Samsung Pixon12 tested

Samsung Pixon12

Overall verdict from the Your Mobile Phone Reviews Test Team

Well done Samsung, another rather impressive touch screen handset on the market we feel. Generally we give this stylish touch screen phone the thumbs up & as a camera phone we give it the double thumbs up. We really enjoyed the camera feature & found the Pixon12 to be an enjoyable phone when used for our daily communication needs. One of our test team has actually kept the Pixon12 & is refusing to go back to their previously used phone, which speaks volumes we guess. Well worth buying if you want a high quality camera phone.

Read more details of our testing results below.

Our test team gave the Samsung Pixon12 an average score of:

83%

Appearance & Size

We liked the soft brushed metal effect casing which is coloured black & its galvanized effect edging. It looks incredibly classy, stylish & a sophisticated camera phone. It is obviously a camera phone as it has a large 12 megapixel lens which sticks out slightly from the back of the casing. Due to its touch screen design there are not many keys to mention apart from a screen lock key on the left hand side of the casing, & on the right hand edge of the casing there is a two way zoom or volume key, an instant camera feature key & of course a camera capture key. On the front of the handset is the large touch screen with call keys & a navigation key. Size wise it can fit easily into both our male & female testers hand whilst being used. It is not an ultra slim phone by any means, but it is as compact as it could be with a 3.1 Inch touch screen & a 12 megapixel camera feature built into it.

Our test team scored the appearance & size at:

80%

Durability & Usability

When it comes to durability we all found the Pixon12 to be a tough handset as it withheld some tough treatment from one of the male members of our test team, although our female tester's treated the Pixon12 like it was a new born baby or a diamond ring, a very precious phone indeed. It withheld many bumps during carrying, & a fairly small drop onto a carpeted floor did it no harm. We all admitted the Pixon12 gave us no reason to throw it out of a window or to throw it across the room, so this proves it will not frustrate you but we are not sure if it could withstand such a blow to its casing.

We enjoyed this phone & using it was fun & refreshing, some of our testers are avid Samsung users so therefore found the usability easy & those testers who were not so familiar with the Samsung layout just found it fun to use. The only niggle was the smart unlock feature but this was highlighted by one of our testers after they had read the manual & been using the phone for a few days but still found locking & unlocking the phone an issue. Generally people tend to be nervous about touch screen phones making unwanted calls etc, but the locking system does work perfectly if using the side lock key & the smart unlock gesture on the touch screen to unlock the phone.

Our test team scored the durability & usability at:

90%

Battery

We have tried & tested the battery over the last few weeks & of course depending on 3G network connectivity & overall usage this has varied between our test team, but all in all we feel it is a very capable battery. With average daily use this battery will only need charging every 3-4 days. When charging the phone the power adapter connects via a small connection port at the top of the handset but this is covered with a small & delicate cover, our testers felt that this was too flimsy, although the port needs to be covered to prevent dust damage. All of our testers (including myself) mentioned how easy it was to initially fit the battery, as the casing of the Pixon12 was easily opened, well done Samsung.

Our test team scored the battery at:

90%

Camera

Firstly we all liked the instant access key to the camera feature. It comes with all the camera & camcorder features you would expect. The camera settings & options are all easily located from the camera screen, with neat icons situated down each sides of the touch screen. The camera feature is used in wide screen mode when the handset is turned to its horizontal mode. We highly rated the features & how easy we could change selections & settings. The lens has a shutter type lens protector which prevents damage to the lens or dust getting onto the lens when the Pixon12 was in our bags or pockets. The best & most noticeable difference is the overall quality of the captures & recordings. We did feel the zoom could be improved with a longer distance zoom, but we guess this would need a telescopic lens to actually get the results we were wanting.

Our test team scored the camera at:

90%

Music

The test team liked the radio which has simple tuning controls & works with the earphones connected. We all agreed that a radio feature on our phone was not a priority but if we wanted to listen to a certain interview or music event we wanted to know we have a reliable radio feature on our current handset. We loved the music player, with its huge selection of playing controls. We transferred our music & found it easy to control & manage our music. One tester was rather new to the whole music transferring experience but found it a very simple task to transfer & play music on the Pixon12. The majority of the test team used the music player widget when customising the home screens, which reveals, music is important to our team & that this built in music player is a very good one. The volume could be louder but we liked the speaker function rather than having to use the earphones to hear our music.

Our test team scored the music capabilities at:

70%

Messaging

The Pixon12 covers all our messaging needs. When creating a MMS, SMS or an email the phone supports the same standard layout to create any type of message which was great to use. All the testers liked the touch screen input method with clear options for each step of creating a message. All of us commented on the onscreen keypad size being large enough for even the chunkiest of fingers to use. We discussed in detail the facility to change from keypad entry when the handset is in its vertical position, & when we turn the handset to its horizontal position we loved the full QWERTY keyboard with still relatively good sized keys. Most of our male testers preferred the onscreen keypad entry method with T9 predictive text activated when creating a message, whereas our female testers seemed to prefer using a mixture of the full QWERTY keyboard & the onscreen keypad.

Our test team scored the messaging capabilities at:

70%

Connectivity & Technology

We used the Bluetooth® connectivity constantly & found it easy to use & a reliable way to transfer music & our photos. Transferring using the micro USB connection port was easy to use but again we found the cover over the connection port flimsy & felt that this would break off easily if not treated gently. A few of our test team connect to the Web & enjoyed the built in WiFi® technology & this proved to be a pleasant & easy technology to use. We tried the Pixon12 on a major UK network & its coverage was excellent in all areas whilst travelling throughout the UK, sorry but the Pixon12 didn't leave the UK for our testing.

Our test team scored the connectivity & technology at:

90%

Screen & User Interface

Firstly the touch screen is a great size measuring just over three Inches in size. We found the screen to be bright, clear & it has a colourful display. It was mentioned that the screen does show up finger prints & smears but a gentle rub on your jumper or jeans & its fixed, we didn't feel it was an issue with this touch screen phone. We all customised our screen differently but changing the font & colours mainly. Our test team all found the screen to be very responsive.

There are three customisable home screens which many of us liked & customised accordingly, but one of our test team simply hated the option of three home screens & would have preferred a single screen. Widgets can be added to each home screen to give each screen a unique look & feel. The menu option is also customisable & again the menu has three screens which you can easily slide between, we all agreed that each feature was clearly labelled & given the relevant icon to assist us when looking for built in features.

Our test team scored the screen & interface at:

80%

Samsung Pixon12 Gallery

Just out of the box, the Samsung Pixon12

Back of Samsung Pixon12, with battery slot detail

Would you like to learn more? Read our users Samsung Pixon12 reviews

Many thanks to our friends at Dial-a-phone for providing the Samsung Pixon12 for testing.

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Samsung Pixon12 © 2006 - 2012, Your Mobile Phone Reviews UK Limited

UK mobile phones tested - Samsung Pixon12