The first thing I noticed on unboxing the Playtouch was the styling, and how much it resembled a mobile phone. Having been quite satisfied with Kodak's previous model, the Zi8, I wasn't quite sure what they could add to make this camera better, but I was quickly proven wrong. For a start, the touch screen interface is a breeze to use, though using the on-screen zoom while recording does take a little getting used to. Settings are where you expect, and it didn't take long to set it up to my liking (for example removing the beep on each press of the screen). Reviewing videos is instant and playback on the three inch screen will quickly attract an audience if you're at a party.
In terms of video, the crisp display makes recording very easy, the colours are vivid and the Full HD (1080p) Quality will capture every hair and blemish - which might not necessarily be a good thing - but thankfully you can also record in lower qualities. The focus switch on the top toggles between macro and normal and while you can change while recording, it's a bit tricky. Still photos are easy to capture and its five mega pixels are most certainly good enough so you can leave your digital camera at home.
Just as the Playtouch's brother, the waterproof Playsport has shed its flip-out USB connector, I was hoping that the Playtouch would follow suit, but alas, it's still there and this time hiding under a flap on the side, an unnecessary addition in my opinion, although it does have its uses. The Playtouch does learn from the Playsport in one area; charging. Located between the flip-out USB and HDMI connections is the familiar Micro-USB connector for charging, which is good news for Blackberry and Android users - that's one less charger to carry on holiday. Kodak also bundle all the necessary cables with the camera, including one for hooking up directly to a HD Ready TV.
Another addition to the Playtouch over the Zi8 is the ability to trim videos on the camera, a useful feature if you want to upload your videos online quicker, the process is quick and intuitive and even lets you save a new copy if you care about keeping your originals. The one feature I felt didn't quite reach its full potential is the "share" button, which is the ability to mark a video to automatically share it online once you're back at your PC, as if choosing videos to upload on the PC was a chore. This feature would be much useful if they were to add built in WiFi capability to the Playtouch.
All in all, the Playtouch is undoubtedly a much anticipated upgrade to the Zi8 and the new features and large screen make the Playtouch worth the extra cash.
The Kodak Playtouch is available for £185 and can be purchased at Amazon (Kodak PlayTouch on Amazon)