Samsung i7 Review

The Samsung i7 features a design that's pretty unique, with a 3.0", 230,000 pixel LCD touch panel mounted on a spring-loaded section of the camera's rear which swivels around its center point, so as to offer a portrait or landscape view. The Samsung i7's operating mode is selected by the current screen position. Gently push on the screen's bottom right corner and the spring-loaded action will spin it 180 degrees, and power the device on in camera mode. Alternatively, rotate the screen only 90 degrees, and the i7 becomes a T-shaped portable movie player, which Samsung says offers maximum comfort when holding the device for extended periods. Finally, with the LCD panel in the zero degree position, the device functions as an MP3 player. In all modes, the touch-screen is used to control the i7, and with the LCD swivelled to the PMP or camera modes, a further row of buttons adjacent to the LCD becomes accessible.

The Samsung i7 has a seven megapixel CCD imager coupled to a Samsung NV-branded 3x optical zoom lens offering a range from a rather tight 38mm wide angle to a moderate 114mm telephoto. Maximum aperture varies from f/3.5 to f/4.5 across the zoom range. The Samsung i7 has an unusually generous 450MB of built-in memory, with an SD / MMC card slot offering further storage and also compatible with SDHC cards up to a maximum of 4GB. The Samsung i7 also includes the company's face detection technology, coupled to both the autofocus and autoexposure systems to ensure that your subject's faces are correctly focused and exposed. One more unusual feature is the ability to capture video with sound at just a few pixels shy of SVGA resolution, although in this mode the framerate is limited to 20 frames per second. In the lower VGA and QVGA resolutions, the Samsung i7 can manage 30 fps. Power comes from a proprietary Lithium Ion battery.

The Samsung i7 is currently not available in North America.