Last year Fuji boasted of its compacts’ ability to take pictures in low-light conditions where most others would struggle, and we suitably rewarded the F20 and F30.

This year, like a number of rivals, it’s playing the ‘face detection’ card; hence those letters after the model number.

What this means in practice is that the solid-feel, metal construction F31fd automatically zeroes focus in on a human face to ensure better portraits, though results are no better or worse than most snapshots.

The camera also follows the F30’s lead with manually adjustable light sensitivity up to ISO3200 – that’s better than some digital SLRs – plus a 6.3-megapixel resolution. A standard 3x optical zoom and a battery life allowing a generous 580 shots cement the impression of a reliable all-rounder.

The Fujifilm Finepix F31fd, more conventionally styled than many digital compacts of late, powers up in just over a second – the lens barrel veritably flying out of its storage position slightly proud of the body. The 2.5in screen bursts into life for shot composition and review in the absence of an optical viewfinder.

A shooting mode wheel between the power and shutter buttons atop the camera provides key options at a flick of a fingernail, while the sparingly placed controls ranged alongside the monitor will be familiar to any Fuji owner.

These include the ‘F’ (for ‘Photo’) mode button, which calls up a handful of key options – resolution, colour effects, and ISO settings (when switching to manual) – allowing quick adjustment without having to wade through menu screens. Controls are uniformly responsive and well placed. Our only quibbles are that the mode wheel could be firmer to the touch, so as to prevent it slipping on to an adjacent setting, and that bright sunlight renders the screen almost invisible.

Under ideal conditions, photos are colourful if ever so slightly soft straight out of the camera. And, though opting for the top ISO3200 setting in low light when you want to avoid the bleaching effect of flash introduces the bugbear of image noise – tiny, grain-like speckles – the F31fd produces results that are both usable and better the performance of some rivals at ISO800.

Close ups also fair particularly well. There was no removable media supplied with our review sample however, so budget extra for an xD-Picture Card so you can get snapping out of the box.

Though the face-detection feature is more gimmick than essential, the Fujifilm F31fd is one of the most impressively constructed compacts outside of Canon’s Digital IXUS range. You may be paying around £50 more than competitors with a similar resolution, but pixel count’s not everything and here we feel it is money well spent.