Personally, I prefer not to record my precious family videos with my smartphone. This is definitely an "old school" type of camcorder by today's standards, but this camcorder does not fail. Great image quality (albeit in standard definition), and sound quality. It is reliable and reasonably compact. Despite the fact that the camcorder is less convenient than today's tablets or smartphones, the final results outweigh the inconveniences. This particular camcorder is loaded with great features. It can record in full automatic, or the camcorder allows the option to override some common settings. The manual override features come in very handy at times. I personally utilize the optional video light along with the built-in image stabilizer. The stabilizer ensures that the recordings have a minimal amount of shakes. The video light allows me to record in dim or dark situations. Overall, I enjoy using this camcorder and am pleased with the overall results it provides.