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Kodak Charmera: Two-minute review
It took me a while to get my hands on the Kodak Charmera – such is the viral popularity of this $30, 30g keychain digital camera, that it sold out on its release day late last year (with what felt like minimal advertising), and it only came back in stock as I publish this review a month later. Who knows, it might be out of stock again by the time you read these words.
What’s more, there are six 1980s-inspired colorways, plus a limited edition see-through version, and you don’t know which version you’ll get since it comes in a ‘blind box’. That’s got gift idea written all over it.
When I unboxed mine, cue disappointment – the black version with rainbow frontage – the one pictured on the box that appealed to me the least. Still, inside the box, a nice poster, a collector card, and a small charging cable.
I charged the Charmera up and slotted the thumb-sized camera into my pocket where it would live for the following weeks.
The Charmera shoots tiny 1.6 megapixel JPEG photos and HD video (1400 x 1080p at 30fps) through a fixed 35mm f/2.4 lens, has seven photo filters and four animated borders to choose from, stores onto micro SD (which needs to be purchased separately), and has a (predictably) tiny internal battery that is recharged through USB-C.
There’s a tiny 16:9 LCD screen with live view that in practice is even smaller given that images are captured in 4:3, a miniscule LED light that illuminates closeup subjects, and possibly the smallest viewfinder I’ve ever used, which is novel and in a way works.
Honestly, that’s about all the features and design aspects worth knowing about, but what is the Charmera actually like to use?
Menus are simple enough to navigate; turn the camera on, and you select either photo, video, or set date using the three buttons on the rear, with the playback button doubling as select.
The power button doubles up as a back button, and then there’s the shutter button to shoot photos and video. It takes barely a minute to figure this all out.
Everything about the Charmera is tiny: a tiny thumb-sized body, tiny screen, tiny images. And it’s actually kind of fun to shoot with…in the moment. I was certainly charmed by the Charmera, and I think many others will be too.
It’s when you plug the camera into a computer or hook up the memory card to view any images taken with the Charmera that the warm fuzzy feeling quickly vanishes.
The Charmera’s photo quality is about the worst I’ve seen from a digital camera in my lifetime – and I’ve been shooting digital since consumers could, when 16MB memory cards existed (yes, megabytes).
With a resolution being a truly retro 1.6MP and a barely existent dynamic range, photos are more impressions than anything else. A collection of pixels, pieced together.
And that’s me commenting on the regular color profile. Use any one of the monotone filters, and things get super abstract.
Photos are like one of the novel, abstract filters you get with a decent digital camera. I guess such dated quality could charm some. For me, it screams short-lived novelty; for others, it could be the camera they always have with them.
My own gripes aside, I also think that the Charmera is so small and so distinct, that I’ll keep it on me every day for the months to come.
It’s a conversation starter. A whimsical capturer of moments (assuming it’s tiny battery isn’t flat when you pull it out of the pocket – that’ll happen).
The Kodak Charmera certainly ain’t good quality. But that’s hardly the point, is it? This is a cheap, charming retro gift for the photography lover in your life, that should get more use than a foot spa or marmite-scented deodrant (the UK’s most unwanted Christmas gift for 2025). That’s the hope from me as someone who hates waste.
The Charmera is far from being one of the best compact cameras, even the best cheap compact cameras, but I don’t expect that to slow down its sales.
Kodak is killing it right now with multiple best-selling cheap cameras – like the recent Ektar H35N half-frame film camera, and the PixPro C1 – and the Charmera could just be the pick of the pack in terms of concept (not quality). It’s a marketing masterstroke. Who knew a keychain camera could be so popular?
Kodak Charmera: price and availability
- Announced in November 2025 and sold out in a day
- Priced at $30 / £30 / AU$54.95
The Kodak Charmera costs $30 / £30 / AU$54.95 for a single ‘blind box’, or you can buy the whole set of 6 for $180 / £180 to guarantee getting each colorway. There’s a 1 in 48 chance of scoring the limited edition transparent version.
Scalpers have been selling the Charmera for extortionate prices, and some retailers have bumped the price a little, but you should be able to pick up the Charmera for its fair, original price through one of the links below.
Kodak Charmera: specs
|
Sensor |
1/4-inch |
|
Resolution |
1.6MP |
|
Video |
1440 x 1080p at 30fps, AVI format |
|
Lens |
35mm f/2.4 |
|
Screen |
Really, really small |
|
Viewfinder |
Even tinier |
|
Dimensions |
58 x 24.5 x 20 mm |
|
Weight |
30g |
|
Battery life |
200mAh, rechargeable |
|
Memory |
Micro SD (1GB to 128GB) |
Should I buy the Kodak Charmera?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider
Another perfectly executed cheap camera is the original Camp Snap, available for around twice the price of a Charmera. Think of it as a digital version of the single-use camera – a larger, screen-less 4MP shooter with retro design. I’m a fan.
Read my Camp Snap Camera review
Pros
- Cute looks
- No screen
- Point-and-shoot simplicity
Cons
- Poor image quality
- Glare from photo counter when using viewfinder
- Low power LED flash
How I tested the Kodak Charmera
- I got the Charmera last year and it’s mine to keep
- I’ve used it sporadically over a couple of months
- I’ve tried the various color filters and animated borders
I’m not going to dig into technicals of how I’ve tested this novel point-and-shoot camera. In short, I’ve rattled off hundreds of photos in good light and bad, played with the various color filters and shot short video clips. Image quality is predictably bad, but short battery life is particularly unfortunate.
First reviewed January 2026
Read the full article here
