Like the Flip Ultra, the Flip Ultra HD is the easiest and simplest camcorder that you can lay your hands up on. Its makers have lived up to their promise of simplicity. But in the name of ease-of-use all of the Flips have been more or less replicas of each other, with just a feature or two added to every successor. According to me the biggest selling point of this “as simple as it can get” machine is its ease of use, ironically making it a miss fit for experts. It doesn’t have all the high end features like the optical image stabilization, the viewfinder, memory cards, video lights, or even a lens cap. Its Menu, consisting of just 4 buttons, can be described in a jiffy.

You can start recording with the Ultra HD in just seconds. The minimalist controls include a four-way directional pad with a record start/stop button in the middle and the play and delete buttons on either sides of the pad. That is it to the menu. Since there are no tapes or cards, so you will have to offload the videos to a computer once the memory is full. It can record 120 minutes of 720p HD video on 8 GB of built-in memory. But the absence of a removable memory card slot limits what you can record. Even though it lets you record 120 minutes of video, there are times when you need more than that.

The Flip Ultra HD is available in white and black colors. It has a rubberized matte finish that makes it easier to grip. It weighs around 6.1 ounces making it light enough to keep in your pocket.  You can buy an acrylic cover for your Flip to be safe underwater. The Ultra HD has chrome trim made of plastic that runs on the sides of the body. If you are the one who keeps stuff clean and tidy, you might find yourself repeatedly wiping off fingerprints from the chrome trim. Its 8 GB built-in memory lets you record HD quality video in low-light conditions too. Since it is designed for output to HD monitors Flip added a mini-HDMI to the Ultra HD, and which is one of the major improvements from the older Flip Ultra.

The Ultra HD offers no manual adjustments other than the 2X digital zoom. It is powered by a pack of two AA NiMH rechargeable batteries that can be charged by connecting the Ultra HD to the USB and it can also be powered by alkaline AA batteries. The back-up batteries come in handy on occasions but they are heavier than the slim lithium ion types, used in the Mino HD. Both the Ultra and the Ultra HD have an anti-glare 2inch LCD screen. The anti-glare makes it easier to view the screen even in bright light. The Ultra also has a metal threaded mount for a tripod.

The spring-loaded USB arm that now comes out from the left side of the camera is a better option than the previous models that had it pop out from the top. Whenever you want to transfer videos you simply need to push a button and the USB arm pops out at a right angle to the camcorder. When you insert the USB in your computer it launches built-in FlipShare software that has a default setting to upload videos to YouTube. This software also lets you organize, share and edit your videos. The FlipShare is compatible with both Mac and Windows machines. When you are done just remove the Flip from the USB drive and the arm goes back in its place. This saves you the effort to carry the USB cables around to transfer videos.

The Ultra HD has the same optics and CMOS sensor like the MinoHD, but the video processing in Ultra HD has certainly been refined for a better image quality. The video quality is not that bad but neither is it very good. Unless you hold the camcorder steady, the video appears to be shaky or jittery. But for a camcorder this small, the video does seem to be sharp and the colors are vibrant. Surprisingly, its low-light performance is also good. All said and done, these videos cannot be compared to ones taken from tape camcorders or even digital still cameras. But they are definitely better than the ones shot using a cell phone. It has a high definition video resolution of 1280×720, with ability to record 2 hours of video to an 8GB memory. With the previous models of Flip the uploading of videos to YouTube was a two-step process, but with the Ultra HD it can be done in just one step. Videos can be uploaded to AOL Video too.

Although Pure Digital, the makers of the Flip Ultra have tried to improve it by including a few more features, it could still use a little more technology. The Flip Ultra HD may not be the cheapest of camcorders that are available in the market, but it surely is one of the simplest camcorders. The battery backup makes it stand out in its class, even though it makes it a little heavier. It can definitely be recommended for novices but it’s not a replacement for a full featured camcorder.

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Technical Specifications:

• Sensor: 1/4.5″ HD CMOS Sensor
• Sensor: CMOS
• Size: 1/4.5 inches
• Size: 1/4 inches
• Movie Resolution: 1280 x 720
• Recording Definition: High
• Memory Included: 8GB Internal
• Movie File Format: MP4
• Movie File Format: H.264 (MOV), AAC LC
• Digital Zoom: 2x Multi-step
• Focusing Range: 1.5M – infinity
• LCD Monitor: 2.0 inches
• LCD Coverage: 100%
• Maximum Aperture: f 2.4
• White Balance Control: Auto
• Movie Image Resolution: 1280 x 720
• Computer Interface: USB
• Computer Interface: HDMI
• Height: 4.3 inches
• Width: 2.2 inches