The camera modules in smartphones continually improve, and these days there are phones like theiPhone 4S and the Nokia N9 who can take snapshots as good -- and sometimes better -- than point-and-shoots. Polaroid's known for making cameras, but its newest device, a rebrand of the Aigo A8 we saw at CES last year, flips the script by taking a 16 megapixel point-and-shoot and shoving an Android phone inside.
The camera sports a 16MP sensor, 3x optical zoom, and 5x digital zoom. You are going to get much better distant shots than you would ever find on smartphone, but image quality does start to get grainy once you reach the digital zoom levels. Overall image quality was a definite step up. The real issue is the amount of time it takes to get from standby to photo. The process is too involved. First you have to remove the phone from standby. Then the device must be switched to camera mode. Finally a photo can be snapped, but it isn’t without delay. The whole process means you might miss your best shot. A newer version of Android could cut down on the amount of time slightly (Android 4.0′s zero shutter lag would be much appreciated here).
“Polaroid has helped the world bring stories to life through photographs for the past 75 years,” said Scott W. Hardy, President, Polaroid. “The newest member of the Polaroid family, the Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera unites the beauty of high-end digital images with powerful Android connectivity features. The result is an instant experience of click, capture and share that enables social networks to see and experience the moment as if they were there.”
Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera is one of kind digital camera because it combines the power of digital camera with Android OS. As for the price and release date, we should see this camera available in April for $299.
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