The ease of use that point and shoot cameras offer explains why so many entry-level cameras are getting released in the market. Samsung ES55 is one of the latest entrants and it grabbed our attention with its looks.

The brushed metallic finish with chrome accents looks comtemporary. The silver keys add to the overall look. A 2.5-inch display acts as the viewfinder and intelligently adjusts the brightness of the screen according to the ambience.

The navigation and menu keys are easy to use, though the zoom keys were a bit small for comfort.

Basic specs: it comes with a 10.2 MP CCD and offers 3x optical zoom like most of its competitors. However, it gets an edge over the rest with a feature called 'Beauty Shot'. In simple terms, when you click any image, the camera automatically applies a few effects to make it look better. And the difference that this feature brings is impressive.

Coming to the performance. The ES55 is a smart and fast camera. It takes just 2 seconds to switch it on and click the first image. The overall quality of the images with the Beauty Shot turned out really well, especially the portraits. The image stabilization is quite effective too, though you have to use the DIS mode for better results. Sadly, any image taken at over ISO 200 is extremely grainy.

Samsung ES55 Rs 7,990	Performance Coolness
Pros Looks, speed, Beauty shot Cons Grainy images over 200 ISO Sold by Samsung India, www.samsung.co.in	Specs 10.2 MP, 3x optical zoom, 2.5" display, 640 x 480 video recording @ 30 fps, Image stabilization, Beauty shot, 90.4 mm x 59.0 mm x 21.6 mm , 116g Verdict

If you compare it to its competitors, the Samsung ES55 gets an upper hand because of the features and low price. At 8k, you can even consider the Canon Powershot A480.