Just below above the small LCD screen on the front panel is the location of the A840’s 1.2 mega pixel camera. The Motorola A840 also includes a small white LED light to act as the camera’s flash when taking photos. Unfortunately there is no video recording on the A840, a shame as it has the potential for heaps of memory in the microSD card slot to utilise such a function.

While it is not possible to select the picture quality of the photo taken, the A840 gives the ability to change the brightness levels, resolution and zoom when taking a photo. There are also effect settings including Colour, Black and White, Antique and Negative.

The LED light can be enabled through menu options when taking a photo. There are six brightness levels and a 4x zoom. The zoom is digital but is reasonable, relative to the general quality of the camera. There are four resolution levels to choose from including High (1280x960), Medium (640x480), Low (320x240) and Thumbnail (160x120).

Don’t hold your breath as the quality of the camera is typical of the current generation of camera phones. Even at the highest quality, the photos are only really good for thumbnails on MSN or for happy snaps to send off to friends but forget about prints as the quality is simply not there. The photos can be sent via MMS, assigned to the photo phone book or transferred to a PC though either the USB cable or the microSD memory card. The Motorola A840 does however, take reasonably good photos in sunny outdoor scenarios.

Outdoor - Resolution

Motorola A840	Motorola A840
Outdoor mode	Outdoor mode
Enlarge (1280x960 pixels)	Enlarge (640x480 pixels)

Outdoor - Resolution

Motorola A840	Motorola A840
Outdoor mode	Outdoor mode
Enlarge (320x240 pixels)	Enlarge (160x120 pixels)

Outdoor - Zoom

Motorola A840	Motorola A840
2x zoom	4x zoom
Enlarge (640x480 pixels)	Enlarge (320x240 pixels)

Indoor - zoom

Motorola A840	Motorola A840
1x zoom	2x zoom
Enlarge (1280x960 pixels)	Enlarge (640x480 pixels)

Indoor - zoom

Motorola A840	Motorola A840
4x zoom	Good lighting
Enlarge (320x240 pixels)	Enlarge (640x480 pixels)

Night shots @ no light condition:

Motorola A840	Motorola A840
Night mode; flash off	Night mode; flash On
Enlarge (1280x960 pixels)	Enlarge (1280x960 pixels)

  ^{Previous page}

(Page 2 of 5)

^{Next page}   

CDMA or GSM with the Motorola A840

Table of contents:

Overview (Page 1)
Camera performance (Page 2 - additional page)
Major features (Page 3)
Problems/Issues (Page 4)
In Summary/Checklist (Page 5)