Nikon Coolpix S800c: ET Review

NEW DELHI: The S800C from Nikon is the first Android-powered camera on the market. It has a 16MP CMOS sensor, 10X optical zoom and is powered by an EXPEED C2 processor — excellent specifications for a compact camera. As for the Android part, you get a 3.5-inch OLED touchscreen with a 1Ghz processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage (of which 1.7GB is available to you).

Build quality of the camera is top notch — it offers a premium design combined with great ergonomics. The touchscreen's response was superb though we felt the Android buttons for menu, back and home were hard to press.

There are clear advantages of having Android in a camera. You can use numerous photography apps to add effects and tweak settings. You can edit images in-camera, using photo editing apps. Then you can share photos directly from the camera using mail, social networks or to a computer using Wi-Fi transfer.

The camera is Wi-Fi only, so without a network you feel restricted — a SIM card slot for 3G would have been a welcome addition. Also, because of Android OS, the camera takes roughly the same amount of time to start up or shutdown as any regular Android smartphone.

Images in daylight and indoors showed vibrant colors with sharp details. In low light situations, it had trouble focusing leading to delays and blurry images. Video recording in full HD was top-notch though.


The S800c's biggest issue is poor battery life — we barely managed to get 140 shots on a full charge. If you must have an Android camera, you should probably wait for Samsung's Galaxy camera (expected at Rs 35,000). It has Android 4.1 and better hardware. Or you could consider Sony's DSC HX20V (18MP sensor with 20X optical zoom).