Samsung Galaxy Nx full review

The Samsung Galaxy NX is unlike any other
camera out there. When an engineering sample
was placed in Pocket-lint's hands in Paris
months ahead of its anticipated official launch we
had this weird-meets-wow moment. Weird
because the device feels to be somewhere
between a Samsung Galaxy S-series smartphone
with the large image sensor, interchangeable lens
system and a chunky grip of the existing NX-
series, albeit on a yet-larger scale. Wow because
we're the first in the UK to have a couple of hours
to play with the camera in the real world and take
some pictures. So what do we make of the Galaxy
NX? - is it revolutionary for where cameras are
headed, or more a reactionary experiment to
counter smartphones' impact on the imaging
market?
Paranoid Android
We've seen cameras running Android - indeed
we've seen the Galaxy NX before , in a locked-
down room - and they've delivered mixed results.
The Nikon Coolpix S800c was too expensive,
while the Samsung Galaxy Camera lacked the
bitingly sharp image quality that it needed to
deliver a true camera-centric experience.
Conceptually, however, there were elements in
both models that made perfect sense.
READ: Samsung Galaxy Camera review
The Samsung Galaxy NX, from what we've seen
so far, avoids the latter pitfall and - based on the
already-released Galaxy Camera's price in
relation to the then-top Galaxy S3 smartphone -
it might be on the right side of affordable too.
The Galaxy NX's APS-C sized sensor is the same
as found in the NX300 and is already proven to
deliver results. Price-wise the combination of
Galaxy S4 smartphone processor (quad-core
Exynos) and NX300 features might scream pricey,
but we think Samsung will go in with a sensible
price point - it has to, because the NX series is
among the least prominent in terms of market
sales, and this could be the camera to turn it
around. It sure does how wow factor.
READ: Samsung Galaxy S4 review
But then the Galaxy NX's initial negative is that it
feels somewhat alien in the hand on account of
its physical size and lack of many physical
controls. The fusion of a smartphone-derived
operating system merged with an interchangeable
lens system does make sense, but the omission of
physical buttons means almost everything runs
through the power of the touchscreen. And that
means taking the camera away from the eye and
out of both hands more than a typical DSLR or
compact system camera (CSC) user might
otherwise. It's a different prospect, and one that
took us a while to adapt to.
There is one exception to the touchscreen control
- a large thumbwheel atop the camera that
doubles up as a button to toggle between key
settings, or when held down it dives into full
Android OS complete with apps, Google Play and
the like. It's certainly a useful control mechanism
but we found it to be finicky - defaulting to adjust
the shooting mode rather than the settings and
without resounding clarity as to which settings
were in play for adjustment.
Never plan the future by the past
After extended use the Galaxy NX's controls start
to take; it forges into something more familiar,
yet something entirely new. Before long we were
fixed into our more typical way of shooting -
aperture priority mode selected, thumbwheel used
to stop up or down - but snapping away was a
combination of tapping the touchscreen for
compact-camera-like focus, along with using the
included electronic viewfinder as we would with a
DSLR or similar all-in CSC.
There are significant benefits to the Android
operating system too - not least connectivity and
sharing which, again, we'll address in more detail
later - that quickly come into play. Simple things
come to mind: press and drag on an image in
playback while zoomed in to get a close-up look
of the important parts at absolute size - which
saves the faff with lots of buttons and
directional-pad controls. Everything operates
through the touchscreen, the gallery is far more
organised than any other camera we've seen and
apps loaded into the 16GB of internal storage can
directly load up images to work with.
At other points we could say quite the opposite.
For example, within the menus a fair amount of
digging is required to switch between expert and
standard shooting modes. There's no simple way
of getting there, so if you know what you're doing
that's fine, if not then, well, you'll end up stuck.
There's the occasional feeling that Android has
been strapped on to a high-spec camera which
got us thinking as to who the target audience is
supposed to be. If the Galaxy NX is aimed at
those who would otherwise buy an
interchangeable lens camera then it needs to
always match up in the ease of use stakes - and
then use Android to build upon and better the
areas where more conventional cameras lack. At
the moment it's a mix of both better and worse.
The Galaxy NX sure is a bold design. Pretty it
isn't, but it's dived in headfirst and by avoiding
almost all physical control buttons it makes its
point - Android and touch are all that are really
needed to use a camera. But the fact it's opted
for such a large 4.8-inch screen size means that
- and we didn't think we'd say this - it's too big;
it's long . The screen takes up almost the
whole of the rear of the camera, and makes for a
larger camera than the NX300 already is - much
like the original Samsung Galaxy Camera, the
Galaxy NX hasn't shied away from physical size,
and we're not entirely convinced of that being
necessary.
READ: Samsung NX300 review
NX phone home
But for our weighing scale of uncertainty when it
comes to the physical vs virtual control debate,
there's one area where the Galaxy NX prevails:
connectivity. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and, if you add in a
SIM, mobile data are all available direct from the
camera. These features paired up with Android
are totally awesome - there's nothing else outside
of Samsung's camera range that makes sharing
so accessible and easy right from the camera.
It's not locked down to Samsung's services
either. Things like Samsung Kies are on board,
but anything you can do on a high-end
smartphone you can do with the Galaxy NX. Load
up Chrome to browse websites, pull a bunch of
shots out of the gallery and pop them into your
Dropbox account - it's all available and we have
a lot of love for that.
In our time with the camera we didn't have a SIM
card inserted, but did sync the NX with Wi-Fi and
when prompted with one of those annoying log-in
screens - courtesy of the hotel we happened to
be staying at, so not the camera's fault - we
could easily access and type into a browser to
move things forward. No additional password
loopholes from the camera itself were asked for
outside of individual programmes' demands. And
that was it, we were away, sharing and browsing.
No other interchangeable can match up to that.
Android adds other features that are certainly fun,
but not likely to be go-to controls most of the
time. Voice Control is one such example. Switch
this on and tell the camera to "shoot" and it will
obey. Surprised it's not called the SAM 9000 or
something. The feature makes great sense for
group shots where there's no need to set up a
self-timer, and other commands such as "smile"
or "cheese" can also kick the camera into action
(in the English language version). We even tried
out voice control with background music on to
see if the camera was still able to understand and
it did. Words do need to be spoken clearly as we
had a couple of first-time failed attempts, but
nothing unexpected. It's not human after all.
Elsewhere there are seamless tie-ins with GPS
location tracking, which includes an Around-Me-
style suggestion app to let you know where
things are. We couldn't use this extensively due
to being in a venue for the majority of an entire
evening, but the potential is significant.
With a SIM inserted you'll also obtain a phone
number. Now we don't expect people to be using
the Galaxy NX just like a phone, but from what
we can see within the settings it is possible to
receive calls on speaker. Crazy, but fun.
Image quality
We've snapped some pre-production shots which
even from the early sample model we think look
top. In agreement with Samsung we are not able
to show these at absolute size.
The Galaxy NX's imaging strength comes from
the fact that it's not forgone any of the top
imaging build of other NX-series cameras. While
these other, earlier interchangeable models aren't
smart cameras, as such, what they consistently
get right is image quality. The large APS-C size
sensor found in the heart of the Galaxy NX is the
same 20.2-megapixel offering as would be found
in the NX300 model. It's physically as large as
that in almost all current DSLR cameras and,
from what we've seen, has the quality to match.
It's a case of few surprises, really, but that's a
good thing. Although 20.2-megapixels is a
significant resolution, there's plenty of detail to
be seen at the low ISO settings and the ability to
crop into shots - as we have in one example
image - is of little sacrifice to quality. We think
Samsung would have been risking it to develop a
sensor with any greater resolution than the
current standard, so it's good to see NX300
quality on board.
At 20.2-megapixels there's a lot to be asked of
the sensor, particularly at higher ISO settings, but
even shots we took at ISO 800 of flower
arrangements on tables at a dim indoor location
came out well, despite questionable white balance
- but there's every chance that this will be
tweaked for the final unit.
We'll see how the final model fares, but initial
inspection is good and we see no reason that the
Galaxy NX will fall behind the current NX
standard.
There is one area where that assessment comes
unstuck: there's currently a slight mismatch
between some settings and who we feel the
camera is aimed at. For example: It's possible to
shoot raw images. It's possible to shoot JPEG
images. But not shoot both together, at least not
in this sample model. Bizarre. As we had no
access to software able to read the raw files at
this stage in development we were only able to
shoot JPEG fine images.
Just like with the Samsung Galaxy Camera the
Galaxy NX also offers a batch of in-camera styles
that can be added to images in post. Sepia, Mono
and a mixture of old-style effects make up the
bulk of what's on offer. With the processing
power behind this camera they snap into play
double quick and save in no time at all too. We
can see this being built upon further - a
connected camera such as the Galaxy NX could
tap in to future updates and additional third party
apps to expand upon its feature set. Something to
keep an eye on.
Initial verdict
A quick fumble around with the Galaxy NX isn't
enough time to make total sense of this
connected camera, so to have an extended period
of use with it has made all the difference in our
assessment. This curious camera is complete
with a sea of ideas and potential - some of which
work rather well, others which require too much
menu digging for immediacy.
If one thing's abundantly clear it's that Samsung
has the current best connected camera series out
there. Android just works, and while the concept
of buying a SIM for your camera might sound a
little bit out there, there are an increasing number
of affordable pay as you go (PAYG) plans
available which make sense to buy into. Do that
and true sharing on the go is at your fingertips.
Size-wise we do find the Galaxy NX's rear screen
a little large and the lack of physical controls
feels alien (at least at first), but this comes at no
cost to image quality which, from what we've
seen so far, ought to match up to the current
NX300.
Start-up time from cold lags a little more than
we'd like, and the eye-sensor activation time of
the electronic viewfinder also introduces a brief
break from preview proceedings - both of which
are areas that could be improved upon.
The last thing that really demands a thorough
testing is battery life, as that's something we
can't accurately comment on right now. After a
few hours of use we found the rear right side of
the Galaxy NX to be rather hot where the
processor was obviously punching out the heat,
but the camera soldiered on for the evening
without showing signs of cutting out.
So is the Galaxy NX the future of cameras? When
it comes to connectivity it definitely paves the
way. But the current Galaxy NX design seems to
want to appeal to all user bases and in doing so
feels a little diluted in its focus. It didn't need the
huge screen size to deliver the usability of
Android, and the removal of quick-access function
buttons may see more advanced photographers -
who traditionally might look to the NX series as a
shooting option - alienated. It's brave, it's bold,
it's often brilliant and introduces true connectivity
to an interchangeable camera for the first time -
but it's still got its work cut out in a market
that's hard to crack.