Review – While top-notch cell phone cameras are replacing traditional film or digital cameras for more people every year, there’s still one market they can’t replace: action cameras. Despite what the market suggests, I don’t think most reasonable people would take their brand new iPhone or Samsung flagship phone snorkeling or strap it to a helmet or bike for trail footage. There are many good options on the market, such as GoPro and DJI action cameras, but many of them are very expensive. AKASO has historically made action cameras with similar specifications to the latest well-known brands, but at a lower price.For example, I previously reviewed AKASO Brave 6 Plus Action camera, reviewed by my colleague James AKASO Brave 7 Action CameraWith the Brave 8 action camera, AKASO’s spec sheet looks very similar to the big boy, and its market price is about half of the current competing models. However, my experience over the past few weeks is that this requires some trade-offs.
What is it?
AKASO Brave 8 action camera is weather resistant action camera, designed to capture your outdoor adventures while strapped to a vehicle, body part or helmet, or used in a gimbal or even mounted on a drone. It includes hardware to mount the camera, a physical remote, a small front-facing selfie screen, and a healthy spec sheet, including 8k time-lapse and 4k video capture.
What’s in this box?
- maybe brave 8 action camera
- camera frame
- Remote control + strap
- 2 x Removable Batteries
- 2-slot battery charger
- Handlebar/Stem Mount
- 7 different mounts
- 2 helmet holders
- 4 x “Bandages” (straps)
- USB-A to C cable
- 5 x Tether
- 2 x Double Sided Tape
- lens cleaning cloth
- Quick Start Guide
Hardware Specifications
- Weight with battery: 114.8 g (4 oz)
- Dimensions: 63 x 36.5 x 44 mm (2.48 x 1.44 x 1.73 in)
- Camera Sensor: 1/2″ CMOS
- Camera Effective Pixels: 48 megapixels
- Lens: 16mm f/2.5 equivalent
- Video format: H.264 / H.265
- Batteries: 1550 mAh each (2 included)
- Slow motion speed (2x – 16x)
- Memory Card Support: Micro SD, U3 recommended, max 512 GB
- Waterproof: Up to 33 feet (10 meters)
- Supported video modes: NTSC/PAL, 16:9 / 4:3 (native), 4k, 2.7k, 1440p, 1080p
- Digital Crop Modes: Ultra Wide (Native), Wide, Portrait Perspective, Narrow
- Metering mode: AI face metering, center average, full light, spot metering
- Video recording frame rate: 4K 30 FPS to 1080P 200 FPS
- Data connection: USB-C (for charging, data transfer and PC camera mode)
Design and Features
The AKASO Brave 8 action camera is very similar to its predecessors as well as competitors’ products. Still, it looks like a newer, more premium device, especially compared to the previous model I reviewed:
I love matte greys and blacks with a red trim aesthetic. Switching to a fully waterproof body without the need for an extra case is also very welcome (the included frame facilitates installation while still giving access to the buttons and touchscreen).
This USB and micro-SD slot compartment is on one side, making it difficult to open and use (more on that later)
Battery charger, batteries and remote control. I like the remote, and in some cases, instead of having to mash the buttons on the camera itself, being able to start/stop recording and even view information on the screen is very useful. The battery charger can charge two of the included batteries at a time via a USB-C connection (cable included, but wall plug not included). This can be plugged into almost any computer or AC adapter for charging.
On the back is a large (for its size) touchscreen, multifunction power/display button, and start/stop recording button.
On the front is the camera lens (the lens cap is removable and replaceable, which I really like, nasty scratches don’t permanently ruin future videos). The selfie screen is also handy, and you can use it to frame selfie videos (but it’s not a touchscreen, and you’ll have to switch the display back to the back to change any settings).
No complaints here, the battery compartment works as expected.
AKASO offers a beautiful set of accessories for the AKASO Brave 8, including a handlebar/bar holder, 2 helmet mounts and various other options. They also have accessory packs for sale if your adventure requires other options.
installation and setup
After charging the battery, I started the setup. I had my first problem with a Samsung U3 class Micro SD card inserted. The camera frame/housing has a cutout designed to let you into the SD/USB compartment, but it doesn’t open at all. The frame covers the edge of the compartment by about half a millimeter, and I needed to sand off a fair amount of plastic to get it to actually open. This means that every time I want to plug in a USB or get an SD card (either of which is needed to get videos and photos from the device), I have to scrape off part of the frame or remove it.
Once I have an SD card, there are a few setup screens that I’m shooting right:
The only language choices are English and Chinese.
When the camera is connected to a computer via USB, you can choose to operate as a USB storage, PC camera, or charging mode. I like that you can charge it this way instead of always removing the battery, and that’s how I transfer files as the SD card is impossible to get out without tweezers because the gap around the SD slot is tight.
Next, I try to use the AKASO application. I installed the app on both my Samsung Android phone and iPhone 13 by following their QR code on the quick start guide. Both have issues and the connection to the camera is poor. Ratings/reviews on both app stores reflect this issue, and this seems to be an area AKASO needs to improve.
On the last screen you can see what I see every time on all devices: there should be a preview of the spinning wheel and some untranslated Chinese elements. Each menu function either times out or loads an empty menu list and keeps disconnecting from the camera. I filed a bug report and a support ticket, and while AKASO support was fairly responsive (they fixed the camera’s full lockup with a simple test file that magically restored functionality), it never resolved the app. I’ll update my review in the future if I make progress on this, it would be nice to be able to transfer media directly from the camera to the phone, as well as preview and control settings from the app.
Performance
The first thing I tried on the AKASO Brave 8 was the battery drain test, and at 4k it nearly made the quoted 90 minutes from a full charge: 82 minutes drain. Next, I attached it to my helmet with a zip tie (I don’t trust the double-sided tape that came with it. The tape looks sticky and strong, but with long-term use I wouldn’t trust even the strongest tape on a zip tie ). Here’s a video with and without image stabilization, as well as the motion time-lapse feature:
I am happy with the resulting footage. Image stabilization could have been better, and I couldn’t see a difference with it on or off. The mic is well protected from wind, I was driving at 20+ MPH and it sounded fine to me except for some windy audio. The motion delay function works better than expected, and when I tested the delay on the Brave 6 plus, the results were not nearly as smooth. It seems that AKASO has improved the software for handling time-lapse photography, which is worth a look.
I’d like to use this device as a second webcam for my Twitch Beat Saber streamer, but it doesn’t have great image quality even though my office is fairly bright. It also doesn’t seem to be able to charge and operate as a webcam at the same time, and the battery drained while testing. The image below shows the webcam mode compared to my usual webcam:
Stills are nothing special (the screenshot above is a good proxy for stills performance), they’re fine on a clear day, but you’ll get better images on any phone made in the past few years . The LCD screen on the device itself is clear and bright enough for sunny days. The touchscreen is also responsive, and I had no issues missing taps or swipes.
what do I like
- Inexpensive performance
- Includes good accessories like various stands and extra batteries
what would i change
- App sucks and needs work to be useful
- The SD card slot is still hard to access and doesn’t open at all in the frame case
final thoughts
Although the price of the action camera seems high, when I did some market research it seemed to be quite competitive with the latest models from other companies. I’m looking forward to capturing more outdoor adventures with the AKASO Brave 8 action cameras, but I hope they’ll solve any issues I’m having with the companion app in the future.
Price: $279.99
where to buy: Akaso and Amazon soon.
resource: Samples for this review are provided by Akaso
