Review: Flip MinioHD – The Next Generation

We’ve checked out some of the previous incarnations of Flip Video camera when they hit Canadian store shelves and had seen a lot of potential in the product line early on. Recently, we got a nice surprise bit of news though: A new Flip Video camera is hitting shelves. It’s a new generation of the Flip MinioHD and it’s worth checking out.

It looks similar to the previous incarnations but we immediately noticed a lot of differences. It instantly feels better and more luxurious in your hand. It’s now got a metal body and is contoured to feel less disposable and like more of a lust-worthy object. A lot of details have been refined and streamlined, like the jack-knife USB plug Flips are known for. The previous Minio was nice and while this isn’t a radical departure, it’s noticeably better quality and more of a pleasure to hold.

The glare-resistant screen is significantly larger than previous flips and it retains the small form factor of the previous Minio but now can record two hours of HD video on its built-in rechargeable battery. As before, it recharges by USB so you won’t need any cables. You do, however, have the welcome option of plugging an HDMI cable in to the thing and watching your videos on your HDMI equipped TV, bypassing the computer all together. This is pretty handy for those wanting that instant gratification, sharing fresh videos with a group.

Of course you still get to use that FlipShare application if that’s your prerogative for easy sharing and organizing of your videos, and the wonderfully simple Flip packaging is retained. It’s really everything we loved about the previous Flip Minio but made better in virtually every way. You can buy one with a custom design on the shell to show off at no additional cost, and having had the chance to check them out, the image quality is pretty good, though we’re partial to the brushed metal finish model.

Overall it’s a pretty good upgrade to the previous model. If you don’t have a Flip yet you should consider this model (for $239 CAD) as it’s perfect for quick and simple video capture (beating any phone, by far) and we love how convenient it is. Now with the 2 hours of recording we can’t find much to complain about here. Removable memory would be nice but we can’t see ourselves recording over 2 hours anyhow so it’s a moot point with this model. We’re still waiting for Cisco to add wifi capabilities but that’s just a matter of time for a future model to include, we figure.

Regardless, if you find yourself wanting to shoot quick videos with high quality then this is the way to go. Any time we’ve let anybody hold the Flip Minio they suddenly want one of their own. Brand awareness isn’t super high but anybody who has used one probably wants one. We can’t think of a better sign of their potential than that. It’s good for technology novices (i.e. your mom!) and high quality enough for geeks like us. They’re also pretty convenient to carry around, and inexpensive. What more do you want? Highly recommended.