Samsung Pixon 12 review

Do more megapixels make for a better mobile?

The Samsung Pixon 12
The Samsung Pixon 12

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

The two phones are actually very similar in the chassis size and screen response. It's impressive that Samsung has actually managed to shrink the innards of the Pixon 12 to make it even thinner than the original, although there is an obvious difference in that the screen is 0.1-inches smaller.

Well, it's not a huge difference, but you don't often see touchscreens getting smaller these days.

The samsung pixon 12 m8910 vs the pixon m8800

The camera abilities of the two phones is similar in many ways, with the Pixon being the original step up to a plethora of camera options on board a phone for Samsung, but the Pixon 12 takes it up a notch with the likes of Smart Auto mode as well as a Xenon flash, where the original packs only a cleverly disguised power LED.

The original Pixon, with the larger screen, came with a stylus though - we're not sure why the new version doesn't when it also packs a resistive screen.

The samsung pixon 12 m8910

The build quality is immensely improved on the Pixon 12, as the original model felt a little cheap and plasticky.

However, you know you're paying for it. While the original Pixon was one of the first 8MP cameraphones on the market, it retailed for around £100 less than the Pixon 12, so it may even be worth checking out the original Pixon if the £500-odd price tage of the Pixon 12 is too much for you.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.