When you first power up the Flip MinoHD the splash screen lets you enter the configuration page by holding the record button. You can set the language, date, time, tone and recording light. Just make sure you save your settings at the end. Once you are done with the setup the LCD display starts showing what the lens sees. The screen says it is in the Ready mode with the battery life and total available recording time left on the bottom.

If you’ve enabled the recording light then a light glow is present around the microphone on the lens side. It makes it obvious that you are recording but is not an annoying bright red dot.

On the screen side you do see a red dot indicating that you are recording as well as how long you’ve been recording on the top right. The remaining battery life is displayed in bars on the bottom left and on the top left it shows you the zoom level. The zoom is controlled by the + and – touch-sensitive capacitive buttons.

Once you are done recording you can play back the video on the screen, keep in mind you are recording in 720p but the resolution is only 320×240, or delete any unwanted videos.

When you’re done with the MinoHD it can be stored inside the cloth bag. The soft bag is also great for cleaning the lens of the MinoHD before using.

The MinoHD uses a large aperture, an f/2.4. This gives you a narrow depth of field and the ability to capture videos in low light scenarios. The zoom is only capable of reaching 2x. This isn’t a lot but if you use the MinoHD with the intention of recording things far away than you might want to look elsewhere. Much like a regular point and shoot digital camera you won’t get the same level of zoom as with a dSLR.

Overall I’ve been impressed by how the MinoHD works. The auto focus is very responsive and can focus onto your subject as quickly as you can move the device. By the time my hand had stopped swinging around and I could actually look at the screen, the picture on the LCD was tack sharp. One thing I have noticed with the MinoHD is that it takes no effort to turn on or off the device. My problem with this is that if you accidentally press the power button while recording a video, the whole unit shuts down. Similarly it is just as easy to turn the device on. I would have liked to see a slide lock to prevent accidentally turning on or off the device; alternatively Flip Video could have made it a press and hold to turn on or off.

Here’s a few video of the MinoHD in action.

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