[jibber26]

Hi everone,

I have a SE K800i and have found it a brilliant phone in every respect. It playes music easily via two clicks with the joystick but the best feature was the camera as it had a good flash making picture quality good even in poor lighting conditions.

I have been in the middle of an upgrade with orange for the last 3 weeks but I can`t find a phone with a decent camera. My fist natural choice was the k810i but when I got it out of the box I noticed it had a joystick which is the one thing that went a bit dodgy on my k800i so I sent it back.

On friday my new Nokia 6500 arrived but I was disappointed that it didn`t have multiple alarm settings or an easyly managable note pad function (I have a bad memory so I used that alot) and i couldn`t figure out how to record telephone conversations. Also there were only two buttons on the keypad that you could assign shortcuts to.

I have heard the K850i is slow and cumbersome, the nokia N63 or whatever isn`t free with my network and the best samsung have to offer, the G800 has a rubbish camera in poor conditions.

So whats the best camera phone? Is it worth going with my original decision and goping back to the k810i and gamble that the joystick doesn`t break? Any ideas anyone? My mokia is going back to orange tomorrow and Ive got a week to find a phone I like :-(

Regards
Greg

[Sukh88]

Im in a similar position to you...i also have the k800i and am finding it hard to replace atm...the only decent phone iv seen atm is the LG Viewty...but then its an LG and am not sure if it has the same quality as the sony...especially as it will probly last the 18 months till my next upgrade.

I dont mind the touch screen...tho u may find it bit tedious and tiresome after a while.

Other decent camera phone may be the N95 which my cousin owns and he is happy with it so far.

Hope this helps and good luck

Sukh

[Jollyjimbo]

I've had a K810i now for almost a year and am about to get a new phone in the next couple of weeks.

I can only say that I will be glad to say goodbye to my 810 as it is, without a doubt, the worst phone I've had. Don't get me wrong, the camera side of things has been pretty good and things like the joystick and keypad (which you do get used to) have held up well. Its things like signal breakup (in strong signal zones) and fairly poor vocal clarity. Texts that take ages to send, memory cards slot that can't detect memory cards, poor battery life and hit or miss charging to name but a few.

Basically as a camera its fine for what it is, but as a phone, its been pretty poor.

[RobM]

This is a really interesting one, as things haven't moved on as much as you might have expected, considering the massive interest in camera phones!

The K850i was supposed to be the successor to the K800i that improves quality. But, in reality, it's no better than the K800i/K810i with current firmware revisions. The camera has the potential to be much better, but the firmware lets it down at the moment. The K800i/K810i with it's more stable and mature firmware can actually produce better results than the K850i! BUT... it was the same story with the K800i when it first came out, where the picture quality was disappointing, but it got better and better as the firmware was updated and improved over time. So I hope the K850i will go the same way!

The Nokia 5MP cameras (N95, N82 etc) are a good choice, but other than being a larger resolution, offer no better quality than the K800i/K810i. That's not a criticism of the Nokias but a big compliment to the K's. As you may know, higher MP doesn't mean higher quality.

The Samsung G800 is a very good choice, as it has great quality and an optical zoom lens. I've not tested this in a direct comparison to the Sony Ericssons or Nokias, but it is a very good camera.

Things haven't really improved much over the last few years though. I mean, Sharp were doing optical zoom a good few years ago before disappearing from the UK market. And it's only recently that another big player has matched that. It's a size thing really, there is only so much you can do in a tiny form factor with tiny lens's.

[arfster]

They're all pretty poor, tbh. You can up the megapixels as much as you like, but the size of the sensor is still tiny, as is the lens.

[Jollyjimbo]

Originally Posted by arfster

They're all pretty poor, tbh. You can up the megapixels as much as you like, but the size of the sensor is still tiny, as is the lens.

They will never be a replacement for a proper camera but they certainly are convenient for the odd snapshot. I have plenty of blackmail material on some of my mates. Saves me a bit of cash when my round comes up at the pub.

[RobM]

Originally Posted by arfster

They're all pretty poor, tbh. You can up the megapixels as much as you like, but the size of the sensor is still tiny, as is the lens.

I sort of agree with you, but not quite. I've had some very good results out of camera phones (mainly SonyEricssons) in the past and I've even taken them out with me on trips out instead of a camera. They will never be as good as a proper camera for exactly the reason you mention, but there is a great choice of camera phones that are far from poor these days

[barrybarryr]

I was in a similar position. I havd a K800i and it was the best phone I'd ever had. I upgraded to a black 6500 slide for 9 days and returned it the software was shocking.

I swapped it for a N95 and love it. I've only had it for four days but already think it is better than the K800i.

[JJimmySturo]

The Nokia N95 is the best camera phone I have ever used