What is the Best Mini Camcorder?

Veho VCC-001 Kuzo

Manufacturer: Veho
UK Price (as reviewed): £81.04 (inc VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): $112.12 (ex Tax)

Unlike its microscopic sibling the Muvi, the Veho Kuzo is a far more substantial piece of kit. It’s also the only camcorder on test to have a rotating flip-out screen, which is a generous 2.5in across, if a little flimsy. An HDMI cable, headphones and a protective case are also included in the box.

It records at 1,280 x 720 (720p) and is also able to take 11-megapixel still images. The Kuzo is compatible with SD memory cards but there’s only 64MB of integrated memory as standard, which isn’t even enough for three minutes of video. It has an MP3 player built in, alongside a combined TV/audio mini-jack output, a mini-USB 2 and HDMI port.

Although there’s an 8x digital zoom instead of an optical zoom, digital zooms are never a good option for close-ups. There’s also a macro and landscape mode switch. The former is really useful as it dramatically increases image quality when shooting objects up to 1m away from the lens.


As well as effective image stabilisation, the Kuzo has a bright light that can be used to illuminate close subjects. This, as well as the macro mode, worked a treat in our dark scene test, with the Kuzo picking up plenty of detail.


When shooting outside, the Kuzo fared well, but failed to impress, recording slightly pixelated video. It also struggles in direct sunlight.
The Kuzo isn’t bad value despite shipping with barely any memory as standard. However, we struggle to see the point of the product as its image quality is hardly better than that of many mobile phone video cameras.

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• 8/10

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• 7/10

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• 7/10

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• 6/10

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• 6/10

Flip UltraHD

Manufacturer: Flip Video
UK Price (as reviewed): £125.15 (inc VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): $149.99 (ex Tax)

We looked at the UltraHD recently in our sister magazine Custom PC (see Issue 73, p62) and it rightly deserved an award for its ease of use, great video quality and out-of-the-box usability. It's predecessor the Mino HD featured had similar qualities.

The UltraHD has an onboard storage capacity of 8GB, which is enough for 120 minutes of video, and a rechargeable battery that allows for around 99 minutes of recording time. Alternatively, you can use two AA batteries.


The UltraHD captures video at 1,280 x 720 (720p), and can output your efforts through an HDMI port and included cable or to your PC using the integrated USB 2 connector. Also in the box is a carry pouch and some simple instructions, although the UltraHD is so insanely straightforward to use – with a single button to stop and start recording – that you really shouldn’t ever have to reach for the manual.


Outside, the UltraHD produced the best-quality footage of all the camcorders. While the Samsung U10 has a higher resolution, its colours were washed-out and it struggled badly in direct sunlight. Not so with the UltraHD. Even in direct sunlight, colour and detail were essentially unchanged and were more accurate than with any of the other camcorders.


For indoor use, only the Veho Kuzo was better, thanks to its macro mode and flashlight. The UltraHD still picked up a good amount of detail while remaining noise free, and again colours were rich and vibrant. The UltraHD retains our high opinion in the face of stiff competition from the Veho Kuzo – it’s a fantastic all-rounder that’s easy to use and streaks ahead of most camcorders in video quality.

• Features
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• 7/10

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• 8/10

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• 8/10

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• 8/10

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• 8/10

Final thoughts

The group test actually turned out to be a pretty mixed offering. The Busbi is just simply not worth considering at all. The Muvi is poor, but it's size will undoubtedly appeal to spys and those with a with a seedy demeanour (and no we'd rather not know what you would do with it).

Unless you're always shooting close ups (in which case we'd probably recommend the Veho VCC-001 Kuzo), the Flip UltraHD is undoubtedly the best allrounder . In fact in several areas its actually far superior to most of the other camcorders on test thanks to dissapointing showings from Samsung and Creative and is likely going to be better than anything in the mobile world for some time.

Would we recommend getting it? Well the ultimate point here is what do you need it for? Gadgets like the iPhone 3GS cope well in good conditions and if you already have something like this and don't need quality like you do oxygen, then you could save yourself some cash and pocket space too. Most compact digital cameras are better then mobiles at taking video but the Ultra HD is far easier to use not just in terms of ergonomic simplicity but as a camcorder too.

If you're regularly shooting video on your mobile or camera, then the Flip Ultra HD will simply give you better results, especially in poor conditions which will probably see your YouTube star ratings rocket as well.