Over the last several weeks, we’ve had the chance to test out the Sony Bloggie Touch. From our initial unboxing video to see what lay inside of this slick new packaging; to our Sony Bloggie Touch Mac OSX Software review and installation guide video. Everything we had seen from the hardware and software we liked, but anything by itself can shine. So we set out to find out, if the Bloggie Touch would shine, next to the popular Flip UltraHD.

Flip camera’s were really the first into the MP4 camera market and created a phenomenon. Being easy to use and easy on the wallet, these little guys were also known to grab some great footage. I know this because I’ve had one for over a year. The simplicity of this device has made creating videos and uploading them to sites like YouTube and Facebook a breeze. With a hot new market segment, Sony was quick to follow in with the original Bloggie, offering a dizzying array of functionality, specs, while being marred with poor video quality. Sony soon missed what made the Flip so popular, simplicity. Still, this did not detour the electronic giants, sending its engineers back into the lab with a simple motto, simplicity in the outside, state of the art in the inside.

The fact is, when a company like Apple makes a product, they pack cutting edge technology under the hood, but they do it ever so elegantly where anybody can pickup their device and use it. The end user doesn’t care and shouldn’t care about the level of technology under their product. Instead, they should be able to use the product with ease and while getting the best quality out available.

With the engineers now done with their task, it was clear that Sony was going to set the pace this round. From the very  beginning, the experience with the Bloggie Touch is different from other Sony products. As I went over it in our unboxing video, the packaging is clean and elegant. Offering a nice box, with minimal wrapping and twisities, the Bloggie sits in a box, much like the original iPhone. Also, unlike the previous Bloggie and current Flips, the Bloggie is beautiful to look out. Coming in a sleek  colors like metallic or black, the Bloggie has a unibody MacBookPro like feel to it, unlike it’s previous model and Flip plastic counterparts. Still, the design is minimalistic, only offering 3 buttons on the device. A dedicated on/off switch, a camera shutter, and record button. The minute the Bloggie is powered on, you can’t help but be captivated by the 3-inch touchscreen display where your additional functionalities are held. Unlike the Flip where you can only Play/Delete your content, the Bloggie gives you the options to change video resolution (720p 30fps, 720p 60fps, 1080p 30fps),  and camera resolutions (12M, 8M, 2M). Other information on screen includes battery life, record time and zoom. While I do appreciate the idea of the Flip being ultra easy, the lack of information can be frustrating. Better yet, with the Bloggie, if the screen isn’t touch with a 10 seconds, the additional information on the screen fades, leaving on the zoom icon.

Speaking of technical specs, the Bloggie Touch outshines the Flip UltraHD in every scenario. Offering great zoom, resolution, Face Detection, Image Stabilization, Macro Auto Focus, Self Time and still camera to name a few. On top of that, Sony placed a Exmor™ CMOS Sensor under the hood, insuring crisp video both during daylight and nighttime. The Bloggies pack in with an 4GB and 8GB model, with the latter giving you 4hrs of recording time. That’s twice as much as the Flip UltraHD which also sports an 8GB internal drive. Coming in at almost half the size of the Flip UltraHD, the Bloggie is also an easy choice when you want to carry the unit in your pocket. After all, these camera’s were designed for those on the go. In the end, the Bloggie Touch outshines the Flip UltraHD in every which way. With superior specs, video quality and design, the Bloggie Touch is a generation ahead of the competition in every category. Of course when it comes to a camera, words can hardly show you the difference so we went out and put together a comparison video of the two MP4 cameras.