The 10 Best Kids Cameras in 2027

Start here if your child is between 3 and 9. The Duo FX is built like a toy in the best way: thick twin grips, a look-through viewfinder for each eye and a body that kept going through most of a year of family drops onto hard floors. A second camera turns around for selfies, and 80+ effects, frames and a live AR avatar keep small kids busy for hours.

Say your preschooler drops it off the patio step. Odds are they pick it up and keep shooting. The box has a wrist strap, a USB cable and demo AAs, but no microSD card, so add one if you want video at 640 x 480. KidiZoom parents on Mumsnet say their kids reach for these cameras again and again, though about half call the photos poor.

And that's the honest catch. Photos are soft away from bright daylight, and effects drop them to 2MP. The five games also eat the four AAs: TechRadar's first set died in under two days, so buy rechargeables and switch games off in parent controls. So would we buy it? For a preschooler, yes. Want a game-free camera with a rechargeable battery? Jump to the myFirst Camera 3 (#2).

Here's the camera for parents who'd rather not hand a four-year-old another games console. The myFirst Camera 3 has no games at all, just a 16MP camera, a selfie lens and a macro lens you switch with one button. It's tiny at 80g, and the shockproof case and lanyard make it hard to lose or break.

Picture a toddler at the playground, case on, lanyard round their neck, snapping the slide and the swings. That's the job it does well. Daylight photos look good for a kids camera, and Digital Camera World's reviewer saw an 18-month-old hold it correctly almost at once. The box covers the rest, from the charging cable and microSD card to a pouch and stickers, so it works straight out of the wrapping paper.

But the autofocus hunts, which can double the time each shot takes, and close-ups often miss even with the macro lens. Video is noisy and jittery, and a stray thumb on the D-pad can land a toddler deep in the settings. So would we buy it? If screen games are your worry, yes. Want something chunkier, with filters and effects your kid will love? The VTech KidiZoom Duo FX (#1) is the one.

Once your kid has outgrown toy cameras but still treats everything as unbreakable, this is the one we'd hand over. The WPZ2 is waterproof to 15m, dustproof and built to survive a 2m drop, with no housing to forget. Salt water doesn't fog its lens, and hard falls onto stone don't stop it.

So picture a Saturday at the lake. Your ten-year-old jumps off the dock with it strapped to one wrist, then shoots friends mid-splash and a frog on the shore in macro. A locking door seals the battery and card, and USB-C charging means no batteries to buy. Expect about 200 shots a charge, enough for a casual day. Owners on DPReview's Kodak forum call it rock solid in wet conditions and say it beats their phones.

Here's the trade-off. JPEGs look flat, the 2.7-inch screen is dim in sun, and video stops at 1080p. There's no microSD card in the box, and the slot is fiddly. Reports of button trouble below about 15 to 20 feet make it a snorkeling camera, not a diving one. So would we buy it? For a pool kid, yes. Want helmet videos of bike rides instead? The AKASO EK7000 (#9) is the one.

For a kid who loves giving things away, this is the camera to get: they shoot, and a paper copy slides out to hand over. The PrintCam saves photos in color, then prints a black-and-white copy on thermal paper, so there's no ink or film to buy. Over 110 templates turn shots into comic strips, greeting cards, coloring pages and printable games.

Think of a birthday party. Every guest poses, the prints roll out, and coloring mode turns each one into a page they can fill in before cake. Expect a crowd: kids gathered round it at a hockey rink, and the included roll, good for up to 80 prints, ran out fast. It works with most 2.2-inch thermal rolls, and parent controls can cap daily prints and play time or turn the three games off.

The downside is the prints themselves. They can be faint and slightly pixelated, and video is lo-fi. It also takes falls less well than the KidiZoom Camera Pix Plus (#8), and there's no microSD card in the box. So would we buy it? For a party kid aged 4 to 11, yes. Want standard paper rolls and a sticker printer too? Look at the myFirst Camera Insta Wi (#7).

This is the instant camera we'd hand a kid who has never held one. There are no settings to learn. Twist the lens to power on, twist again for Close-Up Mode, and the camera picks the exposure and flash brightness for you. Prints eject at once and develop in about 90 seconds, in color, on credit-card-size instax mini film.

So picture your teen at a middle-school graduation party, handing prints to friends who'll pin them up at home. Selfies and close portraits are where it shines: Close-Up Mode softens the flash, and the viewfinder corrects framing, so fewer prints get wasted. Two AA batteries come in the box and last about 10 packs, but film is sold separately.

Bright days are its weak spot. The flash fires on every shot and the shutter tops out at 1/250 sec, so beach and park photos often wash out, even when it's overcast. There's no self-timer or double exposure either. So would we buy it? For parties and indoor fun, yes. Want a self-timer, double exposures and a USB-C battery? The Polaroid Go Generation 2 (#10) is the one.

When your 11-year-old starts rolling their eyes at chunky kids cameras, this is the step up. The C1 is a real compact, tiny at about 115g, with simple buttons and menus anyone can pick up. Its 2.8-inch screen flips up 180 degrees, so selfies and little vlogs are easy, and it records 1080p at 60fps.

Say your tween heads out on a daytime scout hike. It rides in a jacket pocket and comes home full of their own trail and campsite shots, in warm, old-film color. Charging is over USB-C, and the box includes the cable, an AC adapter and a wrist strap. Add a microSD card up to 32GB, because there isn't one in the box, and keep an eye on the slot, which has no cover.

Now the honest part. It's slow: TechRadar timed half a second to a second to focus, then about a second of shutter delay, so moving kids blur. Zoom is digital only, and low-light shots get noisy with no stabilization. Most phones take better photos. So would we buy it? As a phone-free camera for a tween, yes. Need one that survives the pool and has optical zoom? The Kodak PIXPRO WPZ2 (#3) is the pick.

If stickers are currency in your house, this is the print camera to get. The Insta Wi prints black-and-white photos in about 10 seconds on standard 57mm thermal paper, so refills cost very little. A Wi-Fi app also turns it into a label printer, which gives it a life after the camera phase.

Picture a sleepover. The kids snap goofy selfies with the rear selfie lens, print them on sticker paper and slap them on the bedroom door. The body is light and sturdy, and it took bumps, drops and a throw in The Irish Times' hands-on. In the box you get a cradle, a lanyard, stickers and five rolls of paper or sticker paper, and the 1500mAh battery recharges in about 2.5 hours.

But print quality is hit-and-miss. The camera needs holding still while it prints, prints fade over time, and small kids struggle to tear them off cleanly, which wastes paper. The label app needs a parent to set up, too. So would we buy it? For sticker-mad young kids, yes. Want coloring pages, comic templates and a flip-up selfie lens? Choose the VTech KidiZoom PrintCam (#4).

For a first camera that costs little and takes a beating, this is the KidiZoom to get. The Pix Plus has thick twin grips that toddlers can hold, and it kept working through weeks of drops with kids aged two, five and eight, one of them straight off a desk. VTech pitches it at ages 3 to 8.

Imagine a visit to grandma's. Your three-year-old wanders round photographing knees and the cat, then records a Talking Photo with a silly voice. There's a panorama mode, an Animation Maker that strings up to 100 photos together and four games, with parental time limits if the games win. Among parents swapping KidiZoom stories on Mumsnet, a few say theirs lasted years, though one had a camera that kept breaking. Plan ahead, though: the box has just the camera and a wrist strap, with no AAs, USB cable or microSD card.

And the photos are the catch. They're 2MP, a shutter delay blurs moving subjects, the 1.8-inch screen is small, and video is tiny. So would we buy it? For a toddler, yes. For a kid who'll soon want selfies and sharper shots, the VTech KidiZoom Duo FX (#1) is the better first buy.

Some kids don't want photos at all. They want to film their scooter tricks, and this is the cheapest way we'd get them there. The EK7000 records 4K at up to 30fps on current units through a 170-degree wide lens. What sells it is the kit: a waterproof case, helmet, handlebar and clip mounts, two batteries, a charging dock and a wrist remote.

So mount it on your kid's bike helmet, tap the remote and let them ride the neighborhood loop. Each battery gives about 100 minutes of video in RTINGS' measurement, and with two in the box, a long afternoon is covered. In its case it's waterproof to 98ft, plenty for pool days, and clips go to a phone over Wi-Fi with the AKASO Go app. You'll need to add a microSD card.

The footage is the catch. Video looks soft and noisy, especially indoors, and sound is muffled inside the case. Stabilization depends on the hardware revision, so check that the listing says EIS. So would we buy it? For a kid who wants helmet videos, yes. Want photos and a camera that's waterproof without a case? The Kodak PIXPRO WPZ2 (#3) is the pick.

For a teen who wants the Polaroid look in something that fits a pocket, the Go Generation 2 is our pick. It's tiny at 239g without film, with just power, flash and shutter buttons plus a selfie mirror. This second generation has a wider aperture and a faster shutter than the first Go, and its exposures come out brighter, which helps in dim and backlit scenes.

Picture summer camp. The camera lives in a hoodie pocket, and at the campfire your teen sets up a double exposure of the whole crew, or uses the self-timer to get in the shot. One USB-C charge lasts up to 15 film packs, and the cable comes in the box. Film doesn't, unless you buy a set.

Here's what to know first. Go film costs more per shot than instax, and each pack holds only 8 shots. Close-ups and very bright scenes wash out, dark shots fail without flash, and the flash switches back on after every shot. So would we buy it? For an older kid who wants the real thing, yes. For easier results and cheaper film, the Fujifilm instax mini 12 (#5) is the pick.