We wondered if the new Active Angle lens design would confuse or aggravate buyers. The rear flips open with a gentle push and provides easy access to an SDHC memory port, the charger jack, A/V plug and internal battery. The zoom and still picture buttons are on top. The setup is convenient, because it is almost impossible to accidentally turn on or shut off the camera. The menu, navigation (doubling as a zoom control) and record buttons are located on the edge of the screen, while the power, play, quick upload and USB port are on the inside. The camcorder flips open on its left side to reveal a 2.7″ LCD screen. There is also a barely-there-but-noticeable streak of red across the top length. It’s almost shaped like an eyeglass case, and the lens reminded us of HAL 9000 with its distinctive alien eye look.

It measures about 1.5″ wide, with a length of about 4.5″ and a height of just more than 2″. This feature makes it so you don’t have to bend your wrist quite as much to get a perfectly straight shot. Rather than being perfectly straight, it’s angled 25 degrees up, a new ergonomic design by Samsung. The first thing we noticed was the unusual angle of the lens. But these benefits come with a few tradeoffs, because the camera doesn’t shoot great video or ship with many adjustable settings. Companies such as JVC are pumping out camcorders that are able to upload video onto YouTube with the click of a button, and Samsung’s SMX-C14 is a solid addition to the market for those looking to quickly edit and publish their daily gag reels or family reunions. Gone are the days of spending hours getting video off your camera, onto the computer and published to the web.

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