Samsung WP10 review: shiny happy snapper

First impressions of the shiny red Samsung WP10 that arrived in the post were pretty good. It’s a waterproof camera (up to 3m) and as such is really solidly built, with slide-to-lock solid flaps for camera and memory card.

The front looks a bit sparse – just the lens and the flash at the top of the front, but this does give you plenty of space for holding, which is useful, because being so flat and shiny and pretty small, it’s not so user-friendly when you’re holding it. However, it makes it very pocket-friendly – as does the price.

On the top is the power button, which we found rather fiddly unless you can press it with your fingernail – and not ideal for using underwater – and the shutter.

The large screen on the back makes viewing easy, though does tend to make shots appear a bit overexposed – but it’s brightness makes it easier to see in low-light conditions (and presumably underwater too) although we found a bit of a lag when storing your taken shot, which means you can’t take another one until it’s done.

There are plenty of modes on offer – from beach/snow to ‘beauty’ which does its own version of touching up – great for spotty teenagers and anyone who’s overindulged over the festive season. I’m not even going to show you my pictures – but maybe I was just too much of a challenge for it!

It’s clear Samsung is aiming for the family user who wants everything nice and easy, with little need to fiddle around manipulating images after they’re taken.

The waterproof/weatherproof qualities of the camera at a very reasonable price will appeal to anyone who wants a good all-round camera that can be stuffed in a pocket. The one downside for a do-it-all camera is that battery life is disappointing, and you’ll probably want to take a spare battery if you’re heading out for the day.

Image quality was decent, although we experienced quite a bit of noise at anything on ISO800 and above.  We had a good chance to try out the snow setting (pictured), which failed to alter the white balance, leaving us with a blue cast, which was rather disappointing. Macro mode produced excellent results, and we really liked the idea of a mode for taking images of text – handy if you want to copy and send a letter or information off a leaflet and don’t have a scanner.

At £115 or thereabouts, the Samsung offers a lot of features for the money – especially if you’re keen to take underwater images and want a really sturdy product.