Samsung Galaxy Camera: First Look

So I’ve been wanting to tell you about this marvellous little toy for a little while, but between one thing and another I’ve not been able to.

I’m going to assume you know a bit about this thing to begin with, as you’ve probably stumbled across some facts and stats on one of the techie websites. In case you haven’t, a few important things you should know.

The Galaxy Camera is an extension of Samsung’s drive to make the technology we use regularly ‘Smart’. They have given us the Smart Phone and Smart TV, as well as some (slightly less but still impressively) Smart Appliances. The camera is the next to get an upgrade.

Cameras already do certain things well, but what they don’t do is make life easy when it comes to putting pictures on your PC and ultimately, as so many of us do now, sharing them online. The other thing which is so limited on the majority of ‘dumb’ cameras is editing. Editing of pictures is not an area I’m going to touch on heavily, but simply put, imagine having the image editing capabilities you have on your phone (the ready made packages like instagram through to more bespoke tools) but being able to apply those things to pictures of the quality from a higher end digital camera. It’s strikingly obvious and a mouthwatering proposition. I’d also say Samsung are one of the best placed tech companies to deliver this well as one of the emerging players in the camera world and the biggest player in the Android ecosystem (and the mobile phone world as a whole at the moment). The likes of Sony probably have what it takes to compete, but the simple fact is that as of today, every other digital camera manufacturer is playing catch-up.

So that’s the basics and how this thing is a bit different..

The Galaxy Camera has been out for a couple of weeks now and when I got my hands on one the first thing I did was take it out of the box. Now we’ve been through this exciting process before. I tend to be in a situation where a couple of things are happening. The first is that I am opening a box, which has limited excitement unless you are actually doing it yourself the second thing is I tend to be drinking beer. This occasion is no different…

Unopened, beer on the go. Let’s be sensible a man has to have his priorities in order…

Samsung Galaxy Camera dans la boîte. (That’s ‘in the box’, foreign language fans!)

The expected collection of wires and plugs and cords. Except they are white! SHINY… kind of.

Samsung Galaxy Camera, no longer in the box. Things are hotting up.

 

So, some pictures and ting. (Threw that in for the more ‘street’ among us, blogging 101 that, connect with your audience!) If you click on them you can see the pictures in mega-big-o-vision. Same goes for any picture actually, I guess that’s probably more beneficial when you want to check out some of my test shots below.

What’s In The Box?

You get a Galaxy Camera and as far as I’m aware it’s only available in White. (I have to admit, it’s striking and I’d recognise it in anyone’s hands if I saw one, but I wouldn’t be sad if a black version were to hit the shops).

You also get a charging lead which like the vast majority of phones is micro USB, which makes life easy when it comes to having chargers strategically placed around the house/office (unless you have an iPhone). It also comes with a useful wrist cord and perhaps most strikingly a ‘3’ sim card, which comes pre-loaded with 1GB of internet access which you can use over the first 30 days before the sim reverts to the standard pay as you go approach.

Using The Galaxy Camera

Perhaps first of all, you should know that until now, I’ve never owned a digital camera except one which is attached to a mobile phone. I’ve never been hugely into photography because I am far to vain and in reality I prefer to be in pictures than taking them…

Exhibit A

Yes, that is a picture of me chasing my nephew around the living room. It was taken on the Galaxy Camera, by my sister (his mum), with very little regard for image quality and on the ‘Auto’ setting. In case you’re wondering, he’s ridiculously cute and I am a very proud uncle who would post pictures of him all over the interwebs. But I’m not sure his mum would approve…

Sod it, she will probably never read this (my family are so supportive) and if this doesn’t melt your heart then you are made of rocks.

Shortly after I told a hilarious joke… Or made a fart noise… Probably.

So, anyway, on to the matter in hand.

If you own, or have owned an Android phone the Galaxy Camera will feel very familiar. The interface is exactly the same as that on the Galaxy S3, assuming you have upgraded to Jelly Bean that is. Apart from looks, the devices are so similar, it is actually easier to point out the differences. Which are as follows: –

• The Galaxy Camera has 21x optical zoom (better than the majority of digital cameras available today)
• Although the Galaxy Camera can send text messages (and of course multimedia messages) there is no phone function. Skype may be a possible solution if you are in a fix though.
• Some Android software isn’t available for the Galaxy Camera, primarily due to how new it is.
• The Galaxy Camera is a camera and is sized as such.
• That’s pretty much it!

There are some other little things, but finding them out is all part of the joy of playing with it!

As it’s just a first look and I’ve rambled on like a nutter, I’ll save boring you with pictures and comparisons for another day. So I will finish off by saying that this thing is pretty amazing, it really can offer so much and the following are just a few of the test shots I have taken.

Sunset. Taken from the IKEA restaurant in Southampton. Using ‘Sunset Mode’.

Fireworks… It’s that time of year! At Alresford Bonfire Night. Using ‘Fireworks Mode’.

Pool Balls @ University of Winchester. ‘Auto Mode’

Ted. ‘Auto Mode’.

Charlie with a Galaxy Camera. ‘Auto Mode’.

I am a Samsung Mob!ler. Details of what this means can be found on the ‘Mob!ler’ website.

Samsung Galaxy SIII… I got one, took it out of the box and took pictures of it.

So, boys and girls. I’M BACK! I have logged back in to find a couple of ancient drafted posts too. Might publish them at some point. In the meantime there is the pressing issue of my new phone.

I have been using my HTC Desire HD for the best part of 2 years and it’s been a trusty companion. But… times have changed, phones have gotten bigger, better, prettier, faster and altogether much more better than they were back in the olden days. I needed to update and now I need to update you! Buckle in for the thrill ride that is looking at the pictures of someone who isn’t you opening up their new phone. If your contract is up any time soon perhaps you might find this useful…

Key Facts about your next mobile phone: –

• The Galaxy S3 has outsold the iPhone since it was released.
• It is available in blue and white, a black version will be released later this year.
• On a scale from one to pretty it looks gorgeous.
• It’s quite big, but that’s ok.
• It doesn’t infringe any Apple patents.

Unboxing

The phone comes in a tidy little box and obviously I wanted to open it as soon as I got it; I couldn’t because I was at work, so I had to open it at the pub. It looked like this…

Still in the box.

Then it looked like this…

Not in the box any more.

Then I found this…

Some stuff in the box.

In case you can’t tell, that’s a charger, earphones, and an instruction manual, which you can’t see.

Then I made the phone be in more than one piece…

The guts.

And discovered it takes a micro-sim. DAMN!

Since I haven’t changed phone in ages, I have a normal mini-sim, like most of you lot. If you speak to your phone provider they’ll probably send you a micro-sim, some will charge you for the privilege. If you’re very careful, you can cut your sim-card down to the correct size. You can also buy a punch on Amazon for about £3. Obviously I wouldn’t do something like that, because it might be very naughty. (I’ve not checked my contract). I really couldn’t wait, but this definitely isn’t a picture of me ‘adjusting’ my sim…

You probably shouldn’t try this at home.

So then, as if by magic, my phone was working!

Using the SIII

I’ll do a proper review in the next few days, but if you’ve got this far, you probably want to know a few things about it?!

The Galaxy SII was the biggest selling phone of 2011, outstripping the iPhone and all of its Android competitors. I have to admit, I didn’t love it. My Desire HD was made of solid aluminium (something I was thankful for, having dropped it a fair few times). The SII is primarily made of plastic and while the screen was large and bright ( the super modern AMOLED), I didn’t really love the styling either of the phone or the interface.

The SIII completely changes the game. The phone is obviously gorgeous and although it still has a plastic back, it feels like a proper premium phone, with it’s beautiful glass front and brushed back. One of the other plus points is, if you do scratch or crack the back, it is easily replaced, unlike models with a uni-body construction.

The interface is also slick and easy to use, with some great features. You may already have read that there are some great touches; for example, when you’re looking at it, the phone can sense that you are and will keep the screen lit up, which is ideal when you’re reading a long text or a web page. Got a text and need to call someone back? Just lift the phone up to your face and you’ll hear the phone ringing after a couple of seconds.

Features like this always make me a bit dubious as to whether they will really work, but although there have been one or two occasions where the liting has been poor and the phone can’t see that I’m still looking they have worked great. It does take a second to get used to the change in how you interact with your phone, but it’s all pretty intuitive, but it doesn’t take long.

Everything else you expect is in there too, from a variety of widgets to Near Field Communication. I remember when I got a Nokia N95 years ago and I thought for the first time I had a phone which did everything I asked of it, but this phone has an uncanny knack of knowing what you’re going to want before you do and making you wonder how you lived without it.

I appreciate that many of you Apple aficionados will scoff at the suggestion that an Android phone is a step up from what you have in your pocket, but trust me, this is and if you have even the vaguest inclination to switch, this is the phone to try. If you are already an Android user then, believe me, this phone is at the top of the pile.

In terms of what did surprise me, given that I was moving from one Android device to another, I thought that the differences would be tiny. But between the move from HTC and their Sense UI to Samsung’s Touchwiz and the step up from Android 2.3 to 4.1, the changes are quite significant. It’s definitely a change for the better, although the one area I think HTC do trump Samsung is their widgets and the social integration offered by Sense, although  the SIII is certainly no slouch in this area.

First Impression Rating

5/5

 

I am a Samsung Mob!ler. Details of what this means can be found on the ‘Mob!ler’ website.