Due to constantly seeing so many people reaching out about this specific camera model we have decided to dedicate today’s model to our own ultimate Kodak Pixpro az421 review. With so many people reaching out about the az421 we are hoping that our article will be able to help any of our own readers who are looking to add this great little camera to their collection as a way to get involved with super high zoom bridge cameras without having to break the bank.

Now, there is absolutely no denying that the Kodak Pixpro az421 is a very popular little camera that has managed to earn itself an absolutely outstanding reputation amongst both photographers and videographers who are involved in the wildlife, bird, and astrophotography niches. The camera just keeps on growing from strength to strength due to its low price tag but in our opinion, you should only be going with the Kodak AZ421 if you are on a very tight budget.

The Nikon p900 was one of the better bridge cameras on the market for many years and due to the recent release of the Nikon p1000, the p900 has received a price reduction from Nikon to lower its price tag substantially. If you are wanting the best image quality possible out of your camera then we would highly recommend that you consider the Nikon p900 as it is an excellent little camera that in our opinion, is very budget-friendly considering its performance and the image quality it provides.

With that out of the way, we will still be going over our full, dedicated review of the Kodak az421 below as it is a solid little entry-level bridge camera and we know that many of our readers will be on very tight budgets. In our opinion, the az421 offers some great bang for your buck and is probably one of the best cameras of its type in its price bracket.

Performance And Functionality

One of the best things about the Kodak Pixpro az421 that instantly sets it apart from the compeating camera bodies in its price bracket at the time of writing is the fact that it comes with a 16MP as standard whereas some compeating entry-level bridge cameras only have a 12MP camera sensor. This gets the Kodak az421 off to a good start right off the bat scoring it points over what the compeating entry-level bridge cameras are able to offer you.

The camera also offers you up to 42 x optical zoom that is fully native to the camera and does not rely on any digital zooming tweaks as some of the compeating camera bodies do in the entry-level price bracket. This often offers better image quality over the camera units that need to use digital zooming technology to reach the same maximum distances helping to score the camera even more points over its competition.

The 24mm wide-angle lens not only helps to move you closer to the main subject of your photograph or video but also allows you to capture more with the same frame. Now, we know that this will not be useful for everyone and depending on your niche, you may not be too focused on the wide-angle size of things but again, it is great for things such as wildlife photography as you are able to capture the natural habitat of the animal with ease.

If you are involved in the astrophotography, wildlife or bird niches or anything else where you need the best possible image quality going while at the higher zoom ranges of the camera then the Kodak Pixpro az421 is ideal. It offers some of the sharpest and clearly image quality going once you tweak its focus at its higher zoom ranges relative to its price tag. We have some example test footage below that has been captured using the Kodak az421 and offers an excellent example of exactly what mean.

When it comes to the video capabilities of the camera, it fully meets the 720p video resolution standards. We know that there are a few competing cameras that offer 1080p at this price point with similar zoom capabilities but the image quality they provide looks grainy, especially when at their higher zoom levels. This is due to the actual encoding method the manufacturers have used to try and knock out 1080p in an entry-level camera as quickly and cheaply as possible while cutting corners. We would much rather have clearer video footage at 720p than low-quality video at 1080p so in our opinion, the Kodak camera comes out on top again.

Another thing that the Kodak az421 offers you over the compeating cameras in the entry-level price bracket is its excellent facial detection software. Now, again, the usefulness of this is going to depend on the niche that you are working in but the Kodak system has proven to be effective at automatically detecting the faces of animals as well as humans. This allows you to use the technology to help enhance your image quality for wildlife photographers and help get the perfect photographs possible.

The panoramic mode on the camera is pretty average in all honesty and is very similar to what the competing cameras offer for a similar price but the az421 scores so many points in other areas and so few people will likley use the panoramic feature anyway that we feel this can be overlooked. If you are traveling or in a landscape based niche then the panoramic feature on the Kodak az421 can help you quickly and easily capture epic 180-degree landscape vista images that are truly seamless.

Another area where we feel that the Kodak az421 performs well is with its optical image stabilization technology. It helps to minimize the disruption via movement or vibration even at a decent zoom level without issue. That said though if you are doing any work at the higher zoom ranges of the camera then we would always recommend that you use a tripod for optimal image stabilization and image quality. Even a decent, cheap tripod can be a valuable camera accessory and help you get som super stable video or improve the image quality of your photographs at higher image zoom ranges.

As with many things, the Kodak az421 also has a few weak areas and we wouldn’t feel right unless we made our readers aware of them. The Kodak az421 does take a standard SD memory card but does not support any memory sizes larger than 32GB. Although this should not be an issue for the vast majority of our readers due to the camera not offering 4k resolution and needing those larger memory cards, we just wanted to point it out.

The second main weakness of the camera is its lithium-ion battery but battery issues are very common at this price point in the market. The Kodak az421 has received a number of reports saying that its maximum battery life is inconsistent and can provide people with ten hours with one charge, four hours with the next charge, and eleven hours with the next charge. Now, this is going to naturally fluctuate depending on what you are doing with the camera but these massive fluctuations may present an issue for some people depending on what you will be doing with the camera.

From what we have seen from people who use the Kodak az421 as their go-to camera of choice, the most popular workaround seems to be to just switch over to third-party batteries and the battery life of the camera becomes much more consistent. This would suggest that the problem with the fluctuating battery life is with the batteries supplied with the camera rather than the camera itself.

Although a number of third-party brands do produce their own version of the NP-40 battery that the Kodak az421 uses, we would highly recommend that you consider the Powerextra NP-40 battery if you do want to purchase a set of spare batteries. Not only are they very cheap coming in at around $15 a set depending on the retailer but they perform very well and have earned a solid reputation amongst the community as the best third-party NP-40 battery around right now.

When you factor all of this in with all of the strong and neutral points for the Kodak az421 as well as the two weak points that can essentially either be easily fixed or won’t apply due to 32GB memory cards being plenty for the resolution the Kodak az421 supports, it is easy to see why it is so popular. It has one of the lowest price points going for this type of camera while offering some of the strongest performances that we have ever seen. In addition to this, the az421 owning community has chosen to publish a ton of glowing independent reviews for the camera too.

If you are worried about having issues with the memory card or battery life issues or just want more information on how well the camera performs, we would highly recommend you skim over some of those reviews. They have been posted by both photographers and videographers who have used the Kodak az421 in a large number of different niches and situations and go into detail on how the camera performs in each as well as the levels of image quality that you can realistically expect during use.

User Interface And Control System

Now, as you would expect for an entry-level camera body at this price point, the Kodak az421 does not come with touchscreen technology and relies on a number of buttons shown on the read in the image above as well as across the top of the camera body too. Although the buttons do look dated and have that cheap feel to them, they actually perform very well and register your touch quickly with no delay. Some cheap cameras can have low-quality buttons that won’t even register your button press but this is not an issue with the az421 as its buttons are very sensitive and responsive.

The three-inch LCD screen on the rear of the camera is bright, clear, and very easy to see, even if you are working in low light for some astrophotography work. The actual navigation menu that Kodak has put on the az421 is also very user-friendly and easy to follow too. If you are looking to purchase your first camera we have no doubt in our mind that you will easily get to grips with the Kodak system. We would imagine that the majority of people, especially if you are used to using a smartphone will be able to take the camera out the box and use it efficiently without having to read the manual or spend much time playing with it.

As we mentioned above, Kodak has put a number of different automated modes such as the face detection technology into the camera to make your life as easy as possible during use. This makes tasks that previously had to be done manual easy to automate to save you time and they are very quick to turn on and off via the navigation menu as required.

In our opinion, Kodak has done a great job of realizing that the vast majority of the photographers and videographers who are using the az421 will likley be entry-level users. Due to this, they have emphasized ease of use in ever aspect of the camera ensuring that it is as easy to use as possible for a novice user.

Build Quality And Design

Considering the low price point of the Kodak az421 we were actually expecting a low build quality but we are pleased to report that Kodak has absolutely smashed it and done an excellent job. The az421 comes in at around 3.3 x 4.4 x 3.2 inches while being 0.98 pounds of weight meaning that it is about average for its size and performance. The light payload weight of the camera also means that you are able to quickly and easily mount it to even entry-level cheap tripods without risking exceeding their maximum load capacities too.

Relative to the price point of the az421, it is also pretty touch in all fairness and we would imagine that it can easily take any bumps or knocks that are coming its way during use without having issues. On top of this, although the majority of cheap camera bags have great padding these days, we feel confident in saying that the az421 will also withstand and knocks during transit too without breaking.

Our Verdict

That brings our ultimate Kodak Pixpro az421 review to a close and we are happy to say that we would recommend that any of our readers looking to add a cheap bridge camera to their collection with high zoom capabilities consider the Kodak Pixpro az421. In our opinion, it is definatley the best option for the sub-two hundred dollar price point by far and it is easy to see why it has managed to earn the excellent reputation that it enjoys.

As we mentioned earlier in the article, if you are able to stretch your budget a little then the Nikon p900 is a great bit of kit that is currently a steal after the recent price reduction due to its successor, the P1000 being released. Although it comes in at the lower end of the intermediate price point camera range, it blows its competition out the water and also has one of the best reputations going for the intermediate level bridge cameras.

One brand that is expanding into more and more camera accessory niches is Zomei and their lens filter range has received a ton of attention over the last year or so due to their low price tag and great performance. The reputation of the Zomei lens filters just keeps on getting better and better amongst the community as time goes on and their customer base just keeps on increasing. That said though, although the Zomei ND Filter range is a great budget-friendly set of filters, we would highly recommend that our readers check out the Gobe ND Filter range as in our opinion, they are the best option by far at this price point in the market.

Although we absolutely love the Zomei tripod range and often recommend it to our readers, when it comes to entry-level lens filters, at the time of writing at least, nothing beats the Gobe range in our opinion. Unlike Zomei, Gobe is focused on nothing but producting the best quality lens filters for the lowest possible price point possible. This has resulted in their filters earning one of the best reputations going due to their entry-level price tag but intermediate-level performance.

That said though, we will still be going over our full Zomei ND filter review to help any of our readers who are dead set on going with the Zomei filter range. Their variable ND filters are still solid and probably come in second place at the time of writing with only the Gobe range beating them in our opinion. They offer some great performance and allow you to merge motion and time with ease to capture blurred water, control your depth of field, reduce the visibility of any moving objects in the frame or to extend the time of exposures.

Performance And Functionality

Although Zomei does offer some fixed neutral density filters in their range, we would always recommend their variable ND Filters over their fixed filters. This offers the advantage of being able to use one single variable filter to get the performance of multiple fixed filters. This helps to keep your costs down as well as the overall size and weight of your lens filter kit too. If you are working in a photography niche where you are required to travel around on a regular basis, this can help make your life so much easier and you just have to check for one filter rather than three to five additional filters.

The majority of the filters in the Zomei variable ND filter range are ND2-ND400 allowing for quick and easy light reduction between two and eight stops. When used at the minimum setting, the filter passes around on third of the regular light available that is equal to 1.5 stops on your aperture. As you rotate up through the range this increases to its maximum of allowing just 1/400th of the light in a scene to pass. This is the same as eight full stops on your aperture and offers some great control over the light allowing you to use super slow shutter speeds for those longer exposures.

The Zomei variable ND filter range is currently available in the following thread sizes that cover some of the more popular lens threads as well as a few of the rarer thread sizes too:-

• 40.5mm
• 49mm
• 52mm
• 55mm
• 58mm
• 62mm
• 67mm
• 72mm
• 77mm
• 82mm

If the required thread size for your lens of choice is not listed then we would highly recommend that you check out the Gobe ND Filter range as they offer a larger number of thread sizes with better overall performance than the Zomei range in our opinion.

Considering the low price tag of the Zomei ND filter range as well as the solid performance and build quality their filters offer, it is easy to see how they have taken such a large market share from the traditional lens filter brands in such a short time. On top of this, many of the photographers who use the Zomei ND filter range have also published their own independent reviews sharing their experiences with the filters. In our opinion, if you have a couple of minutes spare some of those reviews are well worth skimming over as they offer a solid insight into the performance of the range from photographers who have used them in pretty much every situation you can think of.

User Interface And Control System

Simply rotate the edge of the lens filter to control the light that is able to pass through towards your camera sensor. The markings on the edge of the filter clearly mark off everything from +1 to +8 stop values allowing you to accurately adjust the filter as required. Even if you have never used a variable ND filter before you should easily be able to adjust the Zomei range to meet the needs of your situation. For example, switching from something like f/4 from f/8 when you need a sharper image takes seconds. This lets you constantly tweak the performance of the filter as needed without having to waste time.

Now, there is a common issue with all ND filters, even those up at the premium price points where every now and then, the color of the image may appear to be either too warm or too cold. To our knowledge, the exact cause of this phenomenon is not known and as we said, it plagues even the higher price point filters as well as these cheaper Zomei ones. Although rare, if this does happen to you simply adjust the white balance as needed and the issue should correct within seconds allowing you to go back to capture your photographs.

Build Quality And Design

In addition to this, the filters are very lightweight allowing you to easily add them to your camera accessory bag without having to add much weight. This not only helps you keep your accessory bag under any weight restrictions if you have to travel via plane on a regular basis but also minimized the effect that they have when mounted to your lens. Time was that even just a few years back that the entry-level price point filters were pretty heavy and you could feel the additional weight when in use. If you were doing a bunch of run and gun handheld photography this could add to the fatigue on your arms due to the additional weight but in this day and age, it is not an issue due to the lighter filters.

Zomei has also put its ND filter range through a double coating process to help increase the image quality that you are able to capture when you have the filter mounted to your lens. This is one area where the compeating Gobe ND Filter range absolutely blows the Zomei filters out of the water. Gobe uses a sixteen layering process to not only increase the performance and image quality provided but also increase the toughness of the filter too.

Although not the primary purpose of the Zomei ND filter range, they can also serve as a pseudo-UV filter to add an additional layer of protection to your front lens element. The image above shows how effective a decent UV filter can be if you drop your lens by accident. As you can see in the image, the lens filter is destroyed but the actual lens element under it is fine. The Zomei filters offer additional protection and depending on how much punishment the filter takes, it may help to protect your lens elements if involved in an accident.

Zomei has also used metal threads on their filter range too and although the vast majority of lens filter brands, even in the entry-level price bracket do this now, we do still see the odd brand trying to sneak plastic threads onto their products. The metal threads like the ones on the Zomei ND range not only make it easier to mount and unmount the filter from your lens as required but also helps to prevent cross-threading. Depending on the issue, cross-threading can not only damage the threads on your lens but potentially jam your filter in place while mounted and it a common issue with filters with plastic threads.

The final point that we want to make is that the Zomei filter range also have an outer set of metal threads too. Depending on what you are doing this can allow you to mount your lens cap to your lens without having to take your lens filter off to save your time. Additionally, the outer threads can also be used to mount a UV or CPL filter to your lens in addition to your ND filter too. All in all, we feel that Zomei has done an excellent job of building such a great variable ND filter that offers this level of performance with this build quality without having to hike the price tag up.

Our Verdict

That concludes our Zomei ND filter review and as we mentioned earlier in the article, we feel that the Gobe ND Filter range is better than the Zomei ND Filter range while coming in at a very similar price point. We would highly recommend that our readers consider going with the Gobe range due to their better performance and build quality for a few extra dollars. That said though, if you are set on going with the Zomei range then their ND filters can still make a solid addition to your collection of camera accessories and help to improve the image quality that you can capture.

One popular camera accessories that we have seen asked about time and time again is the Godox tt685s that of course is the Sony variant of the hugely popular Godox tt685 intermediate price point camera flash. The tt685s essentially has the regular tt685 tech in it while also having the Sony autoflash system added on to allow it to quickly and easily sync to the various cameras from the Sony range that also use the system.

Since its release onto the market, the Godox tt685s has proven to be a very popular flash head to offering to borderline professional level performance while being at the lower end of the intermediate flash unit price range. This not only lets you get some excellent performance out of your camera flash unit also means that you don’t have to break the bank in doing so. On top of this, the flash has gone from strength to strength to grow a massive customer base for itself and earn a great reputation amongst the Sony photography community  since its release that just keeps getting stronger.

Due to seeing a steadily increasing number of people reaching out and asking about the tt685s over the last few months, we have decided to dedicate today’s article to our ultimate Godox tt685s review to try and help as many of our readers as possible who are considering adding this great little flash unit to their camera accessories. Although there is some stiff competition for the Godox tt685s in the intermediate price bracket, we feel that its slightly lower price point and similar if not better performance than what most of the compeating flash units can provide puts it in good sted. The flash is packed with features to ensure that you are getting the best possible bang for your buck while also having some of the best overheating prevention systems at its price point overcoming the main issue over overheating with the cheaper flash units on the market.

Performance And Functionality

The Godox tt685s supports manual mode, slave mode, auto flash, and i-TTL II allowing photographers to integrate it into their photography sessions no matter the situation or their needs. Being fully 2.4G compatible the flash is usable by the majority of wireless technologies on the market right now allowing you to integrate your tt685s into a multi-flash setup without issue and use a number of wireless remote control flash triggers with the setup too.

As you would expect from a modern intermediate price point flash unit, the tt685s also supports a variable flash recycle time with a range of 0.1 seconds to 2.6 seconds. Although this is commonplace amongst the flash units at this price point, the design of the flash unit helps to minimize the chance of it overheating when used with a fast recycle time in quick succession over a long photography session. A number of the compeating flash units at this price point in the market have multiple issues when it comes to overheating but Godox really has done a great job with designing this latest range of camera flash units to avoid these issues.

The flash unit also comes with a fully adjustable flash duration of 1/300 seconds to 1/20000 seconds and again, even using a short flash duration with a fast recycle time over those longer sessions does not create issues with overheating. This is very rare, even at higher price points in the market from the premium level camera flash brands but Godox has done a great job of designing the tt685s.

The flash coverage range of the tt685s is also variable between 20mm to 200mm while also having a guide number of 60, ISO 100 making it ideal for most photography niches. If you are involved in run and gun style flash photography then this makes the Godox tt685s a solid fit as it takes little to no set up to capture a decent photograph requiring minimal effort on your part. The tt685s also fully support high-speed sync up to 1/8000 seconds, first and second curtain sync, flash exposure compensation with manual stops in one-third increment as well as a few other less used features that we doubt most photographers will need.

When it comes to battery life, the tt685s is able to provide you with just over two hundred full power flash activations per set of fully charged batteries. Due to the higher flash output levels available with the Godox tt685s, it requires four AA batteries rather than just two but we feel that the improvements in performance definatley make this worth it. Additionally, for optimal performance, we would always recommend that you use some decent, cheap high capacity AA rechargeable batteries with the tt685s when capturing photographs.

User Interface And Control System

The system is based around the standard rotary dial, LCD panel, and button setup that offers maximum control of the flash unit to the photographer while being as quick and easy to use as possible. If you are an entry-level photographer and have never used an external camera flash before, the system on the tt685s is great for you as it is very easy to learn while allowing you to learn the basics of it within minutes and go about capturing the photographs that you want.

The LCD panel on the tt685s is slightly larger than the screens on the compeating flash units offering the tt685s a slight advantage as it makes it that little bit easier to actually see the data that is being displayed during use. If you are a more advanced photographer and know that you will be tweaking your flash settings on a regular basis over the course of a photography shoot this is handy. It makes changing your settings just that little bit easier and the backlit LCD screen ensures you can flick through the navigation menu quickly even in low light.

The rotary dial and buttons on the tt685s are solid and very responsive to touch ensuring that they register your touch. Although rare at the intermediate flash price point, some of the cheaper entry-level camera flashes on the market can be a pain to actually register a button press and end up wasting time.

One particular thing that we do like on the tt685s is that the on/off switch is an actual physical switch rather than a button. A number of modern flash units have switched over to the button press system where you have to hold them for three or five seconds before the flash will turn off. In our opinion this is annoying and people often think their flash unit is off when it is actually still on due to not holding the buttons long enough. We will always take an actual on/off switch over a button-based system on our flashes but this does come down to personal preference.

All in all, we feel that Godox has made the right choice of sticking with the same system that they have tried and tested on their older flash units as well as sticking with an on/off switch. The interface is very easy to learn to make it ideal for an entry-level photographer while also offering some quick and easy customization for the advanced photographer too.

Build Quality And Design

The flash head is only 8.2 x 3.3 x 3.7 inches while coming in at only 1.15 pounds of weight too making it very easy to place in your kit bag without needing much space or adding much weight. If you are in a niche where you travel around via plane with all of your gear the lightweight of the flash unit can help ensure you stay within your baggage weight allowance.

The connecting joint on the tt685s that attaches the body and head of the flash together offer a full 0-360° horizontal pan with a -7-90° verticle tilt to allow you to easily bounce the flash when needed. Although a few compeating camera flashes on the market in this price range also offer a full 0-360° rotation these days, the majority don’t so it is nice to know that you can fully rotate the Godox tt685s if needed. Additionally, the actual connection joint on the flash unit is solid and does not feel weak or as if you are about to rip the flash in two when adjusting its pan or tilting angles either.

Now, this may not seem like much but whereas many compeating flash units use a two by two battery housing that often ends up just passing the heat between the batteries in the flash and causing it to overheat quicker, the Godox tt685s uses a one by four battery housing. The one by four housing offers maximum heat dissipation for the batteries allowing them to cool down quickly during use and allow you to keep activating the flash unit, even with a fast recycle time and short flash duration without issue.

Our Verdict

That concludes our Godox tt685s review and we are happy to say that the tt685s can make a great, budget-friendly addition to the camera accessories of any of our readers who are considering purchasing it. In our opinion, the tt685s has definatley proven itself since its release and the great reputation that the flash has earned just backs up our own thoughts on it too.

Now, if you are on a very tight budget but still want to pick up a decent flash for your Sony camera then the little brother of the Godox tt685s, the Godox tt350s is also a decent little flash unit while being a little cheaper yet still offering some excellent features. It also has a solid reputation amongst the Sony owning photography community too and we also have our own dedicated review of the Godox tt350s online that you may find helpful too.

As we always try to help as many of our readers as possible, we have decided to publish our dedicated, ultimate Neewer nw700 review to help any of our readers who are considering adding the Neewer nw700 to their collection of camera accessories. On the flip side of that though, the microphone is also an excellent budget-friendly option for singers, musicians, podcasters, and pretty much anyone else who needs a solid little cardioid microphone that is budget-friendly.

Due to the Neewer nw700 being able to perform very well both indoors and out as well as accurately pick up voice and instruments with ease, the microphone has managed to earn itself an excellent reputation throughout the community that is just getting better and better. It is definatley the dominant entry-level microphone on the market right now and should easily be able to meet your needs and help you capture the best possible audio track possible.

That said though, depending on what you are planning on using it for, you may have to pick up a microphone accessory or two for optimal performance. Thankfully though, due to the extremely long 98-inch microphone cable that comes included as standard, you shouldn’t have to pick up a longer audio cable as you would for other cheap microphones.

If you are involved in the streaming, YouTube, podcasting, or social media influencer niches then chances are, you will also have to pick up a phantom power adapter to actually power the Neewer nw700 during use. If you are in the music niche and plugging directly into a mixing desk then this should not be an issue as most mixing desks are able to provide phantom power for you.

Although these next two are not essential, they can definatley help to improve the audio quality that you are able to capture when using the Neewer nw700. A decent, cheap wind pop shield can help to control the audio spikes of plosives when talking or singing into the microphone resulting in a better overall audio track. If you are working in a niche where you will be sat at a table or desk then a cheap adjustable boom arm will likley be an essential microphone accessory too. Anyway, not that we have all of that out of the way, let’s get into our ultimate Neewer nw700 review as we are looking forward to sharing our thoughts on this great little microphone.

Performance And Functionality

Neewer has also updated the audio circuitry in their nw700 over what they were previously using in their older microphones too improving the overall performance of the microphone when used. This really brings the cheap Neewer cardioid microphone range up to date and ensures that it is able to capture rich, sharp, full-bodied audio directly from the source in the best possible quality without having to run through some post-production editing process.

The cardioid pick-up pattern of the Neewer nw700 also helps to reduce any background noise that may be picked up by the microphone during use while also making it very easy to isolate the main sound source while recording. The improved circuitry and internal protections that Neewer has added to the nw700 also help to prevent any noise from contaminating your audio while also allowing the microphone to accurately pass a wide dynamic range while also being highly sensitive.

This is extremely rare at this price point in the market and we are actually very impressed that Neewer has managed to pack all of this into their Neewer nw700 without having to hike the price tag up. The compeating microphone from Godox is around the same price point as the nw700 while not being anywhere close to clear while also having a constant low level of noise across the track too just helping to push the Neewer nw700 further and further ahead of its closes competitor in the price bracket.

Now, as we mentioned back at the start of the article, this excellent quality from the nw700 does have a trade-off as it requires phantom power to work. If you are in the music or stage entertainment industries this is not an issue as the mixing desk or PA will be able to provide your microphone with the phantom power it requires. If you are planning to use the Neewer nw700 for something like online streaming, recording for YouTube, or social media videos then you will have to pick up a phantom power adapter that is usually around $20 depending on the retailer.

In our opinion, this is well worth doing though as the total price of the Neewer nw700 and the phantom power adapter comes in at around $50 depending on the retailer while offering performance that is comparable to some of the $75 to $100 microphones on the market right now. On top of the points we have already made above, here are some of the main features of the nw700:-

• Frequency Response: 20Hz-16kHz
• Sensitivity: -38dB¡A2dB(0dB=1V/Pa at 1kHz)
• Output Impedance:150¦¸¡À30%(at 1kHz)
• Load Impedance: ¡Ý1000 ¦¸
• Equivalent Noise Level: 16dBA
• Max.SPL:132dB
• S/N Ratio:78dB
• Electrical Current: 3mA
• Voltage:1.5V Battery

As you can see, the frequency response, impedance level, and audio sensitivity are great for such a cheap microphone and should easily be able to meet the needs of any of our readers. The specs of the mic make it ideal for use in small to average size rooms for tasks such as podcasting, vlogging, or streaming or for use close to the main audio source such as when singing or recording a guitar amplifier.

Neewer has put a nice little anti-wind foam cap on the microphone to help protect the sensitive elements against wind interference during use. In all fairness though, we doubt that this will be needed for most of our readers as it only comes into effect if you are singing into the microphone or using it outdoors on a regular basis.

When you look at what you get from the compeating microphones on the market right now you can see how much bang for your buck the Neewer nw700 actually offers. It is not surprising that the microphone has managed to take off as well as it has and earn itself so many excellent reviews from the community. On top of this, with each passing month that comes and goes it just seems to earn more and more reviews helping to further strengthen its position as the best entry-level cardioid microphone on the market at the time of writing.

User Interface And Control System

This basically allows anyone be it a podcaster, vlogger, singer, musician or streamer to easily get to grips with the mic and get what they need out of it. We know that there are a few entry-level microphones in the sub-fifty dollar price bracket that are starting to have some advanced features on them but in our opinion, this is a total waste of time.

Not only will entry-level external microphone users rarely use them but it also adds stuff to the microphone that can go wrong or that the user may waste time setting up and never actually use. We feel that Neewer is on the right track with their nw700 by focusing on the basic features that everyone will use on a microphone and ensuring that the mic can do them to the absolute best of its ability and blow the competition in its price bracket out the water.

As we have mentioned in the article above, the microphone does need phantom power to work but this is very simple and straight forward to do. If you are using a PA or mixing desk with your Neewer nw700 then it is all done for you after jacking the microphone into the desk. If you are using the nw700 with a computer or laptop then our recommended phantom power adapter is from Neewer anyway and designed to work with their microphone range including the nw700 so you just have to plug the microphone in and you are good to go.

Build Quality And Design

The microphone is also lightweight when compared to the compeating external cardioid microphone at this price point in the market meaning that you are able to easily store it in your kit back without having add much weight or take up much space. We know a few podcasters who are also traveling bloggers/vloggers and microphones like the Neewer nw700 are perfect for the traveling or digital nomad lifestyle.

As we mentioned back at the start of the article, Neewer has also outdone the competition with the microphone cable that they include with your purchase of the nw700 as standard. The Neewer cable comes in at just over ninety-eight inches whereas the majority of the competition offers a thirty-inch mic cable at best. The cable is also decent quality offering much more freedom with your microphone placements without you having to shell out and hike the costs up even further.

The actual connecting sockets for the microphone are keyed too allowing you to quickly and easily connect or disconnect the cable as required. As the connector is keyed it prevents you from accidentally putting it in the wrong way when setting the microphone up too. At this price point in the market, this is one of the most common problems we see with compeating microphones, they use unkeyed connectors, the user puts the microphone cable in the wrong way and destroys the connector pins.

Thankfully though, Neewer are onto of this and has taken the time to add a tiny metal slit to prevent this issue from happening with the Neewer nw700. This minimizes the chance of the microphone being damaged due to user error and further extends the expected lifetime of the mic to allow you to keep using it time and time again.

Our Verdict

That brings our Neewer NW700 Review article to an end and in our opinion, the nw700 is without a doubt one of, if not the best sub-thirty dollar external cardioid microphones on the market right now. We feel confident in saying that it will easily meet the microphone needs of most of our readers looking for a mic in this price range and can make a solid addition to your camera accessories.

As we touched on earlier in the article, the Neewer nw700 has managed to earn an excellent reputation while growing an absolutely massive core customer base for itself since release. Many of these people who have purchase the nw700 have also chosen to publish their own independent review of the microphone to share their experiences. If you still haven’t made your mind up about the nw700 then skimming over a few of those reviews for a minute or two is well worth it and shows how good the microphone actually is.

Due to this, we have decided to dedicate today’s article to our ultimate Nikon Keymission 170 review to try and help any of our readers who are considering purchasing this action camera. Now, this may be a little surprising to our readers due to the Keymission series being part of the Nikon range but we would not recommend that you actually purchase the Nikon Keymission 170 as it just falls short in so many areas while also being overpriced for what you are actually getting in our opinion.

At the time of writing, depending on the retailer, you can get either a GoPro Hero 5 Black or a refurbished GoPro Hero 6 Black for around the same price as the Nikon Keymission 170 and both of them absolutely blow it out of the water making much better additions to your camera accessories in our opinion. The Keymission 170 has a controversial reputation at best amongst the community whereas both of the GoPros have managed to earn and maintain the excellent reputation that you would expect from a GoPro action camera.

Although both the Hero 5 and Hero 6 are also a few years old at the time of writing with the GoPro Hero 8 Black being the current flagship of the GoPro range, they are still much better options than the Nikon Keymission 170. We just wanted to make this point as early in the article as possible rather than have our readers waste their time getting to the end only to be told not to purchase the featured camera and to go with a compeating unit.

Anyway, with all that out of the way, we will still be going over our full Nikon Keymission 170 review for any of our readers who want to know why we feel the way we do about the camera as well as to back up why we feel that you should be going with a GoPro over the Keymission 170.

Performance And Functionality

The actual resolution of 4k video footage is 4096 x 2160 whereas the Keymission 170 only comes in at 3840 x 2160 meeting the standards for UHD (ultra high definition). On top of this, if you do choose to capture you video footage with the Keymission 170 in its “4k video setting” it can rapidly deplete the cameras battery life in as little as only thirty minutes! A refurbished GoPro Hero 6 Black blows this out the water with ease making it the obvious option if you are wanting the best possible video image quality at this price point in the market.

The Nikon Keymission 170 also supports 1080p at 120 frames per second, 60 frames per second, and 30 frames per second as well as 720P at 240 frames per second too. Realistically, if you do choose to go with the Keymission 170 you will likley be capturing the majority of your video footage in 1080P at 60 frames per second but even then the cameras battery life falls short of what the GoPros are able to provide.

One thing that we do like about the Keymission 170 is that it offers four times slow-motion footage in the 1080p resolution at the 120 frames setting allowing you to capture some solid slow-motion video if needed. It also supports eight times slow motion in the 720p setting at 240 frames allowing you to capture the action of your extreme sport of choice in super slow motion with great image quality. If you are more on the vlogging or social media influencer side of things then the slow-motion can be used to capture some great slow-motion b-roll for you to help improve your content.

The Keymission 170 does have some pretty decent electronic image stabilization technology built-in as standard, especially when you factor in that the camera is a few years old now and definatley showing its age against the more modern action cameras on the market. That said though, the Nikon electronic image stabilization does not work when capturing your video footage in its 4K UHD video setting resulting in some very shaky video footage.

On top of this, due to Nikon using their own form factor and dimensions for the camera rather than just mimicking the GoPro form factor like many of the compeating brands on the market, it is an absolute nightmare to find a gimbal stabilizer that will allow you to mount the Nikon Keymission 170 to it. This means that if you are planning to capture your video footage in 4k UHD with the camera, you are going to be stuck with the poor image stabilization without any real workaround.

The camera does have a solid stereo microphone built-in that does an excellent job of accurately capturing the audio track of your adventures. Unfortunately for Nikon though, the majority of action camera users out there are focused on the video and photographic performance of the camera and the Keymission 170 definatley falls short in both of these areas.

The camera comes with an 8MP camera sensor as standard that again falls short of what we would expect from an action camera at this price point even back when the Keymission 170 was initially released. This just pushes a refurbished GoPro Hero 6 Black even further out ahead of the Keymission 170. Although the f/2.8 aperture on the Nikon action camera is nice to have and does provide some great low light performance, in our opinion, it is just too little too late.

Another feature that we feel is lacking is that the Keymission 170 is fixed at the 170-degree field of view. Now, we know that this is kind of a given due to its name but even sub-fifty dollar action cameras like the Campark Act 74 have been offering a variable action camera lens covering the 170°, 140°, 110°, and 70° fields of view just causing the Keymission 170 to drop even more points against compeating cameras.

One area where the Nikon action camera performs particularly poorly against the competition is when it comes to its maximum battery life. As we touched on earlier in the article, the Keymission 170 only provides around thirty minutes worth of battery when capturing UHD 4k video footage, this is around half of what we would expect from a digitally upscaled 4k action camera released back when the Keymission 170 was and less than a third of what we would expect from a native 4k video camera!

When it comes to the 1080p video resolution on the Keymission 170 you can only expect around an hour of power coming in at around half of what we would expect from a sub-one hundred dollar action camera, never mind a camera that currently costs almost double that and cost almost four times that back when initially released. On top of this, unlike the vast majority other action camera brands, Nikon only provides you with one battery with the Keymission 170 meaning you have to purchase your spare at additional cost to you.

When you take all of this into account, it is very easy to see how the Nikon Keymission 170 has managed to earn so many other negative reviews from the community from action camera users who fell foul to purchasing the Keymission 170 and decided to post their own review to try and prevent anyone else from making the mistake. We really can’t stress enough that you should be considering a refurbished GoPro Hero 6 Black

User Interface And Control System

The actual navigation menu itself is pretty decent in all fairness to Nikon and it is very easy to use and navigate through. It’s just when you actually get to settings that you want to tweak, it can be a pain to read the text and see what you are actually changing due to the smaller LCD screen on the camera. If you are more of an advanced action camera user who will be tweaking their camera settings on a regular basis then this is a massive disadvantage for the Keymission 170.

The GoPro system on the GoPro Hero 6 Black is just as easy to navigate but its larger screen allows you to quickly and easily tweak the settings of the camera accurately and get back to your action sport of choice without having to waste any time. We hope that it is starting to become obvious why we said we would not recommend the Nikon Keymission 170 to our readers back at the start of the article.

Another niggly little thing that seems to be annoying a large number of people is that the auto turn offsetting on the Nikon Keymission 170 can’t be turned off or changed. This means after sitting idle for two minutes the camera powers down to try and save you battery life. This is a total pain as the camera does not register its timelapse mode with over a two-minute capture as being active so the camera will power down and stop your time-lapse.

Build Quality And Design

With the GoPro action camera range and other, cheap GoPro alternatives essentially mimicking their form factor, the third-party companies who make action camera accessories only cater to cameras that fir the standard GoPro dimensions. As we mentioned earlier, this makes sourcing a gimbal stabilizer for the Keymission 170 pretty much impossible as well as a number of commonly used mounts for a number of popular action sports. With so many other brands have made this mistake in the past and learned from it, we really did think that Nikon would just match the standard action camera form factor right out the gate but for some reason, they never.

The Keymission 170 is also heavier than we would expect from a camera of its age coming in at just over 0.2 pounds. That said though, in the grand scheme of things this will likley not be noticed by any of our readers and the lack of an available gimbal stabilizer for the camera means that there are no payload limits the camera has to stick to anyway.

Although we have not experienced this next issue ourselves, we have seen multiple people report that the advertised safe working temperature range of the Nikon Keymission 170 is wrong. Multiple people have reported that once the camera gets below the 28-degree mark it starts to give various error messages while also rapidly depleting its already short battery life. This makes it a waste of time for any winter sports enthusiast and just keeps on scoring points for a refurbished GoPro Hero 6 Black.

One thing that we do like about the build quality of the Nikon Keymission 170 is that it is waterproof down to a depth of 33 feet right out of the box without you having to house it in a waterproof case. It is just a shame that the camera is let down in so many other ways to make this great little feature essentially useless at this stage.

Our Verdict

That concludes our Nikon Keymission 170 review and as you can probably tell, we would not recommend the action camera to our readers as we feel it is a total waste of money and that there are much better options out there. As we said back at the start of the article, both the GoPro Hero 5 Black and refurbished GoPro Hero 6 Black are currently going for similar price points to the Nikon Keymission 170 while blowing it out of the water in pretty much every single way possible.

We would highly recommend that our readers go with either of the GoPro options over the Nikon Keymission 170 and if you are still not convinced, we would recommend that you spend a few minutes skimming over some of these independent reviews of the camera. A large number of action camera users who have purchased the Nikon Keymission 170 are being brutally honest in their reviews and should be able to help convince you to avoid this action camera at all costs.

Due to this, we have seen a direct increase in the number of parents reaching out and asking for advice on what photography and videography gear they should be giving to their kids. With content being such a large part of being a YouTuber or social media influencer, we have seen a direct increase in the number of people reaching out with questions based around what action cameras they should be giving to their children with a number of parents specifically asking about the VTech Kidizoom action camera 180.

Due to this, we have decided to publish our own, dedicated VTech Kidizoom Action Cam 180 review to try and help any of our readers who have children and are looking to purchase an action camera for them. Although the VTech Kidizoom 180 can be a decent, cheap little action camera for young children it doe have a mixed reputation amongst parents.

In our opinion, this is largely down to the camera being advertised for ages three to ten but in reality, it definatley falls short for children in the older recommended age groups. As you would expect for a product designed for children, VTech has had to spend money to meet the various regulatory requirements for an action camera for children while also making it as simple and straight forward to use.

Due to this, the technical specifications of the camera are pretty low and even though the VTech Kidizoom 180 is a few years old now, it can easily be blown out of the water when it comes to specifications by something like the Campark Act 74 that is around the same price point. In our opinion, if you have young children that are five or under then the VTech Kidizoom 180 is a decent option as it is so user-friendly and easy to use. If your child is six or over then we would recommend you consider the Campark Act 74 as it offers so much more bang for your buck but does have a user interface designed for teens and adults.

That said though, we are still going to be going over our full VTech Kidizoom Action Cam 180 review below to share our thoughts on the camera and back up why we feel that it is still a solid action camera for younger children. Although it does have a number of negative reviews from the community, this seems to be due to the camera being given to older children who have out grown it already.

Performance And Functionality

As far as we can tell, the VTech Kidizoom 180 comes with a 0.3-megapixel camera’s sensor pretty much putting it dead last in the list of action cameras. In this day and age, we would expect a 12-megapixel camera sensor on an action camera for adults and we really can’t see why VTech has gone with a 0.3 sensor. With the price of technology in this day and age, they would likley have been able to pick an 8-megapixel sensor up for the same price as the 0.3 sensor they have used.

Although the VTech Kidizoom 180 can still capture some pretty solid image quality for a child and we have examples of the image quality you can expect later in the article, VTech could have provided so much more without having to hike the price tag up in our opinion. The same goes for the video footage that the camera is able to capture with it coming in with a fixed resolution of 480p capped at twenty-five frames per second and although this will be fine for a young child who just wants to have fun, they could have provided much better image quality for the price tag of the camera.

That said though, young children will still likley have a ton of fun when playing with the action camera as it performs in a similar way to the action cameras for adults and allow your child to capture their adventures. This lets your children go out and have fun with the action camera and then come back and show you what they have been up to and then upload their content onto sites like YouTube or Instagram with ease.

The camera does come with a 128MB internal memory to let your child capture around 400 photographs or ten minutes of video to the camera but anything longer will need an aftermarket memory card. Thankfully though, the price tag of memory cards has drastically fallen over the last few years offering some right bargains. Just keep in mind that the VTech Kidizoom 180 is only able to support an external memory card of up to 32GB and the card has to be a microSD card too.

The final point that we want to make about the VTech Kidizoom 180 is that it has a pretty solid battery life for its price tag. It uses a fully rechargeable li-ion polymer battery to ensure it is as safe as possible for use in a child’s action camera. A full charge of the battery should keep it going for around two and a half hours of video recording before needing to be recharged again.

User Interface And Control System

The LCD panel screen on the camera is very bright and easy to see and offers some solid replay of your kid’s video or photograph so they are able to quickly check out the content that there are capturing while out and about. The actual directional pad and buttons on the camera are also massively oversized to make them as easy to press and use as possible for young children.

VTech has done a great job of keeping the buttons as responsive as possible so they register the press when your child presses them while also keeping the buttons protection. There are likley times when your child will b playing with their camera while eating and end up getting food on the buttons but they do a decent job of taking punishment without breaking.

The actual camera sensor itself is on a full 180-degree bevel so your child is able to flip it between forward-facing and selfie mode as they see fit while out and about. This allows them to switch between vlogging into the camera and capturing their adventures and action sports within seconds. The actual waterproof protective case that comes with the camera is also very easy to add to the camera too without you having to do it for your child each time they want to use the camera in water mode. On top of this, the camera also has two different platform games build into it as well an augmented reality game so your child can play on the VTech Kidizoom 180 while in the back of the car and stay entertained.

Build Quality And Design

On top of this, it is also pretty small coming in at only 1.6 x 4.5 x 3.4 inches in size while being very light at only 0.9 pounds of weight. This makes the camera small and light enough for your child to use it without issue and mount it to their helmets or chest mount without the additional weight of the camera causing any issues.

All of the included camera accessories such as the various mounts that are included also have a decent build quality too. This allows your child to mount the camera to a number of locations to allow them to get the best angles during their sport of choice with ease. This can allow them to capture some unique looking footage without issue and the helmet mount and chest mount let your child capture their content while having both hands free to hold onto handlebars to maximize safety too.

Our Verdict

That brings our ultimate VTech Kidizoom Action Cam 180 review to a close and although the VTech Kidizoom 180 can be a decent kids action camera for anyone under five or maybe even six, we would highly recommend that you consider something like the Campark Act 74 for any older children though. It offers much better image quality for the same price point and will likley be a much better fit for any older children who are after an action camera. We also have our own review of the Campark Act 74 that maybe work reading if you are considering going with it over the VTech Kidizoom 180.

Now, although Yongnuo and Neewer both have their own flash units in this price bracket that are going well we have noticed more and more people reaching out and asking for advice on the Godox tt350s. With the tt350s being the variant specifically designed for use with the Sony camera range and Sony recently releasing a few new mirrorless cameras in their Alpha range, we are seeing more and more photographers reaching out each month.

Due to this, we have decided to make today’s article based around our ultimate Godox tt350s review as we feel that the Godox tt350 range of camera flashes are probably the best in the $50 to $100 price bracket and are well worth adding to your camera accessories. Now, as we mentioned, the tt350s is designed for use with the Sony range due to having the Sony wireless triggering system built in but there are variants of the tt350 available for all other major camera brands too.

Since its release onto the market, the Godox tt350s has gone from strength to strength and managed to rightfully earn an excellent reputation for itself amongst entry-level and professional-level photographers alike. For its price tag, you really can’t complain with the excellent performance that the flash unit provides and we often see established photographers who use the Sony camera range having multiple tt350s flash units in their camera accessories.

Performance And Functionality

As we touched on, the Godox tt350s comes with the Sony TTL autoflash technology installed as standard allowing the flash unit to work natively with the Sony A7, A7R, A7S, A7-II, A7-III, A7R-II, A7R-III, A7S-II, A6300, and A6000. Keep in mind that Sony are releasing mirrorless cameras at a rapid pace at the time of writing so if you use a Sony camera not listed above, there is a good chance that it will work seamlessly with the Godox tt350s provided it has been released over the last five years or so.

The 2.4G wireless technology not only lens itself to the Sony autoflash system but also ensures that you can use a number of wireless remote control flash triggers with the Godox tt350s as well as use the flash as a part of a multi-flash rig for your sessions. The flash has a one hundred meter range for its wireless technology too making it ideal for any large outdoor gigs in low light to ensure you are able to capture optimal image quality for your clients.

The flash fully supports TTL, manual mode, slave one, and slave two modes too while also supporting three fully controllable slave groups too. On top of this, at the time of writing, the Godox tt350s also supports the most independent channels in this price range coming in with sixteen fully customizable channels. If you are planning to utilize the wireless technology of the flash unit in a multi-flash setup then this lets you get creative with your rig and do things the compeating sub-one hundred dollar flash units are currently unable to support.

The flash also offers twenty-two stages of power output allowing you to tweak the output of the flash to meet the needs of your specific session with ease too. The 0.1 to 2.2-second flash recycle time and 1/350 to 1/20000 second flash duration allow you to further tweak this to ensure that you are able to get exactly what you require out of the flash during use for specific types of photography too.

Although we will touch on it more under the build quality section of the review, the Godox tt350s offers some of the best heat dissipation available at this price point to help prevent the flash unit from overheating during use. This allows you to use the Godox tt350s over a longer session with a very short flash recycle time and a very fast flash duration without running into the overheating issues that can plague some other cheap flash units.

The Godox tt350s also supports HHS 1/8000s as well as full FEC, front and rear curtain sync, and a guide number of 36 (ISO 100). All of this, including its excellent heat dissipation technology to help prevent any issues with overheating for around the $85 price point depending on the retailer you get it from. You can probably see why the tt350s has proven to be such a popular flash unit and how it has managed to earn so many outstanding independent reviews for itself from the photography community who have put it through its paces in a number of different situations.

We would highly recommend that you check out or at least skim a few of those reviews as they go into great detail on the performance of the flash unit across a number of different photography niches and situations. They have been posted by other independent photographers who have used the Godox tt350s as their go-to flash unit of choice and know the ins and out of it and decided to publish their own review to share their own experiences with the flash.

User Interface And Control System

This ensures that if this is your very first flash unit then you will easily be able to get to grips with the unit without having to sit for our with the user manual and work everything out. On the flip side of this though, if you are a more experienced photographer and have been using flash units for years then the Godox tt350s also offers a number of controls that can help you tweak the flash units’ performance for more advanced situations too.

As you can see from the image above that shows the main control system for the flash, it is based around an LCD panel, a rotary dial, and a few buttons. This extremely simple system is highly effective and does a great job of letting you get the flash to do as you require. Additionally, the actual navigation menu flows very well and Godox has been sure to put the settings that you are more likley to tweak towards to front of the menu to try and save you time.

Although this is just a small thing, one of our favorite features on the Godox tt350s is that it has a push-based on/off button to power the flash unit up or turn it off when required. We have lost count of the number of reports that we have seen from photographers using other camera flashes that use a slider system saying that their flash battery died while in their camera accessory bag due to the slider being knocked and turning the flash on.

That said though, Godox is one step ahead of their competition in this price range and has also added their power-saving mode to the tt350s too. Although it fully customizable, its default is to power the flash unit down after ninety seconds of idle operation when in normal mode or after sixty minutes of idol operation when in slave mode. Although you should be carrying multiple spare sets of batteries with you anyway, this just helps minimize your risk.

Most of the bundles of the Godox tt350s also include twelve dynamic colors and correction filters but the usefulness of these is going to depend more on the niche that you are working in. In all honesty, we doubt many of our readers will ever use them and chances are, if you are in a niche where you would use them, you will be investing in a better set of filters anyway.

All in all, we feel that Godox has done a great job of setting the bar for Neewer and Yongnuo to match with their compeating camera flash units in the $50 to $100 price range. Godox has managed to come up with a control interface that should easily meet the needs of entry-level and advanced photographers alike while keeping everything as simple and straight forward as possible.

Build Quality And Design

Although not an important feature in a camera flash than some other popular camera accessories, the Godox tt350s is pretty tough relative to its price point in the market and actually surprised us with how robust the flash actually is. We are confident that if you are working in a photography niche where you have to travel around on a regular basis that the tt350s will be able to take plenty of knocks while in transit in your camera accessory bag without breaking.

This conveniently brings us on to our next point about the build quality of the flash unit and that is its weight. Although there are some compeating flash units in this sub-one hundred dollar price bracket that try to be robust, they are usually very heavy. The Godox tt350s comes in at only 0.75 pounds of total weight making it pretty light considering how cheap it is as well as how robust it is.

If you are working in a photography niche where you will be walking around and capturing a ton of handheld photographers over a long period of time like wedding photography, this lighter weight can rally help your arms. With the heavier camera accessories your arms can not only get tired quickly but can end up starting to crame up too but this is not an issue when using the tt350s.

On top of this, the flash unit is only 6.6 x 3.5 x 2.7 inches making it very small considering the massive amount of featured available that we touched on earlier in the article as well as its excellent performance too. This allows you to add it to your bag of camera accessories without having to take up much space making your life easier if you do have to travel around a whole bunch.

Rather than requiring four batteries that would likley be housed in a two by two configuration due to the small size of the flash unit, the tt350s only requires two AA batteries. This allows the batteries to be housed in a one by two configurations as shown above and allow the heat generated by the batteries to rapidly dissipate and help keep the flash unit cool during use. Each set of fully charged AA batteries will provide you with around two hundred full power flash activations but the settings of your tt350s will come into play and have a direct effect on this. For optimal performance, we would highly recommend you pick up a set of decent high capacity AA batteries for the flash too.

Our Verdict

That concludes our ultimate Godox tt350s review and we hope that our article has been able to help any of our readers who are considering adding the Godox tt350s to their collection of camera accessories. In our opinion, if you are a Sony camera user, the tt350s is a solid flash unit for under $100 that is well worth investing in due to its excellent performance and functionality.

If you are yet to make your mind up then you can skim some of these independent reviews of the Godox tt350s that have been posted by independent photographers. They offer some great insight into how well the flash performs in pretty much any situation that you can think of and they are well worth reading.

We are hoping that this article will be able to help any of our readers who are in the market for an ultra-cheap action camera that offers the absolute best performance possible for its price bracket. Thankfully, due to the rapid pace that technology advances and how quickly the price tag for the latest technology falls, you can actually get some solid little action cameras for under $50 these days.

Now, before going any further we just want to quickly point out that the prices of action cameras fluctuate so by the time you read this they may no longer be under the $50 price point. Our comparison table below will display the latest price tag for our featured cameras but all three of our featured cameras should remain around the $50 price point.

If you are looking for a cheap GoPro alternative then our comparison table puts what we feel are the three best options head to head and compares their key features to each other. Just under the table we also have a short breakdown going over our thoughts on each of the three featured action cameras before taking a more in-depth look at them throughout the rest of the article.

We feel that this is the best and most efficient way to go over the sub-fifty dollar price point action cameras that we feel our readers should be considering while presenting the information in a way that suits our readers who are in a rush and short on time as well as those who want to know as much as possible. So, without any further delay, let’s get into our comparison table below.

Comparison Table

Product

Best Option!

Campark Act 74

Crosstour CT7000

Akaso Brave 4

Image

Prime Delivary

-

Video Resolutions

4K@30fps, 2.7K@30fps, 1080P@60fps, 1080P@30fps, 720P@120fps

1080P@30fps, 720P@60fps, 720P@30fps

4K@24fps, 2K@30fps, 1080P@60fps, 1080P@30fps, 720P@120fps, 720@60fps, 720P@30fps

4k Rendering

Digitally Upscaled

Digitally Upscaled

Digitally Upscaled

Photograph Resolution

16MP, 12MP, 8MP, 5MP, 2MP

12MP, 8MP, 5MP, 4MP

20MP, 16MP, 12MP, 10MP, 8MP, 5MP, 3MP

Adjustable Lens Angles

170°, 140°, 110°, and 70°

Fixed 170° Lens

170°, 140°, 110°, and 70°

Image Stabilization

None

None

Electronic Image Stabilization

Waterproof Case

Smartphone App

Our Rating

Independent Reviews

Click To Read

Click To Read

Click To Read

Price

$58.99

Price not available

$89.99

Buy Now

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Best Option!

Product

Campark Act 74

Image

Prime Delivary

Video Resolutions

4K@30fps, 2.7K@30fps, 1080P@60fps, 1080P@30fps, 720P@120fps

4k Rendering

Digitally Upscaled

Photograph Resolution

16MP, 12MP, 8MP, 5MP, 2MP

Adjustable Lens Angles

170°, 140°, 110°, and 70°

Image Stabilization

None

Waterproof Case

Smartphone App

Our Rating

Independent Reviews

Click To Read

Price

$58.99

Buy Now

Buy on Amazon

Product

Crosstour CT7000

Image

Prime Delivary

-

Video Resolutions

1080P@30fps, 720P@60fps, 720P@30fps

4k Rendering

Digitally Upscaled

Photograph Resolution

12MP, 8MP, 5MP, 4MP

Adjustable Lens Angles

Fixed 170° Lens

Image Stabilization

None

Waterproof Case

Smartphone App

Our Rating

Independent Reviews

Click To Read

Price

Price not available

Buy Now

Buy on Amazon

Product

Akaso Brave 4

Image

Prime Delivary

Video Resolutions

4K@24fps, 2K@30fps, 1080P@60fps, 1080P@30fps, 720P@120fps, 720@60fps, 720P@30fps

4k Rendering

Digitally Upscaled

Photograph Resolution

20MP, 16MP, 12MP, 10MP, 8MP, 5MP, 3MP

Adjustable Lens Angles

170°, 140°, 110°, and 70°

Image Stabilization

Electronic Image Stabilization

Waterproof Case

Smartphone App

Our Rating

Independent Reviews

Click To Read

Price

$89.99

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As you can see from our comparison table above, we feel that the best action camera for under $50 on the market right now is the Campark Act 74. It is a great little action camera that has just received a price reduction from Apeman due to the recent release of the Apeman Trawo that we feel is one of the best action cameras under $100 too. Apeman is doing a great job of locking up the cheap GoPro alternative market with their range and we only expect this trend to continue over the coming years.

Now, unlike the CT7000 below that has been specifically designed for this price point in the market, the Act 74 was originally retailed at a much higher price point when released. Due to having been on the market for a few years now the technology in the action camera has reduced in price drastically allowing Apeman to slash its price tag.

Since its release the Apeman Act 74 has built up and maintained an excellent reputation for itself amongst the action camera using community. It is a very popular option for action sports enthusiasts, vloggers, social media influencers, and anyone just looking to purchase a cheap action camera for themselves. In our opinion, it should definatley be your primary consideration for the sub-fifty dollar price range and we are confident that it will be able to meet your needs.

Next up we have the Crosstour CT7000 that is the only featured action camera in our article that has been specifically designed to retail in the sub-fifty dollar price bracket from the very start. Unlike the compeating brands on the market who just put their older camera units through a price reduction each year to keep them competitive, Crosstour has come up with their own strategy and we have to say, it is working very well.

Rather than release an action camera with a ton of features that the majority of users will never need or use, Crosstour has dumped a large number of the popular features on action cameras to cut their costs. They have then done everything in their power to offer the absolute best performance possible for the features that the CT7000 does support offering some outstanding image quality for the price tag.

This is why the CT7000 looks a little light on features in the comparison table above against our other two feature action cameras but the features it does offer are excellent. It would seem that a large amount of the community agree with us also as the CT7000 has managed to earn a great reputation for itself over the years with an absolute ton of action camera users adding it to their camera collection.

Finally, we have the Akaso Brave 4 that once ruled the entry-level action camera market and dominated the niche. Due to Akaso recently releasing their new Akaso V50 Pro that we actually feel is one of the best cheap action cameras ever produced, they have lowered the price on the Brave 4.

Now, the Brave 4 price tag can fluctuate so out of all three of our featured action cameras we feel that this is the main one that may jump over the $50 price point. In all honesty, if the Brave 4 is more than $50 (the price in the comparison table above is updated in real-time) when you are reading this then we would not recommend that you purchase it and go with either of the other two feature action cameras. That said though, the Brave 4 does have one of the largest customer bases going while also having a solid reputation amongst the community.

Anyway, that concludes our comparison table and we will not be going over some of the key features of the three featured action cameras and taking a more in-depth look at them below. That said though, as the Campark Act 74 is our primary recommendation for anyone looking for an action camera under $50, we will mainly be focusing on it and the features that it offers.

Performance And Functionality

Now, although all three of the featured cheap action cameras are around the same price point on the market, their performance and functionality are surprisingly different with each camera having their own advantages and disadvantages over each other. Now, the vast majority of people who are reading this and in the market for a sub $50 action camera will likley be doing so as they want something that allows them to capture video footage without having to break the bank.

Although the Campark Act 74 and Akaso Brave 4 support 4k video resolution whereas the Crosstour CT7000 does not, this does not instantly knock the CT7000 out of the race and can actually work against the act 74 and Brave 4 depending on your needs. Neither the Act 74 or Brave 4 offer native 4k video resolution directly from the camera sensor and requires the camera to use a digital upscaling process to improve the resolution.

Now, both of these cameras are definatley showing their age and their digital upscaling process was never the best meaning it can sometimes result in worse overall image quality than just using their 1080p resolution. In addition to that, both cameras have a very power-intensive digital upscaling process that is able to rapidly deplete your camera battery. If you are capturing 4k video with either of these cameras for an extended period of time not only can the digital upscaling process half your usable battery life per charge but can also generate a whole bunch of heat. Although rare, this heat can then result in your action camera overheating and needing to be turned off for a while to cool down before it is usable again.

As we mentioned above, Crosstour has essentially cherry-picked the features that they want their action cameras to offer and ensured that they excel at those features. As the CT7000 is a much newer camera its 1080p is much smoother than what the Act 74 and Brave 4 offer even though it runs at a lower frame rate too. On top of this, due to the problems that we have pointed out with the 4k resolution in the cameras above as well as the fact that the 2k resolution can also rapidly deplete your battery we feel you will likley be using the 1080p resolution most of the time no matter the action camera you choose.

Due to this, we just want to quickly take a more in-depth look at the 1080p resolution for all three of the featured action cameras. Both the Campark Act 74 and the Akaso Brave 4 offer 1080p at sixty frames per second but in our opinion, the actual image quality on the Act 74 is better than the Brave 4 due to its encoding protocol. The Crosstour CT7000 only offers 1080p at thirty frames per second but its encoding is much better than that of the other two featured cameras and provides an image quality better than the Brave 4 but slightly worse than the Act 74 in our opinion.

All three of the featured cameras also offer 720p video footage with the Act 74 and Brave 4 offering 720p at up to 120 frames per second offering some excellent slow-motion video recording in this mode. This can be excellent for you to record your action sport of choice in slow-motion footage to capture all of the action in detail to add some excitement to your videos. If you are a vlogger or social media influencer then the 720p at 120 frames per second setting can help you capture some excellent slow motion b-roll video footage for your content too.

The CT7000 does offer 720p video resolution but it is limited to sixty frames per second meaning that if you do want to have any slow-motion footage when using the camera to capture your content, you will have to do some post-production editing. Depending on what you are planning to use your action camera for, this may not be an issue but we just wanted to make our readers aware of this as it can be an issue for some videography niches even at this price point.

That said though, the distinct lack of any inbuilt electronic image stabilization on the Act 74 is obvious in the video above as it has no post-production to help try and stabilize the video footage. This offers our readers a realist idea of what they will be able to capture right out of the camera with the same being true for the CT7000 due to its lack of anti-shake or electronic image stabilization.

Now, there are workarounds to this such as purchasing a cheap gimbal for action cameras such as the Feiyutech G6. The G6 offers some of the best image stabilization available for action cameras at the time of writing and is probably the best action camera gimbal made to date. That said though, picking up a dedicated gimbal does hike the overall price of your kit up so you will have to factor in your needs from your camera.

If you are looking to purchase a cheap action camera for an action sport that involved a large amount of vibration or bumps then the Brave 4 can sneak out ahead of the other two featured action cameras. That said though if you are in a smooth action sport, a vlogger, or a social media influencer either of the other two cameras will be a better addition to your camera collection.

Now, we know that most of our readers who are considering purchasing a sub $50 action camera will likley be wanting it for its video capability but some people may also use their action cameras to capture photographs. Due to this, we want to spend some time going over the photographic capabilities of our three featured action cameras on the market. Now when it comes to the photographic performance of the cameras, personal preference will come into what you feel is best due to each camera having their own color capturing table to produce slightly different images even of the exact same subject.

All three of the cameras offer some solid still image quality and although the Akaso Brave 4 should be way out ahead due to its 20MP camera sensor, we feel that both the Campark Act 74 with its 16MP camera sensor and even the Crosstour CT7000 with its 12MP camera sensor are able to hold their own when it comes to still images.

Although on paper the CT7000 should have the worse image quality when it comes to photography, we feel that it actually offers the best low light image quality out of the three. Although we are not exactly sure why this is, we would guess that it has something to do with the more modern technology on the CT7000 as well as its image encoding. That said though, any pixel peepers out there will definatley see some image distortion from the CT7000 but if you only want small images for Instagram this should not be an issue.

The Act 74 offers some decent still image quality that in our opinion is the most well rounded when it comes to photography due to having both decent resolution on its photography with minimal distortion as well as solid low light performance for its price. This is just another reason why we feel that the Act 74 will be the best sub $50 action camera for the majority of our readers and should be your primary consideration.

Both the Act 74 and the Brave 4 also come with a variable camera lens that supports 170°, 140°, 110°, and 70° fields of view whereas the CT7000 uses a fixed 170° lens. The variable lens on the Act 74 and Brave 4 allow you to quickly and easily switch up the field of view of your action camera to meet the needs of your situation. For example, the 70° narrow field of view is good for close-ups whereas the 170° ultra-wide-angle lens is perfect for some epic wide-angle landscape vista photography too.

The final point that we want to cover for our three features action cameras that are under $50 under the performance and functionality tab is the maximum battery life of the cameras. Now, the CT7000 has the highest capacity battery that offers the maximum battery life of the three cameras with you being able to capture up to around two hours of 1080p video footage. Both the Campark and Akaso can get around an hour and a half of battery life at 1080p with their battery life dropping down to around an hour at the 4k resolution too.

All three of the action cameras do come with a spare battery so provided you have both of the batteries fully charged and keep your spare in your backpack or pocket you can essentially double the above times. Additionally, you can also invest in a USB power bank to allow you to recharge your spare battery when not in use to allow you to stay out on your adventures all day without running out of battery.

This allows you to score all three of the featured action cameras at a pretty equal level when it comes to battery life as a USB power bank lets you extend all three cameras battery life for as long as required. That said, although, without the USB power bank, the CT7000 does sneak out ever so slightly ahead of the other two action cameras with around half an hour’s worth of additional power per charge of each battery.

User Interface And Control System

As you would probably expect, even in this day and age, action cameras that are under $50 don’t have touchscreen interfaces due to the touchscreen system hiking the price tag up. We know that there are a small number of cheap action cameras on the market right now that are trying to use touchscreens but in all honesty, it ends up doing more harm than good in our opinion, especially for action sports. Not only do the touchscreens not work well but they become even harder to use if your fingertips are cold or wet. With so many action sports involving water or cold weather, this can be a total pain.

Thankfully though, all three of the featured sub $50 action cameras in our article use the old school, side button control system that works very well no matter the conditions that you are capturing your video footage in. Not only does this ensure that you are able to easily tweak your action camera if you are involved in a water or cold weather sport but also allows you to make changes when the camera is housed in its protective case too.

The buttons on the side of all three of the action cameras are very responsive and register your press first time. Even amongst some of the compeating action cameras that use this interface that cost less than $50 there can be issues with the buttons actually registering a button press and allowing you to work through the navigation menu of the camera. Thankfully though, this is not an issue with any of the three featured cameras.

Akaso, Campark, and Crosstour all use a very similar navigation menu to each other that maximizes the ease of use for their action camera users. If you are looking to purchase your very first action camera and have no prior experience using an action camera you should easily be able to learn the navigation menu on the cameras quickly. The full system on all three of the cameras has been designed to be as quick and easy to use too allowing you to make any tweaks to the performance of the camera as quickly as possible without you having to waste time.

Smartphone App

All three of the cameras do have a smartphone app available for them and unlike some compeating brands that have issues with their apps, the Akaso, Campark, and Crosstour apps do not have connectivity issues and also don’t randomly drop their connection during use. The smartphone apps offer some solid wireless remote control functionality to allow you to tweak the performance of your action camera without actually having to hold it in your hands.

If you are involved in the action sports side of things and plan to have your action camera mounted to your helmet, chest mount, or any other type of mount this can definatley play to your advantage. Having the smartphone app on your phone allows you to keep your action camera mounted while still being able to tweak its settings via the app and making your life much easier. It can be a right pain when using some other action cameras without the wireless remote control functionality and having to remove your camera from the mount, make your tweaks, and then remount it.

All three of the smartphone apps for the featured action cameras also support playback from the action camera too. This can allow you to quickly and easily check over the video footage that you have captured or view your photographs on your phone that often have a much larger screen and allow you to get a much better idea of the content you are capturing while out and about.

The final feature that all three of the smartphone apps support is to directly upload your content to various social media sites. Although this does seem good in theory, the vast majority of vloggers and social media influencers will want to be doing some post-production editing on their video footage prior to uploading anyway. This usually means that you will be transferring the content that you capture with your action camera to a computer or tablet to edit it prior to uploading.

All in all though, all three of the brands have managed to publish some solid smartphone apps that work very well. In our opinion, the apps are some of the better ones that are used by the super cheap action camera range but this is due to the three featured camera brands having multiple action cameras on the market in a number of price points. This allows them to use the same app across their full range and offset the costs of developing their app and keeping it in a good working condition for their cheaper cameras due to the sales of their more expensive cameras on the market.

Build Quality And Design

All three of the featured action cameras essentially follow the same standard design of what the GoPro action camera range follows. This works to your advantage as although they do not fit the GoPro form factor completely, many of the action camera accessories on the market designed to work with the GoPro range can work with either of the three featured gimbals too. This allows you to easily pick up action camera accessories to meet your needs with ease as some cameras that use a unique design can be a nightmare to source accessories for.

When it comes to the build quality of the cameras, you have to be realistic. At this price point in the market, there is absolutely no way that any of the cameras can be as tough as the premium price point Gopros. That said though, all three cameras are surprisingly robust and should be able to take a number of bumps without breaking with ease. On top of this, if your action sport of choice does have a high risk of you falling over then you can just keep your action camera in its protective case during use to further increase its robustness.

If you are more on the vlogging or social media side of things looking for a cheap, sub $50 action camera to capture your content this should not be an issue for you anyway as the camera should not be taking much punishment during use. All three cameras have a very small size and come in under 0.2 pounds of weight making them very easy to just store in your pocket or bag when out and about without really realizing the additional weight or having to take up much space.

All three of the waterproof cases included with the featured action cameras are decent quality and usable down to a depth of around one hundred feet. That said though, the Crosstour CT7000 does definatley have the weakest waterproof case and we would not trust the waterproof seals on the case if it has taken a few serious bumps and knocks. Thankfully, you can easily check them visually for damage prior to using the camera in the water to make sure it will seal correctly.

Our Verdict

That brings our article going over what we feel are the best action cameras under $50 on the market right now to an end. As we mentioned back at the start of the article, the prices of these action cameras can fluctuate due to supply and demand so they may not be under $50 by the time you read this. Our comparison table back at the top of the article updates itself with the prices each day to give you a better idea of what each of the featured cameras cost you at the time you are reading the article.

In our opinion, the best action camera that costs less than $50 at the time of writing is definatley the Campark Act 74 as it is an excellent little camera that has managed to earn an excellent reputation for itself since released. Additionally, we also have our own dedicated review of the Act 74 online that you may find helpful but most of the points have already been covered in this article.

in our opinion, the Crosstour CT7000 is definatley a solid little camera and has the best image quality for photographs out of the three featured action cameras. If you know you will be taking a large number of photographs with your cameras then the CT7000 may be the stronger option. Again, the camera has a great reputation and we also have our own review of the CT7000 online that you can read if you wish.

Finally, we have the Akaso Brave 4 and like we mentioned earlier in the article, we would not recommend the Brave 4 unless you are taking part in an action sport that has a bunch of vibrations. In our opinion, this is the only situation where the Brave 4 comes out ahead due to its built-in electronic image stabilization. The Brave 4 has also managed to earn an excellent reputation for itself amongst the community and again we also have our own dedicated review online for the camera too.

Over the last few weeks, we have noticed more and more people reaching out and asking for a dedicated Xiaomi Mi 4k action camera review due to the camera has such a great reputation amongst the community while at the same time having such a small customer base compared to the competition and failing to really take off.

On the flip side of this, there are other compeating cameras to the Xiaomi Mi 4K like the Akaso V50 Pro that just keeps on becoming more and more popular amongst the community while its reputation just keeps on getting better and better. This is largely due to the features that each of the cameras offers the user that we will explain in more detail throughout the article. That said though, for the vast majority of our readers, we can’t help but feel the Akaso v50 Pro or even the Apeman Trawo would be better options and make a much better addition to your collection.

That said though, we will still be going over our full Xiaomi Mi 4K action camera review to share our thoughts on the camera as well as why we feel our readers should be going with a compeating camera over the Xiaomi Mi 4K. We know that there will always b the die-hard fans of the camera but if we can help most of our readers pick up a better camera then we will be happy.

Performance And Functionality

The vast majority of cheap GoPro alternatives on the market offer 1080p at sixty frames per second and 720p at one hundred and twenty frames per second and it more than meets the needs for the target user. These resolution and frame rate combinations are cheap to produce and perform very well for the user to capture their content. Upping the frame rates so much as Xiaomi for their Mi action camera increases the costs of the camera forcing them to sacrifice performance or miss other common features out of the camera.

Additionally, the 4k offered on the Xiaomi Mi 4K is not native 4k and is digitally upscaled from the 2k resolution. Although this is still common in entry-level action cameras even to this day, it has been implemented poorly in the Xiaomi Mi 4K action camera and results in poor image quality. Native 4k tends to be better and smoother as it is natively captured via the camera’s sensor but the technology costs more and hikes the price tag up. This allows cameras such as the Akaso V50 Pro that offer native 4k to push out ahead of the Xiaomi Mi 4K and take more of the market share with their superior technology and lower price point.

Digitally upscaled 4k video is captured at a lower resolution before being put through a digital upscaling process that requires a large amount of battery and generates a large amount of heat too. Not only can this cut your usable battery life in half but it can also lead to overheating issues while also producing a 4k video resolution with low image quality. On top of this, we have seen multiple reports from people saying that the 4k video their Xiaomi Mi 4K captures is fuzzy and lags too.

If you are planning to use the Xiaomi Mi 4K for action sports, especially fast-paced or vibration intense action sports then the v50 Pro or Trawo are definatley better options. Their native 4k is much better than the digitally upscaled 4k from the Xiaomi Mi 4K and results in smoother high-resolution video clips that are free from hand and drag while capturing all of the action.

Additionally, although the Xiaomi Mi 4K does offer some electronic image stabilization technology, in our opinion it is dated and definatley showing its age. The latest Akaso and Apeman advanced, next-generation electronic image stabilization blows the Xiaomi tech on the Mi out the water without even being comparable. On top of this, due to the Xiaomi Mi 4K not using a similar factor to the GoPro range, it is a nightmare to find a cheap gimbal stabilizer for the camera that can provide you with image stabilization.

The Xiaomi Mi 4K comes with an excellent Sony IMX 317 camera sensor that can produce some excellent, high-quality video and photographs provided the tech on the back end is up to scratch but we feel that Xiaomi has focused on the high frame rates of the Mi too much and sacrificed too much to reach them to do the camera sensor justice. The camera also comes with a seven-element lens that offers some excellent low light performance for photographs that can be captured up to 8MP.

Although the Xiaomi Mi 4K is a few years old now, even back when it was released its photograph resolution was sub-par with the vast majority of the competition offering a 16MP still image resolution with the latest entry-level action cameras offering 20MP. In our opinion, this is just another area where the Xiaomi Mi 4K falls short and pushes cameras like the Akaso V50 Pro and Apeman Trawo further ahead.

The Xiaomi Mi 4K supports three camera modes (timelapse, slow motion, and burst photo) that do perform well but in our opinion, it is just too little too late to help claw any hope back for the camera. Especially in this day and age where the next generation cheap action cameras blow the Xiaomi Mi 4K out the water in every way for the same price point in the market.

Finishing off with the battery life of the camera, Xiaomi has used the higher 1450mAh battery rather than the smaller capacity batteries that most of the compeating cameras use. Unfortunately, due to using digitally upscaled 4k video footage, this advantage is nulled due to the additional power required to capture the 4k and upscale it making the camera offer a lower maximum battery life than the compeating cameras with a smaller battery.

When you take an objective look at the performance and features on the Xiaomi Mi 4K, it is pretty easy to see why it failed to take off amongst the community and how its competitors have outsold it with ease. Although there are a few decent independent reviews for the camera online from people who use it as their action camera of choice, they are a fraction of the reviews that cameras like the Akaso v50 Pro have even though the v50 Pro has only been available for a matter of months rather than the years the Xiaomi Mi 4K has had.

User Interface And Control System

The navigation menu that Xiaomi has put on the Mi is very easy to follow allowing you to quickly and easily work your way through the camera’s menu to quickly and easily get to the settings that you want to tweak. The touchscreen is also made from the highest quality Gorilla Glass to ensuring that it can take a ton of punishment without breaking. This helps it stand the test of time and take the bumps that are common in action sports.

The Xiaomi Mi 4K also supports 2.4G wireless technology and wireless remote control is included with your purchase as standard. The remote control offers some solid remote control of the camera allowing you to capture photographs or control the stop/start of your videos without having to actually touch your camera. If you are involved in a sport where your action camera may be mounted to a helmet mount and be a pain to reach this can help make your life easier as you can just control it from the remote control.

Build Quality And Design

The build quality of the Xiaomi Mi 4K is actually excellent in all fairness to Xiaomi but again, this is overshadowed by the poor performance of the camera. The Mi is very lightweight coming in at only 0.19 pounds while also being very tough and able to take the bumps and knocks while being used in action sports. The latest similar price point action cameras from Akaso, Apeman, and even Campark also offer this level of build quality too while offering much better video capturing and general performance improvements over the Xiaomi Mi 4K too though.

Our Verdict

That concludes our Xiaomi Mi action camera 4k review and as you can probably guess, we would not recommend that our readers add this action camera to their collection. It is definatley starting to show it again and falls short in too many areas for its price tag to be worth purchasing in our opinion. We would recommend that our readers seriously consider something like the Akaso V50 Pro (click here to read our ultimate v50 Pro review), or the Apeman Trawo (click here to read our ultimate Apeman Trawo review) as they are just better cameras at the same price point.

Although we can see what Xiaomi has tried to do with their Mi 4k with the higher frame rates for the standard video resolutions, we can’t help but feel that it is simply not needed on a cheap action camera and has drastically limited the potential customer base of the camera. On the flip side of this, Xiaomi competition such as Akaso and Apeman have done the opposite and focused on the most popular video resolutions and adding native 4k video to their cameras to give the majority of people what they will actually use in a cheap action camera.

One brand that we have noticed more and more people reaching out with questions about is one of the new kids on the block, Crosstour. Although the entry-level action camera price ranges are dominated by Akaso, Campark, and Apeman, Crosstour has decided to throw their hat into the ring and try to gain some of the market share. They have a full range of action cameras spread across the various cheap GoPro alternative price points but we are seeing a whole bunch of questions for the Crosstour ct7000.

We feel that this is due to the extremely low price tag of the Crosstour ct7000 with it coming in at around $35 depending on the retailer. In addition to this, relative to its super low price point, it actually offers some solid performance that has enabled the ct7000 to rapidly earn an excellent reputation for itself amongst the community that is just getting stronger.

Due to this and the increasing number of questions we are seeing about the action camera we have decided to publish our own ultimate Crosstour ct7000 review to try and help any of our readers who are considering adding the ct7000 to their collection. In our opinion, the ct7000 is a great little action camera for anyone who is wanting to pick up something that offers solid image quality while being on a very tight budget.

The ct7000 has proven to be a popular option in a wide range of niches too with the standard action sports enthusiasts picking it up as well as a number of vloggers, social media influencers, and parents wanting to give their young children their first action camera. Additionally, we have also noticed a number of people who cycle to work in busy cities purchasing the ct7000 as a cheap way to record their journey due to the common occurrences of traffic violations against cyclists too.

Although the Crosstour ct7000 is a great little action camera that will likley meet the needs of a wide range of our readers, the Akaso V50 Pro is not that much more and is probably the best cheap action camera on the market right now. It also has managed to earn itself an excellent reputation amongst action camera users and offers you an absolute ton of functionality for its price point making it an absolute steal.

Performance And Functionality

To our knowledge, Crosstour are the first brand to use this strategy in the action camera space and we are massive fans of it. To our knowledge, all of the compeating brands are essentially attempting to provide their customers with the same features as the most expensive flagship GoPro with a lower quality. Crosstour has turned this on its head and try to offer fewer features than the latest premium action camera while ensuring that its features as close to the premium action camera as possible. In our opinion, Crosstour has hit the nail on the head and this is one of the main reasons that the ct7000 has managed to become so successful amongst action camera users in such a short amount of time.

The Crosstour ct7000 offers two video resolutions that have both been tweaked for optimal performance. The 1080p resolution offers sixty frames per second and will likley be your primary video resolution when capturing your video footage with the camera and performs great. The 720p at one hundred and twenty frames per second offers some excellent slow-motion video that performs better than many of the compeating action cameras at this price point in the market.

Although there is no 4k video resolution available on the Crosstour ct7000, the vast majority of cheap action cameras on the market right now actually use digitally upscaled 4k rather than native 4k anyway. In our opinion, the Crosstour system is better as both of the video resolutions are flawless. The 1080p allows you to capture your adventures in excellent quality to share on YouTube or social media while the 720p offers some great slow motion for any b-roll footage or to capture your action sport in slow motion if needed.

Due to the ct7000 not offering 4k video, you can get away with using the older and cheaper memory cards too that have a transmission speed as low as 30MB/s helping reduce the costs even further. One of the main problems that we see with other entry-level action cameras on the market is that users try to capture 4k video footage to a memory card that is just not fast enough to write the data resulting in issues and a ton of heat being generated. Thankfully though, this is not a problem with the Crosstour ct7000.

Now, the ct7000 does not have any electronic image stabilization or even any basic anti-shake technology meaning you will likley have to invest into something like a Feiyutech G6 if you are set on using the ct7000 but want some image stabilization. In our opinion, the Feiyutech G6 is the best gimbal on the market for action cameras right now and performs flawlessly.

If you are involved in a rough action sport that has a ton of vibration, you could also just go with an action camera such as the Akaso V50 Pro that has the best advanced electronic image stabilization we have ever seen in a cheap action camera. Again though, this is only really an issue if you are planning to use your action camera for a rough action sport and need the image stabilization. The Crosstour ct7000 will be fine for the calmer sports, vlogging, or for a social media influencer.

Moving on to the photographic capabilities of the camera, the Crosstour ct7000 comes with a 12MP camera sensor that is far from the 20MP standard of the $50-$100 action cameras on the market right now but considering that the ct7000 is only around $35, we feel that we can give it a little slack, especially considering that its image quality for photographs is surprisingly good.

The 170-degree angle lens on the camera also ensures that you can easily capture some epic looking landscape photographs with ease. If you are into an action sport that has you up in the mountains or any other location with great landscape view on a regular basis this is particularly handy. It ensures that you can share the epic sights that you see while on our adventures on your social media channels with some excellent image quality.

If you do require more battery life then you can easily source additional spare batteries to stretch this out even further or even pick up a USB power bank. The USB power bank allows you to charge up the battery that is not in use to allow you to supply your ct7000 with power throughout the course of a full day of your sport.

We really can’t believe that Crosstour has managed to offer this level of performance in a camera as cheap as the ct7000 with such a low price tag. We feel that the compeating brands will try to use the Crosstour tactic of cutting the less used features out of their entry-level action cameras to offer the best performance for the features that are used the most. It is easy to understand how the camera has managed to earn such a massive core customer base in such a short term while also having managed to earn so many outstanding independent reviews from the community.

User Interface And Control System

The Crosstour ct7000 uses a control system based around the up and down buttons on the side of the camera body making it so easy to use no matter what the conditions. This not only makes it very easy to use if you are into water or snow-based sports but it also ensures that you can use the menu system while the camera is in its waterproof case too. This offers maximum control of the camera at all times to ensure that you can tweak its performance as needed.

With the ct7000 being such a low price point action camera it is obvious that it is intended to be the first action camera for the vast majority of its users. Due to this, Crosstour have been sure to make it as user-friendly as possible so everyone can pick the camera up and use it effectively without having to waste a ton of time learning what to do.

All in all, Crosstour really has done a great job of planning out the control interface for the ct7000 and we feel that they have implemented their ideas very well. It is very easy to use while also being very easy to learn essentially allowing even a first-time action camera user to take the ct7000 out the box and set it up and be ready to go within minutes.

Build Quality And Design

That said though, the ct7000 has been put together pretty well and is very small considering the amount of technology that the camera has in it. We feel that this is a testament to the build quality that Crosstour put into even their cheapest action camera and shows that they care about their customers. The camera is pretty lightweight for its size and price point as most entry-level action cameras are heavier than the ct7000 due to being packed out with the tech for the other features that they offer.

The waterproof case on the Crosstour ct7000 is rated to be waterproof down to a depth of just under one hundred feet and although we have seen a bunch of reports saying the waterproof case works well, you can definatley see that it is cheap. The waterproof seals seem weak and may give way when used allowing water into the case. Thankfully, if this does happen the ct7000 can be replaced for only $35 but you can usually purchase better waterproof cases from other third-party brands for around $10 that will perform better than the one that comes with the camera.

Our Verdict

That concludes this ultimate Crosstour ct7000 review and we hope that you have found it helpful. We feel that the Crosstour ct7000 absolutely blows the compeating action cameras out of the water in its price range and we are happy to say that it is well worth adding to your camera accessories. Although the camera has a lower quality camera sensor and supports fewer video resolutions the ones it does support are flawless.

As we touched on earlier in the article, it is easy to see why the Crosstour ct7000 is such a popular option amongst the community and why so many users of the camera have posted so many great reviews for the camera. No matter how random your action sport of choice is, we are confident that there is probably at least one other person who has posted a review for the camera amongst those reviews so they can be well worth checking out if you are still on the fence about the ct7000.