I use my phone for surfing the web, texting, taking photos, and making calls – in that order of frequency. Making calls has become a rare event, but I find that I often reach for my phone whenever I want to take a photo. As a parent, the photo worthy moments seem to happen rather often.
I have taken photos with several different phones over the years. Some, like the iPhone, are better than others. But at some point, I always find the limitations with my phone’s camera. When taking a photo of my son at swim class, the lack of a zoom makes him appear as a dot in the pool. When taking photos of the Seattle skyline, I found my iPhone’s camera did a lousy job of capturing the lights on the space needle. Because of this, I usually carry around our bulky DSLR when I want to take high quality photos.
AT&T let me test drive the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 Zoom, which is designed like a standard point and shoot camera with phone features added in. Calling it a phone seems like a misnomer because it really feels like a camera first, with its 10x optical zoom and ridiculous amount of advanced features. But it is a phone as well, running Android and apps from the Google Play store, just like any other smartphone.
I spent most of my time playing with the 16-megapixel camera n the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Zoom and was impressed with the quality of the photos. Outdoors in daylight, the photos were stunning. But I was also impressed with the quality of the photos at night, which is usually a trouble spot for any camera.
The lens has a manually adjustable zoom ring that lets you spin it to zoom in and out. You can also zoom in and out by touching the icons on the screen. The phone as a dedicated shutter button, just like a traditional point and shoot camera, and includes an Optical Image Stabilizer. In addition to still photos, the Galaxy S 4 zoom captures video at 30fps in 1080p or 60fps at 720p, and features a built in Xenon flash and 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.
When you are not using the camera, the zoom lens collapses within the body of the phone. Of course, a giant zoom lens requires a thicker phone design, which is one of the trade offs with this phone. I found that the size and shape of the phone felt right when using it as a camera, as it fit comfortably in my hand. The trade off really comes when using the device as a phone, as the size and weight make it less comfortable to use than a svelte iPhone.
The camera’s software gives you an incredible amount of settings, which should make any photographer happy. The default picture modes were easy to use and give you great photos without having to mess with any advanced settings. It even has random settings like the child portrait mode, which plays a sound to get the kid’s attention before you snap the photo. I was very impressed with all of the options the camera’s software offered.
As you would expect, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Zoom ran apps like Netflix and Gmail with ease. The phone has a large and bright 4.3″ Super AMOLED display, which made it easy to view my photos in rich detail. And it is a 4G LTE phone, so you can upload and share your photos quickly on AT&T’s 4G LTE network.
Whenever someone saw me using the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Zoom, they usually were curious about it and wanted to give it a try. Some people seemed surprised by the “camera first” design, while others thought it was the greatest thing ever. Based on the reactions of my friends and family, it seems like this phone would be perfect for those who are constantly taking and uploading photos. I remember the first year after my son was born and the countless photos we took of him. I wish that I had a phone like this back then, as we were constantly trying to get that “perfect” photo and sharing every milestone with our friends and family.
If you are looking for an incredible camera, it is worth stopping by an AT&T store to take the Samsung Galaxy S 4 Zoom for a test drive. You need to get a hands on experience with the phone to decide if the design is right for you. If you’re into photography, my guess is that you’ll find the phone difficult to put down.
