Canon PowerShot SX720 HS (Renewed) Review: a pocket zoom camera that beats your phone on reach, not on convenience

I picked up this renewed Canon PowerShot SX720 HS mainly because my phone just can’t zoom on holidays without turning everything into a blurry mess. I didn’t want to carry a big DSLR or mirrorless body with lenses, so this compact superzoom looked like a decent middle ground. The price for the renewed unit was way lower than a new one, so I went in knowing I wasn’t getting a fresh-out-of-the-box camera, more like a used-but-checked device.

Over roughly two weeks, I used it for walks in the city, a weekend trip, and some indoor family shots. I played with both photos and video, pushed the zoom as far as I could, and tried low light to see where it starts to struggle. I also compared it directly to my phone (a mid-range recent Android) just to see if carrying an extra gadget actually makes sense in 2026.

Right away: this camera’s big strength is the 40x optical zoom (24–960mm) and the stabilisation. If you mainly shoot wide shots and Instagram stuff, your phone is probably simpler. But if you like zooming on buildings, animals, or people far away, this thing clearly does better than a phone. The catch is that it’s still an older 1/2.3'' sensor with only JPEG, so you don’t get the flexibility or low-light quality of newer bigger-sensor cameras.

In short, it’s a practical travel zoom if you’re okay with its limits: good reach, compact body, decent image quality in daylight, but noisy and soft in the dark. As a renewed product, mine worked fine, but you have to accept some cosmetic wear and the risk that the battery isn’t as fresh as a new one.

Value-wise, this camera sits in a weird spot. On one hand, phones keep getting better, and you can buy entry-level mirrorless kits that blow this away in pure image quality. On the other hand, at the renewed price, you’re paying for a compact body with a 40x optical zoom and decent stabilisation, which most phones still can’t match. If you like shooting faraway subjects – wildlife at the park, details on buildings, boats on the sea – this camera gives you reach that a phone just doesn’t have at this price.

Where the value drops a bit is in the aging tech: no RAW, no 4K video, small sensor, and a user interface that feels old-fashioned. If you’re even slightly into photography as a hobby and plan to learn manual controls, edit RAW files, or print big, I’d say save up for a used mirrorless instead. But if you just want a simple point-and-shoot with big zoom and you’re fine with JPEGs and Full HD, this is still a sensible option, especially as a travel or family camera.

Compared to buying it new, the renewed version makes more sense financially. You accept a few cosmetic marks and the possibility of a slightly tired battery, but the savings are real. I’d factor in the cost of an extra battery and a small SD card when judging the total price. Also, the 3.7/5 rating on Amazon matches my feeling: it’s neither a hidden gem nor a disaster, just a decent, fairly priced compact if your expectations are reasonable.

So in terms of value: if you’re replacing a very old compact or you’re frustrated by your phone’s weak zoom, this is good value for money. If you’re already thinking about serious photography, lenses, and editing, your money is probably better put into a different system. It really depends whether you care more about reach and convenience or long-term photographic growth.

Design-wise, this SX720 HS is pretty straightforward: a small rectangular compact in black, with the lens taking up most of the front and a tiny built-in flash on top. It weighs around 245 grams, which is light enough to throw in a jacket pocket or small bag without thinking about it. That’s actually one of the strong points: you get a 24–960mm zoom in something that still passes as a pocket camera for most men’s jackets or small pouches.

On the back, you have a 3-inch fixed LCD and a classic set of buttons: playback, menu, a control wheel, and a mode dial on top. No touch screen, no tilting, no viewfinder (despite the spec saying “viewfinder type: optical”, in practice you’re composing on the screen). In bright sunlight, the screen is just okay; it’s usable but can be hard to see if the sun hits directly. I sometimes had to shade it with my hand to check focus properly, especially at full zoom.

The grip is minimal – just a small textured bump on the front. For casual shooting it’s fine, but when I used the 40x zoom, I definitely wished for a deeper grip or at least a rubberized area. You have to hold it fairly tight and brace your elbows or lean on something. The buttons feel a bit clicky and plasticky, not premium, but they respond reliably. The mode dial has enough resistance that it doesn’t randomly change in your pocket, which is good.

In terms of ports, you get a micro HDMI and USB, both behind a small door. The battery and SD card share a compartment at the bottom. It’s all standard, nothing fancy. Overall, the design is practical and compact, but clearly from a previous era of cameras: no touch, no flip screen, and a very “point-and-shoot from a few years ago” vibe. If you’re okay with that and mainly care about zoom and size, it works. If you’re used to modern phone UX and screens, it feels a bit dated.

The camera uses the Canon NB-13L battery, which is pretty standard for this PowerShot line. Since this is a renewed unit, I was a bit worried about the battery health. In practice, I managed roughly a day of mixed use: around 200–250 photos, some short video clips, a bit of Wi‑Fi transfer, and plenty of menu browsing. By the end of a full sightseeing day, the battery indicator was usually down to one bar or close to empty.

If you mainly take a few photos here and there, you’ll probably be fine with the included battery. But if you like to review images a lot on the LCD, use the long zoom frequently (which makes the lens motor work harder), and shoot some video, I’d say this is borderline. On one particularly busy day, shooting around 300+ photos and several minutes of video, the camera died before I got back home. That’s not shocking for a compact, but it’s something to plan for.

Charging is done with the external wall charger, not via USB. Personally, I like removable batteries, but it does mean you can’t just plug the camera into a power bank and top it up while walking. You either carry a spare battery or you’re done for the day. For travel, I’d strongly recommend buying at least one extra NB-13L (original or a decent third-party) and rotating them. Also, the charger is the older style that plugs into a wall socket, so it takes some space in a bag.

In short, battery life is acceptable but not generous. For casual home use or short outings, it’s fine. For full days of tourist mode or long events, plan ahead with a spare battery. Considering this is a renewed product, the battery is one of the first things that might not be at 100% of original capacity, so I’d treat a second battery as part of the real cost of the camera.

As a renewed camera, the first thing I checked was the physical condition. Mine arrived with a couple of light scuffs on the body and a very faint mark near the edge of the screen, nothing that affected use. The lens mechanism extended and retracted smoothly, no grinding noises, and no dust blobs visible in the images at normal apertures. So from a basic functional standpoint, it felt like a well-treated used camera rather than something heavily abused.

The overall build is mostly plastic with some metal feel around the lens, which is normal for this category. It doesn’t feel like it could survive a serious drop; if you’re clumsy, use the wrist strap. The lens barrel is the most fragile-looking part: fully extended at 40x zoom, it feels a bit vulnerable, so I tried not to walk around with it extended or put it in a bag without retracting it. The buttons and dials don’t wobble, and the battery door locks properly, which is reassuring for a refurb.

I used it in a light drizzle once (quick shots, then back in the bag), and nothing bad happened, but to be clear: there’s no weather sealing here. I wouldn’t trust it in real rain or dusty conditions for long. Also, as with many compacts, the screen can scratch easily if you throw it in a bag with keys or coins, so a cheap screen protector might be worth it if you’re rough with your gear.

Over the test period, I had no glitches, no random shutdowns, and no lens errors. That said, with any renewed product, there is always a bit more risk compared to new. The 1‑year limited warranty from Amazon Renewed helps, but if you need something bombproof for professional use, I’d look elsewhere. For casual travel and family shots, the durability is good enough, as long as you treat it like a camera and not like a rugged GoPro.

On the performance side, the daylight image quality is solid for a 1/2.3'' compact. At base ISO (100–200), photos look sharp enough, with decent colors and detail, especially in the center of the frame. If you’re shooting cityscapes, landscapes, or people outdoors, it’s more than good enough for social media and even small prints. The 40x zoom is really the main reason to buy this: you can easily go from a wide 24mm shot of a building to a close-up of a balcony several floors up, without walking anywhere. At around 20–30x, the camera still keeps things fairly sharp with the help of the optical stabiliser.

As soon as the light drops, the limits show up. Indoors in the evening, the camera quickly raises ISO to 800 or 1600, and you start to see a lot of noise and smearing from noise reduction. Faces can look a bit mushy, and fine textures disappear. For small web photos it’s okay, but if you’re picky and like to zoom in on your shots on a computer, you’ll notice the drop in quality. At ISO 3200, I honestly tried to avoid it unless there was no other option. The lens is also not very bright at the long end (around f/6.3), so the camera has to push ISO even more when fully zoomed in.

Autofocus is fast enough in good light, especially in the wide and mid zoom range. At full 960mm, it can hunt a bit, especially on low-contrast subjects. For moving subjects like kids or pets, the burst mode at about 5.9 fps is handy, but the buffer fills quickly, and the camera pauses to write to the card. For casual action it’s fine, but don’t expect sports camera performance. Video in 1080p60 looks decent, with smooth motion and acceptable detail, but again, in low light it becomes noisy and soft.

Overall, performance is good for travel and daylight shooting, and the zoom plus stabilisation give it an edge over a phone when you’re far from your subject. In low light or indoors, it’s just average, and modern phones with heavy computational processing sometimes do better for simple snapshots. So it’s not a miracle box; it’s a compact zoom that shines when there’s sun and distance, and just “meh but usable” when the light goes down.

Out of the box (well, out of the brown Amazon renewed box), I got the camera body, a Canon NB-13L battery, the CB-2LHE charger with an AC cable, a wrist strap, and a basic user manual kit. No SD card included, so plan to buy one if you don’t already have it. The listing says Canon as the manufacturer, but the overall bundle clearly feels like a refurbished package, not a retail store experience with fancy packaging or extras.

The camera itself is a compact point-and-shoot with a 20.3 MP CMOS sensor, 40x optical zoom (24–960mm equivalent), and Full HD 1080p video at 60p. It only shoots JPEG and MP4, no RAW, which matters if you enjoy heavy editing. Shooting modes are standard: automatic, portrait, landscape, sports, and movie, plus some scene modes and a Short Clip Movie mode that records 4–6 second clips with slow/fast playback options. It also has Wi‑Fi and NFC, which sounds nice on paper, but the app experience feels a bit dated compared to how smooth phone camera apps are now.

A few specs that actually mattered in use: the continuous shooting at about 5.9 fps, the optical image stabilisation, and the ISO range 100–3200. The burst rate is enough for casual sports or kids running around, but the buffer fills pretty fast. The stabilisation is genuinely helpful at the long end of the zoom; without it, 960mm would be almost unusable handheld. On the other hand, the ISO 3200 images are very noisy and only really okay for small web use.

Overall, as a renewed product, the camera does feel like a previous generation device brought back to life: it gets the job done for regular travel photos and long zoom shots, but it’s not a modern hybrid camera with 4K, RAW, or crazy autofocus. If your expectations are in line with that – a simple compact zoom camera – the feature set is fairly complete for the price bracket.