It’s a standard Galaxy S5 but with the standard lens of a point-and-shoot camera. The Galaxy K Zoom, which replaces the bulky Galaxy S4 Zoom, has been formally introduced to the Philippine market.
Like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, the new Galaxy K Zoom is a hybrid device, fusing an LTE-capable Android 4.4 smartphone with the standard lens of a regular compact camera but with impressive features.
With new retracting lens technology, the camera offers 10x optical zoom, using a 20.7Mp backside-illuminated CMOS sensor for better low-light picture taking. PHOTOS BY MELBA BERNAD
With new retracting lens technology, the camera offers 10x optical zoom, using a 20.7Mp backside-illuminated CMOS sensor for better low-light picture taking.
Unlike the LED flash of regular smartphones, the device’s Xenon Flash offers a potentially much brighter burst of light than does LED. This means that images are more clearly lit, the flash has longer range and that shutter speed can theoretically be increased. The combination of these two reduces image blur, which commonly plagues night shots. The flash also significantly decreases the noise/grain images.
Xenon Flash, however, has a reputation for sapping out a lot of battery power so this could affect the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom.
Like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, the new Galaxy K zoom is a hybrid device, fusing an LTE-capable Android 4.4
smartphone with the standard lens of a regular compact camera.
The Galaxy K Zoom also comes with a front-facing 2Mp camera. In terms of video shooting, the phone can record at a 1920×1080 full-HD resolution at 60fps.
A notable feature which camera enthusiasts will love is AF/AE Separation that allows a separate focus point and a separate exposure point.
Live optimized filter settings (in Pro-Suggest mode) and object tracking are among the additional features built into the device, along with a so-called ‘Selfie Alarm’.
Powering the handset is a Samsung ‘hexacore’ chip that uses both 1.3GHz quad-core and 1.7GHz dual-core processors.
To prolong the 2,430mAh-battery life, the Galaxy K Zoom automatically switches from dual-core to quad-core when in the Ultra Power Saving mode.
The phone still retains much of the thickness of last year’s Galaxy S4 Zoom, bulging at 20.2 mm, but it weighs 8g less at 200g. It has a dimension of 137.5×70.8×16.6 mm.
Like the Galaxy S5, the Galaxy K Zoom has a textured back, but has a smaller display at 4.8 inches, with a resolution of only 1280×720.
The Galaxy K Zoom has a 4.8-inch display, with a resolution of 1280×720.
The phone has 2GB of RAM and only 8GB of internal storage, but there’s a microSD slot for expansion. Connectivity options include the standard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, as well as NFC.
During the launch of the Galaxy K Zoom recently, all members of the media and blogging community got to try out the features during a photo challenge. The resulting images where impressive.
For Php24,990, the camera is a good buy if you’re a fusion of a camera enthusiast and a smartphone addict. And it’s an LTE-capable phone, allowing you to upload your high-quality images instantly (as long as you have an LTE signal). Remember, the Galaxy K Zoom is also a smartphone that offers the usual Android stuff.
The Galaxy K Zoom (white) is not as bulky as the Galaxy S4 Zoom.
