The Olympus Tough TG-860 ($279.99) is, on paper, almost the same camera as last year's TG-850 ($230.00 at Amazon) , an affordable rugged compact that delivered solid image quality and an excellent macro shooting experience. The TG-860 takes a noticeable step back in the image quality department, and it comes in at a slightly higher asking price. If you're willing to live without Wi-Fi, consider buying the TG-850 instead while it's still available at retail. If your budget is a bit higher, another Olympus compact, the Tough TG-3 ($330.00 at eBay) , is a stronger performer all around and our pick as Editors' Choice for underwater cameras.

Design and Features

The TG-860's ($259.00 at eBay)  design is typical for rugged compacts. It places its lens in the top corner rather than the center of the body, and because it's waterproof the lens itself doesn't extend at all from the body. It measures 2.5 by 4.4 by 1.1 inches and weighs 7.9 ounces; that's typical for the class as well (for comparison, the Canon PowerShot D30 ($439.00 at Amazon) is 2.7 by 4.3 by 1.1 inches and weighs 7.7 ounces). The TG-860 sets itself apart from the crowd by implementing two tripod mounts. The mount on the bottom is at the opposite corner of the camera from the lens—I would have preferred to see it centered or directly underneath the lens. The second mount is located on the left side, so you can mount it in portrait orientation. Our review unit was finished in an orange and black motif, but the TG-860 can also be had in white and black or all black.

The lens is a 5x design, covering a 21-105mm equivalent focal range with an f/3.5-5.7 variable aperture. It's the same lens used by the TG-850, and the widest you'll find in any waterproof camera. The wide angle coverage makes it possible to compose shots that most compact cameras can't manage, and is also a boon to underwater photographers. When shooting underwater, the field of a view of a lens is effectively narrowed due to refraction.

Like the TG-850 and TG-3, the TG-860 has a Super Macro mode that can lock onto subjects that are all but touching the front element of the lens. In addition to the standard flash, the camera has a LED light that's ideal for macro shooting. It's just a single light, so it's not quite as useful as the LED lights that surround the lens of the Ricoh WG-4 ($259.99 at Amazon) , or the LED Light Guide ($33.99 at Amazon) accessory that Olympus offers for the TG-3; both of those systems surround the lens with light for more even illumination when working at macro focusing distances.

Controls are pretty typical for the compact class, with one unique exception. The TG-860 includes a front shutter button, ideal for selfies, in the opposite corner from the lens. If you're not a selfie shooter it can be reprogrammed; available functions include using it to start video recording, brighten the LCD, activate the macro LED light, or enter Super Macro mode.

The Power button, shutter release, and zoom rocker are located on the top plate. Rear controls include a Movie Record button, the mode dial (with a position for Super Macro shooting), the standard menu, playback, and delete controls, and a four-way rocker that's used to navigate through menus and give direct access to the drive mode and flash settings. Additional controls are accessible via an on-screen overlay menu; it's activated by pressing the OK button in the center of the four-way controller. It runs down the right side of the display and lets you adjust the color output, flash, exposure compensation, white balance, ISO, drive mode, resolution, aspect ratio, and video settings.

The TG-860 doesn't include a manual, aperture priority, or shutter priority mode, which isn't out of the ordinary for a compact camera. There is a Sports mode buried among the various Scene modes, so you can force a short shutter speed to freeze action. In-camera art filters, panorama capture, and a special Selfie setting are also available. Missing is the Olympus Photo Story mode, which allows you to combine several shots into one image with borders and frames; you'll need to move up to the TG-3 if that's a feature that appeals to you.

The rear display is a 3-inch LCD with a 460k-dot resolution. It's unchanged from the TG-850, and is still plenty sharp and bright for a compact. It has a top-mounted hinge, so you can bring swing it up to be parallel with the top of the camera, or face it all the way forward for selfies—it and the TG-850 are the only cameras in this class with articulating displays.

Olympus has added both Wi-Fi and GPS to the TG-860. It's easy enough to connect to your iOS or Android smartphone and copy images over Wi-Fi—it works with the free OI Share app. You can manually enter a password to connect, or pair by taking a photo of the the QR code that the camera displays via your phone's camera. The TG-860 also supports remote control via phone; it streams a Live View feed to the app and allows you to toggle between Program and iAuto shooting. When in Program you can adjust the ISO, dial in exposure compensation, set the drive mode, and adjust white balance. The app also supports setting a focus point via touch, and adjusting the lens focal length. It works well for the most part, but I did find that it occasionally had a tough time locking focus in dim light—in the same situation the camera had no problem acquiring focus.

The camera is rated to go underwater to 50 feet, survive drops from heights of 7 feet, be crushed by 220 pounds of force, and function in temperatures as low as 14°F. We weren't able to take it on any deep dives, but it had no problems surviving submersion in a kitchen sink, it kept ticking after dozens of drops, and it worked without issue in frigid winter temperatures. There are some cameras that are rated to go deeper—the Canon D30 is listed at 82 feet—but you'll likely want to invest in a more serious underwater camera if you're experienced enough beyond that depth.

Performance and Conclusions

The TG-860 starts, focuses, and fires in about 1.1 second, which is fairly speedy for a compact camera. In bright light its focus system is very quick, locking on almost instantly, although it does slow in dim conditions. It's a much quicker camera than the Pentax WG-4, which requires a full 3 seconds to start and shoot, and 0.4-second to focus and fire.

There's a high-speed burst mode available that rattles off full-resolution shots at 6.7fps, but it's limited to 7 shots at that pace before it stops and has to write images to the memory card. If you want to shoot longer, you need to switch to the slower burst mode, which drops the speed to 2.5fps. The TG-3 does a better job at burst shooting; it can capture a 30-shot burst at 5fps.

See How We Test Digital Cameras

I used Imatest to check the quality of the images that the TG-860 is able to capture. Despite having a 16-megapixel image sensor, it only managed 1,792 lines per picture height on a center-weighted sharpness test. That's lower than the 1,800 lines we like to see, and significantly lower than the 2,330-line score that the TG-850 managed on the same test. Like the TG-850, the TG-860 shows very weak performance at the edges of the frame (770 lines), which is low even by compact camera standards.

Why the discrepancy on the scores, given that the two cameras use the same lens? There are sample variations to consider, but also image processing. Our resolution tests are performed at the lowest sensitivity possible, ISO 125 in this case. When looking at crops from our ISO test scene it's clear that the TG-860 captures less detail than the TG-850, likely due to a more aggressive attempt at noise reduction. But, like most 1/2.3-inch sensor compacts, the TG-860 is not a camera that's going to capture photos in dim conditions without the aid of its flash. It keeps noise under 1.5 percent through 400, which is the top setting at which you can get any modicum of fine detail out of its images. At ISO 800 and above (the camera can be set as high as ISO 6400) images are very blurry. I've included crops from our test scene at each full-stop ISO in the slideshow, and you can compare them with the same crops in the TG-850 review to see the advantage that the older model benefits from in terms of image quality.

Olympus is billing the TG-860's Sportcam mode as one of its marquee new features. Marketing speak aside, Sportcam is just a 1080p60 video mode, which is better for capturing quick action than 1080p30 footage. The QuickTime footage that the TG-860 captures is plenty sharp and the camera is quick to refocus as the scene changes, but unless you're locked down on a tripod it's noticeably shaky. The camera does have a stabilization system, but even when I was doing my best to hold it steady, my test footage showed noticeable shaking. That makes it less than ideal as an action camera, especially if you were considering mounting it to a helmet, bike, or surfboard.

The TG-860 doesn't include an external battery charger. Instead you'll need to charge the battery in-camera via an included USB cable and AC adapter. That wouldn't be a huge deal if Olympus used a standard connector, but it opts for the same proprietary connector that has been used on Olympus cameras for years. You'll have to make sure you carry it with you when traveling, and seek out an Olympus cable if it becomes lost. A standard micro USB port is always preferable for cameras that take the in-camera charging route, as they're easy to replace and can be shared with other devices. The port is located inside the double-locking door that also houses the battery itself, the micro HDMI port, and the SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot.

The Olympus TG-860 is a rather disappointing update to its predecessor. The TG-850 was an affordable, wide-angle compact that was built to survive drops and capture images underwater with equal ease. The TG-860 retains those capabilities, and adds Wi-Fi connectivity and an in-camera GPS, but its image quality takes a noticeable step backward. As long as the TG-850 remains on the market, it's a better buy. It doesn't have Wi-Fi, but you can add a Eyefi Mobi card to transfer images to a smartphone. Our favorite tough compact is another Olympus camera, the TG-3. It's more expensive at $350, but the TG-3's image quality betters the TG-860 and TG-850, and its f/2 lens gives it an advantage in dim lighting, making it our Editors' Choice.

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