It is ironic that in the week Samsung announced a phone with a 3 megapixel camera for the Far East, it touted to reviewers its first 1 megapixel mobile for the UK. We are a long way behind. The SGH-P730's images are much higher resolution than the VGA ones taken by existing phones, although not in the same league as those snapped by rivals from Sharp and Nokia.

The P730's best feature is its camcorder facility, which, unlike rivals, allows users to shoot as much movie footage as the storage on the phone, and its accompanying MMC card, allows. The MP3 player is a neat touch, too. The phone is a rather chunky clamshell that sports Samsung's trademark pivoting screen.

Annoyingly, if the main 256K colour screen is placed at the front, the user can't access many features without opening the handset. Also irritating is its protruding aerial and the absence of Bluetooth and POP3 email. Nevertheless, the SGH-P730, slated for a September launch, is a major step forward for the company.

Ashley Norris