Gadgetory

make no bones about it the samsung galaxy s4 zoom is a point-and-shoot camera first and a smartphone second I'm just good all core with Cena let's check out this crazy phone essentially the love child of the Internet connected galaxy camera and the galaxy s4 smartphone the zoom is the only handset anywhere with the 10 times optical zoom again the 16 megapixel lens sticks out two full inches from the phone's face which is normal for a camera and really outrageous for a phone that means you can forget about carrying it in your pocket and if you do make a call without using a bluetooth headset yeah as far as photos go using the zoom is natural and intuitive on-screen controls zoom in and out flip the camera and get it settings and modes smart mode hides a ton of extra presets you won't find on the galaxy s4 like a food mode for amping up your dinner and one to freeze moving water there are manual controls as well some more precise or creative photographers can set things like ISO white balance and exposure just how they want when you aren't in the camera turning the zoom lens is a quick way to pull up some common modes holding down the shutter button also opens the camera app just keep in mind that you have to unlock the phone before you can take a photo however if you want to you can set the s4 zoom to unlock to the camera app which does save you a step I took some really good photos with the zooms automatic settings and extra camera modes but I took some less successful shots as well sometimes zooming in made people and objects look out of focus but other times it was very very clear pictures of texts were especially good with really crisp writing overall I was happy to use and share the majority of my photos as for video the zoom captures nice smooth 1080p HD clips the 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera is also capable of recording 720p HD video which is really good for video chats the zooming camera lens is clearly the main event here but the zoom is also a capable android phone even if it is incredibly awkwardly shaped like the galaxy s4 the zoom runs android 4.2 jelly bean but it also has a smaller 4.3 inch screen compared to the s4 s5 insurer and a dual-core processor instead of a quad-core chip it still has the same android apps though and it still has the IR blaster that you can use as a TV remote there's also a microSD card slot that can take up to 64 gigabytes in external storage because of its enormous size the zoom really is a niche device that isn't for everyone instead it's going to be best for budding photographers will already carry around a point and shoot and it would rather consolidate to just one device if you're a serious photographer then I don't think the zoom is going to replace your higher power DSLR I will say that it is a fun cool idea that yield some better than average photos but for most people the awkwardly large handset just isn't practical for day-to-day use I'm Jessica doll court for cnet you can catch my full samsung galaxy s4 zoom run down and all the specs at cnet com you