Samsung Launches 5mp G800 with 3x Optical Zoom in Europe

Samsung SGH-G800

Samsung SGH-G800

Samsung SGH-G800

Today Samsung officially launched its new SGH-G800 cameraphone for the European market. The G800 is the world's first 5 megapixel cameraphone to come equipped with a 3x optical zoom, something generally reserved for dedicated point and shoot cameras. I had the chance last week to spend a few minutes with the G800 at a Samsung sponsored event in Seoul, South Korea.

While this slider phone can hardly be called small, the G800 can be forgiven for its size when one considers that its camera offers features that are on par with modern point and shoot cameras, yet it still offers full phone functionality with features like HSDPA 3G data. Samsung does earn credit for implementing the G800's 3x optical zoom completely inside the body of the camera, something most dedicated cameras can not boast. Chief among its advanced camera features, beyond the auto-focus and optical zoom, are the SGH-G800's xenon flash, digital image stabilization, red eye reduction mode, and face detection system.

The G800's camera makes use of a new Samsung camera user interface that I found to be pretty easy to navigate, and not unlike the UI that Sony Ericsson uses in many of its more advanced cameraphones. As is normal for dual-faced cameraphones, the G800 is held horizontally when taking photos so that its large 2.4" 262k color QVGA display is viewed in landscape format. Other features of this GSM/3G handset include PictBridge, USB 2.0, and Bluetooth 2.0 support in addition to a full HTML browser (NetFront), and a microSD memory card expansion slot.

The tri-band GSM/EDGE (900/1800/1900Mhz), 2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA Samsung SGH-G800 measures 101mm x 51mm x 19mm (4.0" x 2.0" x .7") in size and should be available in select European markets starting in November of this year. No pricing information has been provided at this point.

You'll find more photos of the Samsung SGH-G800 on the following page.

Samsung SGH-G800

Samsung SGH-G800

Samsung SGH-G800

Samsung SGH-G800