Yi Action Camera – Light, Camera, Action at affordable price – Review
Xiaomi is known to invade any new technology and come up with a gadget that is as good as the prevailing king in that technology. The Yi Action Camera is a classic example. For years, GoPro has been the reigning monarch of the action camera technology. The Yi Action camera is a gadget developed by a chinese company called Yi, whom Xiaomi has acquired and is releasing photographic equipments in their branding. As you are reading this article, the second generation of Yi action camera with 4K support is in the market. But still the original 2K variant has not lost its relevance.
The Yi action camera is priced at around 80$ and is much cheaper than the 4K variant. So if you are in the market looking for a decent action camera that does not burn a hole in your pocket, then the Yi Action camera could be your choice. Read on to find out more.
In the Box
The Box is a typical Xiaomi square brown box packaging. In the box, you would find the Yi action camera, battery and cable. The user manual is in Chinese. If you are outside china, you must buy the international variant. The international variant not only has the menu in English, but also the battery dimension is slightly different.
Design
The Yi Action camera is surprisingly small. Any picture you see on the internet will not tell you the actual size, but you can roughly compare it with the size of a match box. It is the same size of a medium-sized match box. It is very light weight. It comes in three color variants: Lemon Green, Black and White. The material is plastic and it feels cheep in the hand. It does not give you a solid, rugged or a premium feel.
At the top you would find the shutter button and a red LED along with a microphone. On the side is the WiFi button with a blue LED At the bottom there is a tripod mount with mics and another red LED. The front has the lens and the power button. THe power button is also used to toggle between video and photo mode. The back houses the removable battery and two ports for AV output and micro USB. The ports are sealed with a flimsy plastic cover and make sure your don’t lose them.
Setup
Setting up the Action camera for the first time was very simple and straight forward. Make sure that it has enough power and then the Yi Action camera app has to be installed from the play store. It is available in the official play store. Once installed, follow the simple steps on-screen to pair the action camera with the mobile. That is it and now you are ready to go.
Yi Action Cam Application
Connecting the app to the device is simple. Once the wi-fi mode is enabled on the device, the app scans for the device and connects to it. The landing page will have videos shared by other Yi Cam users. Swiping right takes to the camera mode and we can see the live screen in the mobile. We can also select other modes like time-lapse, photo, video, etc. The settings button on the top opens the section where you can configure the app and also the device. The app also indicates the battery level. Another swipe will take you to a place where you can see all the videos and images in the device memory. A low resolution footage will be used for preview, but you can also download the full resolution footage to the mobile. The app is very simple and convenient to use. All the options are in English and is easy to understand the features and navigation.
I am also using the Yi Dashcam, but it needs a separate app. I wish the Dashcam and Actioncam had the same app, because the functions are similar.
The Action Camera indicators
After you insert the battery and memory card, the Action camera is ready to use. Switch on the power button and after a few seconds it is ready to shoot. The camera does not have any display, so it is a bit difficult to get it operations. You need to get used to the controls and the LED light indications. After the power is on, the led on top along with the shutter button is the key indicator. If the red light is always on, the camera is on video mode. Pressing the front power button will toggle it to still image mode. In the mode the red led is not always on. In the video mode, you can start recording by pressing the shutter button. A single beep sound and a intermittently blinking red LED says that recording has started and is in progress. Pressing the shutter button again will stop the video recording and you will hear a series of beeps and the red LED light will always be on.
If you want to pair it with the app, press the WiFi button for a few seconds and the blue led near it will be on. This indicates that the WiFi is on. I would suggest use the WiFi only when needed, as it drains the battery.
Camera quality
Clicking pictures or shooting video without a viewfinder is something you need to get used to. The lens is a really wide-angle lens, so you can just point and shoot and be assured that the moment has been captured. If you are a person who would worry about composition and framing, this is not the device for you. The quality of the images shot from it is pretty good. It has good color reproduction and dynamic range. Keep in mind that the Yi Action camera is not here to click pictures but to capture action videos.
Out of the box, the camera is set to 1080p videos at 30 frames per second. I would recommend to change the mode to 1080p at 60 frames per second. In this setting the footage is just stunning. The file size may be slightly larger, but the quality of video is worth it. Audio quality is also good. It does not have any noise cancelling mic, and it captures every single sound out there. That is what we need in an action camera. Take a look at this sample footage and you will appreciate the quality of video.
In the footage above, Youtube has applied some sort of algorithm to stabilize the footage. But the camera does not have any sort of image stabilization.
Here is a sample of Time Lapse footage, shot with the Yi Action Camera
Battery
The battery on the Yi Action camera lasts for about 2 hours of shooting. It does not have a display and its primary function is recording the data and storing it in the memory card. It does get a bit warm while recording and battery starts draining fast. There is no battery level indicator of any sort, but once the battery is low, the led light on the front turns red. That is when you must recharge the device or swap another battery. Thankfully you can still continue recording, while the device is charging. So you can also carry a portable battery pack and keep it tethered to the charging port, while it is recording.
Conclusion
The Yi Action camera is not officially available in India. It is available to purchase from many Chinese e-commerce sites. Unofficially it is also available to buy from ebay India, but as it is a 4th or 5th party seller, you may end up paying more, like me. If you are into action sports, bike riding, vlogging, pet videos or kid videos, you must definitely consider buying it. The Yi Action camera is not a goPro killer. GoPro is still for the professionals, but for most common use cases, you don’t need an expensive goPro. The Yi Action camera has a good looks, performs amazingly and delivers great value for money. I would highly recommend you to get one if you are looking for an Action camera. There are loads of 3rd party accessories available for the Yi Action camera, to suit your requirement. So if you are looking for a great quality Action camera at affordable pricing, get the Yi Action camera.