In addition to the cameras we told you about earlier today, Samsung also announced two new mini-camcorders. Expanding on their existing line, the new Samsung models pretty much just bring the specs up to the next level and add a few new features. When Samsung brought their first mini-camcorder onto the market, no one really noticed. The market was dominated by Flip, and besides that, Samsung didn’t really bring anything new to the table. That’s not the case this time around.
The HMX-U20 does have a couple of innovative features (at least to the market segment) this time around. The USB connection is via a USB cable, both have image stabilization, and more importantly, the U20 has a 3x optical zoom. The U15 doesn’t, but it adds the ability to take still pictures. I’m not 100% sure why you’d want to, but it’ll be there. I think I’d rather have the optical zoom. The general specs are still the same, 2-inch LCD, recording resolution is still 1920×1080, and the U20 and U15 are available in either blue, red, silver, or black.
The HMX-U20 (with the 3x optical zoom) will sell for $249, and the U15 (with 10mp stills) will be priced at $229 when they come available this spring.