Android-based compact camera?! But is it any good?

I am very late to this party, but...

The Samsung Galaxy Camera, model EK-GC100.

With a now-favourable price tag and a unique OS choice, is this Android-based compact camera worth having in 2018?

 This compact 16MP camera features a 23mm f/2.8-5.9 zoom lens, capable of 21x optical zoom, which is a big deal for someone like me. But the main attraction was the software. This camera runs Samsung's iteration of Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2.

[It should be understood that this camera was released around the same time as the Galaxy Note 3, and thus, is from that era. Standards and software were both very different back then, something that's worth keeping in mind when reading this.]

 First things first, let's see what you get in the box. It's sort of bog standard, really. You find the camera itself, a mini USB cable, a charger and a spare battery, which is a nice addition.

 So my first call when setting up my new toy is to download every app I feel I may need. I would need some photo editing software and, of course, my social media platforms. Most of these apps were available and compatible, except for one important one: Snapseed, Google's photo editing app. I mean, luckily, I can get by without all of the super useful tools and features of that app, but at least Adobe Lightroom CC for mobile worked. The whole set up process wasn't what I would call "snappy", not with the immediate updates required on top of an already choppy download queue[1]
but once I had everything set up, it was time to try out this bad boy! I knew from the start that it was an outdated piece of kit, so I was going in with lower expectations.

 The first pictures that I took left a lot to be desired in many areas. There was a lot of noise (granted, it was a poorly-lit bedroom) and you definitely couldn't describe them as sharp at all. I was also very annoyed that it would not focus on any object unless it was more than 2 feet away from the camera[2].

 However, this didn't dim my spirits. After all, the convenience and possibilities of this unique setup could outweigh such minor discrepancies. So I waited until the next day, where I could try it out in some nice evening light[3].

 The day was coming to a close. I was on my way back from Morrisons, swiss roll in hand and a Samsung Galaxy Camera in my pocket. What better time to try it out again. So I whipped it out outside of the school grounds[4] and took a few varieties of shots. On the preview screen, they didn't look too bad. Upon arriving home, my fingers numb from the cold, I dashed upstairs, eager to pop these shots through Lightroom. At this point, after only a collective 10 minutes or so of actual photo taking, the battery had dipped to 64%. I guess that's why a spare was supplied.

 I opened up Lightroom Mobile on the camera and threw together some quick edits[5] of the pictures. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, you can't polish a turd. I didn't bring any good out of the snaps. They still weren't sharp, they still lacked true colour and the subject still didn't punch like I'm used to.

 Viewing the pictures after I uploaded them to Instagram[6] seemed ok. You couldn't really tell that the photos lacked sharpness on my Huawei P9 Lite and I presume many other handsets would be the same, so in that respect, brownie points are awarded. The camera could maybe be fitting for Instagram. But still, I don't know.

 Honestly, I was over-excited about this camera. The idea of being able to take a photo, edit a photo and upload a photo to social media on one dedicated device seemed really convenient. And you know what? It ticked those 3 boxes. It can even tick a 4th box of being mobile, since it has a SIM card slot! But that is all there is to it. Ticked boxes. Do the pictures turn heads? Is the quality suitable for anything other than Instagram? Would I be better off buying a phone with a decent camera?

 For £110[7], you can take sub-par photos, edit them and upload them to Instagram, all conveniently on one device. For £110, you can have a conversation piece when someone notices the OS on your compact camera. For £110, it will fit in your pocket and tick the boxes. But for me, and for what I wanted[8], it has left a lot to be desired. I will be keeping it for another week in hopes of trying to find that one perfect moment where its unique setup shines, but until I can look past its annoyances[9], it's not going in my pocket.

[1]  The camera's hardware specifications aren't anything to write home about, so I found that it would occasionally crash, slow down or lag from time to time, but thankfully, the initial setup part doesn't take too long.

[2] Say goodbye to those lovely compressed close-up shots with plentiful bokeh.

[3] Which actually turned out to be boring, grey and overcast.

[4] Careful.

[5] Now I use the term "quick" very lightly. The camera was obviously not built for this purpose. It was a slow process, with choppy intervals, slow import and export times and the ergonomics of holding it were not very comfortable at all. I would much rather take the photos and later transfer them to a laptop. But then, that defeats the whole purpose.

[6] Instagram.com/andymoorcasual

[7] Maybe I've been expecting too much from a camera of this age at this price point?

[8] I've been wanting a small-form factor camera that will fit in my pocket that I can just use around and about, such as when I got geocaching, but ideally something that requires very little effort to edit and upload the photos. I originally thought of buying a compact camera with NFC built in, then transferring the photos to my phone to edit and upload. I should have stuck with that.

[9] Subjects must be over 2 feet away, photos are not sharp at all, colour is inaccurate, dynamic range is limited, but most of all, although it features a widest aperture of f/2.8, it will not under any circumstance allow me to take a focussed image at that speed and will rarely allow it at f/3.2 either. Not to mention the battery life is far from ideal. After finishing the whole process and putting the camera down for the night, it was left at 20%. That's after 10 minutes of photography and 20 minutes of editing. That is it.