Samsung Digimax i6 PMP review

Samsung's i6 is the first camera we've seen that's also an MP3 and video player.

Multi-purpose devices are hardly unusual; smartphones have combined these tasks and more for years. But the fact that the i6 is primarily a digital camera is a strong selling point, as a camera phone still compares badly with a proper digital camera.

However, the i6 isn't a great MP3 player. The sound quality of the player and headphones is decent enough, but there are no tone controls, and playback stops when accessing the ugly onscreen menus. Worst of all, MP3 playback lasted for just 227 minutes in our battery life test. It was better in camera mode, at 258 shots.

Software is included to convert video to the camera's native Xvid format and video looks great on the 2.5" 230,000-pixel screen. Optical zoom is available in Video Capture mode, but bizarrely, audio cuts out when it's used.

The menu system was initially baffling, with four sets of menus accessed by different buttons. However, with a bit of practice it proved reasonably efficient, with the important controls close to hand. There's a dedicated button for a feature called Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR). It's a digital process but it works surprisingly well, significantly reducing blur when using shutter speeds as slow as half a second. Sharpened edges take on a ragged appearance, though, and processing can take up to five seconds. Without ASR, the camera performs well, with just over two seconds between shots. Image quality was respectable. Colours were vivid, and the Macro mode was particularly good, but noise reduction sacrificed detail in low light.

The i6 is an unremarkable camera, but it's a fun gadget that's reasonably priced.

Author: Ben Pitt