I’ve been cleaning up my site layout recently. To make things easier to understand I have integrated the WP Product Reviews plugin, which gives me a clean overview of the product rating and a clear layout breaking down each category I use to rate a product. This also brings some new methodology into my rating system. Every item has clearly defined categories it must fit in, in order to receive a certain rating level. WP Product Reviews also breaks ratings down into 10 points instead of 5, so the old star ratings page will need to be updated in the near future.
Thanks for sticking with my through these updates. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know!
So I managed to get my hands on a cheap $20 action cam from Amazon. This is the identical internal hardware for those “1080p” action cams that go for anywhere from $15-$20 on eBay. I thought I was buying a slightly better cheap action camera and this was a good deal – but the listing was misleading and I ended up with a piece of garbage. Skip to 2:00 in the video if you just want to see samples.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
-Me and I’m sure countless other people who bought this cam
Video Transcript:
So I was looking to buy a cheap action cam for my sister and I ended up grabbing a ‘good deal’ from Amazon. The seller images and description were for a SJ7000, a knockoff of the SJcam SJ4000 that actually has acceptable video quality, but I thought the price was a little too good to be true. Hint: it was. So that brings me to this video: what exactly does $20 get you in terms of an action cam?
This thing takes…1080p video. Ooh, Wi-fi. Apparently has a Novatek processor (that’s a lie). 2″ screen.. It comes with all the standard accessories, and they are of standard quality. And from the outside it actually looks pretty good. The differences between this camera and the one in the listing are subtle on first glance. It’s only missing these little notches down below the power button. Build quality seems fine… until you press the buttons.
Ho-ly- *beep*. That power button feels like pressing my finger into warm butter. There’s no feedback to it at all. The camera turns on though, that’s a good sign… You can’t really see it in the video, but the screen flickers noticably. Here’s what the menus look like.. Do you.. do you hear that?! The camera is making an audible click noise, as if it is trying to trick me into thinking the buttons themselves are clicking! Oh my God!. Image quality high, that’s cute. ISO maxes at 200, this thing is gonna suck in low light! Also this battery door is the worst thing ever. The release latch is too close to the actual door and I can’t get my fingers into it. I had to use a knife…
Ok so I’ve been putting this off because I really don’t want to see…but… Let’s take a look at video quality.
It supposedly shoots in … 1080p. And yeah, the video is 1080p, but it’s AVI compression. And if you know ANYTHING about video, you’ll know just how bad AVI is. Take a look at the sky. See how the gradient in color isn’t smooth? Look at how the video brightness appears to jump and skip as I change locations. It’s just plain awful. There’s actually an OK amount of detail and the entire frame appears to be in focus, until I start to move, then everything just gets lost in compression. Gross. Also, I notice that when you’re looking at the screen from an angle, the orange dot that indicates not recording turns red, so the camera wasn’t even recording for a good chunk of the time I thought it was! This is made worse by the fact that this camera doesn’t beep or have any front indicator lights to tell you when it’s recording.
Maybe still image quality will be this cameras saving grace. NOPE.
This is literally the worst still image I’ve seen from a camera since 2007, and I had the ORIGINAL iPHONE. There’s no resolution at all. It looks like someone rubbed chili peppers in my eyes!
What about sound? Can you hear me?? NOPE.
So, if you’re watching this video and wondering whether those cheap sub $30 action cams that film in AVI are worth it, hopefully this has been enlightening. I wouldn’t even want to give this to my enemy. Spending $10 more on a camera will give you significantly better hardware so don’t cheap out THIS much. And always pay attention to what you buy, otherwise you might end up getting screwed.
The Sony A7, one of their older full frame mirrorless cameras, is currently selling for $398.00 USD at Adorama. This is a fantastic camera and an excellent bargain, especially if you can grab yourself a kit with the RODE mic included. Good luck!
Note: as of now, the items are no longer available to add to cart. You may have better luck than I did!
It’s been a crazy couple of months as this site has grown in popularity beyond my expectations. In order to improve site usability, I have updated my review templates to move the [read more] tag to immediately underneath the rating. That way, while browsing the site the amount of text is not so overwhelming – it is necessary to click on the post to read about the product.
While I strive to be an honest reviewer, the system is rigged against me. Recently Amazon has been culling reviewers whom they find to be in arbitrary violations of their policies. I plan to make a video outlining the problem with the current Amazon review system and the ‘free products in exchange for reviews’ people like me do. It’s a bit of a mess and the more in-depth I get into it the less I trust other reviews. There are a lot of shill reviewers out there and it is causing problems for those of us who try to be honest (ie: Amazon accounts getting indiscriminately deleted). Other highlighted videos/articles I’m planning for the next month include:
Planned obsolescence and why it hurts the tech industry
Samsung Galaxy S7 Camera Review
Updated Gitup Git2 review with new firmware
I want to get into videos more so I’m not as reliant on the Amazon system for reviewing so if you have any suggestions for products or videos you would like to see, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do about it!
PNY is having a sale on all their storage today only on Amazon. There are some crazy deals on high-speed SDHC Cards that end in about 12 hours. Check them out if you’re in need of a new card for your camera or phone:
I’ve been eyeing up this camera for a while, as SJCam is known to make some of the better budget GoPro knock-offs. At $119 it’s a steal for an action cam with a Sony sensor and image stabilizing, though note that the video isn’t true 4K – just upscaled from 2k. If you’re not ready to take the plunge without a proper review, I will be receiving one soon to review so hang tight!
SJCam SJ5000x Elite – Regular $149.99, Sale $119.99
If you’ve been thinking about upgrading phones recently, you may want to step back and take a moment to reconsider. While there are many perfectly valid reasons to purchase a new device, it could very well be worth saving your money to wait.
In the last year, the smartphone industry has hit a stalemate. Older devices released in the last two years can still work great – and in many cases, the performance upgrade for new devices is minimal. New devices do all the same things as old ones and are not necessarily much faster.
Mobile devices have hit a metaphorical wall when comparing performance and real world usability. Many components are at a point where the higher specifications are near meaningless: screens are such high resolution that we cannot see individual pixels and processors run the most challenging programs and games smoothly. Cameras are great in daylight and acceptable in low light. Modern devices are fast, have excellent cameras and great screens. The batteries last for more or less a day while doing all the things we need.
So why upgrade? For most users at this point in time, there is almost no reason to if your phone is still working fine. Sure it’s cool to constantly have the newest thing, but when looking at it from the perspective of real world use newer devices often sacrifice the important things such as battery life in the name of specifications and features. Cramming more pixels into a screen looks good on paper, but more pixels suck more power. This leads to devices running less smooth and batteries draining quicker. What we really need from a device and what we are getting in devices are starting to drift apart as the mobile arms race for the most cores in a processor and the highest resolution cameras continue. In reality, these higher specifications do not make much difference when considering how the device performs day to day tasks. Even a modern low-end phone can take adequate photos, watch Youtube, browse social media and look good while doing it.
Certain new features are useful though: for example, many new phones offer significantly better camera performance than their older editions. If you’re coming from a phone that is three years old or older, you will likely notice a big difference in terms of performance but most devices that are within two years feature similar processors, similar amounts of ram, similar screens and similar specs. Using an older device can lead to less expensive plans too. If you’ve ended your contract and you no longer need a subsidy, the monthly savings can be immense.
The mobile phone industry has hit a point where the incremental upgrades in new releases barely make a difference. Challenge mobile phone makers to innovate and not keep recreating the same devices with inane specification differences by not purchasing a new devices while your old one still works. Until something truly new arrives with the features and innovation you really want you may as well wait.
Now that we have completed our move to a new office, DrekiTech is pleased to be back to its regular scheduling. Though it took longer to complete, the move was entirely successful and the new space is much more pleasant. We have many reviews to publish, including a wireless router, a camera backpack and a ton of camera equipment, so stay tuned for new content. See you soon!
