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We are back in 8-megapixel land again with Samsung's oddly named Pixon, also known as the M8800. Having given Recommended awards to the first two 8-megapixel handsets I've seen, Samsung's own i8510 Innov8 and LG's Renoir KC910 the Pixon has some pressure on it at the outset. Particularly as I don't give those awards out very freely.

The Pixon has pretty standard looks for a phone whose front is dominated by a large touchscreen. The Call and End buttons and a round back key are squeezed into a tiny panel along the bottom edge of the front fascia. The predominance of black is predictable enough, and visually there are distinct similarities to other Samsung handsets such as the Omnia i900 and Tocco F480.

The plastic casing won't be to all tastes, though it does help keep this phone's weight down to an acceptable 122g. Size-wise this is a bit of a chunky mobile to carry around at 107.9mm tall, 54.6mm wide and 13.8mm thick. However, compare that to the Renoir (107.8mm tall, 55.9mm wide, 13.95mm thick, 110g) and the i8510 (106.5mm tall, 53.9mm wide, 17.2mm thick 136g) and you find that it is pretty much par for the course for this kind of spec of phone.

There is a hold button on the left edge along with a switcher key that'll call up a grid of six shortcuts. Four shortcuts take you to apps - messaging, the browser, the call screen and music player. The other two shortcuts are a back button and the main menu shortcut.

There is also a microSD card slot on this edge which you can use to boost the 200MB of built-in storage. You get a 1GB microSD card with the phone. Meanwhile, the right edge has a volume rocker which doubles as a zoom manager in the camera, a shortcut key to the photo album and the obligatory camera key.

On the top edge is one of the things I like least about this phone. Samsung's multifunction port. You use this to administer mains power, connect to a PC and connect headphones. The good news is that the provided headset has a 3.5mm connector just past the microphone so you can substitute your own headphones for the provided in-ear buds if you want to, but I'd have preferred a 3.5mm connector on the phone itself.

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