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HTC Re: Hands-on with the quirky, connected camera (pictures)

HTC expands into the camera market with the little viewfinderless Re camera for Android and, eventually, iOS.

Andrew Lanxon
Andrew is CNET's go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Andrew Lanxon
Joshua Goldman
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Re

Cameras might seem an odd direction for HTC to branch out to, but as smartphone accessories go it might be a perfect fit.

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Small and light

The little camera easily slips into a pants pocket, though not without making a potentially awkward bulge.

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Press record

The button on back is good for taking a quick 16-megapixel snap or a long press will have you recording video at 1080p at 30fps.

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Slo-mo

A button under the lens lets you change to a 720p slow-motion mode that records at 96fps.

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Quite the profile

The periscope-shaped camera is waterproof without a housing down to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.

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Point and shoot

Your thumb falls naturally on the bend where there is a big shutter release/record button.

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Re app

The Re app available for Android and, later this year, iOS, lets you see what the camera sees. The Re connects to your mobile via Wi-Fi with some connection help from Bluetooth. You can control the camera and settings as well as transfer shots off the camera to your device for viewing and sharing.

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Charge it up

The camera's internal battery is good for an hour and a half of 1080p recording. Once it's tapped out you'll need to find yourself a Micro-USB cable to charge it up again.

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Storage

The Re records to microSD cards up to 128GB. The camera comes with an 8GB card to get you started.

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Tripod mount

As you may have noticed, there's a tripod mount in the base of the Re. HTC said it has a few mounts in the works, such as one for handlebars, but don't expect a full ecosystem just yet.

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Arriving soon

The HTC Re camera will be coming to the US first in late October/early November and the UK in November. It'll cost $199 and somewhere around £160-£170 in the UK. Pricing and availability is unknown for Australia, but converts to about AU$226.

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