Kidizoom Twist Review
If you've looked through a few of the reviews on this website you may have noticed that our favourite kid's digital camera is the VTech Kidizoom. Ours is over 4 years old now and is still functioning perfectly, which is testament to VTech's ability to make truly robust cameras. So when the VTech Kidizoom Twist camera was released we were eager to write a review for it.
Product specifications
If you haven't had a look at the technical specifications yet, this is what you will need to know:
The Kidizoom Twist is a 2 megapixel digital camera
It has 4x digital zoom
It can store approximately 500 pictures on its internal memory (it has 256MB of storage)
If 500 pictures is not enough for your child's needs, there is an SD card slot so you can expand the amount of storage. The SD card will need to be bought separately, but these do not cost a lot.
You can add a variety of borders and stamps to the photos, as well as recording your own sounds.
There are 5 games built into the camera.
It has a child-friendly ergonomic design - 2 eye view finder and easy to hold.
Photos and videos can be transferred to your PC via USB cable (included).
Recommended age: 3 and up
Is the new Kidizoom Twist a good camera?
The new Kidizoom Twist is a brilliant product. Here's a breakdown of each of its features and why they're so good...
If you're wondering why VTech's latest children's camera has been called the '"Twist" it's because you can twist the lens over the top of the camera so it is pointing right back at you, which of course allows the person using it to take pictures and videos of themselves. This is a genius idea since all small children have a degree of narcissism, and absolutely love to take photos of themselves! The fact they can add silly effects to the their photo is just a bonus (see below for more on this).
The picture quality has improved greatly since earlier versions, although we've always found the Kidizoom better than other makes of children's camera when it comes to how well the pictures turn out. The new range of borders, stamps and effects has also improved and there are some fun possibilities for altering your pictures. You can set up the border or stamps before getting your model to pose, but you can also add them afterwards and you can use as many stamps as you like.
Making up silly songs is big in this household so recording sound clips to accompany photos has always been a popular activity. The new Kidizoom Twist has added advanced options for this, and you can now use voice effects such as robot, pitch up and pitch down. Very amusing.
I think one of VTech's real strengths is building in intuitive controls. There really isn't any need for the camera to come with instructions because even the youngest child - or most technophobic adult - will be able to pick up the camera and start snapping, easily figuring out all the special functions.
Although older children will enjoy too, using the Kidizoom Twist is excels as a camera for toddlers and preschoolers. It is designed for them to be easy to hold and the button to take the pictures is in a natural position for them. Having a double viewfinder (so they don't have to squint through one eye) is great but they can also just look at the digital screen, which is my boys' preferred method for taking photos. Kidizoom cameras are also extremely robust and ours shows no signs at all of damaged despite plenty of use and being dropped a lot.
Verdict
If you are looking for a kid's camera, you can't go wrong with the Kidizoom Twist. The enjoyment factor is high, they are easy to use and I've yet to meet a child who could break it.
What customers say...
We do our best to provide in depth, informative reviews but it is always nice to get a broad opinion on whether a particular toy is any good. So here is a small selection of what customers have said about the Kidizoom Twist on Amazon UK:
"This camera is versatile and great fun for children. The fun they have with the funny frames and games is brilliant. 'Im so pleased with this and is well worth the money. I would definitely recommend this to friends."
"The product is sturdy, easy to use, good value for money and I know my kids finds playing with it lots of fun. I would recommend it to anybody."
"Bought this camera for my 8 year old daughter's birthday. Within minutes she knew what all the buttons were for and had lots of fun taking (funny) pictures and videos of me and her dad, she also loved the games you can play on it. Brilliant camera, good value for money!"
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