Camera Phone Reviews

Palm Treo 750

Infosync reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "We got good reception in New York City, around three to four bars of UMTS service, though in New Jersey we lost UMTS entirely and got a solid four bars of EDGE. The phone also handles Bluetooth, including A2DP for stereo headsets. Conference calling should be easier; on the Treo 750 it requires a bit of menu drilling, and we found it difficult to manage. Conference calling on the Palm OS Treo 680, with its icon-based interface, was much easier. Battery life on the phone was good, with more than four hours of talking, but we tested our phone in Northern Jersey, outside of UMTS range, and Palm admits that talk time on the UMTS network will be shorter."

MobileTechReview reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "Those of you who've read our Treo 700 series reviews know that we were not fans of the 1.3MP camera in those phones. Happily, the Treo 750 takes much improved images that have good color saturation, not too much noise (even low-light indoor shots are decent, such as the cat photo below) and generally correct color balance. We don't know if Palm changed the actual camera hardware, lens or simply improved image processing but the Treo 750 undeniably takes better photos than our in-house Treo 700p as well as the Treo 700w and 700wx. The Treo 750 can take photos at a maximum of 1280 x1024 pixels and supports a variety of lower resolutions suitable for MMS, email and Caller ID photos. It has normal, burst and timer modes and offers 2x digital zoom. There are three image quality settings and you can tell the Treo to save photos to a miniSD card. There are no special effects or other settings since the Treo actually uses Microsoft's Pictures and Videos application (a standard component of Windows Mobile 5) as a camera application."

LaptopMag reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "The 750's touchscreen combined with control buttons and keyboard worked very well with the Windows interface. We navigated around applications and entered data with ease. Both the camera and music capabilities were par for the course. Pictures were good enough for smart phone usage, with decent but not great color on the 1.3-MP camera."

CNET reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "There's a 1.3-megapixel camera with video-recording capabilities and a 2X digital zoom. You get a basic set of customization options, including five resolutions (1,280x1,024, 640x480, 320x240, 240x180, and 160x120), a self timer, and burst mode. There is no flash, but the 750 actually did a decent job of taking photos in darker environments. Overall, picture quality was OK with fairly clean lines and acceptable color, but we found you really have to have a steady hand in order to get a nonblurry picture."

CNET Australia gives the Palm Treo 750 an editor's choice rating, but has this to say about the phone's camera: "On the rear is a 1.3-megapixel digital camera with self-portrait mirror but no flash -- the camera shoots stills and low-res video clips and is no better nor worse than anything else in its range. But then, you're not going to buy the Treo 750 for its camera. There's also a speaker which fires to the front, with a top-mounted ringer/silent switch carried over from the Treo 680."

PCWorld reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "Don't let the sleek design of Palm's new Treo 750 fool you: This is a serious business device. The Windows Mobile-based phone, available for $500 with a two-year contract from AT&T's Cingular Wireless unit, includes mobile Office applications, world phone capabilities, and support for Cingular's 3G UMTS high-speed network; but business users may not tolerate its poor talk-time battery life. ... Its QWERTY thumb keyboard is easier to use than those on past Treos, but it still feels cramped, and the domed keys feel slippery and stiff compared to those on competing PDA phones."

Brighthand reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "On the rear of the 750 you find the camera, self-portrait mirror, and speaker. While the speaker has a great placement for listening to music or using the speaker phone, the camera is too low on the device and because of the natural way you hold the 750, your finger can block part of the lens. Adjusting your fingers makes it somewhat awkward holding the device while taking a picture. ... Admittedly, I did not take a lot of pictures nor listen to music with the 750. I ran this device more as a business device that has multimedia capabilities. The camera was ok, though the resolution of the screen made it hard to really see if 1.3 megapixels were really good enough."

PDAStreet reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, " On the rear you'll find the speaker, camera lens, and self-portrait mirror. The camera offers 1.3 megapixels and a 2x digital zoom. We don't know the specs on the image sensor, but the photos aren't that great. You'll see noticeable graininess, even with good lighting. You can take pictures in five resolutions (1,280x1,024, 640x480, 320x240, 240x180, and 160x120) and the camera offers burst mode and a self-timer. Missing are effects (such as sepia or black and white) and a flash. "

DigitalTrends reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "The 750's 1.3 MP camera performed as well as can be expected. There was minimal shutter lag, indoor pictures in moderate light were well lit if lacking in crisp colors and blacks, but most shots were marred by nearly unavoidable camera motion blur. All par for the cell cam course. Battery standby time with the usual power saving modes on (short backlight time, quick unused phone off time) is measured in weeks rather than days or hours, but actual talk time fell a bit short of the rated four hours."

Palm Infocenter reviews the Palm Treo 750 and writes, "Sporting a 1.3 megapixel camera, the 750 is a welcome cut above other GSM Treos, which ship with woeful VGA cams. But it still lags behind the rest of the camera-phone pack, where resolutions of 2 and 3 megapixels are now commonplace. The camera is a little awkwardly placed: positioned as it is next to the speakerphone grille, you have to be careful not to obscure the lens with your finger. Picture quality is average; as is typical for cellphone cameras, it doesn’t perform very well in low light and doesn’t focus well either (as you can see from the example shot of my Treo collection). Under the right conditions, pictures are bright and colourful but a little short on fine detail. It’s adequate, nothing more."