I have a lot of gadgets, but the one thing I carry everyone is my smartphone. I used to carry my point & shoot camera with me but my purse became too heavy. Somethings had to go. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom aims to solve the problem by providing a combination smartphone and point & shoot camera with a decent optical zoom. AT&T let me play with for a week so I could share my Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review with you.
Should I call the combo a “phamera,” kind of like the Galaxy Note’s “phablet”?
I’m going focus more on the camera aspect of this device since the phone functions like the Galaxy S4 that I love (and own). I did not alter the photos below in anyway except to add descriptions and crop them.
The first thing that impressed me is that the Zoom has an actual lens built into the back of it. I thought it would feel bulky at first but there’s an curve between the lens and bottom of the camera for your hand to grip the device. The Zoom has 10X optical zoom like the point & shoot cameras we are used to. Most smartphones can only offer a digital zoom which can affect the quality of your photos if you zoom too high.
I took advantage of the Zoom when I went to see Amy Tan speak at Strathmore last week. I was second in the second section of the orchestra and this shot was taken at maximum zoom. One of the advantages of a 10X zoom is that it looks like I’m a lot close to Amy Tan than I really was. However, the image stabilization wasn’t very good at this high of a zoom. I had to brace my arm on my armrest in order to get a photo that wasn’t blurry. The low lighting didn’t help as the camera needs a slightly longer exposure to get a decent photo so any minor movement can render your shot blurry. (I didn’t use a flash here because it wouldn’t have helped at that distance.)
Outdoors in natural light, the optical zoom did a great job.
When taking photos of my 4-year-old Jaxson, any blurriness is due to his boundless energy and no fault of the photographer (mostly me). I was pretty happy with this shot. In fact, I was able to take plenty of good photos that afternoon in the setting sun (dang early winter sunsets!).
The Galaxy S4 Zoom has a physical shutter button for those who are used to point & shoot. I found it easier to use the on screen to take the photos. The shutter button took more pressure than I expected to take the shot, which usually resulted in the camera moving and a slightly blurry photo. Like any Galaxy S smartphone, the camera has numerous modes, effects, and filters you can use to create Instagram type photos. In fact I like their effects more than the ones on Instagram.
If you want a better camera than your current smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is for you.
It is slightly smaller than my Galaxy S4 phone (which my iPhone friends say is huge). While the Zoom is not as thin as my Galaxy S4, its smaller dimensions make it much easier to stick in your pocket. Since it’s also a smartphone, you can upload those pretty photos straight to Facebook or Instagram with little or no editing.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is available through AT&T.
AT&T loaned me the device in order to review it. All opinions are my own.