Samsung's slumping sales suggest China is the next mobile battlefield

Samsung's slumping sales suggest China is the next mobile battlefield

Samsung had a rough day yesterday. Its earnings report indicated the company experienced the first posted drop in profit in two years (a mere $7.8 billion, compared to $8.27 billion in the same quarter last year), thanks to a strong Korean won, a special one-off bonus payment to employees and heavy holiday marketing costs. Given its increased year-over-year profits and sales this may not seem so bad, but there is a growing concern that the company has a difficult year ahead, especially for smartphone sales.

The company expects slowing sales in the first quarter of 2014 for its smartphones and tablets, thanks to "seasonality." This means fewer people are buying mobile devices -- as a new Galaxy flagship approaches, many people put off their phone purchase until it comes out. But the company also indicated that the mobile battlefield is only going to get fiercer over the next year, as developed markets are reaching saturation. Now, the war is shifting to developing markets where more people are becoming smartphone and tablet owners for the first time.

"With developed markets becoming saturated and experiencing slow sales, regions like China are ripe for the picking."

In its earnings report, Samsung stated: "In 2014, Samsung will focus on expanding its smartphone portfolio both by region and price range, and actively responding to growing LTE demand in Europe and China. Expect ... intensified price competition, amid developed and emerging markets to continue rapid growth." With developed markets becoming saturated and experiencing slowed sales, regions like China are ripe for the picking.

This isn't to say that Samsung doesn't already have a large presence in areas like China and India -- it's currently the market share champion in both countries -- but its dominance is quickly slipping as it faces intense competition from both local and global companies alike. Local powerhouses Micromax and Karbonn are quickly catching up to Samsung in India, and in China, Apple has experienced exponential growth in recent quarters; reports indicate that the iPhone 5s and 5c helped Apple more than double its market share to take third place. The phones launched on China Mobile (the country's largest carrier with 750 million customers) this month, so we expect Apple's foothold to only get stronger there in the coming months. But that's not the only large company making strides in China: Lenovo, which is in second place, is also growing significantly.

"If the rumors about Apple releasing iPhones in larger form factors are true, Samsung will have to directly compete against a major force that didn't exist last year."

Not only is there more competition in these countries in general, there's also a much more pointed focus on specific form factors and price points. As we pointed out in an earlier piece, the under-$100 pricing tier is becoming very aggressive, especially in emerging markets. Additionally, the large-screen smartphone, a form factor once dominated by the Galaxy Note, is now covered by nearly every major company. If the rumors about Apple releasing iPhones in larger form factors are true, Samsung will have to directly compete against a major force that didn't exist last year.

As the battle continues to intensify in countries like China, where demand is growing at a tremendous pace, Samsung's profit margins will get squeezed as phone prices plunge. Thus, we expect to see the company hit tablets and wearables even harder in 2014 -- according to Samsung, the former will experience a 20 percent increase in demand, and it has more of the latter on the way as well. We don't know if it will be enough for the company to enjoy a record year, but Samsung is under more pressure to bedazzle its customers than at any time in recent memory. It's just going to have to be more creative to stay on top.

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Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 hits the FCC

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 hits the FCC 

We've yet to hear more details about the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2's launch this quarter, but a recent FCC filing at least reveals that it might head to Verizon. According to the documents, a particular variant that goes by model number SM-P905V supports Big Red's LTE (4 and 13) bands. Since the 2014 refresh of the 10.1 Note Pro has also passed through the agency with Verizon LTE, the carrier might offer both sizes when the tablets hit the market. Based on the info we got from the gigantic tablet's CES debut, it'll have a WiFi version for those who have no need for mobile internet. Folks set on buying one with long-term evolution speeds, however, may want to cross their fingers for the behemoth to hit their preferred carriers.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 release date, news and rumors

Samsung Galaxy S5 release date, news and rumors

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has landed - and we loved it, as you'll see through our in-depth review. It's light, slim and powerful, and has the best screen we've seen on a smartphone.
But we know what you're like. You're already thinking about the Galaxy S5.
Luckily we're constantly trawling the web for all the latest on Samsung's next flagship phone, and we've pulled together everything we've found to give an overview of what you might be able to expect from the Galaxy S5.
But if you're one of those interneteers that likes to skim read things in the hope someone will go through all the rumors and create a video render with them all thrown in together, well, you're in luck.
In terms of the name we'd be surprised if Samsung was to deviate from the highly lucrative Galaxy S prefix which has seen the Korean firm squeeze every last drop of money out of the brand with numerous handset spin offs of its top products. Expect it to arrive as the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Samsung Galaxy S5 release date and price

All the big smartphone manufacturers are relatively entrenched in annual product cycles now, which means we can usually predict when they will launch their headlining products.
As far as the Samsung Galaxy S5 goes it's likely that we'll see the Korean firm take to the stage sometime in March 2014 with its fifth generation flagship smartphone. If the Galaxy S4 launch event is anything to go by expect it to be big, brash and rather confusing.
That said, there are rumors suggesting Samsung may actually bring the launch forward to February after the Galaxy S4 failed to sell as many as predicted, with one Samsung exec apparently spilling the beans that it will be launched at MWC 2014 - although we find that hard to believe.
In terms of price there's no point hoping that Samsung might offer the Galaxy S5 at a more competitive rate than its predecessors. It will be crammed full of new tech and thus will carry a price tag which will see it sit right at the top of pricing tree.
If it does bring an aluminium chassis, curved display and more, then we can see the price sky-rocketing. Time to start saving? You betcha.

Samsung Galaxy S5 to finally go all metal?

A lot of the early rumors appear to be focussing on the chassis of the Samsung Galaxy S5, with various sources claiming the S5 will be the handset where the Korean firm finally breaks is polycarbonate relationship in favour of a full metal jacket - although there are conflicting reports here.
Smartphones such as the iPhone 5S and HTC One have shown up the Galaxy S4 since launch in terms of design, offering a far superior look and feel and it's an area Samsung needs to work on with the Galaxy S5.
An "inside source" apparently confirmed to Android Geeks that the Galaxy S5 will arrive with a fully aluminium chassis and a new look dubbed "Design 3.0".
The aluminium frame rumor was given another hat tip by Korean site ETNews which reported that the Galaxy S5 would have an all-metal chassis.
Further fuel was then added to the all-metal fire when analysts claimed that Catcher Technology Co had taken an order to make the metal chassis for Samsung's Galaxy series.
However, Digitimes is reporting that its checks into the suppliers have shown no orders have been given for a metallic phone, with a carbon-fibre chassis an option. Samsung may go for a new coating though, one that brings diamond-like protection to the mix and ensuring the safety of your precious device.
Apparently, here's our first snap! Expect a lot more in the build up to the Galaxy S5 launch, but a photo claiming to show the metal frame of Samsung's next flagship phone gives us more hope that it may pass on plastic at last - although this is only the internal frame, which can be covered with all manner of materials.

If this image is the real deal it rules out a flexible Galaxy S5 though, and the frame could still be covered in polycarbonate - but ETNews also cites sources "confirming" the S5 will be metal.
We may even get the best of both worlds as another report suggests that Samsung is prepping two versions of the Galaxy S5 - one metal, one polycarbonate, which could also be carbon fibre. We reckon that's pretty unlikely, but could suggest the Korean firm is toying with both materials.
It's worth remembering that similar rumors surrounded the Galaxy S4 which still launched with a polycarbonate body, so we're not getting too excited.

Samsung Galaxy S5 64-bit CPU

There was a lot of buzz around the 64-bit A7 processor which Apple stuffed inside the iPhone 5S and it's been blowing up benchmark tests left right and centre, and it looks like Samsung wants a bit of the action.
There's no question that the Galaxy S5 will be a powerhouse of a phone, but it may struggle to match the likes of the iPhone 5S and even the Note 3 after a benchmark result showed an unnamed Samsung device coming in behind both.
The rumors have been thoroughly shoving back and forth over whether Samsung will be launching the S5 with a 64-bit processor, as an ARM executive spilled the beans on the South Korean brand picking up its fancy new chip for 2014.
The S5 looks like it could have a whacking 4GB of RAM as well to power all the new technology inside, taking better advantage of that 64-bit chip - although more recently there has been confusion over just how much RAM the Galaxy S5 will pack, with other reports suggesting 3GB or a crazy 8GB RAM chip will reside in the phone.
64-bit is certainly not set in stone and another leak has pointed towards Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.5GHz alongside an Adreno 330 CPU.
Considering the Galaxy Note 3 has launched with a mighty 2.3GHz quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM we'd expect the Galaxy S5 to at least match it, if not beat it.

Samsung Galaxy S5 screen

This is a tricky one - Samsung already has a display that's sharper than the human eye can detect, so why would it go any sharper?
The electronics brand seems to have ignored that question and will be possibly bringing the S5 with a 2K display - that's a dizzying 560ppi for screens as small as five inches.
It's not all about sharpness, as it could also lead to improved colour performance and refresh rate for slicker video and animations.
Given Samsung wants to go 4K for its 2015 smartphones, the halfway resolution makes sense for next year's devices.
In fact a resolution of 2560 x 1440 briefly popped up alongside the SM-G900S model number on a benchmark test, before the details were pulled, fuelling the Galaxy S5 fire further.
In terms of the screen tech for the Galaxy S5, Samsung has always stuck AMOLED panels on its flagship handsets, but there appears to be a little bit of confusion for the fifth generation device.
Rumors suggest that Samsung may move away from the AMOLED technology in favor of LCD panels in the Galaxy S5, with a view to save money on producing the handset.

Samsung Galaxy S5 operating system

All previous headlining Galaxy S handsets have sported the Android operating system and we don't expect that to change with the Galaxy S5.
Google's latest version of its mobile platform, Android 4.4 KitKat, is launched in October 2013, so it's highly likely this will be the version of choice for the Galaxy S5 come March.
Of course it won't be the pure Android experience you get on the Galaxy S5, Samsung will slap its TouchWiz interface over the top and screenshots claiming to show the new version destined for the handset have appeared online.
There's a rumor that is throwing a spanner in the works though, suggesting that Samsung will offer the Galaxy S5 in both Android and its own-brand Tizen variants.
Now this sounds pretty unlikely so we're taking this with a large pinch of salt, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Samsung Galaxy S5 design

As we've briefly mentioned already there's talk of a whole new design language for the Galaxy S5 which will hopefully see Samsung break away from the similar styling of the Galaxy S3 and S4.
Obviously a metal chassis would help in changing the design, but we want to know what the Galaxy S5 will actually look like.
A patent application unearthed by Patent Bolt might shed some light on this, with a couple of images cropping up showing a squarer Galaxy S5 design.
If the patents are real then Samsung may be about to finally ditch the physical home button which currently adorns all its handsets.
Samsung Galaxy S5 - LEAKBye bye physical home key (credit: Patent Bolt)
Anyone hoping for a curved or flexible Galaxy S5 - along the lines of the Galaxy Round and LG G Flex - will be disappointed to hear that Samsung is planning on keeping things flat for its fifth flagship iteration.

Samsung Galaxy 5S camera

The Galaxy S4 rocked up with a pretty decent 13MP camera on its rear, but rumors surrounding Galaxy S5 suggest it will take things a little further with a 16MP snapper.
That's still not as impressive as the 20.7MP Sony Xperia Z1 or 41MP Nokia Lumia 1020 - but do we really need cameras that powerful on our phones? You tell us!
The same report from the Electronic Times News also mentioned that the Galaxy S5 would sport the same optical image stabilisation (OIS) tech as the LG G2.
Samsung has announced a new CMOS image sensor dubbed ISOCELL which will almost certainly debut in the Galaxy S5, after the company told analysts the tech would be appearing in phones during 2014 and 2015.
The new sensor isolates individual pixels which minimises electrical crosstalk between them, which in turn leads to higher colour fidelity, for sharper, richer images.

Samsung Galaxy S5 finger print scanner

Anyone hoping that Samsung will follow in the footsteps of Apple and bring a fingerprint scanner to the Galaxy S5 could well be disappointed if certain rumors are to be believed.
That's after a Samsung official apparently told the Korean Times that the company is "not yet developing the technology" for its handsets. Boo.
All hope is not lost however, as the fingerprint rumor has reared its ugly head again, contradicting earlier reports with a fingerprint scanning firm claiming Samsung will be going big on the tech after all in 2014.
There were rumors of both Samsung buying a biometrics firm, which were instantly denied, and more recently it was mooted that the S5 would use retinal scanning to unlock the phone.
The eye scanning tech has been given more backing after a Samsung exec spoke to Bloomberg and said "Many people are fanatical about iris recognition technology. We are studying the possibility."
Unless someone comes out with a pretty nifty explanation of how this might work, we can't see it appearing next year. We're not holding our phone up to the eye just to open it up. We'd look insane.

So you're already thinking about the Galaxy S5. You're looking at the S4 and wondering: "Could Samsung have done better in some areas? Like make it FLY?"
Well, clearly you're insane if you're asking that, but your point is valid: there's always more than can be done to make the ultimate smartphone.
Word is that Samsung is already hard at work on the design of the new range of devices: simply codenamed 'Design 3.0' top level meetings have already begun in Seoul to make sure the new Galaxy range is more revolutionary.
So check out our run down of the rumors we've heard so far, and then once that's done, check out the results of us putting our thinking caps on and doing the work for the South Korean firm, divining the things that we simply must have on the Galaxy S5 to make it a success and beat the new HTC One:

A flexible design

Anyone using an HTC One will know that the reaction it inspires really is immense.
It's no exaggeration to say that more often than not, people will say: 'Wow, what's that?'. The sad fact is that we just don't get the same reaction from the S4, with most people just actually thinking it's the Galaxy S3.
One of its predecessor's main criticisms was that the use of plastic made it look and feel cheap (that even applies to the Galaxy S2 from a few years back – though not the Galaxy S, since few people took any real notice of the first iteration.)
When the S4 was announced, it didn't even need to be felt – people instantly criticised how cheap that all-plastic façade is going to feel.

Galaxy S5
Sure, it keeps the phone light (in fairness, the HTC One weighs a fair bit in the hand, by comparison) but Apple's managed to pull off glass and metal and lightness with the iPhone 5 so surely Samsung can manage the same. If only to annoy Apple even more.
The other ideal would be to utilise its flexible display technology - Youm - to bring some new techology to the new design. We're not talking a completely bendy phone (that would actually be rubbish right now) but how about the designs shown off at trade shows recently? That would be amazing.
The current news seems to be that at the very least things might move away from the boredom of plastic to a more aluminium design, thanks to the aforementioned 'Design 3.0' meetings. However, there may be a slight issue in that it's much harder to produce a high volume of metal-based phones, so fingers crossed that high level design meetup is going to solve that problem too.
This uncovered patent also hints at a phone redesign for the Galaxy S5, but the presence of a screw could either mean a unibody design, another rugged phone, or just a nonsense patent from 2012. It's probably the latter...

A sleeker system

One of the things we've always liked about Samsung is that it pushed the envelope in terms of what its phones could do. It added innovation, it did things nobody else did, and then it worked out how to package it in a way that made things simple and looked half decent.
In this respect, its nadir was the Samsung Galaxy S3. Yes, it felt too cheap, but it had tonnes of innovation under the hood (Smart Stay, for instance, wasn't a total waste of time).
The problem was it went overboard with the Galaxy S4. Smart Scroll, Smart Pause and more all added complexity to a system that was already close to the limit, so all those selling points became annoyances and were quickly turned off.
Samsung, you're great at one thing: making innovation usable. With the Samsung Galaxy S5 think about that and make sure that if you add in flexible screens or eye tracking technology to create auto-3D images, you do it in a way that genuinely adds something to our lives, not just innovation for the sake of it.
If you need to make some space, get rid of that front and back cameras dual-recording feature. Nobody is ever going to use that.

Mo' power

We're not sure how the new Galaxy S5 will look when it comes to raw power, as Samsung has traditionally gone big - however, the octa-core phone that never really made it to many shores, and that was sad for the spec-fans.
Samsung has already developed a new 3GB RAM chip that could easily work in the lower-power phone design, so fingers crossed we see the next iteration with so much RAM we can't even begin to use it...and hey, maybe a more intelligent CPU that isn't all about power and works harder on doing the things we want.
The Moto X might be a little underpowered, but we like that there's a chip in there dedicated to just listening to your voice. That, Samsung.

Bigger battery

We always ask for these and the S4 has graced us with a larger power pack than the S3 – it's up from 2,100 to 2,600mAh. It's a fairly decent jump – but still likely to just give a day of moderate use thanks to that huge, sharp screen.
Just look at the HTC One – that has a 2,300mAh power pack yet struggles to exceed the 1,440mAh battery of the iPhone 5 in daily usage. The fact of the matter is that the OS has a huge part to play – so upping the mAh count doesn't necessarily mean a revolution in terms of endurance.

The Motorola RAZR Maxx has been out since last summer and manages to pack in a 3,300mAh battery, which genuinely puts the hours in.
Since Samsung is such a technologically advanced company, if it were to come up with something huge like a 4,000mAh pack that's slim to boot, it would nail the Android market (even more.) Come on boys – you have a year to do this.
Some sources have stated that Samsung might be moving to a unibody design, complete with a sealed in battery... this would be a bold move for the South Korean firm as it would be giving up one of its big advantages.
But with a wrapped in design comes the freedom to make even sleeker phones, and with the new move to unique battery shapes that can fill any nook or cranny, this could see an even bigger power pack on offer. Which would you prefer?

Stereo speakers

Again we're drawing a comparison with the HTC One here but that's to be expected; especially since said device will be its main Android competitor (along with the Sony Xperia Z, of course, which we mustn't forget.) But there is something unique here.
See, HTC has raised the bar here – the sound bar, that is. Some assumed it would be a gimmick, putting two speakers on the front of the phone and calling it BoomSound. But here's the thing: it does sound amazing. To the extent that we often leave calls ringing longer than we need to so that we can enjoy the ringtone.

The Galaxy S4 doesn't go for anything so lavish – offering a mere grill on the back with a small speaker we fully expect to be loud, yet tinny. Sure, there may be limited call for deep surround sound or anything as elaborate, but why scrimp on features when including so much in other areas?
We imagine Group Play will be Samsung's answer – but considering that requires other Galaxy owners, it's a bit of a faff.
Samsung could really pull something unique out the bag here – especially considering it's got a proven relationship with audio extradordinaires Bang and Olufsen. Even the iPhone 5 speaker is fairly decent – so come on Sammy.. finger out, please.

FM Radio

Odd one this, but the S4 is the first Galaxy device to not ship with an FM radio. It's a bit of an add-on that many don't use, but others (especially commuters) are very attached to their FM radio feature on their phones.
Samsung's already stated that it left the S4 FM radio out not through any technical issue, but because more people are now streaming their music through YouTube and online services. Which is true. Apps like TuneIn Radio do offer a great service.

The problem is that you're reliant on a good web connection for this – at the very least, 3G, and even then, there can be problems with buffering. The majority of journeys will pass through different signal strengths and types and this just means that you'll have to stop listening to the radio whether you want to or not.
Sure, we know that firm decisions lead to progress (look at Steve Jobs refusing to fit a floppy drive on the original iMac) but this just smacks of silliness since it would have made absolutely no difference to Samsung. We're even thinking of writing to our local MP about it.

Beam it up, Sammy

We'll lay this on the line before we start: this is one of our more fanciful wishes, given the technology (and desire from many consumers) is a long way away. But we'd love to see a projector built into the S5. Samsung managed it already with the Galaxy Beam last year, even though that was a bit of a niche device. But it makes perfect sense.
Forget AllShare (or maybe not 'forget' but at least run it alongside) and turn the S5 into something that everybody can enjoy. The problem is now that if you want to share your photos/videos etc, you either have to buy a dongle or have a Smart TV. It's very niche.

Galaxy S5
Apple has managed to do well with marketing its AirPlay so you can stream YouTube etc to Apple TV but again, you have to fork out for an Apple TV to do it, then turn the thing on, change your TV input source and so forth.
Wouldn't it be great if you could just stream everything using a projector to a wall? Obviously, there are issues with light interference, but we're sure Samsung could invent something that overcomes that problem.
And with those amazing stereo speakers we're lobbying for, it would also sort out the audio problem. Hey, it could even lead to more uptake of things like WatchON, with people buying movies and then streaming them straight to the wall when friends are round. There's an incentive for you there, Samsung.

Streamlined stores

Speaking of WatchON, this would be something we'd like to see sorted: a true partnership with

Google. Sure, we realise that hell is more likely to see temperatures drop below freezing before then, but the issue is that there is just too much choice.
We're all for freedom – but when you have both Google and Samsung trying to sell you songs, movies, books, apps and magazines at the same time, through competing apps, it gets a little tiring.
Galaxy S5
The app drawer is littered with more options than you can shake a stick at and for those who aren't completely au-fait with smartphone tech, it's a little confusing and intimidating.
Apple makes so much of the whole fact that it is just one company providing everything – the next best thing would be for Samsung to work out with Google a common strategy for sharing revenue here and at least streamlining it for the consumer.
We know it's not going to happen because Google won't want to favour Samsung – and also there is the matter of Samsung wanting to end its dependence on Google (hence the Tizen revolution we're not really expecting), but it's nice to dream of one, unified store.

3D screen

We've left this one to last as this probably sounds the most ridiculous – but it's worth giving it a moment's thought. See, screen resolutions have hit the ceiling now. Back when Nokia invented the 7650 with its tiny colour palette, we cooed.
When the 7210 came along with a square screen rocking 4096 hues, we gasped. And when the iPhone 4 launched with the famous Retina branding, it really was revolutionary.
But phones like the S4 and HTC One now have PPIs that destroy home flatscreen TVs. There isn't any point in making them sharper, because the eye can't discern any difference. We have, pretty much, reached a plateau.
3D's not taken off as well as it could have with TV's. Yeah, it's great to play with, but it's hardly making the waves that the HD revolution did. And it has been tried before with LG. Remember the Optimus 3D?
We only gave it 3.5 stars when it came out the best part of two years ago and there was a reason: glasses-free 3D just wasn't there. As we'd seen with the Nintendo 3DS, it tired the eyes very quickly, it had to be viewed at exactly the right angle and was pretty much just a fad.
Galaxy S5
Bearing in mind how much Samsung really wants to get one over on LG here (only recently, we looked at the intense competition between the two firms in Seoul), just think how much this could motivate Samsung to pull out a really decent solution.
There's a glimmer of hope here: Samsung has already patented the idea to use dual camera to track your eye direction, which would mean the 3D image would follow your eyes and would completely negate the need to keep your head in the 'sweet spot'.
App makers are more likely to make 3D apps for the Galaxy range because it is not an also-ran Android line but (at least some would say) the Android iteration to go for. And Samsung could sponsor these apps to get them in the Google Play store (or Samsung's own). Movies, the camera, games, even the OS, could be transformed with the right technique.
And there concludes our wish list. Sure, it's elaborate. And we'll be surprised if the less obvious points above make the final build of the S5. But there is no doubt that Samsung will already be hard at work on planning the S4's successor – and we'd love to see some really unique features introduced.
A year's a long time in mobile life. And we've seen just how much a company can go from HTC Hero to zero (OK, HTC wasn't quite at the lowest level – but don't ruin our analogy). HTC was the Android maker for a time and has been usurped by Samsung.
It may be on the up with the HTC One again – it certainly stands a chance – but the competition is fiercer than it's ever been. And it'll get uglier before it gets better. Samsung will need to work hard to keep its Android crown.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 release date, news and rumors

Samsung Galaxy S5 release date, news and rumors

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has landed - and we loved it, as you'll see through our in-depth review. It's light, slim and powerful, and has the best screen we've seen on a smartphone.
But we know what you're like. You're already thinking about the Galaxy S5.
Luckily we're constantly trawling the web for all the latest on Samsung's next flagship phone, and we've pulled together everything we've found to give an overview of what you might be able to expect from the Galaxy S5.
But if you're one of those interneteers that likes to skim read things in the hope someone will go through all the rumors and create a video render with them all thrown in together, well, you're in luck.
In terms of the name we'd be surprised if Samsung was to deviate from the highly lucrative Galaxy S prefix which has seen the Korean firm squeeze every last drop of money out of the brand with numerous handset spin offs of its top products. Expect it to arrive as the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Samsung Galaxy S5 release date and price

All the big smartphone manufacturers are relatively entrenched in annual product cycles now, which means we can usually predict when they will launch their headlining products.
As far as the Samsung Galaxy S5 goes it's likely that we'll see the Korean firm take to the stage sometime in March 2014 with its fifth generation flagship smartphone. If the Galaxy S4 launch event is anything to go by expect it to be big, brash and rather confusing.
That said, there's a rumor doing the rounds which suggests Samsung may actually bring the launch forward to February after the Galaxy S4 failed to sell as many as predicted.
In terms of price there's no point hoping that Samsung might offer the Galaxy S5 at a more competitive rate than its predecessors. It will be crammed full of new tech and thus will carry a price tag which will see it sit right at the top of pricing tree.
If it does bring an aluminium chassis, curved display and more, then we can see the price sky-rocketing. Time to start saving? You betcha.

Samsung Galaxy S5 to finally go all metal?

A lot of the early rumors appear to be focussing on the chassis of the Samsung Galaxy S5, with various sources claiming the S5 will be the handset where the Korean firm finally breaks is polycarbonate relationship in favour of a full metal jacket.
Smartphones such as the iPhone 5S and HTC One have shown up the Galaxy S4 this year, offering a far superior look and feel and it's an area Samsung needs to work on with the Galaxy S5.
An "inside source" apparently confirmed to Android Geeks that the Galaxy S5 will arrive with a fully aluminium chassis and a new look dubbed "Design 3.0".
The aluminium frame rumor was given another hat tip by Korean site ETNews which reported that the Galaxy S5 would have an all-metal chassis.
Further fuel was then added to the all-metal fire when analysts claimed that Catcher Technology Co had taken an order to make the metal chassis for Samsung's Galaxy series.
And here's our first snap! Expect a lot more in the build up to the Galaxy S5 launch, but a photo claiming to show the metal frame of Samsung's next flagship phone gives us more hope that it may pass on plastic at last.
Samsung Galaxy S5 - LEAKCredit: Nowhereelse.fr
If this image is the real deal it rules out a flexible Galaxy S5 though, and the frame could still be covered in polycarbonate.
We may even get the best of both worlds as another report suggests that Samsung is prepping two versions of the Galaxy S5 - one metal, one polycarbonate. We reckon that's pretty unlikely, but could suggest the Korean firm is toying with both materials.
It's worth remembering that similar rumors surrounded the Galaxy S4 which still launched with a polycarbonate body, so we're not getting too excited just yet.

Samsung Galaxy S5 64-bit CPU

There was a lot of buzz around the 64-bit A7 processor which Apple stuffed inside the iPhone 5S and it's been blowing up benchmark tests left right and centre, and it looks like Samsung wants a bit of the action.
There's no question that the Galaxy S5 will be a powerhouse of a phone, but it may struggle to match the likes of the iPhone 5S and even the Note 3 after a benchmark result showed an unnamed Samsung device coming in behind both.
The rumors have been thoroughly shoving back and forth over whether Samsung will be launching the S5 with a 64-bit processor, as an ARM executive spilled the beans on the South Korean brand picking up its fancy new chip for 2014.
It could be kept for the Note 4, but then again Apple would have had a massive lead in the 64-bit market by then. The S5 looks like it could have a whacking 4GB of RAM as well to power all the new technology inside, taking better advantage of that 64-bit chip.
64-bit is certainly not set in stone and another leak has pointed towards Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.5GHz alongside an Adreno 330 CPU.
Considering the Galaxy Note 3 has launched with a mighty 2.3GHz quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM we'd expect the Galaxy S5 to at least match it, if not beat it.

Samsung Galaxy S5 screen

This is a tricky one - Samsung already has a display that's sharper than the human eye can detect, so why would it go any sharper?
The electronics brand seems to have ignored that question and will be possibly bringing the S5 with a 2K display - that's a dizzying 560ppi for screens as small as five inches.
It's not all about sharpness, as it could also lead to improved colour performance and refresh rate for slicker video and animations.
Given Samsung wants to go 4K for its 2015 smartphones, the halfway resolution makes sense for next year's devices.
In fact a resolution of 2560 x 1440 briefly popped up alongside the SM-G900S model number on a benchmark test, before the details were pulled, fuelling the Galaxy S5 fire further.
In terms of the screen tech for the Galaxy S5, Samsung has always stuck AMOLED panels on its flagship handsets, but there appears to be a little bit of confusion for the fifth generation device.
Rumors suggest that Samsung may move away from the AMOLED technology in favor of LCD panels in the Galaxy S5, with a view to save money on producing the handset.

Samsung Galaxy S5 operating system

All previous headlining Galaxy S handsets have sported the Android operating system and we don't expect that to change with the Galaxy S5.
Google's latest version of its mobile platform, Android 4.4 KitKat, is launched in October 2013, so it's highly likely this will be the version of choice for the Galaxy S5 come March.
There's a rumor that is throwing a spanner in the works though, suggesting that Samsung will offer the Galaxy S5 in both Android and its own-brand Tizen variants.
Now this sounds pretty unlikely so we're taking this with a large pinch of salt, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Samsung Galaxy S5 design

As we've briefly mentioned already there's talk of a whole new design language for the Galaxy S5 which will hopefully see Samsung break away from the similar styling of the Galaxy S3 and S4.
Obviously a metal chassis would help in changing the design, but we want to know what the Galaxy S5 will actually look like.
A patent application unearthed by Patent Bolt might shed some light on this, with a couple of images cropping up showing a squarer Galaxy S5 design.
If the patents are real then Samsung may be about to finally ditch the physical home button which currently adorns all its handsets.
Samsung Galaxy S5 - LEAKCredit: Patent Bolt

Samsung Galaxy 5S camera

The Galaxy S4 rocked up with a pretty decent 13MP camera on its rear, but rumors surrounding Galaxy S5 suggest it will take things a little further with a 16MP snapper.
That's still not as impressive as the 20MP Sony Xperia Z1 or 41MP Nokia Lumia 1020 - but do we really need cameras that powerful on our phones? You tell us!
The same report from the Electronic Times News also mentioned that the Galaxy S5 would sport the same optical image stabilisation (OIS) tech as the LG G2.
Samsung has announced a new CMOS image sensor dubbed ISOCELL which will almost certainly debut in the Galaxy S5, after the company told analysts the tech would be appearing in phones during 2014 and 2015.
The new sensor isolates individual pixels which minimises electrical crosstalk between them, which in turn leads to higher colour fidelity, for sharper, richer images.

Samsung Galaxy S5 finger print scanner

Anyone hoping that Samsung will follow in the footsteps of Apple and bring a fingerprint scanner to the Galaxy S5 could well be disappointed if certain rumors are to be believed.
That's after a Samsung official apparently told the Korean Times that the company is "not yet developing the technology" for its handsets. Boo.
All hope is not lost however, as the fingerprint rumor has reared its ugly head again, contradicting earlier reports with a fingerprint scanning firm claiming Samsung will be going big on the tech after all in 2014.
There were rumors of both Samsung buying a biometrics firm, which were instantly denied, and more recently it was mooted that the S5 would use retinal scanning to unlock the phone.
Unless someone comes out with a pretty nifty explanation of how this might work, we can't see it appearing next year. We're not holding our phone up to the eye just to open it up. We'd look insane.

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Best camera phone: 6 handsets tested

What's the top cameraphone on the market?

We're dramatically overhauling our cameraphones test in the near future to help you understand which the best snapper on the market is - so stay tuned to find out what we think about the Sony Xperia Z1, iPhone 5S, LG G2, Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom and Nokia Lumia 1020.

A decade ago, new fangled gizmos called 'camera phones' started emerging. Pretty soon there became too many to rate alongside 'proper' cameras, and in any event back then the grainy, smudged 640 x 480 pixels shots from phones were pretty dire. You might as well have photocopied your backside.

Now, the quality of cameras (or rather sensors) in phones has massively improved, to the extent that the average non-photo enthusiast is now asking whether these may replace their dedicated compact camera. And if so, which phone should they buy, in terms of which is best for photography?

But while your handset might be OK for daily snaps, is it good enough to act as your one and only device with which to record those key moments in life?

Often, what you gain in convenience by using a smartphone for taking pictures, you subsequently lose in image quality. One obvious difference between today's compact cameras and smartphones is that even the most basic pocket camera has an optical zoom lens that projects from and retracts into the body. But smartphones still make do with just digital zooms.

Digital zooms effectively just crop the picture, progressively losing pixels the further you 'zoom' in - and certainly this is an Achilles' heel that camera manufacturers are looking to exploit in their favour.

But at the same time, camera brands have been increasingly adopting smartphone-like app menus and internet connectivity to bring the two devices closer together, with Samsung's Galaxy Camera being one of the first and most fully realised examples of this convergence of technology to hit the street.

So compact cameras are seeking to be more like phones, and many smartphones are trying to be more camera-like in their advancing shooting capabilities.

Let's take a look at the best camera phones available now (a group test we'll be constantly updating), to help you decide which one is best for you and your photographic needs. Here we compare our favourite phones for taking photos, arranged by current market price, with sample images to show the sorts of photos they're capable of producing.

Can any of these top camera phones convince you to ditch your compact camera?

Sony Xperia Z

Price: £480/US$550/AU$550
Spec: 13MP Exmor R sensor, 5-inch display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, microSD card slot

Unlike its direct rivals, Sony has as much expertise in producing cameras as it does the sensors that go in them, so its phones were always going to stand out from the crowd in terms of their cameras.

The Sony Xperia Z's camera gives us 13 megapixel maximum resolution shots from an Exmor R low light sensor, as found in Sony's Cyber-Shot digital compacts and DSLRs. This is up from the 12MP of the older Sony Xperia S.

As expected, the camera part of the handset has an automatic focus and offers a built-in flash. There's also a front-facing two megapixel camera for those self-portraits too, up from a previous 1.3 megapixels, but that's probably not going to offer you your finest photographic hour.

Travelling types are now also able to geotag their images via a built-in GPS facility that can be activated or deactivated as desired.

The positioning of the camera at the very top of the backplate and slightly left of centre, if the handset is held upright in your palm, means that shooting portrait orientation is easier with this one than turning it on its side to shoot in landscape format. If you do attempt the latter, fingertips can inadvertently stray in front of the lens.

Naturally, this being a phone, there is no optical zoom. Instead we get the image degrading digital zoom, here of the 16x variety, that crops the image to give the illusion that you've zoomed in. Zooming in or out is via a physical switch located next to the phone's power button, whereas taking photos or videos is now via a virtual on-screen shutter/record button.

But there are many other tricks carried over from Sony's Cyber-Shot compact cameras that are properly useful and worth having. As on the Sony Xperia S, we again get Sony's Sweep Panorama function that automatically stitches together a sequence of shots into one elongated image as you pan through any given scene - with the results pleasingly successful in terms of seamlessness.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is also provided, which means that formerly tricky exposures such as a dark foreground and bright background - where you would either lose detail in the shadows or in the highlights as the camera metered on one or the other - are a thing of the past.

The HDR feature is provided for both 1080p HD video and stills, though you can sometimes be left with a rather flat or unreal-looking image as the camera tries to come up with a best of both worlds solution.

Those of us used to shooting with Sony's palm sized Cyber-Shot cameras will generally find much familiar here. As well as the above features we additionally get face detection, geo-tagging of images and built-in image stabilisation - which is handy, since a case of the shakes and resultant blurred images is always a possibility with a handset this shiny and slender.

We also get app-like picture effects, or digital filters in photographic speak. Automatic scene detection, smile detection and automatic image enhancing Superior Auto mode additionally feature, as in your camera proper.

Touch Focus, whereby you direct focus to a particular subject by tapping where it appears on the screen, which subsequently takes a shot, is another feature brought across from the camera world, and adds to the intuitive feel.

In full, the shooting modes comprise Superior Auto, Normal Auto, Front camera, picture effect (built-in digital filters), scene selection (pre-optimised settings for common subjects) and Sweep Panorama - so the sort of lineup you'll get from a regular Sony Cyber-Shot snapshot camera.

Add in object tracking autofocus alongside regular AF, and this is one of the most comprehensive camera options we've found on a smartphone. Sony is obviously showing off its imaging expertise.

While for low light shooting without flash we're provided with a range stretching from ISO 100 to ISO 1600 (ISO 800 and ISO 1600 being progressively noisy), the fact remains that the actual lens element of the Sony Xperia Z is tiny even compared to a cheap point and shoot digital camera, though you will pay a slight premium for one that is water-resistant and dust-proof with it.

A real bonus this time around, though, is that the camera's internal 16GB flash memory - half that of the Sony Xperia S, curiously - can be expanded with the addition of a removable microSD card of up to 32GB, the flash memory of choice for the modern smartphone.

We'd rather have been using one of Sony's actual Cyber-Shot cameras - such as the Sony RX100 - for a much better all-round performance, but if you're stuck with just your handset, the Sony Xperia Z is one of the better fallbacks when it comes to imaging.

Sony's expertise in this area once again shows, with results from the Xperia Z being consistent from shot to shot in terms of colour, exposure and white balance. Just what you want from a device with which you're going to be pointing and shooting.

However for our money the automatic results from the HTC One hold detail better from shot to shot, while those from the Samsung Galaxy S4 offer more contrast, making even the Sony Xperia Z's images, while fine when viewed in isolation, look a tad washed out when re-examined alongside.

Sample images

Pros: 13 megapixel resolution, Sweep Panorama function is both fun and effective, consistent performance in terms of colour and exposure from shot to shot, images noticeably hold detail apart from at highest ISOs, water resistant and dust-proof (unlike the majority of dedicated digital cameras).

Cons: Lens element is tiny even compared to a cheap point and shoot digital camera, display screen is cropped by operational toolbars to the left and right - or top and bottom - plus lens positioning means that stray fingertips can find their way into shot, less comfortable to hold for longer periods when composing shots because of flat edges.

HTC One

Price: £450/US$600/AU$690
Spec: 4MP 'ultra pixel', 4.7-inch display, HDMI, Bluetooth 4.0, USB, Wi-Fi, NFC

The HTC One's main camera element is located at the top edge of the handset, when held upright, and ranged dead centre, giving it a pleasingly symmetrical look. But by being as far away from either edge of the Android smartphone, it is also less likely that fingertips may stray in front of the lens in the process of gripping it.

Once you've set the phone up from scratch the camera icon is immediately visible bottom-right of screen. Give this a tap and you're immediately presented with the scene before your lens, the camera's AF automatically and visibly adjusting focus and exposure as you pan with the handset around the room or scene.

Like the HTC One X, the HTC One features a bright/fast aperture lens at f/2, with the lens itself offering a 28mm-wide focal length. The bright f/2 lens serves the HTC One well when shooting indoors using natural light.

This is the same sort of performance as its predecessor, although that model offered the standard 8 megapixels overall. Fudging the issue of pixel count, HTC refers to the One's main camera resolution in terms of 'ultra pixels' - a term that sounds zeitgeist-y but is basically meaningless and seems like an attempt to cover up an otherwise modest-sounding 4 megapixel camera.

As in the world of dedicated cameras, pixel count isn't everything, of course. Sensor size has a role to play too, and here it's a larger than most 1/3-inch. There's also a front-facing camera, offering a lower 2.1 megapixel resolution, as opposed to the previous HTC One X's 1.3MP.

Other features that will flick on a lightbulb in the head of photo enthusiasts are a back side-illuminated sensor, HDR facility for video as well as still images, plus optical image stabilisation to avoid hand wobble resulting in blurred shots. It betters the Sony Xperia Z in offering twice the internal memory, at 32GB, as well as NFC and Wi-Fi connectivity.

A new gimmick is something that on compact cameras is often referred to as 'motion snapshot', but here is given the less immediately obvious moniker of HTC Zoe. Press the shutter and the HTC One automatically captures up to 20 photos and a 3-second video (with Full HD 1080p resolution offered as standard here). The manufacturer claims that this produces a picture that's 'alive', or at least one that tells the story more fully by mixing media.

Flash operation is included too, or rather 'smart flash', as HTC likes to refer to it. Zooming in or out, again of the video variety, is a case of swiping your finger over a zoom bar on the screen, which is very responsive to the touch and the zoom action smoothly fluid.

An icon for immediately summoning up a comprehensive toolbar of built-in app-like digital filter effects is provided either at the bottom-right or bottom-left of the screen, depending on whether you're holding the handset to shoot in portrait or landscape orientation. We also get camera or video icons, with a tap of the former immediately taking the shot, rather than just selecting the relevant mode.

It's worth adding here that the HTC's screen is much brighter and clearer than many dedicated digital cameras we've had the pleasure of using, and really picks up fine detail, which is a bonus. Also a bonus is the fact that the image before the lens fills the whole of the screen in widescreen format, meaning it feels best suited to group portraits or landscape shots.

Specific image adjustments can also be made in-camera to the likes of exposure, contrast, saturation and sharpness. There are also dedicated scene, night, HDR and panorama options, selected via a toolbar located top or bottom-left of the screen, again depending on the manner in which you're holding the phone.

Manually selectable ISO runs up to the standard ISO 1600, up from the so-so maximum ISO 800 of its predecessor. Perhaps HTC is thinking it could justify upping the sensitivity as there are fewer pixels on the actual sensor.

The handset does, however, get quite warm over the course of using the camera. Also the shutter release is so sensitive on the HTC it's possible to fire off two shots instead of one.

Rather more interestingly, after capturing an image there's the facility to remove unwanted passers by from a photo in the style of Photoshop via an Object Removal function.

Sadly there's no microSD slot on the HTC One to expand the storage. Whereas that feature has been added to the Sony Xperia Z, HTC has once again jettisoned microSD use on the HTC One. This is a pity for us snap-happy users, even though it could be argued that a 32GB internal cache, the same as the predecessor HTC One X, is plenty.

We're all for paring down on unnecessary features and bulk, but this move feels a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Coupled with the lower pixel resolution, which admittedly can have one benefit - in that fewer pixels on a smaller sensor equals less noisy images - the HTC One wouldn't be our first choice for the camera aspect alone.

This is disappointing, because we love the handling, look and feel of the HTC One handset. Where it could have been a champion, it's merely a (very good) option if you don't mind widescreen ratio still imagery.

Shots taken at higher ISOs such as ISO 800 and ISO 1600 are noticeably less noisy on the HTC One than either the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the Sony Xperia Z, however, so if retaining detail in low light is a priority then the HTC One is the phone to go for.

Sample images

Pros: The shape and design of the phone means it feels comfortable in the palm, it's very easy to access the camera and its features, plus the handset screen resolution is razor sharp, so images displayed on screen look fantastic.

Cons: A four megapixel or 'Ultrapixel' camera is looking distinctly underpowered in today's multi megapixel handset market, plus the lack of removable storage (no microSD slot) particularly disappoints.

Nokia 808 PureView

Price: £400/US$530 (around AU$600)
Spec: 41MP sensor (max 38MP photos), 4-inch AMOLED screen, HDMI, USB, DLNA, Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi

The Nokia 808 PureView is most notable for cramming what Nokia calls the 'game changer' of a 41-megapixel sensor at its heart. This provides 38 or 34 megapixel photos at maximum resolution (generating a file size of 9MB+) depending on whether you've chosen 4:3 or 16:9 image aspect ratios, respectively.

That's a larger resolution than any sensor currently provided by a consumer-level digital camera, and likewise knocks other typically 8 and 12 megapixel smartphones out of the park.

In fact you'd have to be a professional commercial photographer working in advertising to justify spending around £20K on a digital medium format camera to achieve that level of specification from a dedicated device. Given that, a current price of £400/US$530 (around AU$600) for the Nokia 808 appears almost reasonable.

While the pixel count may be through the roof, naturally it doesn't automatically follow that the camera components of the Nokia 808 PureView are as good as a dedicated camera costing many times its outlay.That's because not only physical sensor size but also lens quality and construction plays an equally large part in the capture and 'photo realistic' quality of any image.

Also, we're only offered standard JPEG format images here (as we are with its rivals on test too), not the top quality unprocessed raw files provided by premium compact cameras, compact system cameras(CSCs) andDSLRs.

But first impressions are good. The Nokia's lens bears the branding of photo enthusiasts' favourite Carl Zeiss, most widely deployed by Sony's consumer digital camera range.

We also get a lens aperture of a reasonably bright f/2.4, which should serve it better in dim conditions - and going by our ISO results which are notably cleaner and clearer than competitors', this would seem to have been proved correct.

A built-in Xenon flash with a 4metre range is housed along with the lens in a raised bump on the rear of the handset, with a slightly roughened feel to the surface making for a tighter grip than most phones.

Despite the fairly high price tag, camera operation really is autofocus all the way, with only a meagre 4x digital zoom accessible. Added to that, in operation an on-screen message alerts us to the fact that the zoom function is disabled at full 38 megapixels.

Like all the other camera phones here, there is the ability to effortlessly flick between shooting still images and Full HD 1920 x 1080p video at 30 frames per second, which is on a par with any consumer level pocket camera.

Further features we might likewise find on a regular pocket camera include exposure compensation, auto/manual white balance, and face recognition.

However, with that obvious statement of intent heralded by the largest resolution on offer, plus no fewer than three creative modes alongside regulation-issue auto and pre-optimised scene shooting options, the Nokia would seem to place a greater deliberate emphasis than others here on image capture.

This comparatively impressive internal spec is twinned on the Nokia with a 4-inch AMOLED screen for shot composition and review. A tap of your subject at the position they appear on the screen biases focus toward them and subsequently fires the shutter; though there's also a 'hard' shutter release button on the bottom right-hand edge for more conventional use.

While the screen is clear and the captured images immediately look amazing when viewed on it, the pixel dimensions in play here are a modest 640 x 360 pixels. So it's only really once we've downloaded a 38 megapixel shot to our desktop that we begin to see the benefit over 8 and 12 megapixel pretenders.

Incidentally there is also the option to shoot at lower resolutions on the Nokia PureView 808, so if you don't need huge file sizes, you can dial it down.

Otherwise, at its best it produces natural colours, even consistent exposures and bags of detail into the corners of the frame.

A 16 megapixel mid-range compact camera would deliver very similar results - and you'd get a greater degree of true photographic control. That being said, for now this is probably the apex of the smartphone as a photographic device.

Sample images

Samsung Galaxy S4

Price: £520/US$630/AU$650
Spec: 13 megapixel, 5-inch AMOLED screen, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microSD card slot

The Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean-powered Samsung Galaxy S4 fields a large 5-inch Super AMOLED display for deeper blacks and all-round better contrast, as opposed to its predecessor's already sizeable 4.8-inches, so bettering Samsung's own dedicated Galaxy Camera in that respect.

It also comes with a 13 megapixel autofocus main camera - up from the respectable 8 megapixels of its predecessor, to now match Sony's Xperia Z in that respect - plus a secondary front-facing camera of the now seemingly regulation two megapixels.

Full HD 1080p video can also be shot at a 30fps frame rate, while our handset came with 16GB of built-in memory out of the box, with a microSD slot to expand this further if required. To insert the card you do actually have to un-clip the backplate, however, since there's no less intrusive side port.

The handset feels comfortable in the palm due in part to the rounded edges of its backplate, albeit not as comfortable as the HTC One. But like the One the image in front of the handset's lens commendably fills the whole of the screen, with operational icons floating over it.

However, if you want the highest 13MP resolution photos you have to choose the 4:3 aspect ratio option, which means black bands crop either end of the image to give you a more squared view.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 also offers up an impressively broad range of shooting modes - including options that might otherwise get filed under a 'scene settings' option on other handsets. These rotate before you with a finger swipe, ever so subtly aping the effect of adjusting a conventional shooting mode dial on a digital camera.

We get the standard default Auto option, but also dedicated settings for Night or Action/Sports shooting, Panorama (shots either in a vertical or horizontal direction), Eraser (which takes five sequential shots to be able to 'erase' any moving subject from the background) and Rich Tone, which is HDR by another name.

There are also no fewer than three motion snapshot-style options in Animated Photo, one of which records a mood-enhancing audio clip alongside your still image. And then there's Best Face and Best Photo (consecutive shooting to end up with the most flattering portrait), and finally Beauty Face, which automatically smoothes out facial blemishes.

These are all illustrated with an icon displaying the type of image you might take when using one of the shooting modes, plus a brief text bubble by way of further explanation. So there's plenty of handholding available here for those of us who want to take better photos without actively being experts in photography.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 gives us icons for camera (stills shooting) and camcorder on the screen. Tapping the camera icon immediately takes a shot, so there's no second delay as we switch into camera mode.

Because we mainly use our phones for those spur-of-the-moment shots rather than the more considered ones we might opt to use a proper camera for, this time-saving shortcut makes sense.

The camera part here again uses continuous autofocus. Like HTC's One we're also spoilt with a range of fun and effective in-camera effects filters. However, these are applied after capturing images, with the altered image saved alongside the original.

These include the regulars of negative, sepia, black and white and the ilk, and are saved as PNG files rather than JPEGs, with the unadulterated originals remaining as JPEGs.

Image quality isn't at all bad on the Samsung Galaxy S4, though white balance did appear to wander slightly during a course of sequential shots, with the results being most closely comparable in our eyes to that of the Sony Xperia Z in terms of well-saturated colour and detail.

However, the end results still fall short of the sharpness achievable with a dedicated camera, and the HTC One's shots are clearer and cleaner at higher ISO settings.

Sample images

Pros: One of the larger screens out there - along with Sony's Xperia Z - for shot composition and review, ability to expand memory for photos and video via microSD card slot, easy to use camera features and overall functionality, in camera effects filters are fun and effective, warm colours and consistency from shot to shot.

Cons: One of the larger handsets out there makes it slightly unwieldy; image quality also still falls short of what a dedicated digital camera could achieve with 13 megapixels.

Apple iPhone 5

Price: £530/US$650/AU$799
Spec: 8MP iSight camera, 4-inch Retina display, Bluetooth 4.0 Wi-Fi

The ubiquity of the iPhone tends to transcend any criticisms - for example the fact that with its flattened (rather than sloping) edges it's not the most comfortable handset to hold in the palm - while also enabling Apple to modestly claim the device houses 'the world's most popular camera.'

This latest aluminium iteration with ceramic glass inlays also claims to be the thinnest and lightest version to date. The iPhone 5 comes with an 8 megapixel iSight camera located towards a top edge at the back (which is exactly where fingertips tend to stray), which is supposedly protected against scratches by what Apple claims is sapphire crystal.

The wow factor lies in a visibly bright 4-inch Retina screen at the front, offering a 1136 x 640 pixel display, though it is in fact narrower than all but the Nokia 808 among its rivals here.

Powered by Apple's iOS 6, camera features such as a dynamic low light mode plus a really quite successful 240-degree panorama option, which creates a single elongated image comprised of up to 28 megapixels in total, are onboard.

Speed of photo capture - often sluggish on handsets when compared to dedicated cameras, which is why indoor stills are often blurred - is said to have been improved by 40% over the iPhone 4S.

Also borrowed from compact snapshot cameras is face detection for up to 10 frozen smiles in a single frame, 'tap screen to focus' functionality, plus 1920 x 1080p video clips at up to 30fps.

A photo can be captured in the middle of shooting a video sequence, and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera is onboard for video conferencing (720p at up to 30fps). An LED flash is provided for scenarios for when it's too dark to take a shot without.

Seeming to tick the proverbial boxes then, on the iPhone 5, as with others here, the camera function is presented as an app instantly accessed via a finger tap.

Speed of photo capture - often sluggish on handsets when compared to dedicated cameras, which is why indoor stills are often blurred - is said to have been improved by 40% over the iPhone 4S.

Also borrowed from compact snapshot cameras is face detection for up to 10 frozen smiles in a single frame, 'tap screen to focus' functionality, plus 1920 x 1080p video clips at up to 30fps.

A photo can be captured in the middle of shooting a video sequence, and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera is onboard for video conferencing (720p at up to 30fps). An LED flash is provided for scenarios for when it's too dark to take a shot without.

Seeming to tick the proverbial boxes then, on the iPhone 5, as with others here, the camera function is presented as an app instantly accessed via a finger tap.

We did enjoy the fact that a simple tap of the camera icon at the top-right of the screen alternates between the front-facing camera and the higher resolution one at the rear, making self-portraits a cinch - as seen on other cameras here.

Similarly, a slider switch at the bottom-right of the screen enables you to swap effortlessly between stills or video capture - a familiar red record button appearing centre stage in the latter mode, as with the others here. So use is intuitive - something at which Apple has always excelled.

To get straight down to the business of capturing a photo, a tap of the camera icon at the bottom-right of the screen takes a snap accompanied by the sampled sound of a shutter firing. The volume buttons on the phone's side can also be used as twin shutter releases when in camera mode.

Similarly impressive is the fact that a shot is taken with very little shutter lag - meaning the time between pressing the button and the device actually taking the shot is tiny. This meant that we were more likely to achieve the image we saw in our mind's eye before taking the picture.

Editing functions are pretty limited - to being able to crop, rotate, auto enhance or remove red eye, but of course there are a plethora of downloadable camera and image editing apps if you want to do more.

While the process of taking an image is simple, getting said image off the iPhone 5 involves a number of routes, since there's no removable media card provided here. So it's either emailing it to yourself, going the social media route and posting it on Facebook, or better still automatically saving all your new images to Dropbox.

Images taken under tungsten light are disappointingly grainy, and while Apple may claim that the iPhone's little lens is the most popular camera in the world, even compared with a lower-to-mid-range point and shoot camera it's far from the best.

Another thing to mention is that the positioning of the iPhone's lens - over in one corner of the handset, again means that it is easy for finger tips to stray in front, simply in the process of handling the phone.

Coupled with this, you can't control ISO light sensitivity settings manually - so the phone simply chooses automatically (up to a maximum ISO 3200 setting). That was a slight frustration for us when manual ISO selection is a feature of all its camera phone rivals here. Again it appears Apple is favouring ease of use above all else.

Sample images

Pros: It has a bright screen and easy to use and intuitive point and shoot operation, and as a camera the iPhone 5 is almost infinitely customisable via apps. Plus its side-mounted volume buttons double up as a shutter release when shooting.

Cons: Taking and reviewing photos appears to rapidly consume battery power, while camera options are more basic than the most basic of digital compacts, with no manual selection of ISO (though of course there are apps that lend greater control). Also, it has a narrower screen than others here.

Nokia Lumia 925

Price: £470/US$650/AU$750
Spec: 8.7MP sensor, 4.5-inch display, wireless charging, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, micro USB, NFC

Like the Nokia 808 PureView and Nokia Lumia 920 before it, the Nokia Lumia 925 comes in either 16GB or 32GB memory capacities complete with the brand's optical image stabilised PureView technology, wrapped in a body that shows off the aluminium construction to a degree that looks increasingly iPhone-like, while retaining a monoblock handset design.

Stylish appearance aside, first impressions of the phone's camera are good, in that the porthole housing the camera lens on the back is large and prominent, even though the lens at its centre remains physically tiny. The sensor is Carl Zeiss branded - this being one of the names most closely associated with optical excellence in the camera world, and more usually paired with Sony.

Maximum aperture is a bright f/2.0, which is respectable, as is a wide fixed focal length of 26mm with an 8cm minimum focus range. Should you have to use extra illumination, then dual LED flash is provided with an operating range of 3 metres.

The autofocus JPEG-only camera resolution hasn't altered between successive handset generations. The Nokia 925 again incorporates an 8.7 megapixel, 1/3-inch backside illuminated sensor.

Of course, more pixels on the same sized chip can lead to image noise - visible as grain-like speckles - appearing in shadow details, so with the Nokia 925 being sold partly on its low light claims, this has a degree of inherent logic. Naturally the bright f/2.0 aperture lens and the fact that the sensor is back illuminated also helps with its light gathering abilities (the lower the 'f' number the more light gets in).

The display size used for framing and reviewing images - and navigating all the rest of the phone's non-camera-related features - stays at 4.5 inches. The tile-based Windows layout is once again navigated via an AMOLED touchscreen, and very clear and bright it looks too, thanks in part to a 1280 x 768 pixel display.

As with most latest generation smartphones there is a front-facing camera for self-portraits, which here offers 1280 x 960 pixels (or 1.2 megapixels) - so HD rather than Full HD - and boasts an almost as bright (but not quite) aperture of f/2.4.

This screen has been retained from the Lumia 920 while Nokia has made the overall handset shorter, narrower and thinner, if only by a millimetre or two, as well as lighter.

Despite a narrower screen bezel, again a physical shutter release button is provided to the far right of the narrow edge of the handset, helpfully falling naturally under the forefinger of your right hand when turning it on its side to shoot in landscape orientation.

On the Nokia Lumia 925, as with so many camera manufacturers currently, Nokia is referring to its built-in camera as being 'smart'. In our experience this is more a fancy marketing term than any tangible change up of gear, but the claim here partly refers to the ability to shoot a sequence of shots to end up with one you might actually want to keep.

By doing so, you then have the ability to excise moving objects from your frame that are ruining the shot - there's always someone walking by as you're trying to photograph that eighth wonder, after all - as is likewise offered by the HTC One's Object Removal function. Just tap the screen to prompt this in-camera Photoshop-like piece of magic.

Alternatively you can combine the sequential frames into one shot, zoetrope-style. Cool, but not a valid reason for adopting the Nokia 925 alone, and it is slightly irritating that this is the camera's default setting upon power up, when you might not always want a burst of images.

Fortunately if you don't want the camera to rattle off a sequence you can select regular single shot capture mode with a couple of further screen taps. Here you can switch between 16:9 aspect ratio images that fill the handset screen or 4:3 ratio ones, which is the most common default setting for a standalone digital camera.

Unsurprisingly - and unlike the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom - there's no optical zoom onboard the Nokia 925 - just a 4x digital variety. Video remains the industry standard Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30fps - the frame rate also unaltered from the Nokia 920.

Something that has changed in the Nokia 925, however, is that light sensitivity settings now go higher than a modest ISO 800 - up to a maximum ISO 3200 in fact, which is approaching dedicated compact camera territory for specification, and again, is another weapon in the camera phone's arsenal for effective low light snapping.

Though it reads like weak praise, the photos we got out of this device weren't bad, and a pleasing level of detail is delivered when focus gets it spot on. However, we did notice a tendency for auto white balance to wander between shots, with daylight providing a blueish colour cast, for example.

Where the Nokia 925 again came off slightly better than rivals was when shooting in lower light without flash, as our ISO sample shots testify - due in part once again to the twinning of a bright aperture f/2 lens with a back illuminated sensor.

If we've a gripe it's that the Nokia 925 could be a little more user friendly. For example the photo (and video) settings menus are actually hidden down at the bottom of the screen and so need to be dragged up for access. There is again a limited degree of image editing accessible, such as the ability to rotate, crop and auto enhance your shots.

There's also a Creative Studio feature that enables you to turn pre-captured images to black and white (here referred to as 'Silver' - a nod perhaps to silver halide) or give them toy camera-like colour filter effects such as 'Jade' and 'Amber'. Again this is a fun feature, if non-essential.

Auto and manual white balance settings are also accessible, this time pre-capture, as is exposure compensation of +/- 2EV. You can use a focus assist light if desired, while flash settings are restricted to functional rather than elaborate: we get just auto, on or off.

While the USB/charger port is now at the top of the handset rather than the bottom, and the speaker has moved from the very base to the bottom edge of the backplate, there's a lot about the Nokia 925 that has stayed the same in terms of camera specification and performance when compared with the earlier Nokia 920 handset. Thus the pros and cons of the Nokia 925 as a photographic tool largely mirror those of the Nokia 920.

If you're coming to the Nokia 925 cold, though, you won't be disappointed - particularly for shots in lower light. Unless you're comparing it to a dedicated digital camera that is, with a physically larger lens, sensor and a greater number of pixels.

But that's to be expected, and the all-in-one convenience of the Nokia undoubtedly has its draw if you're only going to have the one device to hand for snapshots.

Sample images

Pros: Bright f/2 aperture lens, Windows operating system, 8 megapixel camera, image editing tools, large and bright screen, Carl Zeiss optics, back illuminated sensor.

Cons: No media card slot, naturally pricier on launch than the largely identical Nokia 920, making that earlier phone currently the better buy, fun 'smart camera' functions come across as gimmicky rather than essential extras.

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