Landing in the UK as the first 8-megapixel camera-packing mobile, the Samsung i8510 aims to deliver more than just pretty pictures. As well as its high-quality shooting potentially, the Symbian S60 V3.2-equipped device stacks up enough feature firepower to slug it out with the big hitters from Nokia.

With a chunky sliderphone design that’s not dissimilar to Nokia’s successful N95 8GB template (except for the absence of a dual slider), the i8510 ticks most of the boxes from that model’s spec list – and in some cases beefs up the functionality too. It’s a powerful device.

The Samsung i8510 runs online using HSDPA (up to 7.2Mbps variety) and Wi-Fi connectivity, offering high-speed downloading, streaming and browsing. Coming in versions with either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage – and supporting microSD memory card expansion with cards of up to 16GB – there’s stacks of room for storing media content, high-res snaps and so on.

Samsung provides ample music and video player software, with support for DivX video onboard – and there’s a standard 3.5mm headphone socket on the bodywork so you can upgrade earphones from the standard in-box set.

A-GPS satellite location finding is built in too, and Samsung has set up the i8510 with a decent serving of additional online-based apps and a comprehensive set of standard organiser and PIM tools.

Design

Its chunky 106.5(h) x 53.9(w) x 17.2(d)mm frame, weighing136g, make it slightly larger but thinner than the N95 8GB. But its black casing is solidly built, and the rounded edges give it a comfortable in-hand feel.

The i8510 has a sensibly-sized 2.8inch QVGA, 16-million colour display – similar to the Nokia N95 8GB’s. An accelerometer enables automatic screen switching, according to how the handset’s held.

A secondary video-calling camera sits above the screen, and there’s a fairly conventional-looking set of controls, dominated by a large, square navigation D-pad. The D-pad has some touch-sensitive trackpad capability to go with regular directional tapping. This option enables you to scroll swiftly through menu lists or negotiate web pages with light finger stroking action on the central button.

A nice idea that works well on some functions. But it’s sometimes awkward to get really precise control in that small space, and its sensitivity can lead to accidentally-brushed selection errors and mis-clicking. We didn’t feel its inclusion was particularly advantageous overall, but you can stroke-it-and-see for yourself.

The sprung slider mechanism reveals a spacious numberpad, with roomy buttons adequately differentiated and responsive enough for fast text tapping. Additional buttons above the numbers provide user-customisable feature shortcuts.

Samsung's S60

Samsung’s take on the S60 user interface means a different homescreen set-up to Nseries models. From a column of function shortcut icons down the left, users can click on Shortcuts, Calendar, Music player, FM radio and Personalisation options, which expand into further sub-menu lists. These useful fast access options can be user defined too.

The main menus won’t scare off anyone who’s used a Nokia Nseries device before. Tapping the main menu button on the control panel pulls up an icon-based menu whose UI and structure have very familiar Nokia S60 characteristics.
The 8-megapixel camera will be an immediate highlight feature for most buyers. The lens is protected by an automatic slider cover that opens when the camera is activated. As well as the regular camera snapping button, there’s a selector slider on the side that switches between camera, video or playback, offering user-friendly, standalone camera-like control.

Unlike the photo-centric G800 phone, Samsung hasn’t included an optical zoom, or gone for specialist-branded optics, and it’s opted for a dual-LED flash rather than a Xenon flash.

Nonetheless, the i8510 is capable of some fantastic shots for a cameraphone, capturing superb detail with sensitive colour reproduction. The narrow autofocus system allows precise focusing on subjects. An excellent macro mode allows high quality close ups too. Additional gadgetry includes blink detection (it waits to take a shot if the subject is blinking), and anti-shake stabilisation. A novel – and highly effective – motion detection-aided panorama multiple shot-stitching mode is included too, though shots are restricted to VGA resolution in this mode.

A stack of settings adjustments can be made to improve on the auto shooting system or add effects. Shots can be geo-tagged too, using the onboard A-GPS to embed positioning metadata into photo files, so you can see where they’ve been taken on suitable applications, such as Google Maps. It’s a fast-operating camera, with no shutter lag issues or slow-processing annoyances.

Low-light shooting was more lacklustre, the flash lacking some oomph when trying to take shots in dark environments. Still, in general, the i8510 took some of the most impressive shots we’ve yet seen on a cameraphone.

In just a few button presses after snapping, images can be uploaded online to content sharing sites, blogs, social networking services and so on, using the embedded Shozu client.

Videos can be uploaded just as easily. The i8510 has impressive video capture capability – it can shoot up to VGA resolution at 30 frames per second for normal footage, or at 120 frames per second in QVGA quality in slow-motion mode, for smooth slo-mo playback. Quality is certainly better than you’d normally get with a phone.

In addition, downloaded or sideloaded video on the RealPlayer app plays excellently on the full 2.8-inch screen in landscape mode. The music player hits the right notes too. It has a familiar S60 look and feel about it, with typical categories for tracks and a serviceable user interface.

Audio quality is extremely likeable – clear, well balanced, and underpinned by sufficient bass presence. The supplied in-ear bud headset – which comes with a selection of plastic tips for a good ear-fit - delivers a high-grade performance, while there’s the option of upgrading to better quality headphones via the 3.5mm socket. The socket would have been better placed be on top rather than on the side of the handset, but at least it’s present and correct. An FM radio is also included.

Satellite imagery

The A-GPS gadgetry on the i8510 works effectively enough. It’s used with the onboard Google Maps software for positioning, route mapping and location-based searches. It offers all the regular mobile Google Maps services you get on many feature phones, but with satellite-tracked precision.

For a fuller satellite navigation service, Samsung has loaded a Route 66 Sat Nav application, though would-be users do have to subscribe to it before they can get turn-by-turn voice instructions and route-planning. We’d have liked to have had some trial software at least.

On average, in our tests the A-GPS system appeared slightly slower to lock on than equivalent Nokia Nseries phones, though once zeroed in, location finding and movement were perfectly handled.

Mobile web browsing is a reasonable experience with the standard S60 browser; it’s like a typical Nseries device, so there’s none of the smooth slickness of the iPhone. It has Flash support, though, and HSDPA and Wi-Fi mean loading times are fast.

A generous helping of office tools and organiser applications are standard issue too, including push email support, QuickOffice and Adobe PDF document viewers, calendar, notes, calculator, voice recorder, clock and alarm features, plus a dictionary app. Mobile gamers can also play decent Asphalt 3 Street Rules and FIFA 08 games.

With plenty of power-hungry features to hand, battery life is acceptable on the i8510. Samsung suggests optimum talktime figures of up to 5 hours in 3G coverage (8.5 hours on GSM networks), or standby time of 330 hours, though in real life scenarios that will depend on your feature usage. Call quality was reliably high-class throughout our tests.

While the Samsung i8510’s 8-megapixel camera may be its marquee feature, there’s a heck of a lot more to this handset than its terrific imaging performance. It’s a heavyweight handset in many ways, with some top-end features, and we were impressed by the overall functionality delivered in this smartphone. A top-drawer S60 effort from Samsung.