Click here to see pictures of these camera phones

These days most mobile phones have a camera built in. You may not have taken a picture yet, but it could prove a handy asset if you want to capture evidence of a scrape with a passing car or a celebrity doing Christmas shopping.

The calibre of cameras in phone handsets has risen in recent years from a paltry 0.3 megapixels (Mp) to, in some cases, 5Mp. Aside from the rapidly mounting megapixel count, several camphones feature a precision lens, a flash and a memory-card slot to store pictures or video clips. Indeed, some makers are attempting to steal the clothes of cameras entirely by marketing their phones as having advanced photographic features such as a 3x optical zoom, antishake, and even face detection.

Can this be true, or are the snake oil salesmen back in town? To find out, InGear tested six of the most advanced camphones. Each boasts a 5Mp sensor, apart from the Sony Ericsson K770i, which has 3.2Mp. Several pictures were taken with each phone in a variety of situations. First, outdoors in bright daylight. Then in more overcast conditions, and finally indoors in gradually darkening circumstances, both with and without flash.

The results were revealing. All took decent photos in broad daylight that were comparable to those taken with a basic camera from perhaps last year. Certainly good enough to enjoy full-screen on a computer monitor, though perhaps not for a framed print. In overcast conditions outdoors, the images became far more varied, although only the Sony Ericsson K770i really struggled. Indoors, results grew worse, both with and without flash.

Another significant problem was shutter lag. This is the delay between the moment you press the button and when the snap happens. The Nokia was ahead of the pack here, but that’s not saying much.

Alongside megapixels, the quality of an image relies on the calibre of the lens, as well as the sensor (which is smaller in a phone than a camera) and increasingly the processing power of the gadget.

True, some camphones offer many of the more sophisticated features of a standalone, including redeye removal or lighting adjustments to rescue darker shots – especially the Sony Ericssons. However, these are often hidden away in sluggish menus. And a digital zoom cannot compete with a proper optical zoom.

One area where camphones excel, though, is their ability to share photos immediately. You can send a picture message to a friend’s phone and all the models on test had Bluetooth, which makes it easy to wirelessly share shots with your friends in the same bar. Aside from the Samsung G600, all are 3G enabled too.

The Sony Ericsson K850i, Nokia N95 and Samsung G800 even offer the more potent version of 3G, known as HSDPA, for blazing-fast uploads. And this is the true power of a camphone – to capture a colleague gurning or a toddler beaming and have the shot live on Facebook before the phone is even back in your pocket. It’s a scary thought. In short, then, camphones are ideal for bagging a shot you would not otherwise have got but they are a long way from replacing standalone cameras.

JARGON BUSTER

Antishake
Compensates for camera movement on long exposures in low light. Also known as image stabilisation

Sensor
Light-sensitive chip that replaces film in digital cameras

Zoom
Digital zoom artificially enlarges the image with quality loss, while optical zoom magnifies images without loss

POWER TOOL
Nokia N95 8GB – exclusive to Vodafone
£400 with £20-a-month contract, free with £75-a-month contract
Five stars
Seriously clever smartphone with good camera

Gadget lovers have flocked to this versatile smartphone all year and it has recently been updated to include a bigger screen, 8GB of built-in memory and a longer battery life. It is now available in a swish gloss-black finish. However, the N95’s headline features are built-in wi-fi, a GPS receiver and the camera. Its GPS feature was sluggish but the camera was the best reviewed, albeit not by much. It suffered less shutter lag than its rivals and coped better with shadow outdoors, where it captured shots with brighter colours and more sophisticated contrast. Menu navigation was complex yet effective. The N95 is a chunky monkey and has a few flaws but is a potent choice overall.

GREAT PRETENDER
Samsung G800
Price expected to be £300
www.samsungmobileshop.co.uk
Four stars
Fancy camera, features of mixed merit

Camphone makers love to style their phones like proper cameras and boast of photographic features. The G800, on sale from next month, goes the extra mile here with a 3x optical zoom, antishake and even face detection (where a camera recognises any faces in the frame and focuses on these). So do these tools work? Sort of. The zoom, operated by the volume rocker switch, was slow yet practical. But the face detection was ponderous and the antishake made no noticeable difference. The G800 took some decent shots, with accurate colours, despite only modest improvement over the slimmer G600. Both handsets suffer from Samsung’s long-winded menus. Still, as a snapper, the G800 came equal second.

FASHIONISTA’S FRIEND
Samsung G600
Typically £300, or £255
www.play.com
Four stars
Small and stylish with photographic pretensions

The G600 is a discreet handset with a decent camera as a hidden bonus. In fact it’s hidden behind the slide-open mechanism and located so near the top of the phone it took practice to avoid fingers appearing in shots. The G600 is light and, at 15mm, thin too. It took acceptable pictures, even in shadows outdoors. The macro mode for close-ups was especially effective, with rain droplets visible on flower petals. However, it also proved flaky in gloomy indoor conditions. The phone is so light it was hard to hold still for longer exposures and the flash was modest. The G600 has the second smallest screen, at 2.2in, and is the only non3G model on test, which makes it harder to share shots. That said, it’s a swish, credible camphone. SOLID

WORKHORSE
Sony Ericsson K850i Cyber-shot
Typically £350 or £310
www.amazon.co.uk
Solid camera despite functional looks; fiddly

This Sony Ericsson boasts features found on proper cameras such as antishake, which, again, proved of little tangible benefit. The K850i is smaller than previous Cyber-shot handsets yet its stocky shape made it seem bigger. The camera proved strong, with the most effective flash on test and it was just pipped by the Nokia overall. The K850i has some neat tricks, like Autofix (see the K770i review, right), and BestPic, which takes nine shots in less than a second. Great for fast-moving subjects, even if the shutter lag was no better than its rivals. The screen automatically reformats to landscape if the handset is on its side. However, the navigation pad that protrudes from within the small number keys made it fiddly to operate.

GLAM CAM
Sony Ericsson K770i Cyber-shot
Typically £280 or £200
www.carphonewarehouse.com
Four stars
Swanky, pocketable 3G camphone

This handset is pitched at image-conscious snappers itching to upload shots on the move. Like its K850i sibling, left, it’s a 3G candybar design and shares many of Sony Ericsson’s better camphone features. These include BestPic, which takes a number of shots in quick succession to give you a choice, and Autofix, which optionally enhances, say, a dark photo before it is saved. The phone is a mere half an inch thick, has a 2in screen (the smallest on test) and is sold in several modish colours. Activating the camera causes eight backlit icons to appear on the decent keypad that indicate shortcuts to features such as zoom or self-timer. The 3.2Mp camera was acceptable but struggled in overcast conditions, producing drab, less detailed, shots. There isn’t a proper flash, only a light. Nevertheless, this is an attractive proposition.

BIG-SCREEN POSEUR
LG KU990 Viewty
Typically £350 or £325
www.mobilefun.co.uk
Three stars
Distinctive yet tricky to use

The much-advertised Viewty is a bloated version of the same company’s Prada phone and will appeal to those who lust after a truly distinctive handset. It eschews a physical keypad in favour of a 3in touchscreen, à la iPhone, which proved a fine canvas for photos or web browsing. The camera was probably fourth best overall, taking smooth, detailed photos. However, these also looked flat if taken in anything but broad daylight. A neat slow-mo feature slowed down video clips taken by the Viewty without them becoming jerky. The real problem, though, was the touchscreen itself. Navigating menus or web pages was tricky and typing texts was decidedly iffy, albeit improved by using the handwriting recognition feature. Battery life was modest, so expect to recharge daily.

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