Flashback: 12MP shootout 12 years later - Samsung Pixon12 vs. Sony Ericsson Satio

01 August 2021
Revisiting the first two 12MP phones to hit the market to see how they hold up after more than a decade.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • kky
  • 12 Aug 2021

Ask, 09 Aug 2021You should also do first 8mp camera phone, Nokia n85 8mp, I... moreI think samsung released the first 5mp, 8mp, and 12mp. As well as the first camera on a phone.

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    • Ask
    • 7j{
    • 09 Aug 2021

    You should also do first 8mp camera phone, Nokia n85 8mp, I had one, and it's camera is impressive at that time and it doesn't had any competition.

      • F
      • Fabio Ailon
      • tZk
      • 06 Aug 2021

      You forget about Nokia N1..it use 12mp camera also..and for me..Nokia N1 camera is more better then Sony Satio on that time

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • kky
        • 03 Aug 2021

        wongwatt, 02 Aug 2021My biggest takeaway from this is that phone prices have inc... moreYup. But not even with good upgrades. Just screen and soc increments. Taking away features. 8 and 12 year old cameras matching and surpassing sometimes still.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • kky
          • 03 Aug 2021

          Syuser, 03 Aug 2021Pixon was such a crap! Poor daylight quality, very hard to ... moreThe original review by article and image results showed that the pixon 12 was the better camera phone. Get over it.
          However the satio was a little better on the phone side. Samsung put more work into the camera and making sure it was the first 12mp out.

            Pixon was such a crap! Poor daylight quality, very hard to handle, so slow overall, and poor battery backup. Satio was so light, faster in daylight and many other camera moods by some developers that could make it much better in nighttime also. Xperia 1 II still better than S21 ultra with manual fine settings. Xperia all the way!

              • I
              • Inthiyaz
              • tUa
              • 03 Aug 2021

              I Need that phone Please tell me how to buy

                • S
                • Shui8
                • KZK
                • 03 Aug 2021

                Anonymous, 03 Aug 2021What kind of troll your. Huawei is one my favourite but its... moreSensor size alone lot bigger than the two. Variaty of focal length, computational, Super res algorithm, BM3D NR, etc....more flexibility manual mode with RAW.

                Yup its more advance, by a lot. Now its your turn, come on, at least elaborate some rather than hurting yourself. 😆

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • sxr
                  • 03 Aug 2021

                  i have that satio... some lighting touches is nice, when opening the lens cover...
                  xenon flash is great too... like my n9 and lumia 1020...
                  even pulse led cannot match

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                    • Anonymous
                    • XP2
                    • 03 Aug 2021

                    Shui8, 02 Aug 2021Pixon12 - exposure - details preservation Satio - col... moreWhat kind of troll your. Huawei is one my favourite but its fankids are total tox!c like you and Nick

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                      • Alpha
                      • 80i
                      • 03 Aug 2021

                      I had the C905 and my cousin had the K800i...Amazing phones for the time!

                        GSMArena staff, I'm enjoying this journey of the past because I was present there, and it is nostalgia.
                        How about Samsung INNOV8's 8 megapixel camera vs Nokia's variable aperture N86 8MP?
                        2 phones whose names focused on its megapixel count, which was 8.

                        I'm interested because INNOV8 was the first phone you said in your review, can replace a camera (I still remember reading your review before getting one for around $600 back then) and N86 had this variable aperture of 3 steps which could've made a huge difference back then, before S9 made it mainstream.
                        This yesteryear's fight's gonna be huge!

                          • S
                          • Shui8
                          • KZK
                          • 03 Aug 2021

                          Anonymous, 03 Aug 2021mmm lol, obviously P40 is the result of research and innova... moreThats what I meant in the 1st place. Present.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • vxi
                            • 03 Aug 2021

                            Shui8, 02 Aug 2021Pixon12 - exposure - details preservation Satio - col... moremmm lol, obviously P40 is the result of research and innovation of smartphone imaging in the past decade so no point of comparison there. So much respect for these two cream of the crop 12 years ago.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • vxi
                              • 03 Aug 2021

                              This flashback shootout is really nostalgic. I mean, time flies so fast that the first ever shootout between these two phones is already 12 years ago!! We've also come this far. We've noticed how 12MP shots have evolved through time - in the past decade to be exact. I hope that you guys from now on will do some flashback shootouts once in a while. It's quite refreshing.

                                I absolutely love these kind of retro comparisons, hope to see them more here on GSMarena!

                                  The 12MP resolution.



                                  The industry standard for all smartphones nowadays with pixel binning main sensors for their phones.

                                  48MP with 4-in-1 = 12MP
                                  108MP with 9-in-1 = 12MP
                                  200MP with 16-in-1 = 12.5MP (Who knows, Samsung might actually use this technique.)

                                  We are stuck in this 12MP spiral. The flagships still have this as their output resolution.

                                  I'd be happy if they give us only 512GB or 256GB or even 1TB options for all of their flagship phones. Then we can enjoy those 100MP sensors with 4-in-1 that outputs 25MP instead of gimmick 9-in-1 binning sensors that output 12MP.

                                  I still think the Mi 10 Pro from last year still has a pretty damn good camera setup. With two sensors outputting 20MP+ images, they are highly detailed. Not even the iPhone 12 Pro Max or the S21 Ultra can match the versatility of its camera setup. (108MP main camera with 4-in-1 = 27MP (Xiaomi's software crops them to 25MP), 20MP ultrawide with RGB filter.)

                                    • S
                                    • Shui8
                                    • KZK
                                    • 02 Aug 2021

                                    Pixon12
                                    - exposure
                                    - details preservation

                                    Satio
                                    - colors
                                    - 35mm focal length!

                                    If I got it today? Nahhh will ditch it immediately. My P40 are way way far better than these two, in all aspects.

                                      My biggest takeaway from this is that phone prices have increased at nearly twice the rate of inflation...

                                        If you told me the Samsung photos were from a modern phone, I would have believed you