Camera Phone Reviews

The Samsung SCH-A990 CDMA EVDO phone, destined for Verizon Wireless, sports a 3.2 megapixel camera. Other features include:

* twisting display
* Bluetooth
* microSD memory card slot
* color external display
* internal antenna

Get a price on the Samsung SCH-A990

Via PhoneScoop.

Samsung SCH-A990 Reviews

Infosync reviews the Samsung SCH-A990 and writes, "The A990 snaps some of the best photos we've seen from a cameraphone. Pictures looked vivid and detailed, with plenty of shadow detail and good color reproduction. The auto-focus took a couple of seconds to zero in on our subjects, but the razor-sharp results were worth the wait. That said, video captures looked murkey and choppy, and the camera application slowed to a crawl while storing large images files."

CNET reviews the Samsung SCH-A990 and writes, "it's the first phone in the United States to boast a 3.2-megapixel camera, trumping the recently lauded Nokia N80. It has an autofocus feature, zoom, and plenty of imaging options. You can choose from five picture modes (auto, portrait, landscape, micro, and night), three quality settings (economy, normal, and fine), and five resolutions (2,048x1,536, 1,600x1,200, 1,280x960, 1,024x768, and 800x600). You can adjust the brightness, white balance, color effects, and ISO settings. There's also a multishot mode and a self-timer, and you can change or turn off the shutter sound. Many of these options are also available to you in camcorder mode, although you get a choice of only two resolutions (320x240 and 176x144). You can capture up to an hour's worth of video with sound."

ABC News reviews the Samsung SCH-A990 where they write - 'The A990 is a groundbreaker, especially on Verizon, which until now didn't have any decent 2MP camera phones. On other carriers, it's best compared with the Nokia N80 for Cingular and T-Mobile. Although the N80's 3MP camera isn't quite as good as that of the A990, the N80 is superior in the many ways it lets you manipulate, edit, and transfer your pictures, something the A990 is sorely lacking. The Samsung SCH-A990 is another step forward for camera phones. This is one of the first camera phones you can feel comfortable about when it comes to capturing treasured moments (as long as you press the shutter three seconds in advance.) But its shortcomings also highlight what high-megapixel camera phones need to do to succeed: They need to conquer shutter delay, raise quality in low-light conditions, and provide better ways for shutterbugs to get their photos off their phones.'

Mobiledia reviews the Samsung SCH-A990 and writes, "Taking videos and photos is one thing, but viewing and printing them is another. Fortunately the A990 includes a TV Out Port, allowing users to view their hard work on television monitors. Also including PictBridge software, transferring photos from the A990 to a printer without a PC or image-editing software is a breeze. As industry standards, PictBridge-compatible devices are made by many different companies, so finding a printer to offload photos shouldn't be a problem. Compared to other handhelds on the market, the A990's 3.2-megapixel camera is as good as it gets, providing dazzling image quality with a bundle of advanced functions and filters. The usability is outstanding as well, offering a more natural horizontal layout conventional digital cameras adopt."

TopTechNews reviews the Samsung SCH-A990 and writes, "a 3.2-megapixel camera sensor with auto focus and flash. Image resolution can be set to any of seven steps -- ranging from 2,048 x 1,536 pixels all the way down to 320 x 240 pixels -- while image orientation can be set to portrait, landscape, or micro mode. ... For camera-phone aficionados with deep pockets, the SCH-A990 appears destined to quickly become the gadget of choice."

MobileTechReview reviews the Samsung a990 and writes, "Though not quite as good as a dedicated 3MP digital camera, the Samsung a990 comes close enough that you just might leave your point-and-shoot digital camera at home. The 3.2 MP camera takes very sharp pictures that look crisp and color saturated. The phone’s autofocus lens is still a relative rarity on camera phones and it certainly improves sharpness and can add a touch of depth of field in macro and portrait shots. ... We compared the Samsung a990 photos with the recent Nokia Nseries camera phones which come with 2-3 megapixel cameras. The a990 photos have more color saturation than the photos taken by the Nokia N80 (with 2 MP camera), though they do have a brown-ish cast. The images are sharp with great depth of field and indoor shots have less noise than the N80 photos. Compared to the Nokia N73 which has a 3 MP camera with autofocus lens, the A990 photos looked more digital (image processing and compression) while the N73 photos represent the colors more realistic. The Samsung handles exposure well with a minimum of white-out under bright sunlight, and good exposures indoors in poor light."

DigitalTrends reviews the Samsung A990 and writes, "What really makes this phone stand out above all other phones is the camera. Pictures taken with this device are of stunning quality. It truly can become a digital camera replacement for you if you still are using a low-end 3.2 (or lower) megapixel camera. Unfortunately, the flash on this phone isn’t too hot and is still LED-based, making it weak in dark photos. The interface is very similar to that of a professional-grade digital camera and is easy to navigate and sort through. ... The lens on the back has a protective cover you slide up and down to take pictures with. Just flip the screen over, open the lens, and you’re ready to take pictures of friends, family, or whatever you’re interested in. Colors are rich and vibrant and come out well. I wouldn’t throw out my 6-megapixel digital camera at home yet, but my old Canon camera is definitely out of the picture (pun shamefully intended)."