The Ultimate VTech Kidizoom Action Cam 180 Review!

Over the last few years, there has been a dramatic shift in the goals of kids all over the world and what they want to be when they grow up. Gone are the days of kids wanting to be movie stars, professional athletes or pop stars when they are older, at the time of writing, the top two career choices for children twelve and under are to be a YouTuber or a social media influencer.

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 we mentioned above, the actual performance and functionality of the VTech Kidizoom 180 does lag behind similar price point action cameras designed for adults such as the Campark Act 74 due to it having the various safety tech for children as well as the bigger buttons and much friendly user interface. Additionally, it is hard to find and solid information on the specifications of the VTech Kidizoom 180 as VTech has heavily marketed its features and benefits for children rather than the specifications of the camera.

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 sample clips above have been captured using the VTech Kidizoom 180 and show the level of image quality that your child can expect to capture when using the action camera. As you can see, it does leave a lot to be desired, especially for an older child who can easily use the Campark Act 74 instead and capture 4k videoes for the same price tag of the VTech Kidizoom 180.

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

As you can see in the image above, the interface and control system for the VTech Kidizoom 180 is extremely easy to use and in all honesty, this oversimplified design is one of the main things you are paying for with this action camera. Don’t get us wrong, it is pretty much essential for any young children and maximizes the ease of use of the camera so they can go off and have fun and tweak the camera as they wish without you having to assist them but the performance of the camera definatley suffers for it.

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

As you would expect with the VTech Kidizoom 180 being an action camera designed for use by children, VTech has done everything they can to make it as tough and robust as possible. This is one area where they have managed to smash it out of the park and do a really good job with the camera. It can take an absolute ton of punishment, especially when it is housed in its protective case without breaking helping to keep the camera going without issue.

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.

As you can see from the image above, the protective waterproof case included with the VTech Kidizoom 180 has been designed to be as user-friendly as possible to allow your child to have maximum control of the cameras control system while housed in the case. Every possible weak point on the camera case has been reinforced to offer maximum protection for the camera when housed in the case too. The case also protects the camera when used underwater down to a depth of six feet allowing your child to capture their adventures in the pool, creek, river, or ocean so they never have to miss a moment that they want to capture.

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.