Flip Mino HD camcorder

The Flip Mino HD camcorder is the same size as its predecessors but, as the name suggests, it records in high definition, at 720p resolution.

Adding the letters HD to a product’s name isn’t the be-all and end-all: while the camera does indeed record in 720p, the results aren’t what you’d get from a camcorder with a larger lens assembly and a better sensor.

Those cameras cost double what this one does, and if you’re not looking for video to archive (weddings, new babies and so on) it does an admirable job.

The body is just 10cm tall and less than 2cm deep, although the lens protrudes slightly from the front. It starts quickly when you turn it on, then to record you just press the red button, and press it again to stop.

The rest of the controls illuminate when the camera is on ­ up and down buttons for zoom and the left and right buttons allow you to skip through recordings and view them. The 4GB of memory, which can’t be expanded, holds an hour of video.

There’s no on-camera editing but you can view and delete clips on what is a rather small screen. It can be connected to a television, but only using the composite cables supplied, so you won’t see your results in HD unless you flip the internal USB connector out of the top of the camera and plug it into a PC or Mac. It also charges via a USB port.

The software on the camera installs automatically and can be used to view or edit the MPEG4 clips. These can be edited using any standard software on a PC or Mac.

Results were good, although capturing video in low light was a problem and the results were slightly more blocky than we would expect from 720p resolution. The quality is still a leap ahead of previous Flip models and perfectly fine for, say, a holiday video.