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Camera

Ah, now this is a good one. The 1.9MP camera attached to the Galaxy Gear strap (called a Memographer, if you're interested) is a cool addition to the device - we just can't decide if it's worth having there or not.

On the one hand, it's a really unique feature, it works very quickly, and the convenience is brilliant. If you've got an image that you want to capture in a couple of seconds, the Gear is a great option for that.

It matters that what you're trying to snap doesn't really have a great amount of detail, as the image quality isn't super high - although there are some elements we're really impressed with.

For instance, you can take Sound and Shot pictures with the Gear, activate macro mode for really close up images and even choose a 1:1 or 4:3 ratio (although we'd recommend the former as it gives a higher-res shot.)

On top of that, you can shoot video in 15 second bursts, which is good for things like Vine videos.

The main drawbacks of having a camera mount up though. For one, trying to angle your arm to take the photo isn't the easiest, and you also have to explain to people what you're up to most of the time.

There's a shutter sound to make sure that people can tell that you're being a super spy too, and that noise can't be turned off either. This is probably a good thing, but causes embarrassment when you're just playing with the camera to see what it can do.

There's also the point that it raises the cost of the Gear quite a lot, and that's one of the biggest gripes we have with the device.

The convenience of the camera is really good, and although the quality is mostly rather poor, it's better to have a poor camera helping you snap a moment than none at all.

Transferring the pictures is good, as you can either set it to manually do so on your command (enabled by default) or have them automatically get sent to the Note 3 when taken. You can even set it so this only happens when the Gear is charging, thus saving that vital battery power.

Annoyingly you're taken to the gallery of your phone as soon as you tap on the notification to let you know the transfer has worked - this is a hotch potch of tiles that just looks messy, and can take ages to find the Galaxy Gear folder if you've got Facebook or Dropbox pics enabled.

Why can't it just show the picture straight away when you tap on the notification?

Camera samples

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Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.

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