Review: Motorola ROKR E8
Photos
Like all cell phone cameras, the imager on the E8 does best in full sunshine. Still photos are big but looked bleached with dull colors even under optimum lighting conditions and lack the robustness one expects from even the lowest end digital camera. The amount of even dull color you get depends greatly on how much light you have. More light more color, it's that simple. Check out the baseball stadium shot, taken at early twilight but a full-lit stadium. The picture of the flowers was taken midday, but these blooms were in the shade. While the E8's indoor shots compare favorably with other 2 MP camera phones I've used, the outdoor shots were disappointing.
In any conditions, object outlines are indistinct and photos look as if there's something not quite right, as if the camera is working to fill in what it wasn't able to capture. With no flash, indoor pictures were even more problematical. The playing cards photo and self-portrait were taken under multiple incandescent and halogen lights at full strength. While both are clear, they are dull.
Video
The less said about the 176 x 144 3gp video quality, the better. As you can see, the E8 footage of a ball game (extra points for identifying the stadium) is nearly unwatchable.
3GPP / MPEG-4 format (viewable with QuickTime)