Akaso Brave 4 Review - Should you buy?
These days there are quite a few cameras like a GoPro but cheaper. Since we didn’t need one and mostly wanted it for water activities like snorkeling, we knew we’d need a waterproof action camera or one that comes with a waterproof housing.
Obviously we wanted decent photo and video quality – if the end product isn’t usable, there’s no point in buying one. Our goal was to find the best action camera under $100 that would work underwater. We weren’t too picky about touch screens or other bells and whistles.
How’d we end up with the latest Akaso 4K camera? First off, it’s under $100 including the waterproof housing – there are plenty of options out there than don’t include it and the total price for your gear can really jump once you add in the necessities. Second, it has a huge number of positive reviews (check them out here) with very few complaints so we know the product has been well-vetted.
Akaso Brave 4 action camera is the good choice for you, it gives you more than what you need. Let us explore it in this review.
Akaso Brave 4 Specs & Features:
Akaso Brave 4 camera has a very high resolution of up to a tune of 20 Mega Pixels. This enables you to capture incredible images that you can proudly share. The camera clearly records the wonders and the beauty of the world we live in. Clarity and a good contrast are what the camera does. In the technical aspect, the great video quality is the result of using 20 MP Sony sensor.
The camera is anti-shaking and you are at liberty to choose your angle of view ranging from 170-70 degrees. The anti-shaking feature gives your stable videos and even photos because even if the camera moves, it never affects the quality. That is the magic of this camera.
It is a waterproof camera with a 2 IPS inch screen. With this camera, you can record or take photos up to a depth of up to 30M under water. It can be a swimming pool or a deep river. What you need to do is to place your camera in a waterproof case and fasten it and capture your underground activity.
In case you are capturing a video, the 2 IPS inch screen will allow you to preview your camera before you press the record button. The camera comes with two powerful batteries with the charging capacity of 1050mAh.
One battery will last up to a tune of 90 minutes. The batteries enable the user to be in action for a longer time. The batteries are rechargeable so whenever power runs out you just plug them into the power source. Note: You should be careful not to overcharge them because if you do so, you damage them.
It has WI-FI. To connect to it, simply download and install a free application called iSmart DV from Android Play Store or iOS App Store. After connecting you can share videos and pictures with your relatives and friends on social media or even sending them through email. The quality is really great.
Also it has HDMI. This enables you to connect it to the television if you want to view the pictures or even watch on a bigger screen. It is amazing I tell you! With HDMI, it is a top camera.
In case you are capturing a video, the 2 IPS inch screen will allow you to preview your camera before you press the record button. The camera comes with two powerful batteries with the charging capacity of 1050mAh.
One battery will last up to a tune of 90 minutes. The batteries enable the user to be in action for a longer time. The batteries are rechargeable so whenever power runs out you just plug them into the power source. Note: You should be careful not to overcharge them because if you do so, you damage them.
It has WI-FI. To connect to it, simply download and install a free application called iSmart DV from Android Play Store or iOS App Store. After connecting you can share videos and pictures with your relatives and friends on social media or even sending them through email. The quality is really great.
Also it has HDMI. This enables you to connect it to the television if you want to view the pictures or even watch on a bigger screen. It is amazing I tell you! With HDMI, it is a top camera.
The other amazing fact is that this camera comes with an affordable price with all those quoted desirable qualities.
Akaso Brave 4 Camera Review
The image quality above water is, in my opinion, not as high quality as shots I get from my iPhone. It doesn’t seem to be an issue of megapixels, but even with the camera set to the highest quality it doesn’t produce images that I’d generally consider “blog worthy” and I haven’t found any way to control exposure (or anything else). As you can see in the example below, stills from the Akaso action camera are somewhat grainy and improperly exposed. I don’t usually get amazing iPhone photos, but they’re passable and at least I can easily control the exposure to prevent blown-out skies. As I mentioned above, I don’t need a GoPro alternative to provide day-to-day snapshots, as I’d much rather use my real camera system!
But the image quality underwater? Giddy up! Where the waterproof pouches we had previously used to take underwater photos with our phones left a hazy look, the Akaso Brave 4 underwater photos are crystal clear! Check out this humuhumnukunukuapua’a we spotted in Hanauma Bay! It needed only a little basic color correction in Lightroom, but truly nothing major.
It’s also great for underwater videography. It stays focused pretty nicely and produces a smooth image. Note that it’s advertised as 4K, but based on technical information out there it seems to only be 2K hardware that extrapolated to 4K. As such, I’ve only been filming in 2K. It’s not going to win any awards from National Geographic, but for most of us having a little fun underwater it’ll do the trick.
In general the Akaso action camera pretty straightforward to use, with the front button change modes and the top button executing commands (whether changing a setting, taking a picture or starting and stopping video). It only takes a few minutes to get comfortable even for kids. The side buttons scroll through setting choices or through old photos and videos.
The two main gripes I have both come down to ease of use.
First, as I mentioned earlier in this review some of the settings seem a little buried. The menu isn’t organized in any way, and you’ll have to scroll pretty far to find Diving Mode. Maybe we’re unique in our usage of the Akaso action camera, but I would have liked to see that option first on the menu!
The second issue I have is that it lags a little too much when starting video – maybe even a full second. This can be frustrating for two reasons: first, because a video-worthy moment may have disappeared; second, when you’re underwater it can be hard to see the screen in some situations and (if you’re anything like me) you might push the button thinking that it hasn’t registered. Your button push probably worked, but it just didn’t start recording right way! If you push the button again, it will stop right away – or did you just start it? It can be confusing, but try to peek at the screen to look for the red dot and updating second count.
On balance, I think the value and underwater photo and video quality outweigh the negatives. It will never beat the GoPro for image quality (or maybe even ease of use), but at just 20% of the price (that’s of, not off) the Akaso 4K action camera makes an awesome GoPro substitute.
When you buy the camera this is what you find in the box to enhance the convenience in the use of the camera:
All these items are in the package to ensure that the camera serves you best. When purchased it is advised to countercheck the presence of the above-named items so that you do not encounter an inconvenience when you want to use the camera for photo taking or even video capturing.
- Akaso Brave 4 camera
- Remote control
- 2x 1050mAh batteries
- Waterproof case
- Bicycle stand
- 7x Mount
- 2x Clip
- One piece of helmet mounts
- Bandage
- 5x tethers
- Protective backdoor
- USB cable
All these items are in the package to ensure that the camera serves you best. When purchased it is advised to countercheck the presence of the above-named items so that you do not encounter an inconvenience when you want to use the camera for photo taking or even video capturing.
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