Samsung digital camera

T he integrated 5 Megapixel digital camera with LED flash is found on the back of the Samsung TouchWiz. It isn’t the number of pixels that makes this a special digital camera, despite the fact that 5 Megapixels greatly suffice for a cameraphone; it's the special functions like auto focus, image stabilization, face detection and my personal favourite; Smile shot, that make the camera of the TouchWiz a technically high quality item. The Smile Shot function makes the shutter only release when a person in the composition smiles. If you take a picture, it takes five seconds before the result can be viewed on the screen and in combination with the shutter release lag, this is rather annoying. Also, starting up the camera takes a while so don't presume you can capture spectacular action moments with this device. One more minus is the lack of an optical zoom. Only advanced cameraphones get equipped with this function, average phones have to settle for a digital zoom. Personally, I avoid using this digital zoom while it harms the quality of the picture. Moreover, digitally enlarging the picture is still always possible on the pc afterwards.

Samsung F480 digital photography

Picture quality & Flash

When a picture is taken and the result appears on the screen, nothing can be said in favour of the image quality. Yet when you view the pictures afterwards in the album or on a PC screen, they seem to have turned out better than you had imagined. Don't let the first impression the Samsung F480 is trying to give you, kid you. The camera produces reasonably sharp and fine pictures. The flash is useful in badly lit circumstances; however, when it is really dark, too much noise appears and the pictures don't turn out sharp. Using a higher ISO setting is not a solution; the quality gets worse instead of better.

Samsung F480 TouchWiz

Samsung F480 battery

3.7 V Lithium-Ion battery

A standard 3.7V Li-ion battery comes with the Samsung TouchWiz. While testing I used the handset quite intensively trying out many options, calling, sending text messages and photographing. It was only after six days that the battery needed a recharge. According to the specifications, a talk-time of 3 hours and a standby time up to 250 hours is guaranteed.

Samsung F480 software

Samsung PC studio 3 software

The Samsung F480 includes Samsung PC studio 3 software. The software contains a Phone editor, Message management, PC synchronization, Phone explorer, Network wizard, MMS editor, Multimedia management and Multimedia player. Transferring files is easy through the USB 2.0 connection.