Polaroid POLSM01W Socialmatic WiFi Instant Print Share Camera White

I am not usually one for reviewing products, but given the price of this item I felt it was only right to describe my experience. Opening the box and on a first look, this is an exciting and beautiful little gadget. However, unfortunately, the problems start to emerge as soon as you lift it out. The body, which is bulky but light, feels cheap to the touch. While I gather that entry-level Polaroids have traditionally been made with plastic bodies, you might not expect it of such an expensive item. Undeterred, I plugged the camera in and let it charge up. Once you've turned it on, you're prompted to go through a set-up wizard and connect to wi-fi. You're then prompted to sign up to Polaroid's social network, Socialmatic. Could I get signed up to Socialmatic? No - problem 2. The fields did all recognise that they had been completed and I was faced with repeated error messages. Unable to proceed further through the set-up, I cancelled out of it. I later managed to sign up to Socialmatic using my laptop. I went into the Google Play app and downloaded Facebook and Instagram - my two main photo-sharing platforms. Problem 3 - Facebook repeatedly failed. Wondering now if there was a software issue, I (eventually) found the option within Settings to search for upgrades. Fully upgraded, I re-downloaded Facebook. Unfortunately it continued to crash - and now Socialmatic was too. I never actually managed to sign in fully to check out the app, so I'm afraid I can't comment on how well it works. Setting all of the tablet's failings aside, a comment on the photo capability itself. I only ended up taking two photos - 1 with the front camera and 1 with the "selfie" camera. The front-facing camera produced a photo of reasonably good quality, though there was a significant delay between pressing the trigger and the image actually being taken. The photo taken with the selfie camera was of extremely poor quality: pixelated and grainy, even in good lighting. As a lover of vintage Polaroid products I was really rooting for this camera to be great. Unfortunately, it was anything but, and didn't really do anything it claims to do. (I will admit that I didn't test the print function - I wouldn't have wanted to waste the paper.) I wasn't even able to complete a factory reset to delete my photos and information as you are required to sign in to Socialmatic to authorise this...my (correct) details weren't recognised. I would not recommend this camera to anyone - don't waste your money.

This was the second Socialmatic that I ordered (after I had to send the first one back) and it had the same problem - a dodgy battery. It's such a shame as the camera is brilliant. I love that you can go online and post directly to Facebook and Instagram too. The print quality is good considering the size but don't expect miracles. I'm hoping Polaroid will fix the problem and release the camera with a decent battery.

In the world of selfies and instant gratification there needed to be one more step in sharing images on the social network - quality images instead of pixelated suggestions. Along comes Polaroid and does that remaining task. `The Polaroid Socialmatic boasts a full-fledged Android operating system that turns it into a powerful personal computer. It features a desktop-grade Internet browser and email client, as well as builtin GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. These enable photo geo-tagging, remote printing, and a unique QR code feature: It embeds a code that can be scanned by smartphones, smart cameras, and other digital devices, thus providing you the ability to track and follow your photos as they make their cyberspace journey around the world.' Now, how easy is it to use? First, read the manual - there is an important setup outlined before you take your first picture. Then it is as easy to use as a smartphone. The camera itself is made of high quality materials, with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a built-in LED flash, stereo speakers, a microphone, the latest in ARM processors, a 4.5-inch full color touchscreen, 4GB of internal storage that's expandable to 32GB, and onboard photo editing powers. If you use this camera with ZINK Zero Ink printing technology, you don't need to be dependent on your computer. Press a button, and out slides vibrant, smudge-proof, and water-resistant 2" X 3" prints that feature a sticky back for easy posting. Who could say it better? The results are fun, instantly gratifying shareable photos as well as images that can be stored and shared on all social media networks. More than likely, use over a longer period of time will enhance the results and open new ideas for use, but for now this appears to be a problem solver for many people deeply into photo imaging for social reasons. Grady Harp, February 15

crap, sent it back

My camera turned up but it had trouble turning on it kept freezing, so had to send it back and get my money back, the camera felt really cheap to, not what I expected for the price

Bad item....Poor quality for something so expensive. Sent back for a refund due to a number of issues. The quality of the hardware and software does not match that of a device which is 250 quid.

This camera is down when I want to take a family picture and never rework after upgrade. A little bit disappointed on this camera as the screen display is also not good.

I have had the item for just over a year and the battery won't charge at all. If you Google the problem you will see that hundreds of people have the same problem and it is not fixable. The internal battery is not replaceable and my camera is out of warranty. There are loads of these cameras for sale on Ebay at around £15 each but is says that they will only work when plugged into the mains as the battery is effective. £250 down the drain. I am not amused !!

Es muy buena pero no me gusto que pesa mucho y ademas no puedes imprimir tus fotos a menos que estés conectado en wifi

la macchina funziona malisssimo, si blocca continuamente nella stampa, dando errore hardware e spegnendosi, ha un sistema touch pessimo dovuto ad un software molto scadente. Infine la cosa peggiore è che, quando riesce a stampare (ci abbiamo messo 3 giorni per stampare 40 foto), la qualità di stampa è pressocchè penosa!!! Molto insoddisfatto, prodotto veramente scadente; sto per contestare l'acquisto e chiedere il rimborso o il cambio con una macchina sicuramente migliore!!!

Excelente en todos los aspectos, y muy facil de manejar. Mi nieto con tres años la manejó sin dificultad en un par de minutos.

I was really excited for the release of this item and pre-ordered it. It was just arrived today. I unwrapped the shipping box, found out there wasn't any plastic wrap for the camera packaging. I still continued to un-box it, thought I wouldn't mind if it's open box, as long as it functions well. The quality of the camera is horrible, although it does have a nice design. 1) the camera is made of plastic, and it felt very cheap. the cover for the printing sheets/screen part, does not clip well - it moves! 2) the screen is very very unresponsive! i cant even scroll up and down properly. 3) the screen resolution is awful!!! it feels like I was looking at some camera screen from 10 years ago... 4) it doesn't come with USB data transfer cable, if that matters to you. 5) the lens quality is.... last decade... and it's the worst selfie camera I have ever seen!!! 6) it has bad printing quality. I used Zink printer by Polaroid before, and knew that it prints darker than on screen. so I specifically made my testing photo brighter, it was still too dark to see!!! Zink photo in general does not look as clear as insta films, if you have never used Zink. 7) the camera turns off as soon as I opened google play store... and it refused to turn back on... I'm certain I had 15% battery left. I was going to use up the battery and then charge it. 8) any other things I didn't cover, other users please fill us in!!! I can't turn it back on!!!!!!! this is the first item I'm returning in my life ever EVER!!! like I was saying even though I thought it might be open box, I would still keep it if it functions well - I really don't like to go through troubles. But, no... I cant stand this camera >o< sorry about my bad grammar!

Grundsätzlich ist die Kamera ein echter Hingucker und, sofern sie gerade Mal funktioniert, auch ein tolles Spielzeug für Feste. Leider hat der Drucker aber oft einen Papierstau oder das Socialmatic-Programm stürzt aber, oder das Bild wird nur zur Hälfte ausgedruckt etc. etc. Auch hält der Akku nicht sehr lange und braucht wiederum lange, bis er aufgeladen ist. Unhandlich ist die Kamera obendrein, Selfies sind auch eher sinnlos, da die Rückkamera niedrig auflösend ist und für die Vorderkamera hat man zu kurze Arme um mehr zu sehen als nur das Gesicht. Ein Selfie-Stick würde aufgrund der Hebelwirkung wohl abbrechen. Ich rate von diesem Produkt ab, vor allem weil das Android-System sehr buggy wirkt. Auch ist es vermutlich besser, wenn man die Fotos auf einem Gerät extra ausdruckt.