Samsung has had broad success with the Android operating system in the smartphone and tablet space, and last year introduced a long-zoom camera with Android and cellular wireless capability. Samsung now brings Android to its NX mirrorless system with the Galaxy NX. The new camera uses most of the same essential elements as the NX300, including the NX lens mount, the 20.3-megapixel sensor, and DRIMe IV imaging processor, but it also includes a large 4.8-inch 921K capactive touchscreen, the largest display on any interchangeable lens camera so far, and several forms of wireless communication.
Samsung was the second company to announce an Android-based camera in 2012, but it was more ambitious than the Nikon S800c, which ran Android 2.3, while the Galaxy Camera ran 4.1. The Galaxy Camera also had a 4.8-inch LCD, and a wider and longer zoom, ranging from 23-481mm equivalent. What the Galaxy NX offers over the Galaxy Camera is interchangeable lenses, an APS-C sensor, dedicated processors, and a larger battery, among other things.
Samsung Galaxy Camera NX key features
20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor (same as NX300)
18-55mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens
ISO 100-25600
4.8-inch 921K LCD with capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass
SVGA electronic viewfinder with diopter control
JPEG, RAW, RAW+JPEG capture
Movies 1920x1080@30fps, 1280x720@60fps
Built-in GPS +GLONASS (A-GPS supported)
16GB Memory, 2GB RAM
MicroSD card slot supports up to 64GB
1.6GHz Quad-core processor
DRIMe IV imaging processor
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
4360mAh battery
Enhanced voice commands
Advanced Hybrid Autofocus: 105 points on-chip phase-detect; 247-point contrast-detect
Focus peaking
WiFi a/b/g/n 2.4GHz, 5GHz
Bluetooth 4.0 (LE)
NFC
4G LTE/3G HSPA+42Mbps cellular data
Bundled with Adobe Lightroom
1/6000 second top shutter speed
8.6 fps
While it looks like an ordinary SLR or mirrorless EVF camera from the front, from the back the Galaxy NX looks more like a big smartphone. Samsung decided to rely primarily on the touchscreen for most settings, leaving only one dial on the back, which also serves as a button, the shutter release, movie record button, plus power and flash pop-up button, and the i-Function button on more recent NX lenses.
Though there is no telephone application, the Galaxy NX can run essentially any Android app, according to company representatives, including Skype, so there's potential to use the phone as a communication device. Of course, the primary form of communication intended with the Galaxy NX is uploading images and videos to servers and social media sites via its WiFi and 3G/4G cellular radio. The Galaxy NX can also transfer images to smartphones and tablets for storage, editing, and upload.
