I'm not impressed with this camera; "astonished" would be closer to the mark. Purchased this Akaso EK 7000 based on a recommendation from a friend of my wife's, and I just can't believe what this little camera can do for the money we put into it. As a caveat, we're not pushing the camera to the limits of human endurance by skydiving, mountain biking, scuba diving or the like. But it works extremely well for our needs.
My wife competes in dog obedience training, and likes to review videos of her dog's performance after trials and matches. Finding someone willing and capable to record her session in the ring on a cellphone is always difficult. Most of the other dog handlers are preoccupied with their dogs, and it's not good ring etiquette to approach too close to the show ring to shoot video, since that will be a distraction. She noticed another handler retrieving a tiny camera from just outside the corner of the ring after her session and asked about it. Turned out to be this little EK 7000, and that handler was very enthusiastic about what it could do. When my wife asked for it for Christmas I was skeptical, so I spent a lot of time researching this and several other cameras. While there were other cameras that were able to do what the Akaso could do, and possibly even more, they were all at least two to three times as expensive. So I went ahead and gave this to my wife for Christmas.
We gave it a full practice run-through yesterday, mounting it on a short tripod at the corner of the ring. I used the 1080p 30fps setting instead of the 4K mode to get more storage space and lengthen battery life. Had the camera on for about an hour, shooting about a dozen videos of one to three minutes, plus a number of photos, and with wi-fi on for a while, and off for a while. I tried starting and stopping the camera manually, then used the phone app, and lastly used the remote for a while. All worked well, even from about 20 yards away. Back home I hooked up the camera to our 55-inch TV (via a micro-HDMI cable, not included), and we were both very pleased with the video quality. Since it's a wide-angle lens, people (and dogs) are naturally pretty small at about 15 yards, but the high video quality means that when you put the video on a large screen you can still see all the details. The sound was a little muddy, but a huge overhead furnace was running right over the camera which made audio pickup difficult.
The battery lasted for at least two hours with the camera on, and was recording or playing back videos later for most of that time. The little charger will charge two batteries at a time, and seemed to need only an hour to take the battery from fully discharged to fully charged. (Lights on the charger progress from magenta to red to blue while charging.) You can also charge the battery just by connecting a USB cable to the camera, which we did while transferring files to the computer. I used four different video viewers on the our computer to watch the videos, and all showed the clips with no problem. Settled on VLC Media Player to access slow motion and other features.
There are so many attachment options included in the box that I can't imagine you won't be able to mount it any where you wanted. I used the frame with bottom and top threaded sockets to mount it to a regular camera tripod, and it worked great. The camera is so tiny that I've taken to putting it back into its waterproof case for additional protection before stowing it in the camera bag.
A couple notes: We installed the Akaso DV app on a Samsung Galaxy S5 cellphone. It worked almost perfectly, although at one point I changed modes at the same time I rotated the phone, and that, or some gremlin, locked up the app tight with a black screen. Force-stopped the app and restarted it, and had no further problems. The app itself is great, giving you the ability to start and stop the camera from a distance via a wi-fi connection, (be sure to disconnect the phone from any other wi-fi networks first), and actually see what the camera is recording live. While recording, the camera flashes a little red light on the top of the camera, but it's not visible from anywhere but right above the camera. This means that when using the remote, if you don't keep careful track of your button pushes, you may stop a recording already in progress when you meant to start one. The phone app shows you what the camera is doing, but running the wi-fi on the camera shortens the battery life somewhat, according to the manual. In the mode we were using, 1080p @ 30fps, the video was using about 106mb/minute. Unless my math is off, that means a 64gb card will store close to ten hours of high-quality video. One gotcha is that if you do change out the batteries, the camera forgets the date and time and you have to re-enter that if you want to tag your files accordingly, which is a bit of a hassle.
Would I recommend this camera to a friend? Absolutely. Would I buy it again? Only if we lose the little guy, a definite possibility with something so small. I'd better go write our name and phone number on it with a Sharpie right now!
AKASO EK7000 4K30FPS 20MP WiFi Action Camera with EIS Ultra HD Underwater Camera 131FT Waterproof Camera Remote Control 4X Zo
4.3 | 35,210 ratings
Price: 69.99
Last update: 12-23-2024
About this item
4K Ultra HD action camera: Professional 4K30Fps & 2.7K30Fps video with 20MP photos at up to 30 frames per second for incredible photos, which is 4 times the resolution of traditional HD cameras.
Smooth Stabilization: Built-in Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) delivers steady and smooth videos. It can enable excellent footage even you or the object is in fast-moving.
131 Feet waterproof camera: AKASO EK7000 is designed to withstand extreme environments, together with durable waterproof case. With the accessories, transform it for indoor and outdoor activities.
Wireless wrist remote control sports camera: With a wrist 2.4G remote, you can capture the world in an all-new way. Controlling the camera, framing shots or recording video is convenient. (THE REMOTE IS NOT WATERPROOF)
Built-in Wi-Fi & HDMI, edit & share your action in minutes: Just download App(AKASO GO) on your phone or tablet and connect with this action camera. Wi-Fi signal ranges up to 10 meters.
Smooth Stabilization: Built-in Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) delivers steady and smooth videos. It can enable excellent footage even you or the object is in fast-moving.
131 Feet waterproof camera: AKASO EK7000 is designed to withstand extreme environments, together with durable waterproof case. With the accessories, transform it for indoor and outdoor activities.
Wireless wrist remote control sports camera: With a wrist 2.4G remote, you can capture the world in an all-new way. Controlling the camera, framing shots or recording video is convenient. (THE REMOTE IS NOT WATERPROOF)
Built-in Wi-Fi & HDMI, edit & share your action in minutes: Just download App(AKASO GO) on your phone or tablet and connect with this action camera. Wi-Fi signal ranges up to 10 meters.
Product information
| Product Dimensions | 0.9 x 2 x 1.5 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 1.43 ounces |
| ASIN | B01HGM33HG |
| Item model number | EK7000 |
| Batteries | 2 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Customer Reviews |
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars
34,413 ratings
4.3 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #488 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics) #1 in Sports & Action Video Cameras #1 in Underwater Photography Cameras |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | June 23, 2016 |
| Manufacturer | AKASO |
| Language | English |
Top reviews from the United States
K. Reed
See it, you'll be a believer
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2019chris lafoy
Great product
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2024
Aisling D.
Excellent value for the price, and competitive with other sports cameras
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2019Ted Larsen
Maybe Closer to 4.5 Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2024Sandy Johnson
AKASO EK7000
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2024
Sandy Johnson
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2024
Images in this review
S. Hansen
Nice Price But The Video Quality, Not So Much
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2024