Samsung Has A New Galaxy Phone That Hints What Our Smartphone Cameras Will Be Able To Do One Day
Samsung has a history of experimenting with crazy gadgets and form factors. On Monday night, it announced a new device that tries to merge the benefits of a digital camera with an Android smartphone.
Think of the Galaxy K Zoom as a digital camera strapped to the back of one of Samsung's Galaxy phones. From the front, it looks a lot like the new Galaxy S5, but with a slightly smaller screen. The 20.7 megapixel camera on the back includes a 10x optical zoom that pops out just like a regular digital camera.
As you'd expect, the phone is very thick and heavy to make room for that camera. There's also a giant bulge on the back, meaning the phone can't sit flat on the table.
The Galaxy K Zoom has a bunch of shooting modes too. Some are pointless, like the "Selfie Alarm" that lets you take a selfie using the rear camera. The phone's software can automatically detect your face and rapidly beeps when it's about to snap the selfie.
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But other modes like object tracking are very useful. You can tell the camera app to follow a moving object so you don't have to constantly refocus on it.
The Galaxy K Zoom will come in blue, white, and black, just like the Galaxy S5. (No gold version though.)
Samsung will only sell the Galaxy K Zoom in international markets like Asia and Europe. The company launched a similar device called the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom in the U.S. last year, but it was a dud. Samsung says camera phones like these tend to be more popular overseas, so there's very little chance the Galaxy K Zoom will ever come to the U.S.
At first blush, the Galaxy K Zoom feels pretty gimmicky. It's not an appealing tradeoff to sacrifice thinness and design for a really nice camera packed into a bulky smartphone. But the phone does give us a look at how Samsung is thinking about its smartphone cameras. It's possible some of those features, like object tracking, could make it into Samsung's mainstream devices.