Camera Phone Reviews

Slashphone has pictures and information of the yet to be officially announced HTC Wizard smart phone which looks like coming in multiple versions. The HTC Wizard 110 will be a camera version whilst the Wizard 100 will have no camera. They write:

'Currently we know HTC Wizard 110/100 will run Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0, integrated QWERTY keyboard, bluetooth, WiFi and support EDGE. HTC Wizard 110 comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera. The HTC Wizard 100 will not have the camera module, great for those who can't use camera phone at work.'

HTC Wizard Reviews

The Register reviews the i-Mate K-Jam (HTC Wizard) and concludes, "Like the Orange M500, the K-Jam wins on size - it really does feel like you're holding a phone, yet you get a classic PDA user-experience. But the newer model squeezes in Wi-Fi and an email-friendly keyboard, so it's a much better mobile data proposition. Windows Mobile 5.0 is better able to be operated without recourse to the stylus, especially with the keyboard activated, so that's an advantage too."

The Gadgeteer reviews the HTC Wizard (i-Mate K-Jam), and says, about the PDA's camera: "The camera isn’t anything to get excited about, its still pretty poor, but an improvement on the Mini’s camera. The Flash Light does help, but only if the camera is within 50cm of the target. It is rather useless, but never mind. If you’re looking for a good camera, you aren’t looking at a PDA to fulfill that need." Final conclusion? "Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. The device doesn’t show any slowdowns as the processor might suggest. Even though you only get a fraction of the 128MB ROM for your own use, the portion you do get is bigger than that on 64MB devices."

MobileTechReview reviews the i-mate K-JAM, and has this to say about the device's camera: "The K-JAM is equipped with a 1.3M pixel camera with flash and self-portrait mirror. The native resolution is 1280 x 1024, quality is on a par with other phone cameras; good for party snaps. The flash on this model is more powerful than some that I've seen before but is still no substitute for a genuine photo flash. Outdoor photos where satisfyingly good, devoid of speckles that I've seen on other phones. One drawback of purchasing an unlocked phone that has not been customized by the carrier is that settings such as MMS must be entered manually; these can often be found on many of the bulletin boards and forums. Once set up photos can be quickly snapped and sent out."

IT Analysis reviews the i-Mate KJAM, and concludes, "Compared to, say, one of the simpler Nokia phones, anything powered by Windows is going to look a bit flaky. The worst problem I've encountered so far is with Bluetooth: with my SonyEricsson HBH-300 headset, after almost exactly 8 minutes on a call the remote party can no longer hear me, even though I can hear her or him fine. Dropping and reconnecting clears the problem, but it's a pain."

The Unwired reviews the Dopod 838 and says, about the device's camera: "The camera may not be the latest 2.0MP camera from HTC's stable but at 1.3MP it works pretty well. It can interpolate images up to 2.0MP natively and is neatly linked to several applications already such as the Contacts, or MMS. Nothing really that new but it's nice to know that the enhancements included in WM5 definitely makes things more efficient."

CoolSmartPhone reviews the T-Mobile MDA Vario (the HTC Wizard) and writes, "It feels absolutely excellent in the hand and has been given a very camera-looking style to it. The grip supplied by the "dimples" on the back stop you worrying about it sliding out of your hand too. Design, style, elegance - these are words that were previously only mentioned around Motorola or Nokia handsets - however HTC have done a splendid job tailoring this handset. The addition of the keyboard, which is sooooo usable means that I don't need to get that stylus out much at all."

Trusted Reviews reviews the T-Mobile MDA Vario and concludes, "The MDA Vario is probably the closest thing I’ve seen to a “do it all” mobile device. It works well as a pocket size data centre and is just about small enough to use as a phone. That said, I’d still like to see something a little smaller and with 3G support. Ultimately though, if you want to carry just one device that does everything, the Vario deserves close inspection."