Samsung WB350F review

The Samsung WB350F offers a lot of spec for its price point and for the most part it lives up to its promises. The camera is versatile, from its 21x optical zoom to its in-camera editing options and range of scene modes and effects.

At the same time, it's simple to use, and even offers budding photographers room to grow, as the WB350F's manual settings and direct controls offer more command over the picture-taking process.

What's more, the camera is fast enough, the colours and autofocus are accurate, noise is reasonably well-contained and image quality is, on the whole, pretty good. But neither of these is exceptional. Blow up any image beyond A4 and you'll see sharpness drop off and detail smoothed over, even at the lowest ISO settings.

But for most people using the Samsung WB350F, this won't be too much of a concern. And compared to other cameras at this price point, the WB350F is perhaps the best in its class.

What really makes the WB350F shine is its responsive touchscreen and excellent Wi-Fi. Samsung has pioneered the touchscreen, and it really shows on this camera. From swiping through aperture options in manual mode to pinching and zooming into your images in playback mode, the WB350F touchscreen is a joy to use.

We liked

The built-in Wi-Fi, excellent touchscreen, manual control and a nice range of in-camera editing options.

We disliked

Image smudging and a drop-off in sharpness are quite visible when viewing images even at medium size.

Verdict

Image quality may stumbles a bit under closer scrutiny. Nevertheless the Samsung WB350F's bright, responsive touchscreen, fast Wi-Fi, and advanced shooting modes – not to mention its 21x optical zoom – make this a seriously good, take-anywhere compact camera with enough versatility to do just about anything you want. For £250, this should be on your shortlist of travel compacts to consider.