Conclusion

The Ricoh Theta is very much a one-trick pony, but taking instant 360-degree pictures with a single press of a button is quite a trick to pull off. We had a lot of fun with the Theta, and we can definitely see a place for it in a traveller's backpack or holiday-maker's suitcase. The Ricoh Theta provides a different enough take on the world that it's well worth adding to your photographic arsenal, especially as it's so light light and easy to use.

There are a few drawbacks, though, as with any first-generation device, most notably the inability to directly interact with the images when you share them on a social network, no image preview via the smartphone app, reliance on wi-fi for connectivity to a smartphone rather than Bluetooth, the current lack of support for Android, and of course, the rather eye-watering but perhaps inevitable price-tag.

At the moment the Ricoh Theta is a little too raw to recommend more highly, but it's certainly a fun device that provides a unique view of the world literally all around you. With better software support and sharing, plus a lower price, the Ricoh Theta could well turn out to be out of the more surprising cameras that we've seen in 2013.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	3.5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	3.5
Value for money	3

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