The G810 show that Samsung continuing its strategy of releasing top-end phones, as it actually beats the Nokia N95 for features.
Only just, though, it has to be said. In fact, when you look at the features, you get a sense of deja vu, as it seems the G810 could be the N95’s younger brother! Samsung have managed to match the N95 feature for feature, then thrown a few extras into the mix, shrunk things a bit, and extended the battery life as well!

Major features of note include a Symbian OS , GPS and Wi-Fi (just like the N95), and a 5 megapixel camera, again just like the N95.
However, unlike the N95, the G810’s camera offers 3x optical zoom, plus anti-shake, face recognition and a plethora of other features usually found on stand-alone digital cameras.
The G810 is Samsung’s successor to its superb G800 camera phone, which managed to knock the Sony Ericsson K850i off top spot as the best camera phone. As such, the G810’s camera should be much better than the N95’s, and with the rest of the features being roughly the same, the choice will come down to price, battery life (which the G810 wins) and size (G810 again).
as Nokia released the N95 over a year ago, meaning they’ve had a year to work on an even better mobile phone!

Key features:

• GSM/UMTS/3.6 Mbps HSDPA connectivity
• Symbian 9.2 OS with S60 3.1 UI
• 2.6″ 262K Color QVGA TFT display
• 5 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, anti-shake, face recognition, macro mode, autofocus, etc;
• 150 MB of memory and microSD memory card slot
• GPS navigation
• Wi-FI b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, USB 2.0 (microUSB connector)
• 1200 mAh battery
• Dimensions: 104×52×9×18 mm

We liked : WiFi connectivity, TV-out

Design
While the Samsung G800 sported metal-esque plastic, the G810 comes with real metallic accents on the casing. The phone will come in a choice of two colors – silvery and black.
The handset measures up at 103×53x18mm, but since Samsung has never been honest about the depth of its solutions by stating the thickness of the slimmest part in a phone, we didn’t believe them that time around either, and were right about that – the G810 is in fact 22mm thick because of the lens cover, and this does make some difference. Plus, at 139 grams, this phone is not really a lightweight, but on the other hand it is not all that larger than the Nokia N95 or the Sony Ericsson K850i, so we’ll settle on this verdict: “an adequately sized handset”.
The front fascia houses the forward-facing camera for video conferencing in 3G networks; the earpiece is hidden under a metal grill. The holes for a carrying strap are mounted on the left-hand spine along with the power button, 3,5 mm audio jack covered by a flap linked to the casing, and the microUSB socket (also protected by a stub). On the right are the dedicated camera button, volume rocker and microSD memory expansion slot. The G810’s microphone sits on the bottom edge.

Screen

The G810 resolution of 240×320 pixels (40×53 mm) and showing up to 262K colors. The same unit is installed in the Samsung i550. Compared to the Nokia N95, the G810’s screen appears to be a tad better thanks to being brighter and crisper than the former. And while it still gets washed out under direct sunlight, it remains perfectly legible.
The display accommodates up to 12 text and 3 service lines. Even with the default font size you will be able to get up to 16 lines of text in some modes

Features

GPS-navigation
Since the G810 runs the S60 platform, the first thing you expect of it is Nokia Maps or at very least Smart2Go inside, which is in fact the same application. However over at Samsung they have decided to bind their devices to only one app - for Symbian it is Navigon. This means you won’t be able to install Smart2Go on the G810. We found only Google Maps 2.0 among all available programs that could actually deal with the bundled GPS receiver; however there are more applications on the horizon.
These issues aside, the G810 comes packaged with Navigon 6.27 or newer, however the end-user won’t notice any discernible differences between 6.xx versions. To make use of the handset’s navigation department, you will have to connect the G810 to a PC in the USB Mass Storage mode and then install both maps and the applications, which don’t come preinstalled with the phone, unlike Nokia-branded solutions. This is utterly inconvenient, so many may well overlook this step in the installation process and I have no idea how the maker could possibly turn a blind eye to this matter.
After getting the app and maps onboard, you can manually pick a file with voice tips and directions, but again, it is all manual, so this is another letdown to the G810’s software.
We are happy that the handset features a dedicated button for launching the GPS application - you jump right into its home screen (which is not the map). It is in fact very different from Nokia Maps and we can’t call it comfortable to use by any means. Firstly, it is not a full version that you get along with the G810 - all you get is a two-week trial, and then to employ voice tips and route calculation features you will have to pay around 60 Euro. For instance, Nokia offers free route calculation, but charges for voice functions and navigation.

Flash Player
allows opening flash clips outside the bundled browser, packed by the G810 as a stand-alone application.

Voice Signal
a voice recognition package, one of the market’s finest as of today. While at the standby screen you can call up voice commands by tapping and holding “0”. With this application you can dial a number from your contact book, bring up some menu items and other commands. No prior voice training is required, the handset assumes your current menu language for the needs of this app. Compared with a similar app from Nokia, found in its smartphones, this package is well superior and on top that makes fewer mistakes when dialing a number.

Video editor
Another application that goes beyond the standard suite of features found in Nokia’s S60-based phones. There are three modes available with this Video editor – the first and the least sophisticated one allows you to edit video clips (clip length, start time, sound track, sound recording etc).
The second mode is more a valuable addition to the default functionality of the system. With a bunch of photos on your hands, you can create a CIF, QVGA or QCIF clip. In a word, you pick all photos you will need, set the background music and then tweak transition effects. There is a multitude of options available in this mode, but it doesn’t get too complicated – on the contrary, everything is pretty intuitive. Naturally, you will need some skills and taste for this, but it’s worth your time. And this is by no means a replacement for the slide-show mode, you just get a short video that can be shared right away.
The last mode you can find in this Video editor is ‘StoryBoard’, that is quite similar to the previous one, however here you can throw photos and video into your clip. All other settings have been left intac

Memory

The handset comes installed with 130 Mb of flash memory available to user, and 84 Mb of RAM (volume after first start up, no extra applications installed). The G810 handles microSD cards for bulking up the default storage (up to 2 Gb). Furthermore, the phone also managed to read 4 Gb units that we used with it during our tests.

Connectivity

USB. The handset comes in with USB 2.0 support, upon a successful PC connection you can choose one of the following modes:
Data Transfer (Mass Storage USB) – memory cards is available, no drivers required, as your OS identifies the handset automatically. Data transfer speed makes around 950 Kb/s (USB 2.0).
PC Suite – used for device management via PC Suite, enables all features of the phone, data backup etc.
PictBridge – serves for printing images and photos.
Media Player (MTP protocol) – synchronizes data with Windows Media Player.
Bluetooth. The smartphone sports EDR-enabled Bluetooth 2.0
The top speed you can get with the G810’s Bluetooth connection is around 100 Kb/s.

Camera

The decent thing about the G810 is the lens cover. Samsung’s imaging-heavy solutions have always had their lenses protected, and that’s definitely a positive.
The Samsung G810’s camera itself is quite different from all other 5 Mpix units in two big ways – firstly, it packs in 3x optical zoom It also comes bundled with a xenon flash; while it did trigger in our unit, the shots we took with the flash on left much to be desired; so it will be worth taking another look when new firmware versions and device samples arrive. And for now, we are going to omit this part from our review, and consider that the G810’s flash module “not ready yet”.
There are three picture quality settings at your disposal and a wealth of resolutions available:
• 2560×1920;
• 1600×1200;
• 1280×960;
• 800×600;
• 640×480;
• 320×240;
The Samsung G810 features macro mode, and allows the user to disable the Face Detection mode. The rest of the settings pool is quite standard – exposure settings, white balance adjustment, overlays (Normal, Sepia, Black&White, Negative, Sharpen). ISO can be varied from 50 to 800. The camera also benefits from the Wide Dynamic Range technology (in effect, it tunes the ISO setting automatically) and an electronic image stabilizer.
Now let’s look how the G810 fares against the Nokia N95 and the Sony Ericsson K850i. I suppose there shots will clearly tell you that it is pretty much in line with them, yet has no edge over the N95 or the K850i; and what is more, frequently it ends up behind those in terms of colors, while offering detailed shots that are comparable with the Nokia’s solution. But after all, with all conditions being equal, the Nokia N95 comes out on top in this mini-competition

Battery
The G810 employs a 1200 mAh Li-Ion cell, which, as the manufacturer claims,
Standby : 250 Hour
Talk Time 2.5 Hour
It may last for about 2 and half days of average usage
The GPS-navigation mode drains the battery clean in 2,5 hours.
We also managed to squeeze 10 hours of pure music playback time out of it.

Conclusion

The volume level produced by the loudspeaker is pretty high, being in line with those Nokia-branded smartphones equipped with stereo-speakers. We also liked the G810’s solid vibro alert. In terms of voice calls and microphone sensitivity, its performance is up to par, nothing that we would whine about.
Among the G810’s advantages are WiFi connectivity, TV-out. The fact that the phone’s bundled GPS can handle applications other than what it comes preinstalled with is encouraging and significantly increases its value. The G810 is not a run-of-the-mill handset, in some ways it trumps even the Nokia N95. But since the N95 is a pretty dated already, there will be no direct rivalry between them. Does the Samsung’s offspring have what it takes to stand up to other solutions? I think so; speaking in its favor are optical zoom, decent video recording capabilities, plus the S60 inside, and thus full compatibility with already existing applications.
Upon its arrival in March, it may well turn into a very interesting offering
On balance, drawing parallels between the Samsung G800 and the Samsung G810, the latter is a true photo-savvy flagship that outdoes its predecessor in every single way

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