Samsung i8 review

Lots of handheld devices combine multiple functions.

MP3 players can play video, some satnavs show photo slideshows, and mobile phones do all of the above, browse the web, take photos and more besides. However, we have yet to see any of these devices with a built-in camera that can match a dedicated digital camera for picture quality. Samsung's i8 might be the exception, though. It's a camera first and foremost, but it includes music and video playback and a text reader facility.

We expected more help in getting these features to work than the bundled software provided. Eventually we found a page in the manual that advised us to create folders named MP3, PMP and TEXT on our memory card and copy files across manually. SDHC cards up to 4GB are guaranteed to work, but it's disappointing that Samsung can't recommend any 8GB or 16GB cards.

Music must be in MP3 format, and track titles need to begin with a track number if you want albums to play in the correct order. Music is arranged in folders, but browsing them is cumbersome as they're listed by date created rather than alphabetically. The headphones sound poor, but at least it's possible to replace them, as a supplied cable turns the proprietary multi-purpose socket into a standard 3.5mm socket.

The bundled video-conversion software claims to be able to convert anything that can play in Windows Media Player to the required XviD format. Every MPEG2 file we tried was rejected, though, which is unfortunate considering the ubiquity of the format. The software also irritated us by putting converted files in the same folder as the source file rather than into a common folder or straight on to the camera. However, once converted and uploaded, video playback was fairly successful. Audio quality was poor as the soundtracks were heavily compressed, but videos looked great on the 2.7in, 230,000-pixel screen.

Otherwise, the i8 is a reasonable, but not outstanding camera. All the photographic controls we expect are arranged in a quick-access menu available with a Fn button. The camera is well equipped for casual users, too, with scene presets, photo styles and a Photo Help Guide mode that serves as an in-camera manual. However, having the various menus accessible via four different buttons is likely to confuse.

Performance is disappointing: the camera took 2.6 seconds between shots, and 4.8 seconds when using the flash. Image quality is unlikely to disappoint casual snappers, with reliable automatic exposures and reasonably sharp detail, although it glossed over subtle textures such as grass and skin. Noise was reasonably low at high ISO speeds but the automatic mode never ventured above ISO 200. This meant that using manual settings or the flash were necessary in low light.

The i8 is a good idea, but its failure to excel in any area makes it feel like too much of a compromise.