Comedian Louis C.K. was spot on when he mused how everything is so amazing and nobody is happy. Take a moment to consider the i8510, one of Samsung's latest 8-megapixel smartphones.
In some respects, this studly slider really does live up to its license plate ready moniker: INNOV8. Weighing just 140-grams, the handset offers some of the best optics we've ever found crammed in a cell phone: sharp, noiseless pics (3264 x 2448 pixels) and decent image stabilizer punctuate video capture that puts full-figured handicams from circa 2008 shame. You can even shoot VGA at 30fps or QVGA at a whopping 120fps (yes, 120!), including slow motion footage in 1/4th and 1/8th speeds, then use the onboard video editing suite to cut to together a quick flick faster than you can say "convergence is awesome."
Amazing, sure, but not a picture perfect phone. The i8510 functions almost exactly like a standard point-and-shoot, except for the zoom button, which is placed inexplicably, and awkwardly at the bottom of the device. More awkward is the optical control pad, which we found to be more sensitive than a cheerleader without a prom date. Samsung seems to have gotten a good start with a phone that marries top notch imaging optics to a solid communications device. But it's just...not...quite...there...yet.