Camera Phone Reviews

The Sharp 903SH has been announced to be released as part of Vodaphone's 3G line up in mid August. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera and 2x Optical Zoom.

Pocket-lint reviews the Sharp 903SH 3G mobile phone ? and they loved it. They write - 'To say we were impressed with this phone would be an understatement. We recently looked at Sony Ericsson’s K750i and we were very impressed with the picture quality and that was only 2 megapixels. Here you’ve got 3.2 and an optical zoom making this a photographer’s dream. Before you ask, yes the extra megapixel is worth it.'

Mobile Burn reviews the Sharp 903 (SX833) camera phone and writes - 'The SX833 serves as reasonable upgrade for SX813 users. Most notable are the camera and redesigned GUI. A lot of problems are still left unresolved, the theme is still not customizable, the ring volume is still too soft, the ergonomics are still not good enough. You can make a list of complaints over the tiny bits and go on forever. It may be too big, too redundant, and too expensive. For SX813 users, the SX833 may not be convincing enough to win an upgrade, but for people looking for a phone with excellent camera quality and top-notch multimedia experience, the SX833 is for you.'

MobileBurn has another review of the Sharp 903SH/SX833, and had this to say about the phone's camera capabilities: "The SX833/903SH could not justify its premium price without a great camera, which it has. From the instant you click on the menu, the camera is ready to snap within 2 seconds. Thanks to the 3.2MP CCD, picture resolution is very good. Auto white balance appears more accurate than in Sony Ericsson's k750i, and the focusing speed seems comparable. With an all new designed lens system, corner distortion is much improved, sharpness is greatly improved too. To my surprise, the one-step 2x optical zoom takes less than a second to activate. Minimum macro focusing distance is 8cm (3.14"). QR-code barcode output and input is available, as is OCR - but don't expect too much from the accuracy, it's seems to be just a gimmick."

CNET reviews the Sharp 903 and notes, about the phone's camera: "Picture quality is certainly plenty good enough for snaps, and we are pleased to report that even at the highest resolutions pictures saved quickly to our miniSD card. Videos not intended for MMS are automatically sent to the card, and also save quickly." Conclusion? "The images taken were clear and well defined. If going on a serious photography trip we'd want to carry a digital camera, but we got some very passable snapshots. We weren't so delighted with video quality, which displayed too much pixelation."

• Band - UMTS, GSM 900/1800/1900Mhz
• Data - UMTS/GPRS
• Size - 50mm x 109mm x 29mm
• Weight - 148g
• Battery Life - 300hrs (UMTS)/290hrs (GSM) standby time
• 150min - (UMTS)/240min (GSM) talk time
• Main Display - 262k color ASV LCD, 240x320 pixel resolution
• Sub-Display - N/A
• Camera - 3.2mp CCD external, 110k pixel CMOS internal (for video calling)
• Video - Video capture/playback
• Messaging - MMS/EMS/SMS
• Email - Yes
• Bluetooth - Yes
• Infrared - Yes
• Java - Yes (MIDP v2.0)
• Polyphonics - Yes (128 voice)
• Memory - 8mb on board, miniSD expansion (64mb card included)
• Availability - August 2005 (Japan)
• Other - USB Connectivity, Macromedia Flash Player, Bar code Reading/Composition, Video Output, 3D Surround Stereo Speakers