The 5-megapixel camera in the G800 from Samsung might have made headlines a year ago, but now it has plenty of rivals, such as the LG Viewty, Sony Ericsson K850, Nokia's N95 and N82 and Samsung's very own G600.

But what none of those can offer is optical zoom. The SGH-G800 offers this at up to 3x, making it a phone that, on paper at least, can do what a good digital camera could do a couple of years ago.

The Xenon flash, macro mode, face detection and autofocus only enhance its appeal to the photographically inclined, and while we found the camera was not perfect it certainly gives its 5-megapixel rivals a good run for their money. We'd still recommend a separate digital camera for the highest quality photos, though.

The camera has a nicely protective sliding lens cover which you remove to get the camera software started. This, and the need to fit the zoom mechanism inside the phone, means it is necessarily fat and that might reduce its appeal somewhat. The overall 129g of weight might have a similar negative effect, though actually when you are holding the phone sideways-on to take photos its bulk helps it feel more stable than many handsets do.

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There are, of course, other features on offer here too. There is 3G with HSDPA (including support for 7.2Mbps connection speeds, though finding this is not unlike looking for a hen's tooth: at present you'll need to be on Vodafone and in the City of London or at an airport to be lucky). Video calling is more widely available on the HSDPA network, and there is a front-facing camera for that.

The FM radio is a nice addendum to the music playback capability, though we would have liked a 3.5mm connector for headphones rather than Samsung's proprietary one which is shared with the mains power cable.

Add in a calendar, an RSS reader as well as Web browser, unit converter, memo tool, timer and stopwatch and voice recorder and this is a fairly well rounded mobile.

It may be the case that many people interested enough in photography to want optical zoom handy all the time will be likely to carry a dedicated camera, in which case the G800 could prove to be a case of feature-bloat. But those wanting a solid mobile plus the odd zoomed photo might find this mobile does the job nicely.

The SGH-G800 is a big phone and that could prove to be its downfall. Its camera is good but can't rival a dedicated shooter, so you could end up carrying some of its bulk unnecessarily as you double it up with a high quality camera. Still, it's a first.