Samsung Galaxy K Zoom Review

Samsung Galaxy K Zoom is a smartphone that can give any camera phone contender a run for its money. K Zoom boasts a massive 10X optical zoom and OIS (hence the name “zoom”, which otherwise would’ve sounded more appropriate for a dirt bike manufacturer). If you look at K Zoom from the back, there is a good change you may think you are looking a digital camera. You may not notice that it is a smartphone that has a 4.8inch screen on the other side! It is rare that we get to review such uniquely designed smartphones.

Galaxy K Zoom

Learning from past mistakes

Samsung it would seem have learned from their past mistakes (somebody should show their profile to Apple as well). The Galaxy camera that wasn’t a phone was too big and awkward to carry around. Next, the Galaxy S4 didn’t have the quality to be taken seriously as a camera phone. In this day and age, camera is the requirement, the preference of the user – therefore Samsung thought that why don’t we sweep everyone off their feet and introduce a new smartphone trend in the market.

Specifications

  • 4.8″ Super AMOLED, 720 x 1,280px, 306ppi; Gorilla Glass 3 with ambient light sensor
  • 20.7MP camera – 1/2.3″ sensor, 10x optical zoom (24-240mm), optical image stabilization, xenon flash
  • 1080p video camera, 30fps and 60fps modes
  • 2MP / 1080p front-facing camera
  • Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat
  • Exynos 5260 chipset with dual-core 1.7GHz Cortex-A15 and quad-core 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU; 2GB RAM; Mali-T624 GPU
  • 8GB of built-in storage, expandable via the microSD card slot
  • Active noise cancellation with a secondary mic
  • 2,430mAh battery

Some notable pros

The 4.8 inch Super AMOLED HD screen is definitely a feature worth recognizing. The screen is good quality. Next the 8GB storage with microSD card slot that you can make even bigger is a good feature. Many smart phone manufacturers take storage for granted but not Samsung Galaxy K Zoom.

Now for the real pro – The camera! The 20.7 MP camera is one of the best smartphone market has to offer. It is the primary feature and the selling point of the device. In some peoples’ opinion K Zoom is not a smartphone with a camera but a camera with smartphone functionality. However the phone functionality, the OS, the specs, the hardware is not lackluster. You cannot say that you are compromising phone end for the camera end.

Some notable flaws

Samsung Galaxy K Zoom has some notable flaws. Let’s start with the out of date thick body. The smartphone is thicker and heavier – something users don’t like very much these days. Although it is a specialized camera phone, it has some camera flaws too. Such as no video recording at 2160p and the manual camera controls are not very user-friendly.

Verdict

Using the “ordinary” camera phone deprives you of Zoom and OIS. So if you are a fan of photography, you must check Galaxy K Zoom out. However, the excellent camera features come at the cost of thickness and heaviness. The design, the phone and camera functionality otherwise is fine.

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