Conclusion
So how’s the Galaxy Camera 2? For starters, Samsung has implemented a few minor changes that do improve the handling and usability of the camera. There’s a ridge for your thumb to rest when holding the camera, which makes it easier handle the camera as well as help to lower the chances of your thumb accidentally touching the screen (which may trigger a shot or set a new focus point).
Similar to the original Galaxy Camera, sharing photos is easy as the camera runs the Android OS, and you can upload directly to Facebook and other social networks like how you would with your smartphones. In fact if you consider the fact that the Galaxy Camera 2 internals are similar to what's found in the Galaxy S4 and S3 smartphones, it does seem to make sense to buy it instead of investing in a smartphone and a compact camera.
However the Galaxy Camera 2 is first and foremost a camera, and unfortunately in that aspect it still possesses some limitations and flaws. Firstly, it’s still a tad too big for a point-and-shoot camera and its image quality does not justify its price tag. While Samsung has priced the product to be equivalent of getting a smartphone and a dedicates compact camera, it doesn't exactly excel in both areas. Also note that it's missing a SIM card slot (which its predecessor had), thus rendering this camera as a Wi-Fi reliant product. Immediately, the Galaxy Camera 2 loses points here for these aspects. If the quality of its glass improves and the camera is made easier to handle in terms of physical size, perhaps it might have been easier to recommend it.
For now the Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 doesn't really stand out from the rest of the crowd except for the fact that it runs Android. Overall, the camera fell short of our expectations of a second iteration of the Galaxy Camera and in fact felt like an intermediate revision like version 1.5.
If you're looking for a more smartphone-centric product that can give you a good optical zoom, perhaps the just announced Samsung Galaxy K Zoom LTE model might be more appropriate for your needs. As for how it fares, stay tuned to our evaluation soon.