14 DAY TRIAL // In its continuous attempt to bring better and better mobile phones, Samsung has released the SCH-W480, a new handset that works not only as a phone but also as a digital camera. Of course, there are lots of other handsets that can be proud of their built-in cameras, but there aren't too many of them to feature a 5 Megapixel camera with 3X optical zoom. And the SCH-W480 does have such a camera.
Even more, the optical zoom of the camera is an inner one, hence you won't see any lens coming out of the phone. Plus, the camera also comes with xenon flash, auto focus, a CCD sensor, self timer, face detection, multi-shots capability, 4X digital zoom (so that's 7X in total) and video recording. There's a protective cover too, giving the handset a digital camera aspect.
Aside from the nice "photography tool" that Samsung SCH-W480 seems to be, the device can also pass as "high-end" only with its phone-related features. These include tri-band GSM connectivity (900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz), WCDMA, HSDPA for high data transfer speeds (up to 7.2 Mbps), a 2.4 TFT display with 262K colors and a QVGA resolution (240 x 320 pixels), Music and Video players with lots of formats supported, Bluetooth, email and Web browsing capabilities, secondary video-call camera, organizer, USB, microSD card support for up to 8GB and a battery capable of providing up to 6 hours of talk-time and up to 210 hours of stand-by time.
In terms of design, Samsung SCH-W480 (or simply W480) looks pretty good, coming in a slider case that weighs 143 grams and measures 101.5 x 52 x 18.8 millimeters.
The new Samsung W480 is available for the moment only in South Korea, Samsung's homeland, for the retail price of 600,000 KRW (which means about $580 or 380 Euros). Samsung probably intends to make the phone available in other countries around the globe too, so we're waiting to see when this will happen. One thing is for sure: Sony Ericsson's 8 megapixel C905 handset has now a serious competitor.
