The good: The Kodak Playfull produces very good video quality for its price and size, is easy to use, and has good editing and sharing software. The bad: Its screen might be too small for some users, the lens is fixed-focus, there's no flash or video light, and the battery can't be removed. The bottom line: The Kodak Playfull minicamcorder is a pocketful of video fun, but it might be just too "mini" for some.
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With the Playfull in Kodak's minicamcorder lineup, it has a model for just about every type of user. Compared with its linemates, the rugged PlaySport and feature-filled PlayTouch, it is stripped-down, but you still get full HD-resolution movie and 5-megapixel photo capture; black-and-white, sepia, high-saturation, and '70s-film-look capture effects; electronic image stabilization; and on-camera clip trimming and photo creation from a video frame.
The Playfull (also called the Ze1) is barely bigger than candy bar, too, and very lightweight, making it a nice grab-and-go video camera. However, to get it so compact Kodak uses a tiny LCD that, while good, could make for a lot of squinting and uncomfortable shooting and playback. Regardless of any shortcomings, though, the Playfull is a nice option if you want more than what your smartphone offers in terms of video quality, performance, and battery life, or simply want a quick, reliable pocket video camera.