Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom announced, and it's the ugly duckling of the pack

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom announced, and it's the ugly duckling of the pack
Avert your eyes children, this could scar you for life

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom has been officially unveiled and while its existence is no surprise considering the amount of rumours which have been circulating, the sheer number of Galaxy S4 branded handsets Samsung seems to be forcing on the world is a little more alarming.

From the front (or is that the back?) the Galaxy S4 Zoom just looks like another S4 handset, but flip it over and everything gets distinctly Samsung Galaxy Camera all of a sudden.

That camera is a 16MP offering complete with 10x optical zoom - usually we are lumped with a rubbish digital zoom on smartphones - but that lens adds quite a considerable bulk to the device, which measures 125.5 x 63.5 x 15.4 mm and weighs in at 208g.

There once was an ugly duckling

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

Back to the phone side of things and the Galaxy S4 Zoom features a 4.3-inch qHD display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1.9MP front facing camera, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and 8GB of internal storage - although only 5GB will be available for you to use.

Luckily there is a microSD slot so you can expand on the paltry internal offering, plus there's a 2330mAh battery and various connectivity options including 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and NFC.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S4 Zoom will be available this summer in the UK, although the exact date and price will be revealed at a later date. There's currently no world on other territories, but we're pushing the Korean manufacturer for more details.

To get on-the-spot news, app tips and the full lowdown on Samsung's latest mobile announcements check out Samsung's

Your Mobile Life

on TechRadar.

We'll be getting to grips with this questionable smartphone at Samsung's June 20 event in London, but if you can't wait until then for a Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review a Russian site has already got its mitts on it.

We got to play with the S4 Zoom at the Samsung Premier event on June 20th. Check out the video below for our hands-on demo:

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.