Well, after a mulitude of rumors and leaks that gave us most of its details unofficially, Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy K zoom, the successor to the Galaxy S4 zoom from last year. As the leaks had already revealed, the star of the show here is a 20.7-megapixel 1/2.3 BSI CMOS camera sensor with 10x optical zoom, which comes with retracting lens technology that makes the K zoom a lot less thinner and ligher than the S4 zoom. Samsung has also brought over the dimpled back from the Galaxy S5 – in fact, the Galaxy K zoom looks pretty similar to the
company’s latest flagship on the side where the 4.8-inch 720p Super AMOLED display resides, and the textured back should offer a tight and comfortable grip that one would prefer on a camera-specialized smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy K Zoom hands-on review
The camera features optical image stabilization (OIS) for clearer and blur-free pictures and videos (a feature Samsung unfortunately didn’t put on the Galaxy S5), and a Xenon flash for brighter and more natural photos in low-light. Other features include AF/AE Separation, a Pro Suggest mode that will offer 5 optimized fiter settings, a Selfie Alarm for timed selfies (you know, since selfies are the next big thing in mobile photography), object tracking for “a clear, focused shot of a moving subject,” for a total of 28 different shooting modes. According to Samsung, the user interface is simpler than before, which suggests that Samsung is using the same redesigned camera UI it has on the Galaxy S5. In fact, other Galaxy S5 features are present as well, including Ultra Power Saving Mode for extended battery life and Kids Mode, with Android 4.4 KitKat ticking away underneath. Samsung has also included a Studio app for picture and video editing, though how flexible and advanced it is something we’ll find out only after trying out the device. Of course, since the Galaxy K zoom runs Android, you can download third-party picture editors like Adobe’s Photoshop Express, so you’re not just limited to what Samsung offers out of the box.
Hardware specs of the Galaxy K zoom include a hexa-core Exynos 5 Hexa (5260) processor with two 1.7GHz Cortex-A15 cores and four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 cores, 2GB of RAM, a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera, 8GB of internal storage, a microSD slot with support for up to 64GB memory cards, and a 2,430 mAh battery. Connectivity features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0LE, GPS, NFC and HSPA+ (42mbps), all of which should be enough for the sharing needs of most users.
The Galaxy K zoom comes is three colours, Charcoal Black, Electric Blue and Shimmery White. The K zoom will be available next month.
