Review: Samsung S4 Zoom
The good people over at Samsung South Africa sent us a S4 zoom and after 3 weeks with the phone this is what we think about it
first of all below is what is under the hood of this hybrid camera-phone ?
For starters, there’s dual-core 1.5GHz Cortex A9 processor paired with 1.5GB RAM and 8GB storage, though the latter of this can be upgraded with a microSD slot, with as much as 64GB of storage. Android 4.2 “Jelly Bean” runs with this, with the Australian version of Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay to Android, just like on the Samsung Galaxy S4, S4 Active, Galaxy Note 3, and any other smartphone released from April onwards from Samsung.
Connectivity options are similar to the S4 range, and include infrared support for using the camera-phone like a remote control, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Near-Field Communication, microUSB, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and the ability to connect to 4G LTE networks.
The screen, as mentioned earlier on, is a 4.3 inch touchscreen display relying on Super AMOLED technology, and showing a resolution of 960×540, also known as quarter-HD, with roughly 256 pixels per inch. This display is protected by the third generation of Corning’s scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass technology, though, so it should hold its own against the occasional scratch and set of keys.
Interestingly, the camera is one of the more important parts of this phone, since it’s literally a phone inside of a camera.
As such, there is a 16 megapixel (in 4:3 mode) autofocus camera here, with 10x optical that can be controlled by a ring around the camera, equivalent technically to 24-240mm. Optical image stabilisation is included in the package, as is a flash, with video able to be recorded at Full HD 1080p 30fps.
A front-facing camera is also included — because selfies are important, but hard to take when you can’t see the screen — and for that, Samsung has provided a 1.9 megapixel camera.
With regard to buttons, there are slightly more on this device than on other smartphones, due to the fact that the S4 Zoom is primarily a camera and then a phone. As such, you’ll find the regular Samsung smartphone home button, flanked on each side by menu and back soft buttons, while the right edge has both the power button and volume rocker for the phone, and large shutter button for the camera.
Zoom is handled by the camera ring, which allows you to get up close and personal with your subject from a distance.
Ports are also easily accessed on this camera-phone, too, with a 3.5mm jack at the top of the phone, microSD slot on the left side of the device, and microUSB at the very bottom, sitting inside a flap that covers the removable 2330mAh battery and microSIM slot.
A tripod mount is also included on the phone, covered by white piece of plastic, as well as a set of holes which can be tied with a camera strap.
Performance
Boy, Samsung sure experiments with some neat ideas.
Last year (2012), the company made headlines when it blended half a mobile phone and a camera to make the Galaxy Camera, what was essentially a Galaxy S3 with a camera strapped to the back, and yet no ability to make phone calls.
This year, Samsung is changing the formula slightly, capitalising on the idea that people might want a smartphone with a decent camera. You can take pictures from afar, surf the web, social network, and hey, even make phone calls, because in the Galaxy S4 Zoom, Samsung is taking some of the features and design of the Galaxy S4 Mini and strapping it to the back of a compact camera.
The idea makes sense to us: dedicated compact cameras are beginning to fade away, especially as every smartphone gets a camera inside, many of them decent, so a smartphone with a dedicated camera complete with 10x optical makes even more sense, and we can see people who love to take pictures with their phone jumping all over this concept.
In conclusion this phone Is easily one of the more unique concepts we’ve seen to come out of a company’s R&D labs, and is really the first time we’ve seen a phone make the camera the true priority. So does it work?
The answer is yes, though be prepared for the massive chunk that the camera-phone leaves in your pocket.
That said, using it garnered more attention than we expected, with many people intrigued by the combination of a camera with 10x optical and a smartphone. And that’s kind of what it is: a mediocre phone with a decent camera inside.
If you’re someone who wants a camera first with a phone in it, and if you take a lot of pictures on the go, the S4 Zoom is a great choice, but make sure you have the pockets for it.