Samsung Galaxy NX: Android-driven DSLR

Samsung's Galaxy series is a range of mobile computers that all run on Google's Android mobile operating system. One branch of the series is not smartphones, though, but rather Samsung's stab at point-and-shoot style cameras. The company has apparently decided that the camera business suits it, and subsequently introduced the logical next step in image capturing: the Galaxy NX Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera (or simply DSLR).

According to Samsung, despite the incorporation of Android 4.2.2, the camera does not lose the focus of providing the quality and flexibility of a professional DSLR. The camera aspect of the device comes with a 20.3 megapixel APS-C sensor, 25,600 ISO sensitivity, as well as compatibility with standard NX lenses from Samsung (adapters available). It comes standard with an 18 to 55 mm OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) lens with an aperture range of between 3.5 and 5.6 f-stop. The camera can also record full HD 1080p video at 60fps.

The not-so-standard aspects of the camera include a 4.3 inch qHD (960 x 540 pixels) multi-touch screen, which runs a combination of the previously mentioned Android 4.2.2 and TouchWiz interface. At the core sits Samsung's Exynos 5410 (an octa-core ARM cortex A15 also used in some Galaxy S4 phones) utilizing 2 GB of RAM, WiFi, HSPA+ and, on select models, 4G LTE. As with standard DSLRs, the image processing is done by an external chip.

The Galaxy NX really seems to have the best of both worlds, but we can't help but think that some people wouldn't want an open source operating system that can access all your holiday pictures, your real time location (and geo-tagging), and a high-speed mobile Internet connection. Another good point is how well the battery holds up in comparison to standard DSLRs, as we can easily imagine someone playing a game on the camera while waiting in line, only to find a dead camera battery on the other side of the queue.