one with the camera freezing problem then? If so then
a reaplcment should sort out my problem.
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Reviewed by Hannah from England on 4th Jan 2008
I like this phone. Camera is good but the really really bad thing is
the battery. Mine lasted for 1 day yesterday..........does this happen
to all or just mine. If it does happen to you all, does it not annoy
you? Maybe i am doing something wrong but it's a phone so how wrong
can it be?
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Reviewed by beth from england on 3rd Jan 2008
im having similar problems to other people but it's probably something
you can help me solve. when the flash is on the pictures go much darker
than how they looked even without the flash. when i took some pictures
at night they were still dark and unclear. is there anything im doing
wrong? has anybody got any pointers for me? other than that i think
the phone is lovely, it looks great. its slightly heavier than similar
phones like the viewty but that isnt a major problem. oh yeah one other
big problem is that when i have it on silent, after i send a text it
still bleeps when it shows my balance. is this because im with o2? does
anyone know how i can stop this? thank you!
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Reviewed by Chris D from U.K. on 2nd Jan 2008
I upgraded from a D900. I have only had the phone for a week but the
disappointments I found with the G800 in comparisson with the D900 were-
TEXT MESSAGING. The G800 has more submenus making it fiddly sending
a text. It always reverts back to T9 mode even when you have set it
to Abc mode. It will only allow a maximum of 10 txt's to be sent at
one time. Calls- Not sure if this is a T-Mobile problem or not but 50%
of outgoing calls result in 'Call Ended' before a connection has been
made. Also callers voice fades sometimes. General- The phone is much
heavier and deeper than it's later cousins. The camera is ok but the
end result isn't the same as the photo you shoot (the colour changes).
I don't want to send the phone back, but if T-Moblile can't rectify
the 'Call Ended' problem, I'm afraid it's going.
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Reviewed by Full Metal Enterprise from England on
31st Dec 2007
Got this phone on an upgrade from Vodafone. I Like it very much, but
It has to go back because it is faulty. The camera only works half the
time! You are supposed to just slide the lense cover back and the camera
should come on automaticly. However, most of the time the screen goes
to camera mode but will not take a picture, then it just makes the phone
freeze up and you have to wait a few minutes before you can use it again.
This tends to happen more when the phone has been in idel mode for a
while, but that should not matter. Voda fone are out of stock of the
G800 untill the 7th of january 08. Hopefully when I get it exchanged
I will no longer have this problem. If I do, then it is going back.
Shame really as all other aspecs of the handset are really very good.
Oh, you cant get a good leather carry case for it at the moment either
! Has anyone else had the same sort of problems with the camera freezing
up like mine?
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Reviewed by J Davies from UK on 31st Dec 2007
For all you people getting blurred photos you need to understand how
to turn the anti-shake on. You do NOT do it by going to menu, to settings
, to application settings, to camera settings & choose anti-shake on
& save, IT WILL NOT SAVE!. Samsung told me that it's best to do it this
way...Switch the camera on, then press menu key (one with the lined
sheet of paper icon), choose "rear camera" & then scroll through the
on-screen menu to the right until you reach "settings", press the central
navigation key & set anti-shake to on. An icon will show on the screen
to let you know it is on. Please note that this will only last for the
one session. You will need to activate anti-shake again next time you
switch the camera on. ( It defaults to off every time the camera is
closed down)....a pain I know but according to Samsung when I rang them
about this, this is how it should be & they told me the way to do it
this second way rather than the way I was doing it..(ie the first way
shown above).
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Reviewed by JONATHAN from ENGLAND on 28th Dec
2007
ACE PHONE BUT I THINK ITS VERY BIG AND IN MY OPINION F210 IS BETTA BUT
STILL GREAT PHONE MA UNCLE HAS IT
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Reviewed by Lee from UK on 27th Dec 2007
Just read some of the reviews below and I have to agree that the camera
is not all it is cracked up to be. Nearly all of my xmas pics have come
out blurred(may not have had the anti-shake on tho)and the pics taken
in the evening and in subdued lighting are so grainy they are a complete
waste of time. It took almost 10 minutes to download 26 pics to my PC
which is not quick enough. I am wondering if there is a fault on my
phone with the camera, as someone said with a phone camera you should
just be able to point and click otherwise I may as well just get an
ordianry phone and go back to my digital camera. Apart from that it
is a really cool phone!
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Reviewed by Nicko from Uk on 26th Dec 2007
sean sweeney did u shoot with flash or avaliable light? The law of photography
states that the lower the light conditions the longer the shutter has
to open to create a exposure. You said in your post u took 59 pics "last
night" - mate try taking pic in the day anti shake only accounts for
2 stops and in dark conditions Like in a club or bar) that does not
even matter . How can you say the device does not work when you do not
even understand photography, man does my head in. Also if you were shooting
with out the flash at night on people the iso would be cranked up so
the pics would look noisy. please understand how things work with out
posting a bad review because you the operator does not understand photography
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Reviewed by emma from england on 21st Dec 2007
i recieved the samsung g800 yesterday and wasnt very impressed its very
ugly and is HUGE so big infact that id get cramp if i text on it! i
have a;ready decided after having it for only a few hours that it was
going back. perfect phone for a man but definatly not a girly girls
phone! well not unless you feel safer when u carry a brick in your bag!
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Reviewed by Cherry from UK on 21st Dec 2007
When I first saw the specifications for this phone I thought it seemed
amazing. I was a bit sceptical about buying another Samsung as I didn't
find my last one very user friendly. But Samsung really have come up
trumps with this phone, in my opinion. The niggly little problems with
my previous Samsung (such as having to turn on the T9 dictionery for
every new text created, and the camera taking photos whilst in my handbag)
have been solved. Some people say it's a bit big but I think it's OK
size-wise, and it feels more sturdy in your hand than a Razr or the
like. And I am very impressed with the video quality, especially the
sound. All in all, a great phone.
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Reviewed by Sean Sweeney from England on 21st
Dec 2007
I have recently purchased this phone as an upgrade from the Samsung
D900. My first impressions are that the camera is a terrible letdown
and does not appear to function correctly. I have noticed downloading
to computer via Bluetooth takes a dreadful long time. So much so I abandoned
the first attempt for the length of download time was awful. I was under
the impression something was wrong. The anti shake does not work. Each
time I set the anti shake device to on and save it defaults back to
off. I took 59 pictures last night in does and out and all were of poor
quality. Hence I will be returning this camera for I feel there is an
internal problem with it. If the next shows no improvement I will refer
back to the D900. The radio on the G800 works fine. But overall I am
disappointed. Its bulky size appears to show that this is not a hybrid
mobile. The camera appears separate. So why the poor quality pictures.
I cannot understand why the makers did not pick up on the obvious faults.
I will see how the camera performs when I exchange it.
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Reviewed by Nikita Kondraskov from Japan on 18th
Dec 2007
Great phone. Quite easy to use for almost all usual tasks of a phone.
The key pad could be a bit more to the top, so that dialing with big
masculine hands would be more easier.
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Reviewed by khanishtan from uk on 18th Dec 2007
it is very cool fone
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Reviewed by Kurdogan from Kurdistan on 18th Dec
2007
Very nice! I like! Good for sexy time! Fits in turban!
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Reviewed by no-one special from pensilvania on
17th Dec 2007
the best!!!
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Reviewed by Sid from UK on 17th Dec 2007
This is the best phone yet, though the User Interface is not like the
G600. Would have preferred a better User Interface (the menu). But still,
the best camera phone - getting rid of digital camera now.
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Reviewed by jonathan from england on 17th Dec
2007
this is a realy nice phone bett6er thn g600 but again thts a nice phne
but i luv this
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Reviewed by kristian from sweden on 16th Dec 2007
Bought my samsung G800 a couple of days ago and I'm very pleased except
for a few details that is missing. The mediaplayer doesn't have an ecualizer
like the G600 and I still have some problems to find everything but
thats probably just me since I used to have Sony ericsson :P
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Reviewed by jo from uk on 16th Dec 2007
what a dissapointment this phone is,the pictures taken inside are abismal.My
nokia 6500 takes better pictures.The reviews about it being a brilliant
camera they obviously havent tried taking pictures in the evening inside.To
me the whole idea of having a camera phone is that you can just point
and shoot to capture the moment, you should not have to mess about with
the settings every time you want to take a picture.The slightest movement
makes the photo blurred, this is the worst camera phone i have seen,apart
from taking bad photos the phone is not to bad.My advice is do not buy
this phone if you want quality pictures.
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Reviewed by nowwhere from chine on 15th Dec 2007
brillant u should buy it i love this fone i will keep that forever and
it bette thn G600
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Reviewed by Phil from england on 15th Dec 2007
This is suppose to be the best camera phone on the market,it's rubbish.Daylight
pictures not a problem, but try taking a photo in subdued lighting and
you will see what I mean,no matter what you do to the settings the picture
comes out dark,they hype on about the brilliant flash but it obviously
isnt.My sony 800i takes better quality pictures.When i contacted Samsung
they were no help just saying "IT IS WHAT IT IS"no explanation why the
pictures were dark.My advice is do not buy this phone if you want good
quality pictures in any light conditions,because you won't get them
with this phone.
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Reviewed by ang from england on 14th Dec 2007
nothing special, and the battery cover is impossible to get off, big
and bulky, not too impressed at all
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Reviewed by daymo from uk on 13th Dec 2007
I think this phone is great yes its a little fat but technology needs
room!. Shame it dont have newer UI (user intgerface) like g600 but at
least you get sms tones with this baby I too cant access the anti shake
feature on my g800 battery life ok not as good as g600 but is 10x better
looking than any other phone on market oh and sony k850i is nearly as
fat!!! with lots of problems.
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Reviewed by Dave Cook from London England on 13th
Dec 2007
Ok Guys, I have just upgraded to this phone with O2. Reason i went for
it was i was sick of Nokia's keep letting me down and after past succesful
phones with Samsung decided on the G800. First Impressions are its BIG,
as big as my nokia 6280 i had a couple of years back. Secondly there
is no games installed on the phone? Something Samsung usually score
highly at on their phones. The menu is the same as most Samsungs and
the features are just about standard. The 3g is great for WAP and the
phone does the main things well. The Camera is excellent and rivals
the N95 easily. Sadly though the phone is just way to big. I know it
needs to be to house such a great camera but it sticks out like a brick
in my pocket and weighs loads. Im thinking of returning the phone to
O2 but not sure what to give a try next. The market seems a little quiet
right now. Can only give this phone 3 stars and thats just for the camera,
the size of the phone is a big big let down.
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Reviewed by zoe from australia on 13th Dec 2007
this phone is outstanding in every way.. i also have the nokia n95 as
well and there is little difference both excellent phones. ater taking
many pictures with both phones in different light settings and locations
ive come to the conclusion that the samsung camera is definatey the
better thumbs up to samsung as usual for a top top phone
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Reviewed by Richard Ehrenmeyer from UK on 12th
Dec 2007
Very nicely made, takes great photos, is a bit fat but feels very nice
in your hand.
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Reviewed by D Johnson from England on 12th Dec
2007
To be very honest I love this phone but there is one drawback, when
the phone is in its case and locked it can be unlocked and connects
to the internet simply by it touching the side of the case/phonesock.
Could be a nasty shock when you get your bill. Even the self imposed
phone lock does not stop this
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Reviewed by The Captain from England on 12th Dec
2007
Just a comment for Chris Ritchie(two reviews below)and others. The phone/camera
I am comparing the G800 against is a two year old Sharp903,3.2mp,2xoptical
zoom.I have taken hundreds of photos and they are as good if not better
than a lot of stand alone cameras.All you people have not had a great
camera on your phones before so you dont know what a really good picture
is.All these comment about about hold the phone still is irrelavent
as the G800 is supposed to have anti-shake,face recognition etc. With
Samsungs expertise in the field of cameras I cannot understand how they
have got this so wrong.I think that the G800 is the best(all metal)
built and looking slider phone and I would hope that the problems with
the camera are software related and can be resolved in the future with
a firmware fix.As a phone it is good
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Reviewed by L Breeze from UK on 12th Dec 2007
After a lot of picture taking without problems I am not sure what people
are moaning about. This phone has an excellent camera and takes extremely
good, clear photos. What it won't do is make people who take rubbish
photos better photographers! A bad workman blames his tools. I suggest
some practice and hold the thing still as you squeeze the shutter release.
that way you won't have all the blurred photos :-) It's also a very
good phone!
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Reviewed by Chris Ritchie from Scotland on 12th
Dec 2007
HAHA I think that Captain (four reviews below) needs to go out and buy
a digital camera and remember this is still a PHONE! For a phone it
is SUPERB and has really raised the standard. I think you need a lass
and not waste days taking 53 photos! HAHA BRILLIANT PHONE.
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Reviewed by Gary N from UK on 11th Dec 2007
I Got this phone on Contract From Orange UK, As I just wanted a good
looking phone, nice camera and nice video camera, Orange and Samsung
Delivered. Its Well Built, Takes Very Nice Pictures, And For A Big Handed
Person Like Me, The Buttons are very well set out, The only down point
is that the menu is a bit primative, same menu as my wifes 50 quid samsung,
still thats not enough to lose a star, Again well done samsung
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Reviewed by Mr Mediator from GB on 11th Dec 2007
Ok, to all you peeps buying this phone JUST so you can use it as a camera
and then slam it for not being the 1000GBP opticaly superb creation
you THOUGHT or, rather, EXPECTED it to be I say this... As phones go
- you cannot beat this creation from Samsung. Remember - nobody comes
even close to these specs. If you want a camera - go buy a camera. If
you want a laptop - go buy one. If you want mobile internet - get a
umpc with a usb / sim based 3g/3.5g connection. You will not see a SUPER-DOOPER
camera+phone+mobile office any time soon! Certainly not this side of
2010 an maybe not even until 2015. Even then - are you prepared to sacrifice
all the component, dedicated goods you may hav stockpiled JUST to integrate
all functions into one device? "All eggs in one basket" springs to mind.
So just appreciate this technical (and consumer-priced) marvel for what
it REALY IS... A foundation for the future and NOT an immediate "magic
bullet".
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Reviewed by J. Davies from UK on 10th Dec 2007
I bought this phone for voice calls & photography...I don't use texting
& dont want it for music or internet etc. With regard to voice calls
& photography, in my opinion, this phone lives up to its high specifications.
I have a Sony Ericsson K810i (albeit a 3.2 megapixel camera) & a Nokia
N95. I have compared photographs taken by each of these & the G800 gives
me the best photographs. I can't understand why some of the reviews
are decrying the camera (unless their's are faulty). The only niggle
I have with the G800 is the anti shake which has to be enabled on each
session of photograph taking. At the end of the session it defaults
to off & has to be re-enabled on the next session. This is a pain because
this option is quite far down in the menu system. I would have liked
to have been able to enable it with just one or two clicks instead of
ploughing through a lengthy menu system. The build is sturdy & although
it doesn't win the "world's slimmest phone" competition, it's slim enough
for me & in anycase does it really matter?..it's not as if it's like
a house brick. Again..unlike others, I find this phone very stable.
As I said earlier I do not text so the keys are not a problem & a darn
sight better than the pin head keys of the Sony Ericsson. So, in conclusion,
I think this is a superb phone & would highly recommend it.
Rating:
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Reviewed by The Captain from England on 10th Dec
2007
As promised here is the update for the G800.After taking delivery of
the phone last week (first one faulty) I have put it though the mill.Build
quality is excellent, the phone works well,interface is not the best
but you get used to it,the usual features work well.Now to the camera.Today
I took 53 photos thouhout the day from dull to sunny,inside with & without
flash,with anti-shake & face recognition on & with various settings
on the camera for differnt lighting conditions etc.The photos were put
on computer & then printed, out of 53 photos only 15 were good (colour
& sharpness) 10 okay the rest no good.Outdoors with the camera set up
correcly in bright conditions you will get good pictures. Indoors even
with the camera set up all the photos will be blurred the face recogniton
& anti shake do not work at all. Overall very dissapointed with what
should have been an awesome camera phone according to its technical
spec.I just hope some at Samsung reads mine & other comments to find
out where they went wrong.
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Reviewed by JK from uk on 8th Dec 2007
Myself and my partner picked this phone as we use the camera alot and
it seemed like the best camera/phone about. We loved it at first, looks
good, seemed solid/sturdy and the camera is really good (even if you
have use settings as auto not very good). Two days after getting them
my partners display went blank although she could make/receive calls
and guess at what menu she was selecting. Arranged for replacement meanwhile
my microphone stopped working. Arranged replacement. Had them both exchanged
yesterday and already display on one has gone again. I have previously
had sharp 902 and 903 which had great camera (at the time), the SE K800i
which was really good, I tried the k850i and didn;t like it as much
as the nokia n95 but that was exchanged 3 times due to faults so got
rid of it. I am really disappointed with the stability of the Samsung
it was potentially the best thing out there.
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Reviewed by Chris from UK on 8th Dec 2007
Was torn between getting this or the Sony K850i, but after hearing about
the software bugs on the Sony I went for the G800. What a mistake! On
spec the camera looks great, with the 5 megapixel, optical zoom and
proper flash (not just a bright light), but all isn't as it seems. The
flash is pathetic and even in moderate light conditions the pictures
come out dark and grainy. Most images seem to come out blurred even
if there is very little movement so useless for group photos or proving
that your mate was really wearing the beer goggles. With the zoom you
will be lucky to get any decent photos at all. The keypad is awkward
and the phone feels top heavy when trying to type a text. I haven't
had the G800 long enough to comment on the operational aspects of the
phone, but don't plan to either. It's going back first post tomorrow.
For what was potentially an excellent camera phone on paper, this is
average at at best.
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Reviewed by rejaul from uk on 4th Dec 2007
Ok il be honest 1st of all G600 is way better it handles the same picture
quality except g800 doesnt have ISO 800 it only has IS0 400 and the
video supports 340x240 mp4 when G600 supports 640x340 and u cant change
themes onthe damn phone, which is really bad lol....ID PREFER G600 OR
N95
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Reviewed by D4RBE from UK on 2nd Dec 2007
ITS NOT AS GOOD AS MY OLD SONYERRICSON K800i, KEYPAD IS AWFULL, CAMERA
IS ONLY ANY GOOD IF EVERYTHING IS NOT MOVING! 75% OF ALL MY PHOTO'S
AT A WEDDING AT THE WEEKEND ARE GETTING DELETED.... BLURD!!! ITS GOING
BACK! LOOKS AND FEELS NICE THOUGH!
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Reviewed by Rick the phone guy from Minnesota, USA on
2nd Dec 2007
I got this phone two days ago. It is simply amazing. I swapped up from
the Samsung D900 to the Iphone now I have dumped the Iphone for good.
The camera is amazing, the flash and zoom second to none. The menu is
typical Samsung setup nothing to amazing but as always easy to use.
I just love the fact that i get to use the internet and not have to
pay for a data package. basically this phone is perfect.
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Reviewed by taj from ireland on 2nd Dec 2007
not better than g600
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Reviewed by Gavin from UK on 30th Nov 2007
I've had many "top" phones over the years. The K750i, K800i, Orange
SPVC550/600/E650, Nokia N95 just to name a few. This however is my first
Samsung phone. You will be aware that Samsung make 90% of Bang & Olufsen
components and there is due for release a new B&O phone which if you
google you will find is truely stunning. I'm let down by the G800 as
i find the menu's and the overall use of the phones software to be rather
"Primative". Especially compared to that of say Nokia and Sony. Now
each have their own little Quirks, nokia being unstable, Sony - Slow,
but to bring out a phone with so many nice features and something that
looks great and then use a primative menu system with it seems a little
backwards to me. As some have already said, the keypad tones can't be
switched off without loosing other phone sounds like the shutter sound.
Not a huge problem but a problem all the same. I find the camera outstanding,
having used the N95 extensively it is far superior. I do not find the
pictures grainy at all, quite the contrary, i thought them to be sharp
and full of detail. Especially when i took a picture of a circuit board,
picking up the text written on each chip very easily. The other problem
with the phone i think is that the menu systems font size can not be
changed. I've read manuals, googled it and all to no avail. The overall
look of the phone is outstanding, Samsung have really outdone themselves.
Build quality has to be the best phone i've ever had the pleasure to
use. Noramlly plastic covers with "unfitting" panels clipped together.
Not the G800, close fitting metal panels/covers which makes it feel
like you're hold a quality item. The keypad while a little more tricky
to use than that of other phones is still nice to use and is very neatly
put together. I would not hesitate to purchase the G800 again as i feel
the menu system may even have improvements made to it when and if an
update to the firmware is released by Samsung. If enough people where
to e-mail Samsung i would imagine that they'd make some changes for
us and send out an Update. All in all an outstanding phone with little
"quirks", but doesn't every phone have them?
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Reviewed by Soulja Girl from US on 30th Nov 2007
This phone is a horrible dump.Doesn't even work.Like the Captain from
England said, It still doesn't work on full strenght and battery and
wont allow calls.Although it is a nice looking phone. For the people
that are thinking about buying it DON"T It's a waste of time and money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by monkeyhead from uk on 29th Nov 2007
lovely
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Reviewed by The Captain from England on 28th Nov
2007
Awesome looking phone, well built.Camera not all that it should be.
I am hoping mine was a faulty phone as after only seven days it would
not allow calls to be made or recieved dispite showing full battery
and signal strength.A replacement will arrive on Friday so watch this
space for an update.
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Reviewed by chief sausage from uk on 28th Nov
2007
bought this phone thinking its got a good camera the rest of it cant
be too bad.. yes the camera is great, unfortunatly the rest of it is
that bad. in brief here is my experiences with it delivery reports on
messages come in as a message so make you read them when you spell something
in the t9 dictionary it automatically starts the word you are spelling
with a capital letter and does so every time you use it from then on
two choices of key tones, xylophone or beep, since the xylophone got
on my nerves i chose beeps, but it still sometimes plays stupid tunes
on exiting certain menus! since the flat keypad is hard to type long
messages with without giving you repetitive strain injury i decided
to use samsung pc studio to type txts, totaly useless since it only
lets you type 160 characters (one txt) and it wont let u read most of
what u receive if the sender has a new(ish) phone... you will get 'This
is a EMS message, view in phone' while connected to the pc most of the
other functions will not work, you cant even read the txt that pc studio
will not show you unless you unplug it from the pc good luck if you
were planning to use software with it, i still dont know what o/s it
uses, it can handle java games (i think), i was hoping to use a version
of tomtom with it but gave up since i could not even find out what o/s
it had. one last thing is why on earth is the bluetooth visibility in
with the memory card settings? thats just plain stupid i have always
been a nokia follower, but decided to give samsung a chance for the
sake of the camera with 3* optical zoom, unfortunatly that and the good
looks is most of what this phone has to offer. while nokia's firmware
might not be as stable as some other types of phone at least they have
some usefull functions, user friendliness and software availability.
I am prepared to put up with the odd freeze or crash to have all the
other things i expect of a phone these days, so nokia n95 8gb here i
come
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Reviewed by viv from london on 28th Nov 2007
love the look and feel of this phone. I bought it because of the camera
but its not as brill as advertised it very grainy and the flash works
when it feels like?? maybe 2 stars
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Reviewed by zoe from australia on 28th Nov 2007
it so awesoem!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by wow wow wow from uk on 26th Nov 2007
i love this phone is so cool it is even better than my old nokia n95
but i miss the sat nav the camera is 5 megapixels whit optical zoom
and it is a 3.5g a much impoment on 3g 3.5g gives you tv and faster
internet [hsdpa] moveing on the screen is a tft 262k colours and you
can even conect it to your tv so you can see your pics vids ect i am
so glad i upgaded to this phone i one nag i still dont unerstand why
this phone dont have sat nav on it considaring that my nokia n95 did
and that had a 5 megapixel camera but whit out the optical zoom uther
than that this phone is outstanding go on get it.............5 stars...............
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Reviewed by George from England on 26th Nov 2007
Overall a good phone,well engineered.As for the the camera, its good
but just how good we will have to see.I have a two year old Sharp 903
3.2 meg with 2x optical zoom,which after taking thousands of pictures
is the benchmark for all camera phones.I have only had the G800 for
five days but have taken many test photos and printed them.On this camera
the auto settings will not handle situations other than outdoor daylight
well.Indoors under incandesent lighting or fluorescent you have to set
these functions to get good photos as I found the flash lacking in power.With
my Sharp I could take excellant razor sharp pictures with the G800 I
dont feel confident to garantee good pictures all the time.I will continue
to test this camera phone and master all its featues to see if it will
at least match the performance of the Sharp 903.
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Reviewed by Simon from England on 25th Nov 2007
Well in so many ways this phone ticks all the boxes for me, especially
as its the first samsung ive ever bought. It looks beautiful, ive never
had a slide design before and it works very well. It is rather bulky
but at the same time very sleek looking. The display is large, and the
menus are very quick (in comparison to my last phone, the SE k800i)
The keypad while very flat, with no real key definition is still easy
to use while texting. Now onto the major let down for me; the camera.
Boxed and packaged with a slogan saying 'photgraphers choice' i thought
great, an improvement on the k800i camera (which is superb) Sadly this
isnt so, the pictures are very grainy, autoshake doesnt work at the
same time as the flash, and most annoyingly, the flash seems to pick
and choose when it wants to work (whether its on auto or ON permanently)
I just cant rely on it to take a decent picture. For me, it is nowhere
near as good as the k800i camera (at least on the camera display) Additionally,
there doesnt seem to be any way to have the camera sounds on if you
turn the keysounds down for everything else, stupid. To sum it up, its
a brilliant 'phone', reception on vodafone is excellent but the camera
is a let down (maybe a firmware update will fix this, but why the hell
should i pay for something that doesnt work straight out of the box)
The phone itself feels very 'empty' there are no applications or bells
and whistles, no games (maybe this is just vodafone), so if you want
a 'clean slate' with lots of memory and good functionality get it. Maybe
wait 6months for more support/updated firmware before getting it solely
for the camera. It has a rushed feel to it.
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Reviewed by bradley from england on 24th Nov 2007
it is sik man it is the best phone
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Reviewed by raf from khu on 24th Nov 2007
i have got it but not sure, it seems a bit big, i don't know whay to
do if i sould return it back, i have read the comments from others,
but still not certain
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Reviewed by Alex Jansons from England on 22nd
Nov 2007
The best phone eeeeeeeever
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Reviewed by Gwen from Uk on 22nd Nov 2007
Brilliant fone by Samsung as usual. Go get it.
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Reviewed by Matthew Crighton from UK on 18th Nov
2007
WORD OF WARNING - THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR... In some pictures, there
is an awful lot of noise, and some blurr. Video res. seems to be at
320x240, with only 15fps; G600 does better. Optical zoom will blurr
pictures a little, depending on the environmental conditions.
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Reviewed by Sid from UK on 15th Nov 2007
Amazing phone. The upgrade to the G600. No, the best phone of this year!
Not slim, but a good size, as u can call it a digital camera as well.
So many features that it beats all the phones of this year. Anyone giving
this less than 4 stars hasn't seen this phone and are enemies to Samsung.
After this phone, the Sony Ericsson K850i is the next best thing. But
so far this is the one!
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Reviewed by wow from uk on 14th Nov 2007
this phone is excellent go get it now
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Reviewed by Henry from UK on 14th Nov 2007
I have just bought this phone on contract.Great camera.The best phone
i have ever had.
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Reviewed by sham from london, uk on 14th Nov 2007
If anyone wants to know the Release Date for the Samsung G800, it's
on the 19th of this month (November on O2. Hope this help the impatient
people like myself who are dieing to know when it's coming out. I just
hope it's good as it sounds. My only worry is the size of the thing,
it sounds big.
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Reviewed by trish from wales on 11th Nov 2007
i bought this phone today from the usa. its absolutely amazing. buy
it as soon as you can.
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Reviewed by piti from london on 10th Nov 2007
its a great phone,,,you'll love it
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