Polaroid Wave review: a basic and relatively cheap underwater streaming camera

Think Polaroid and you’re probably thinking iconic ‘instant cameras’ of the 1960s and 1970s, although the company goes all the way back to 1937, originally focusing on light polarization tech for sunglasses and photographic filters. Even in this decidedly digital age, Polaroid is still making some of the best analog instant cameras, including the Polaroid I-2 and the Polaroid Flip, both earning 5-star Gold awards in our respective reviews.

The Polaroid Wave that I’m reviewing here is an all-digital affair that doesn’t print photos, instantly or otherwise. However, you can pair it with your mobile phone over Wi-Fi, and use the Polaroid companion app to share photos and video instantly in a streaming kind of way. The camera’s main claim to fame is that it’s fully waterproof and designed to be used in and around water. As such, it aims to be one of the best underwater cameras as well as one of the best low-cost cameras, or at least one of the cheapest and easiest to use.

Polaroid Wave: Specifications

Polaroid Wave: Price

You can expect to pay around $50 to $90 for the Polaroid Wave in the USA, but it’s been discontinued and is getting hard to find if you want a brand new one, especially in other world regions. Used ones in good condition are easier to get your hands on, selling from around $25 / £25 / AU$55.

Polaroid Wave: Design & Handling

I bought a Polaroid Wave underwater camera in white and orange, although I’ve also seen it in white and other colors. The design is pretty basic and the Polaroid looks more like a toy camera than something to be taken too seriously. Even so, it does feature a protective housing that’s reasonably robust. I like that it’s designed to float on water, avoiding the worry that it’s going to sink without trace into the murky depths if you accidentally let go of it.

You really wouldn’t want the camera to descend to any serious depths, as it has an advertised depth limit of 3 meters or 10 feet. That should be sufficient for fun in the swimming pool, partying in the hot tub, and for snorkeling. However, diving is out of the question and very much off the ‘can do’ list.

Definitely a point and shoot camera, the Polaroid Wave is stupendously easy to use. You literally just point it and shoot, using the large red button on the front or the smaller ‘OK’ button up on top. The same buttons also enable you to start and stop video recording, depending on whether you’re in stills of video capture mode. Still images are available at resolutions up to 18 megapixels, and video supposedly maxes out at 4K UHD.

The front panel of the camera plays host to a moderately wide-angle lens that adds a 4x zoom facility for getting closer to the action. There’s also a mini flash on the front panel, which comes in handy for underwater illumination, or just for when ambient lighting is dim.

Around the back, there are three buttons on the colored strip to the right of the LCD screen. The top one enables you to change modes between shooting stills and video, and reviewing either in playback mode. A long press of the button takes you into the menu system, where it subsequently acts as a ‘back’ button. The two lower buttons have up and down symbols on them and serve for navigating menus and images/video in playback mode. When shooting, the up/down arrows apply digital zoom.

As I’d expect, considering the low-budget price of the camera, the LCD screen is pretty basic fare. It measures 2.4 inches on the diagonal, so it’s not overly small, but it’s fairly low res and isn’t a touchscreen. It’s pretty clear to see underwater, less so if you have the sun shining on it from over your shoulder, where it can make life really difficult in terms of composing shots.

The right hand side of the camera has a strap lug and waterproofed door which opens to reveal an old-style Micro USB port and a microSD card slot. You can use the USB port for charging the internal Li-ion battery using a standard mains charger or power bank. Other connectivity options include built-in Wi-Fi, enabling you to pair the camera with your mobile phone for live streaming, controlling recording and downloading photos and video.

Polaroid Wave: Performance

Picture quality has a distinctly ‘snapshot’ look to it. Sharpness, clarity, contrast and color rendition are all passable, rather than being particularly pleasing. However, in good lighting conditions, the Polaroid Wave is capable of pictures that I’d want to keep, which I can’t say about some cheap cameras that I’ve used, like the Andoer 48MP Digital Camera and the Mutrain X10 Digital Camera.

Retention of fine detail and texture is a little lacking at the widest viewing angle, and deteriorates further at longer zoom settings. It can be particularly noticeable if you take a series of shots of the same subject from the same shooting distance, increasing the zoom factor along the way. For comparison, the gallery below contains photos of the same scene taken at 1x, 2x, 3x and 4x zoom.

Like many basic point and shoot compact cameras, the Polaroid struggles in low lighting conditions. Its flash can be a help for close-ups but lacks the power to cover any real distance.

Like a few other underwater cameras that I’ve used, the Polaroid suffered from condensation while I was using it underwater, which built up under the housing and in front of the lens. It happened during my testing both very quickly and very frequently, when dunking the camera underwater. Naturally, this affects the underwater image quality, much like trying to see anything through your car windscreen when it’s all fogged up on a cold morning.

Polaroid Wave: Sample Images

The following gallery of example shots was taken in and around the Bishop’s Palace and Gardens in the English city of Wells.

Image 1 of 17

Polaroid Wave: Video

Above: sample video shot with the Polaroid Wave

The camera is advertised as offering 4K UHD video capture but the used model that I bought gave no video resolution options other than Full HD 1080p. Quality is pretty mediocre and as there’s no kind of stabilization available, handheld video can look very shaky, especially when panning. This is amply demonstrated in the sample video clip below, even though I was trying my hardest to keep the camera steady.

Polaroid Wave: Verdict

I feel that the Polaroid Wave injects an element of fun into family photography. It’s simple enough for anyone and everyone to use, from little kids to great-grandparents. The quality of still photos isn’t fabulous but should suffice for general snapshots. Video can look very shaky if you’re handholding the camera, as there’s no stabilization on offer.

The main attraction is that the camera is fully waterproof so you can use it in the pool or at the beach, submerging it to a depth of 3 meters or 10 feet. That’s not overly generous in the depth stakes but should prove sufficient for casual use and snorkeling. I was frustrated when trying to shoot underwater that the camera misted up inside the housing, in front of the lens, both frequently and severely. That aside, it’s a decent, fun camera at a relatively low purchase price.

Alternatives

The Pentax WG-1000 is tough and waterproof, the latter with a depth limit of 15m, which is much more generous than for the Polaroid. It’s a mid-priced underwater camera that’s fun to use.

The OM System Tough TG-7 is a lot pricier than the Polaroid but is one of our absolute favorite waterproof cameras, and is also particularly tough with a shockproof, freezeproof design.

See our guides to the best waterproof cameras, and to the best cameras under $100