Olympus VG-170 review

New 14MP compact camera offers premium features at bargain price

Olympus VG-170
This £99 compact with oversized flash is available in red, black and white

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using DXO Analyzer software to generate the data to produce the graphs below.

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.

Overall picture

Our results from the lab have been compared against the Samsung ST93, Ricoh PX and Nikon Coolpix S4150.

Our analysis shows that the Olympus VG-170 has better signal to noise ratio results than the comparison cameras, and although its dynamic range performance at the lower end of the sensitvity range is beaten by the Samsung ST93, Ricoh PX and Nikon Coolpix S4150, from ISO 200 and above it achieves the best results.

JPEG Signal to Noise Ratio

Olympus VG-170 review: signal to noise ratio

Olympus VG-170 review: signal to noise ratio

JPEG images from the Olympus VG-170 have good signal to noise ratios across the sensitivity range beating the Ricoh PX and Samsung ST93 up to its maximum sensitivity of ISO 1600. The Nikon Coolpix S4150 just has the edge at ISO 1600.

JPEG dynamic range

Olympus VG-170 review: dynamic range

Olympus VG-170 review: dynamic range

This chart shows that the Olympus VG-170 has the lowest dynamic range in the group at low sensitivities, however from ISO 200 this chart shows that it out performs the Samsung ST93, Ricoh PX and Nikon Coolpix S4150.