'The Happy Meal of cameras': this $30 retro-looking compact camera is perfect for travel, nights out with friends and fun family photos

Forrest Gump once said, "My mama always said, 'Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get." Well, if Forrest Gump's mother was here today, she'd probably say the same thing about the Kodak Charmera.

The Charmera is the storied brand's latest camera, and it's unlike any of its previous compacts in the PIXPRO lineup. You see, it's a keychain camera, which means you can clip it onto your keys or your bag and be on your way. It's cheap at just $30, it's playful, it's very charming, and you never know what color you're going to get until you open the box.

Kodak Charmera: $29 at Amazon

The Kodak Charmera is a highly portable keychain camera featuring a loop that can hook on to your keys or your bag. It is extremely easy to use and it can record 1080P video at 30fps. While image quality isn't the best (1.6MP only), that's not the point as it's just a fun little toy camera.

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By no means is the Charmera going to win you any serious photography awards — for that, turn to one of the best cameras. But what it will win you is the admiration of your peers, and laughs from your friends when you whip it out of your pocket and take a photo of them on a messy night out. It's amazing, really, and as a 90s kid, it's hard to resist the Charmera's charms.

It all started a long, long time ago

The story of the Kodak Charmera goes all the way back to the 1990s. Well, the camera wasn't built all the way back then but without a shadow of a doubt, it's inspired by the 90s. The 90s were a long time ago — I would know, I was born then. While technology was nothing like it is today, I still had a downright fantastic childhood, and a lot of it had to do with the toys and collectibles available to us.

Collectibles were all the rage. McDonald's Happy Meals were uber popular. Bags of Cheetos would include Tazos which were small plastic collectible tokens with characters from Looney Tunes printed on them. My brother, cousins and I would buy Cheetos with our pocket money, and it was a delight. Collectibles are a thing today, too, and we see them in the form of, say, the 'Chase' variants of Funko Pop bobbleheads.

Kodak is banking on that nostalgia with the Charmera. When you buy the Charmera — for just $29 / £30 at Amazon by the way — you don't know which color you're going to get. There are six possibilities (and a secret seventh see-through one), so you can actually collect them all, if you want. Now you see why I started this article with that Forrest Gump quote. The Charmera really is the Happy Meal of cameras!

Taking it anywhere and everywhere

Alongside being the cheapest, the Kodak Charmera is the most portable camera I've ever tested. It measures and weighs just 0.96 x 0.78 inches and 1.05oz so you barely feel it in your pocket — perfect for when you're traveling light or going on a night out with friends. As a keychain camera, the Charmera is fitted with a keychain loop which enables it to clip on to your bag, keys, or even the zip of your jacket (as I did while testing).

Because the Charmera can be taken anywhere and everywhere (and you wouldn't want to leave the house without it, trust me), it's a great companion for when you don't want to risk taking an expensive mirrorless camera to a bar. Spilled drinks and cameras don't mix.

I also have to give credit to the Charmera for being a fantastic icebreaker. When I was testing it, I took it to a pub where we were meeting some of my partner's friends and acquaintances I hadn't met before. I'm an introvert and sometimes I struggle to hit it off with strangers.

I had the Charmera clipped on to my jacket's zip and everyone could see it and was fascinated by it. That got them asking me questions about the camera which kickstarted conversations that then snowballed. A few of them then tried the Charmera for themselves and were instantly charmed by it, just like I was — and just like you will be too.

Kodak Charmera: Sample gallery

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The Kodak Charmera is an easily lovable little camera, but does it take good photos? After all, it's a camera at the end of the day! Well, I can best describe the photos it takes as "half decent." The Charmera is fitted with a 1/4-inch CMOS sensor that captures 1.6MP stills and 1080p/30fps video. Due to the small sensor size, low-light performance and dynamic range aren't great, and photos turn out pixelated.

But that's the point. The Charmera isn't a camera for serious photography — it costs $30, it can't be. The photos it captures have a lo-fi, retro aesthetic that has had the likes of TikTok and Instagram drooling for the last couple of years.

Retro-looking cameras — like the Charmera, the Camp Snap, and even the brand new Fujifilm Instax mini Evo Cinema — are very popular amongst Gen Z right now, and Kodak recognizes this, and I can't blame it for wanting to capitalize on that thirst for nostalgia. One thing I know for sure is that the Charmera is one camera I'm going to keep going back to.

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More from Tom's Guide

• ‘A $30 camera meant for fun, not serious photography’: Kodak Charmera review
• I finally got my hands on the $30 camera that TikTok and Instagram are obsessed with: my first impressions of the Kodak Charmera
• 'It’s an instant camera that lets you time travel from the 1930s to the 2020s’: I spent two hours with the Fujifilm Instax mini Evo Cinema, here’s what I think of it