Yi 4K - The best action camera ever?
Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 3:02PM In July 2015 I bought the Sony 4K action camera, immediately took it on holiday and shot some footage with the intention of using this in a review. When I returned I decided that I couldn't assemble a proper review as I neither had a 4K TV or a way to edit my 4K footage.
A few months later iMovie was updated to include 4K editing abilities and a couple of months later I bought a 4K TV. So now with all these pieces in place I could finally make that review, the only problem was that I felt that technology had already moved on. Whilst the Sony could record in 4K, everything else about the camera seemed old, compared to even the cheapest budget action HD cameras that I'd reviewed since. It was sluggish to operate, had an old over-complicated operating system, ran hot and would eat through a battery in under an hour. I had plenty of other fun things to look at instead, so again it went back on the shelf.
Fast-forward to a couple of months ago when Yi offer to send me a pre-production version of their new 4K action camera. I was a little reluctant to try a 4K action cam review again, but since I was already shooting most of my video reviews in 4K and I'd had a good experience with the original Yi camera, I decided it was time to give it a go, and I'm very glad I did. The Yi 4K action camera shows how quickly technology can advance in a year. Xiaoyi claim the Yi 4K is the 'Best Action Camera Ever' - and I can't disagree. Whilst there may be a contender out there somewhere, I know that I haven't used a more capable action camera.
In the video below you'll see a demonstration of many of the features of the Yi 4K, presented in 4K, I hope you enjoy it.
If you want to download sample clips - Click Here (please don't try to stream the clips - these have to be downloaded to be viewed in 4K)
If you want to buy the Yi 4K Action Camera please bear in mind that this is a fully tricked out 4K camera - not a budget model and the prices reflect that. Also it's still early days so there aren't many suppliers, your best bet if you aren't in the UK or US is probably to get one from AliExpress - The affliliated links are below.
Purchasing
Reader Comments (36)
If you are looking for samples to download, files straight from the camera, untouched.
Go to "dashcamtalk" site and the forums, there are links there with files from the camera
that you can download. The camera is as good as the gopro hero 4 black but with
a better price, and EIS which is a must on a modern action camera.
Tricked out is a colloquialism that means that it has everything on it - all the bells and whistles, the whole nine yards. This is a good thing. You should watch the video - it will tell you more about the camera than the paragraph under it.
Mat,
I did watched to the end. English is not my mother-tongue so I probably miss out some joke of yours at the end (cartoon).
In fact it is not a cheap camera from China, when you add up other accessories then it is almost catch up with GoPro. I am not a GoPro fan anyway.
thanks for answer me .
:)
HI
Thanks for this detail review for Yi 4K action camera.
We just want to let you know we have official list our Yi products in amazon european marketplace. Could you please change the link in "where to buy" part? We don't want people to get the chinese version anymore, because that won't work when leaving china.
Here is our official link for yi 4k action camera:
Germany:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01JIGYSCM
Italy:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01JZ3DXCO
United Kingdom:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01IVQGOOA
Spain:
https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01JZAFDOI
France:
https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01JZ7IJ2E
also here is our official stores link:
Germany:
www.amazon.de/gp/shops/A2JAUC835NRI9P
France:
www.amazon.fr/gp/shops/A2JAUC835NRI9P
Spain:
www.amazon.es/gp/shops/A2JAUC835NRI9P
United Kingdom:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/shops/A2JAUC835NRI9P
Italy:
www.amazon.it/gp/shops/A2JAUC835NRI9P
You can find others Yi device from our official store.
Thanks for changing.
Amazon YI Europe Sales Team
Thank you for another great review.
Does this camera have an option to put the camera into a narrow angle mode like you can with the Git2?
With the Git2 you can narrow the field of vision to 120 degrees.
Is that Palma Cathedral in the background at 13:58?
Hi i have just got a DDpai M6+plus dash cam problem is when i put SD Card class 10 32 GB in my Pc windows 7 64 bit and use quick time and windows Medin player i keep getting video play back error also on my i phone 5 i get play back video play error on video that being downloaded to my Ph. Can you help please.
Did you notice the warning message that comes on screen in the app that states only resolutions up to 1080p can be shown on an iPhone?
As far as your PC goes - update your codecs with the K-lite codec pack.
Hi there.
Since you have reviewed both the YI 4K action camera and the GitUp Git2 action camera, which do you think is the better purchase overall? I'm not interested in taking action shots with it (or even filming 4K) or even using it as a dashcam (don't have a car anyway, just a bike). I intend to use it for making animations by using the video out as a large viewfinder via my PC and capturing high resolution frames on the micro SD card to later edit and put together.
I have watched both reviews, but it's still hard to decide as I need something that would work as an all-rounder and allow me to manually set every setting available. The imaging sensor of the YI 4K I've read is meant to be better in low light than the Git2's, but the Git2 has more accessories available including that cool remote (the YI 4K's Bluetooth one seems pretty lackluster compared to it). Another thing that has me worried is how reliable it is. From what I've read about GitUp is that they seem to really listen to their users and update the firmware fairly often.
After reading some Amazon reviews for the YI 4K action camera, I'm worried I might get a lemon, but I don't know if it's worth waiting for them to iron out any bugs still remaining. Could you give me an idea of which is worth the purchase in your eyes? The Git2's price is swaying me (unless the YI 4K's price drops), but I might have buyer's remorse if the sensor in the YI 4K is really a great deal better and it overall has more control over photos. I also plan to change the lens as well and I've read you can do that with both (though it's a bit tricky with the YI 4K, I think). Hope to hear from you when you have time available. :)
P.S: The reason I'm going for an action camera is simply because the image quality is better than a webcam. What's more is that it has no mechanical shutter to wear out compared to a DSLR (it's cheaper too) and it's small enough for my animation sets.
I honestly couldn't make this decision for you. In my opinion they are both great cameras that perform very well. If you really can't decide between them it might just be time to flip a coin...whichever way it lands you can't lose.