Customer Reviews

Samsung HMX-U10 Ultra-Compact Full-HD Camcorder with10 MP Still (Red)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I just finished boxing up this product back to Amazon and am compelled to write this review to help others make an informed purchase from someone who used the product.

I had been in the market for an ultra compact HD camera for about 3 months after tiring of the mini DVD cam I had for about 10 years. When I read about Samsung's entry into the market I knew I had to wait, because I love their quality in general. Plus, the promise of a 10mg digital camera with one-touch upload to Youtube and SD card capability made this a no brainer for me.

My primary uses would be 1) capturing family moments with the kids without having to resort to carrying the larger camcorder and a supply of DVDs everywhere we go. And, 2) shooting stationary video for my v-log entries.

When the product arrived, I was really happy. On the positive side, I like how compact it is.

- Ergonomically, it fits really well in my hand and I actually like the controls. While the touch controls are sensitive, I didn't have any problems easily selecting my options.

- The camera is completely intuitive. I was using it straight out of the box as soon as I inserted the SD card. Switching between video, pictures, and playback is a cinch! Very nice.

- Compact. The camera's size is unbelievable. It easily fits pretty much anywhere you have a pocket. Fantastic.

- Appearance is spot on too. It's a nice looking camera.

Now for the overwhelming negatives:

- The image quality is dreadful. Not only is it grainy indoors, but unless you have a lot of light it's almost unusable. It's also really choppy, which I don't like.

- The sound quality doesn't seem to match up with the video. While the mic picked up the sound, it didn't match upon playback.

- Picture quality. Don't be fooled by the 10mg capability. I challenge you to take a quality shot with this camera. Forget about anything indoors and stand as still as you can and it's still going to be blurry. Unless you plan on carrying a tripod everywhere, forget it.'

I really, REALLY wanted to love this video camera, but I had to send it back. The concept is a good one, but it is nowhere near acceptable in the performance category, which is a shame since these are used to record family memories.

I am really quite angry at Samsung for putting this type of garbage on the market. They are smart people and must know about this product's shortcomings.

I am an absolute research hound before I buy products, especially technology related ones. But, this time I wanted to be the first one on the block and I got burned. Had I just waited a week or two I would have seen the negative reviews and steered clear. I will give a look at the Flip Mino, but may not even buy an ultra compact at this point, because I can't see how the video and indoor, low light quality can be that much improved on such a small device.

Buyer beware, there are better options out there.

LEt me start by saying I have owned the following:

Vado HD
Flip Ultra HD
and the Samsung HMX-U10

This camera is going back after two days of testing.

Cons:
Everything

Pros:
7 degree angle
1080HD (Didnt look any better than the Vado)

The controls on this camera are heat sensitive, think original ipod controls. Howver there is about a millimeter of space between the direction and the "ok" button causing you to hit the wrong buttons almost 90% of the time. SO ANNOYING!!!! Not only that when you are shooting video it is VERY easy to accidentally hit one of these buttons.

The camera lens seems to be the LEAST wide angled of the three cameras I have tried. I was about five feet from my daughter and I think I filmed her eyelashes. Like the poster above you really need to be at the height of the object being filmed. Horrible with low light, not even visable. Horrible in bright light, the camera seems to get confused and keep trying to adjust. My daughter looked like the guy from the movie powder in the sunlight.

Intlistudio is worthless

It is disappointing that Samsung had all the research possible with Flip and Vado coming out early. Samsung definately flopped with this camera. Vado is by far the best of the class.

One quick note, the point of these pocket camcorders is eas of use. This camera almost has too many options which bogs down the fun and easy of point and shoot. Maybe this is a personal preference but my wife would not use this camera as much as the Vado because of confusion.

Last, the connections SUCK!!!! I mean how can Samsung not put mini HDMI to HDMI on this??? The Ultra and the Vado do. I mean you have this tiny camera and then you have to plug in COMPONENTS??? 5 wires that need to be plugged in. It would almost be better with Red white yellow. The USB plugin is too close to the flap that covers it. So when you plug it in you feel like you are going to break the flap. Another problem, the rest of this class has the USB attached which is MUCH easier. Why have another wire lying around?

If you are new to the pocket camera world, get the Vado HD (first version) for 110 dollars. Save money, looks great, just came out with a software that works with a mac. Wide angled lens, mini hdmi, buiilt in memory, three button controls, comes with protective sleeve and hdmi wire. The Vado HD is the best, dont get the second version because it is the same camera just in a new flashy color, which doesnt matter because you put a silicon sleeve on it.

Samsung laid an egg on this one, hence the 20 dollar drop in price in just 2 days after the release. Hope this helps

I have read a lot of negative reviews about this camera and I can honestly say, "I don't get it". some people said there were lipsync issues, lousy video and bad still shots. I have put this little HD camcorder through it's paces and have had no issues at all. Is it the best camera out there? No, but it is far from terrible as some have said.
Easy to operate with some decent features and great quality. Now if you are expecting to get 500 dollars worth of camera for the 149.00 price point, then you will probably be disappointed. This baby takes better video than some full size vhs camcorders I had back in the day and I had to carry those on my shoulder. I'm sure the tech on the mini camcorders will get even better as time goes by but these minis are still pretty new.
I can definitely recommend this camera.

Many consumers who commented on this product seems to be frustrated by certain aspects of the camera.
Although they are somewhat valid, I am not sure if they realize how much they have paid for the product.
Currently, this camcorder is selling for about ~$110 and this product does the perfect job for the price. The image is clear and it is very easy to use.

If you want to buy a camcorder with superior sound quality, etc, then you should upgrade to Samsung camcorders that are in the $500 range. If you want to spend less and just want to capture the moments at decent quality, this camcorder is it!

Length:: 2:05 Mins

I debated whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. The video and features warrant 4 stars, but the camera and tripod issue warrant only 3. I guess it just depends on your needs. I really wanted the camera, hence 3 stars.

Pros: Ease of use. Sleek looking. Great video quality, settings, and features. Sound is amazing (boasts 3 mics). Comes with AC and USB charger. Internal rechargeable battery.

Cons: Horrible camera and picture quality. States 10 mp, but I highly doubt this and you can see by the photos on my video, they don't appear to be 10/7.5/6mp. NO FLASH which basically renders the camera worthless. Also, the placement of the tripod mount - on the side? What designer came up with that lame idea? Sure it comes with an adapter, but unless you plan on carrying it around with you, it's a joke. Also, what if you lose the adapter? Seriously LAME. Also, replacing the internal battery could prove to be troublesome since you need a special screwdriver to open it up (though the replacement batteries are cheap).

Luckily, the video quality is great and ALMOST makes up for these. If you can get this for under 60 dollars, then you're getting a good deal, but any more than that, it's not worth it since the camera is worthless. The time lapse feature is great. The other settings such as B&W, sepia, art and negative are nice, but not necessary since most video editing software offers these anyways. But a nice addition, nonetheless.

I would recommend it ONLY if you can get a great deal on it and you don't need or care about the camera.

This is going to be used as an alternative to one of the sport cameras for a motorcycle trip.

IT WILL CHARGE OVER USB BUT WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE PICTURES/VIDEOS EVEN IF ATTACHED TO A POWER ONLY ADAPTER since it thinks it is attached to a computer and goes into that mode!

It won't recognize the SD card when plugged into a Mac, but the SD card works fine with any cheap adapter.

(NEW!) IT ONLY DOES TIME LAPSE IN 720p/60fps, not 1080p - but in the superfine setting. No other options.

Bizarre power supply connector, so you aren't going to find a car charger easily. This also needs to have the compartment open and is up the side so won't be convenient for the time-lapse

20Mbit/s rate (1080p superfine 30fps) compressed and the color channel is the standard lower rez so don't expect it to be identical to a 2Mp jpeg for each frame, but it is still very good - better than full pixel lower rez. Note this will also result in BIG files so will take a long time to upload to YouTube (I'm not sure if the one I tried got through - it is "processing" as I write this).

Rare but occasional "write error" only when starting to record - restarting always works 100%.

Whatever software is included is Windows Only but I could do basic editing in the Quicktime viewer app on my Mac using the SD card since the format is standard.

Pros:
Full 1920x1080 HD so there's lots of detail in each frame, and you get all 30 frames each second and can step through them.
Works quite a while on a charge.
Works with common SDHC cards (20Mbit/sec video - Class 6 should work, but I have a class 10).
10Mp picture capability.
MP4 format readable by common programs.
Easy to setup and use
Time Lapse
This model/color/whatever is really inexpensive so it is a really good value.
Compact, lightweight.

Cons:
It is really for daytime outdoors or brightly lit areas only.
The 10Mp was blurry but adequate.
Simple and easy also means not very flexible. HD and medium def, but no low-rez but very long times. Limited time lapse settings.
The two items I mentioned at the top - USB won't power/charge and let you use camera and charge connector is strange.
Component output only.
Power/SD card is one flap, Video/USB together in another.
Flat touch buttons need getting used to.

For my use in videologging my trip, it is almost perfect (only flaw is powering it from my motorcycle which I will do but it will be annoying).

But it has very specific limitations. If they aren't a problem the camera will be great. If they are it might be almost useless.

The camcorder is OK within its limits,used indoors with good lighting and normal sound it does an excellent job.But outside with a lot of varied noise and wind it quickly shows its limitations.The various features make it interesting to experiment with and having removable storage is a big plus,and the small size makes it easy to carry around.Its good for an all around camcorder/camera but don't expect too much from it.

I recently purchased this camera for a cruise and subsequent trips to Australia and Europe. It is a $100 video camera that you can shove in a pocket. It will never replace my $350 Sony Handicam.

After recording about 50 hours of video, I have observed the following:

- The video quality is pretty good for use on a computer with a good graphics card, YouTube, and a smaller TV. On a 50" television, it is going to be grainy.
- When filming indoors, it does require a great deal of light.
- When others want to use it, it is completely intuiative and easy to use. In fact, my 85 year-old mother used it to film the contents of her home for insurance and estate purposes with 30 seconds of instructions.
- The provided video editting software is basic. I use Nero instead.
- The outdoor shots have been perfect. But, one must remember, no image stabilization, so you must be smooth with your movements.
- Battery life has been pretty good. I have seen up to 2 hours of shooting on one charge.
- Once you learn the button layouts, I find I use them without looking.

I was hoping the other reviewers were missing something, but they were not. When they said the video quality was very poor, they were not joking. Pictures were not too bad, but the video and audio are way out of sync if you go anywhere above 720/30, and way too grainy.
Back to the store...

I've always wanted a camcorder. I'm not one for lugging around large electronics, so I began looking around for small digital camcorders. I didn't like using the flip, and the specs on this Samsung looked reasonable, so on a whim I ordered it.
All in all I'm pretty confused as to why it's receiving such poor user reviews. I've had very little qualms with this camera.
The major complaints are as follows:

-Poor low light quality
-Mediocre pictures
-Annoying touch interface

I'm confused; people dump a hundred bucks on a little digital camcorder and expect a $2000 Canon. I've had no problems with the touch interface (albeit my fingers aren't very large), I wouldn't buy a CAMCORDER to take pictures with (seriously, if you want to take pictures buy a camera), and as for low light quality, nowhere is this camcorder advertised for being used in low light environments. If you want to record in the dark, buy a camcorder with nightvision or a built in light. This is a simple little camcorder meant for recording smallish clips during the day.

The only cons that I can see:

-Lack of internal memory
-Wouldn't utilize standard SD cards, only SDHC
-Microphone picks up shuffling, and can't handle low tones
-Is pretty damn light; I'm scared to drop it

My cons aren't anything I'd really rate it down for. Internal storage would only make the cam more expensive and cause more heat. As for the SDHC thing, I don't know if that's a problem with my particular camcorder or the card I tried; I ended up just going to Frys and buying an 8gb SDHC card. I do have to be careful while holding the cam, otherwise it picks up the sounds of my fingers or hand moving. But the majority of those cons are personal, and probably won't affect every user.

If you set your expectations unreasonably high, sure, prepare to be disappointed. But if you look ahead and know what you're buying, I'm sure you'll be pleased with the HMX-U10.