Three fine new camera phones: Samsung Memoir and Omnia, LG Incite

Mobile phones continue to boast better cameras, as demonstrated by our Ratings of both cell phones and (especially) smart phones (both available to subscribers). These three new arrivals to our labs have cameras that fared impressively in preliminary tests in our labs.

Here are details on those test results, along with other information on the phones, which we continue to test. Prices are from the indicated wireless service carrier, with a two-year contract.

Samsung Memoir, $250, T-Mobile. (Click on the image at right for a closer look.) The best camera we've seen on a phone, whether a regular cell phone—as the Memoir is—or a smart phone. The Memoir's full-featured 8.0-megapixel camera, among the highest resolutions we've seen on a cell phone, produced excellent 8x10 prints, and very good 13x19 prints, in our tests. The camera was also less sluggish in taking shots than other 3- and 5-megapixel camera phones we’ve tested. It also has manual ISO settings up to 1600, allowing you to capture images in low-light conditions (though not without noise). Other camera features include a flash, autofocus, anti-shake control, face, smile and blink detection, and video recording.

The Memoir has an impressive array of other features, too. For example, it can view Office documents such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. That ability is usually the purview of the smart phone, which further confirms the blurring line between cell phone and smart phone.

Samsung Omnia, $100, Verizon. (Click at image right for a closer look.) A feature-packed smart phone that boasts a fine, full-featured 4.9-megapixel camera. The camera produced very good 8x10 photos in our tests.

One of the thinner phones we've tested lately, the Omnia has a relatively large 3.2-inch touch-screen display with widget bar navigation, and its interface is similar to Windows, which makes navigation intuitive to PC users. It synchronizes easily with Microsoft Outlook on a PC. It's also easy to switch between applications and run multiple programs, and you can create and edit Office documents.

The Omnia has built-in Wi-Fi for fast Web surfing, though it can't be used to swap data with other devices.

LG Incite, $100, AT&T. LG's first smart phone for the U.S. market, while small, manages to squeeze in a more-than-decent camera—albeit one that's not quite as good as the cameras on the new Samsungs. At 3.1-megapixels, it has fairly-high resolution for a phone and produced good-quality 8x10 prints in our tests.

The Incite has a relatively large 3.0-inch touch-screen display and its interface is similar to Windows, which makes navigation intuitive to PC users.

All three phones are now in testing, and will post soon to our Ratings. — Mike Gikas

Comments

[Patrick Harrison]

I have had Verizon's Omnia (Samsung 910)for long enough to appreciate it as a really well designed product. When coupled with Verizon's good network coverage (especially out in the western US) it is a very desirable unit. There is one HUGE problem, however. Verizon has crippled the phone so the only GPS product that can be used on it is their VZ Navigator. Other major cell carriers allow you to access most of the other GPS-based products out there; many of which are free. This intentional limiting of the phone's abilities cannot be explained-way by fragile arguments about "security" and the need for company "review of other products." Real customer dedication derives from the perception that a company has your best interests in mind, even it means putting a "revenue source" at risk. I sincerely hope that Verizon is being sincere about some indications that they might unlock such GPS functionalities in the near future. If they do, then they have earned my brand loyality.