The Samsung Galaxy NX has finally been unveiled in all its Android 4.2 Jelly Bean-powered glory, and we have had a first look at it.
Samsung was one of the first manufacturers to launch a compact system camera, unveiling the first device fitted with an APS-C sized sensor back in 2010 with the original Samsung NX10. Since then, several iterations of the NX brand have been unveiled, while the rest of the manufacturers now have at least one CSC in their arsenal.
There’s been a fair number of rumours that the company would introduce a version of the NX loaded with the Android operating system ever since the compact Samsung Galaxy Camera was announced last year. The Samsung Galaxy NX was launched alongside the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, a hybrid phone/compact camera.
The Samsung Galaxy NX combines the high quality features of the NX range, most notably the large, 20.3 million-pixel APS-C sized sensor, with the operability and fun of the Android Jelly Bean OS.
Like Sony and Panasonic, Samsung is an electronics giant and not a dedicated camera manufacturer. As such, it tends to do things a little differently, just because it can. The Samsung Galaxy NX is the world’s first interchangeable lens camera to feature Android – but how long before the other manufacturers follow suit?
Inevitably, people will be questioning the merits of a camera fitted with Android, or wonder if it will also be capable of making telephone calls. What the Samsung Galaxy NX camera does, in theory at least, is combine high quality image making with the current desire to instantly edit and share your photographs as soon as is humanly possible.
By making a camera with Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connectivity and fitting it with the Android OS – for which there are hundreds, if not thousands, of ready-made apps – this kind of camera should meet a new kind of desire for the best of both worlds. Apps such as the ubiquitous Instagram, along with the dozens of Instagram-a-likes out there, make it easy to give your images a vintage or retro feel and upload them for sharing with your networks.
Along with the standout features of the sensor and Android OS, the Samsung Galaxy NX also has a number of other interesting specs.
It’s fitted with a Drime IV Image Signal Processor, which Samsung says gives it speed and accuracy. That’s something we’ll be keen to put to the test when we get a full review sample in.
The number of NX range lenses is growing, and although Samsung doesn’t yet match the breadth of options available from the Micro Four-Thirds cohorts of Panasonic and Olympus, there are still a decent number.
Although an official Samsung Galaxy NX price has yet to be confirmed, it seems likely it will occupy the same kind of slot as the Panasonic G6, Olympus PEN E-P5 and the Sony NEX-6.
Build quality and handling
Samsung has gone for the DSLR-type styling, rather than flatter, compact style of cameras we’ve seen from the company of late. A chunky grip makes the camera easier to hold and helps it to feel secure in the hand, especially when shooting one-handed.
On the back of the camera there are no buttons, since instead the entire rear is taken up by the extremely large 4.8-inch touchscreen TFT. This is much larger than the usual 3-inch displays found on most compact system cameras and DSLRs, and certainly is a striking look.
The only physical buttons on the camera can be found on top of it, where you’ll find the shutter release, a button for lifting the inbuilt flash and a video record button. There’s also a dial that can offer a number of different functions, depending on what you’re doing with the camera. It can be used to switch between the various modes, such as shutter or aperture priority, or it can be used to jog between different apertures, shutter speeds and so on, once you’ve selected this parameter on the touchscreen.
Very responsive and quick to use, although touchscreens aren’t to everybody’s tastes, this one is particularly responsive, and it soon becomes second nature to work with it, rather than relying on physical buttons. In order to make changes to aperture, for instance, first you need to touch the aperture display on the back of the screen, then use the dial at the top of the camera to scroll to the aperture you need.
If you’re using one of Samsung’s innovative iFunction lenses, then the lack of buttons shouldn’t be too much of a problem, since you’ll be able to make many changes to aperture, shutter speed and so on via the lens itself. If you’re not a fan of touchscreens, though, this probably isn’t the camera for you.
To get to the Android portion of the Samsung Galaxy NX, you’ll need to swipe across the right side of the camera to bring up a Home button. From here, it’s pretty much like using any other Android-powered device, and you’ll find a number of pre-installed options, as well as the ability to add any app you like from the Google Play store.
Unlike many of the compact system cameras on the market, Samsung has included an electronic viewfinder (EVF) on the Galaxy NX. This is a very impressive device, with a sensor included to help produce a seamless transition from using the touchscreen to using the viewfinder – it automatically switches as you bring it to your eye.
The electronic viewfinder itself is very crisp and clear, and it’s almost as good as using a traditional optical viewfinder. One of the benefits of using an EVF over an OVF is that you can see any changes you make as they happen, while you can also view images played back, helping you to determine whether or not you’ve nailed the shot much quicker than having to remove the camera from your eye frequently.
Performance
It’s of course very difficult to judge the performance of a camera before we’ve had chance to put it to the test properly, but we’re reasonably confident that the Samsung Galaxy NX will be a solid performer.
We’ve recently been very impressed by the quality of the Samsung NX300, and see no reason why the sensor inside the Samsung Galaxy NX should suffer from the addition of the Android operating system.
One of the joys of using a camera with Android incorporated is that it’s much easier and more intuitive to use than many of the menu systems, and especially Wi-Fi and social sharing systems, that come already produced for cameras. We’ll be keen to see if it’s incorporated well and makes the overall system easy to use.
It’ll also be interesting to see how battery life holds up to a full-time imaging device, since there’s a lot of processing power combined with the Android operating system. We’re hopeful that it won’t be too much of a drain on battery power, but we’ll be sure to put it through its paces to find out in our full review.
Initial verdict
This is quite an exciting announcement in terms of the technologies that are being brought together, and as one of the innovators of Android, it’s hardly a surprise to see Samsung first to the market with a CSC that offers Android Jelly Bean.
We’ll be very interested to see what the rest of the industry makes of the Samsung Galaxy NX, and what other brands do by way of a response. We’re starting to reach a point where a camera without Wi-Fi just doesn’t cut it any more, and with the added fun of apps such as Instagram appealing to more and more people (both beginners and enthusiasts) we can certainly see the appeal of a camera like the Samsung Galaxy NX.
Look out for a more extensive review when a full production sample of the Samsung Galaxy NX becomes available.
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