High quality, very stylish, lots of features and functions
Disadvantages:
Limited internal memory
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Being something of an expert at almost everything, I recently found myself in the somewhat embarrassing situation of being asked by a friend how he should go about finding himself a lady-friend. Answering with my usual modesty, I whipped out my newly acquired Samsung i70 and explained, quite simply, that it is all about style. There is, I hasten to add, a point to this story that moves beyond mere digression. It doesn’t matter whether we are shopping for shoes, underwear, cameras, or girlfriends, we are always attracted by something that has style, and the Samsung i70 has it in abundance.
Functions and features are important, and the i70 has plenty of those as well, but this digital camera is unequivocally stylish. The Samsung i70 will go down in history as the innovative creation that made it possible to pose behind the camera. For those among you who would remain incorrigible cynics, unmoved by even the finest work of art, you can rebel against consumerist society’s obsession with style and good looks by taking comfort in the knowledge that the i70 boasts, at around £160, impressive quality for a reasonable price. It’s teeming with imaginative features and functions, encouraging creativity among budding photographers. It is an undeniably charming device, and I could ask for nothing more.
Aesthetics
The Samsung i70 was made to impress, and this is what struck me immediately when I saw it in the store. Available in red, gold, black, or silver, the steel finish is nothing short of seductive. It boasts a sleek, compact design, with a sliding cover to reduce size when not taking photographs. When slid open, the cover reveals an array of buttons to help the user navigate their way around the various features. However, when closed, there is no clutter around the camera, with just a few buttons neatly positioned on the top, making for an easy and uncomplicated design.
A well sized, well positioned three inch wide LCD screen is nicely placed at the back of the camera, taking up the majority of the space. But it is not too imposing as some displays can be, retaining the i70’s minimalist feel. On the whole, this camera cannot be faulted for beauty and style. It is superbly and carefully designed, and enough to catch anyone’s eye. For me, this is what separated the i70 from the all very admirable competition.
Quality
£160 is a very reasonable price for a camera of this standard, with its quality undoubtedly matching its good looks. The Samsung i70 is a 7.2 Mega-pixel camera, meaning it can produce images of a very high quality. Comparing images taken using film on one of my old cameras, and digital images taken on this camera, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two, which is always the mark of an excellent device. Furthermore, the i70’s red eye fix feature eliminates any red eyes in pictures, and its advanced shake reduction system prevents blurring very effectively, helping to ensure high quality images. Perhaps even more innovative is the camera’s face recognition ability, which identifies faces in images and enhances the clarity, making sure that each person’s face is as clear possible.
The camera can also capture short movie clips of a reasonable quality, although a proper digital video-camera would always be preferable for this, considering that a lack of storage space (the i70 has an internal memory of only 10MB, but an external memory card can be added) usually means a lower quality of video. This is certainly true with the i70, which doesn’t offer an overly impressive frame rate. However, it is undoubtedly a useful feature for capturing those amusing moments, regardless of quality. Concentrating on the camera’s photographic function, however, its capacity for producing high quality images is extraordinarily good, and it cannot be faulted here.
Functions
The i70 has five main functions, with, it goes without saying, its photographic function taking full priority. The Samsung i70 is not an all-in-one. It doesn’t pretend to be more than what it is, and this is probably how it should be. It is not a PDA, it certainly isn’t a phone, and it doesn’t have web access. But, apparently, unless you are my fiancée, you can’t be good at everything.
As aforementioned, the i70 performs its photographic function very well, producing images of a notably high standard, and its video function not so well, producing short clips that are more about fun than quality. That it can record movie clips is a useful add on, handy for recording anything you wish – shouting matches, ridiculous stunts – allowing the camera to make a brief gesture towards flexibility. And it can even function as a voice-recorder, which, again, is a useful but not essential add-on, very much like its ability to store data and play mp3s. Overall, the i70 does almost everything that any other digital camera in this price range can do.
Features
The i70 is teeming with features ready to be used by, like myself, the more adventurous photographer. At first, I must confess I found the various options a little complex, and it certainly took some experimentation, and a lot of trial and error, to work out what was what. But, after a couple of days of tinkering, and a little help from the omniscient fiancée, I managed to figure everything out.
The i70 boasts, of course, a range of features, including the already mentioned face recognition, red eye fix feature, and shake reduction system, as well as a 3x optical zoom and sensitive flash feature. These are all useful touches, allowing mostly for enhanced quality with little extra effort. I’ve found the shake reduction system particularly useful, helping me to cancel out any irritating shakes that might affect the quality of the image. In addition, it is possible to edit captured movies. Perhaps most impressively, the ISO 1000 feature allows the user to adjust exposure, preventing those indoor lighting disasters where everybody inevitably turns out to be hidden in a shroud of inconvenient darkness.
Uploading, playback, editing and printing
Uploading images, movies, and voice clips to the computer is a fairly painless process, with a USB 2.0 cable supplied, allowing for fast transfer. However, if you wish, you can also connect the camera directly to a PictBridge printer, enabling the user to print out images straight from the device, which can speed up and simplify the process even further. Voice recordings, data, and movie clips can be directly uploaded to the computer, where movies can then be editing using any software available. They can also, however, be edited on the camera itself, using the simple and rather nifty editing feature, allowing the user to make their own decisions over editing. Of course, movies can also be played back on the camera as well as on the computer, again giving the user the choice.
Battery-Life
The i70’s battery life depends enormously on the way in which it is used. If one were to become obsessed with capturing short movie clips, they would find the battery depleting very quickly indeed, since this is probably the most demanding activity possible. Similarly, constantly using the camera as an mp3 device will guarantee a short battery life. Sensible use will ensure that the battery lasts for several hours, and, realistically, the i70 would not need recharging for a number of days of reasonable use. The rechargeable Lithium-ion battery will self-discharge over time, probably by about 5% per month if charged sensibly, and will probably last for about 30 months, which is average for these sorts of batteries.
Overall
I am very proud indeed of this purchase. Being a man of unquestionable style and taste, I feel the Samsung i70 suits me very well indeed, and this is likely to be the case for anyone else tempted to give it a go. And it is tempting. Frankly, just the fact that it slides open and shut makes it cool enough to buy, but there is so much more that this camera has to offer. It’s stylish and sleek, it boasts a vast array of features, and includes some useful extra functions without being too pretentious or forgetting what it is. The internal memory is a little on the conservative side, but this can be fixed by adding an external memory card, should one choose to do so. For £160, I could ask nothing more from this sexy, high quality camera.
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
