Samsung MV800

Bottom line

Testers have fun with the Samsung MV800's flip-up screen and crazy photo effects -- but they don't usually recommend it, because the photo and video quality aren't that great.

If you shoot a lot of self-portraits, experts like the cheaper Samsung DV300F (*Est. $175) better. It substitutes front-and-back LCD screens for the MV800's movable screen. Otherwise, the top-rated Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX150 (*Est. $220) beats the Samsung in pretty much every way.

Ease of use

Swiveling touchscreen works well -- in some tests. Experts and owners praise the Samsung MV800's flip-up screen. It's "genuinely useful," says Liam McCabe at DigitalCameraInfo.com -- you can flip it around completely to shoot a photo of yourself or tilt it to see odd-angle shots.

But the screen itself gets mixed reviews. Jim Fisher at PCMag.com finds it "bright and crisp," but Amy Davies at TechRadar.com says it's fuzzy: "More than once we needlessly retook photos to make sure that at least one was in focus."

It's a touch screen -- and that gets mixed reviews too. Most testers say it responds crisply to finger-taps, "and the interface is as elegant as a smartphone's," McCabe adds. But Davies sometimes can't get the touch screen to respond, especially in the cold.

The touch screen operates almost everything. The MV800 has very few buttons, except for on/off and a shutter button. If you've used smartphones, "the MV800's operation will come as second nature," say editors at Steves-Digicams.com -- and if not, it's so simple that you'll learn fast.

Even with the swiveling screen, the MV800 is just as tiny and slightly slimmer than most pocket cameras -- less than three-quarters of an inch thick. "More than pocket and handbag friendly," Davies says.

Performance

Unimpressive photos and videos. The Samsung MV800 takes only so-so photos, experts say. "Image quality is average at best -- actually, it's pretty crummy in anything but bright lighting," says McCabe at DigitalCameraInfo.com. It's "only slightly better than a good smartphone's." PCMag.com's Fisher agrees: Despite its 16 megapixels, the MV800 never manages to grab a sharp shot in his test, and photos turn out grainy unless there's bright light. Flash isn't the answer. Experts agree that the MV800's is weak -- it only reaches about 10 feet.

Also, the MV800 is slow in tests. Startup, shot-to-shot times and shutter lag all trail speedier cameras (like the Sony WX150), and there's no rapid-fire burst mode. "Speed was clearly not on the minds of Samsung's engineers when they designed this camera," McCabe says.

Video shoots in HD, but only 720p -- not full 1080i or 1080p like rival cameras.

Battery life is unimpressive, too. "We got about 190 shots out of a charge. That's on the low end of average for the class," McCabe writes. Steves-Digicams.com testers agree: "We had a hard time getting even close to 200 photos per charge."

Durability

No expert tests for sturdiness, but metal body seems promising. The Samsung MV800 is mostly made of metal, not plastic -- a distinct advantage, Steves-Digicams.com says. Although other experts don't say anything about the build quality, we found no complaints about sturdiness from owners.

"It is built pretty sturdy so I wouldn't worry about it breaking at all ... just be careful not to drop it," one owner writes at Amazon.com.

Features

'The coolest effects mode we've seen.' Zoom is only 5x -- nothing to write home about. But even serious pro camera testers get a kick out of all the crazy effects the Samsung MV800 can add to photos. "We have to give credit where it's due: The MV800 has the coolest effects mode we've seen," says McCabe at DigitalCameraInfo.com. 

"We've seen all of these effects and filters on other cameras here and there -- modes like Fish-Eye, Soft Focus, Miniature, Cartoon, and the like -- but we've never seen so many in one place, and we've rarely seen such a level of control over so many of the effects." In Beauty Mode, you can tell the camera whether to smooth blemishes lightly or heavily. Funny Face lets you distort faces like a funhouse mirror. Oil Painting and Cartoon both look realistic, says Davies at TechRadar.com -- and there are plenty more.

You can shoot 3D photos and sweep-panorama shots, too, although testers get mixed results with the latter. Not every special-effect is a winner -- for example, Pose Guide shows you an outline of how you should get your subject to pose, which Davies calls "strange" and McCabe finds "tacky."

"Are all these modes and fine controls necessary? Nope. Are they goofy fun to play with? Yep. Do they work well? As well as we've seen in a point-and-shoot," McCabe says, although "it's probably not a good enough reason for most folks to go out and buy this camera."

To view your photos and videos on a computer or HDTV, the Samsung MV800 has micro HDMI and proprietary USB jacks. It uses microSD cards for storage, "which can be a bit more expensive -- and easier to lose -- than the standard, larger SD cards," Fisher points out at PCMag.com.