Samsung has announced the S4 Zoom. It is a fully featured Android 4.2.2 Galaxy phone (in reality a Galaxy S4 Mini) with a 16MP camera, a 10x optical zoom, 4.3-inch qHD display, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD slot) and a 1.9MP front facing camera. The camera includes optical image stabilization and a Xenon flash, along with a Zoom Ring that surrounds the camera, and when twisted launches in-call photo sharing, or goes straight to other camera modes. Extra software features are also on hand to advantage of the combo device’s capabilities including Photo Suggest that shows great pics taken by others in the area, Smart Mode auto settings and more.

So what you have is a camera with a phone attached, both aspects slightly lacking top specification. The phone is nothing like the specs of the S4, and the camera also falls short of Samsung’s digital compact cameras. However, I do expect this to he the start of a new trend of camera phones.

So would you buy one?