US$ 571 US$ 419.00

Is it N96 again? Nope, this time is Samsung i8510, a genuine Nokia N96 rival. It looks very similar to N96 but with more advanced in every aspect. Just when you thought they can hardly squeeze much more features in a single mobile phone here come Samsung to disprove that. It comes with more powerful features like 8 megapixel autofocus, Symbian 9.3 OS with S60 UI… which lives up to what we do for living with its high-tech. I can’t wait to share it with all you guys.

The phone is packed into an elegant packing box.



Standard stuff: a Battery, a Charger, a USB cable, a handsfree, CD and Manual.



It is about the size of Samsung G810 but slightly longer. And it is close to those dimensions of Nokia N96. Ingenious combination of metal and plastic make it looks masculine.



8 megapixel auto focus camera with flash located at the back of the phone.



There are two versions which are with 8GB and 16GB internal memory. And this is 8GB of built in memory onboard.



Here’s the D-pad below the display which is comfortable to use and the optical touch pad, seems like the one is used in Omnia i900, allow you to make your selection on each item by sweeping your thumb across the touchpad.



Under the touchpad, it hides the alphanumeric keypad which is flat however the keys have sensitive feedback.



8 megapixel camera closed up. You may see a large rim around the lens. When you start the camera you may hear the distinct click of the automatic lens cover opening up. It also equipped with a Power LED flash, however it’s not a xenon one unfortunately.



On the left hand side, you will see the volume rocker, the 3.5mm audio jack, and the standard microUSB port.



Here’s a slider that changes the camera mode among camera, camcorder and image gallery.



And it is the microSD memory card slot on the right hand side of the phone.



It is slightly thinner than Nokia N96.



Here’s the Menu layout of the Feature Pack 2 of the Symbian OS S60 UI. It is very novelty that many handsets don’t with it available.



Another standard Samsung Menu layout. It is surprised that the auto screen rotation feature can even work in the menus.



It offers all kind of goodies such as automatic panorama shooting, face detection, smile detection, and even blink detection to prevent photos of people blinking.

Here’s face detection in action.



It also offer you with different shooting modes, such as single shot, multi shot, frame shot, mosaic shot, panorama shot and smile shot.



Several resolutions settings are available for you.



Actual photo shot by the phone in an indoor office lighting environment. Great picture! Isn’t it?



Another shot with flash on. Compare with the pictures taken by the N96, I8510 is absolutely in excellent performance. I may say that the camera modes beat anything else on the cameraphone market.



After the Samsung i900 Omnia, i8510 should be another phone that you don’t want to let go of. Since the superior 8 megapixel camera of the phone is going to close the gap between cellphones and dedicated digital cameras. It is such a great multimedia monster. However, the only downside of it is a bit long when it is opened. Still it is acceptable. Am I so picky?

Video Review