Samsung HZ35W (WB650)

Following the HZ10W, released last year, the GPS-equipped HZ35W is Samsung's latest attempt to produce the ultimate all-in-one compact camera. To that end, it features the most broad-spanning lens of all of the cameras in this group, from a wideangle setting of 24mm to a telephoto of 360mm (equivalent). At 15x, this is a remarkably powerful optic, and its wide range is reflected in the camera's large size, relative to most competitive models.

The HZ35W turns in a very good performance, both in our tests, and in day to day use of the camera. At low ISO settings is delivers amongst the best pixel-level image quality of any camera in this segment of the market, and unlike some previous Samsung compact cameras that we've used, noise reduction is well-controlled, and colors are accurate, with no unpleasant color casts or white balance issues. The only aspect of the Samsung's performance that is genuinely disappointing is the implementation of its GPS system, which we've found is idiosyncratic at best, and at worst, non-functional.