Kodak EasyShare S730 review

The S730’s 7in screen is small for such as expensive photo frame. Its widescreen aspect ratio means that photos don’t fill the screen, making them physically smaller than a 6x4in print. This modest size is ideal for desks, though.

A Collage mode divides the screen into four squares of varying sizes, and is an attractive way to use the entire screen area. Splitting the screen to show a photo beside a clock or calendar is another good idea, but sadly, the graphics are ugly.

A mode switch, volume controls and the power button are tucked around the back of the screen, but there don’t appear to be any other controls. However, touching the metal trim that surrounds the frame illuminates seven touch-sensitive buttons and the Kodak logo.

The menu system is a little convoluted but it includes all the key features including an on-off timer and slideshow intervals up to one hour. Photos are resized automatically as they’re copied to the 1GB internal memory, but doing so discards the tags created by digital cameras to label when a photo is shot (and therefore should be displayed) in portrait orientation. At least the frame correctly reorients photos when it’s stood on its end.

Fortunately, the S730 makes up for these niggling faults with image quality that’s among the best we’ve seen. Colours were rich and warm, and the contrast was strong without blowing out highlights and shadows. The only area where it floundered was in resizing photos that were close to the 800×480 native resolution. This resulted in blocky artefacts, but at this small size they weren’t as noticeable as on Kodak’s bigger D1030.

The S730 also distinguishes itself by having a battery, which lasted for 94 minutes in our test. We’re not convinced that this is a must-have feature, but it does make it easier to pass around when friends and family want to take a closer look at your photos. If that appeals, the S730 is a good alternative to Jessops’ much cheaper 8in frame.