Review – It’s been several years since I wore a watch on my wrist, but halfway through last year, I performed some radical gadget conversions.I learned from my beloved Huawei P30 Pro Android smartphone to iPhone 11 Pro Max, and after checking the fitness system that comes with Apple Watch, I quickly fell in love with wearing it smart watch When it has never “stuck” before. I often wonder why Apple did not install a built-in camera in their watch. Well, they don’t have to do this now, because Wristcam has already done the work for them—somewhat. Let’s see.
what is it?
Wristcam is a wearable camera that can be used with Apple Watch to turn the watch’s display into a viewfinder and shutter button/controller.
What’s in the box?
- Wristcam wearable camera
- Dual USB port power adapter
- USB charging cable
- Storage tank
Design and features
Wristcam does not actually modify the Apple Watch itself. It replaces your existing Apple Watch strap and places 2 cameras in the Apple Watch strap. There is a selfie camera and a front camera. The selfie camera is the one shown in the picture above. The Selfie lens can take pictures with a resolution of 1080 x 1440.
The front camera on the side of the strap can take 2880 x 2160 resolution photos/videos.
The bottom of the Wristcam wearable camera strap has the contacts for the dedicated Wristcam charger.
The charger is stuck on the contact by a magnet. When charging, the status LED on the front camera will glow red.
Fit and comfortable
When I first took out the Wristcam Apple Watch wearable camera from the box, I was worried about its fit and comfort. I personally don’t like this type of strap because I find it difficult to wear it with one hand. I like bands with a sports loop style. Having said that, although I still find it awkward to wear a watch, I don’t feel uncomfortable wearing it. Yes, there is a noticeable bulge on the outside of the wrist, but I didn’t find it hindering me.
Wrist application
The Wristcam application is easy to understand and navigate.
The video is captured in 720p or 1080p, and the aspect ratio of the two cameras can be set to 1:1, 4:3, or 16:9.
You can also set Siri shortcuts through the app for easy voice control, as well as view and share captured images and videos.
Take pictures and videos with Wristcam
The use of the Wristcam Apple Watch wearable camera is very simple. You charge it, connect it to your Apple Watch by replacing the strap with Wristcam, install the app on your phone and connect to Wristcam so that it can install the app on the Apple Watch, and then take pictures and videos.
You can capture images by pressing a physical button on the strap, pressing a button on the Apple Watch display, or using Siri voice commands. I personally do not recommend using the physical buttons on the Wristcam strap. It is difficult to find with your fingers, pressing may cause you to move your wrist, and since the camera lens is also on your wrist, there is a high possibility of capturing blurred or bad images. It’s easier to press the buttons on the display, but the best hands-free way to capture images or videos is to use Siri commands. The only problem with using Siri is that there may be a slight delay between when you say the command and when you actually take the image or start the video capture.
Let’s take a look at some image and video examples.
Let’s start with some comparisons between my iPhone 12 Pro Max and Wrist cam. When you click on the image to view the larger image, you will immediately notice that the image quality of Wristcam is not as good as the iPhone image. It is blurry and the colors are not so bright.
The Wristcam photo gallery shown above (click to view the full-size image) was taken from indoor LED lights (My Cat), windowless shops, retail stores with fluorescent ceiling lights, and outdoors under various lighting conditions on sunny days. Like the first photo, these photos are not clear. They are fuzzy and grainy.
Then there is the selfie camera. I really don’t like trying to take pictures of myself with the Wristcam Apple Watch camera. Trying to position Wristcam as a likable selfie is very embarrassing.
Let’s switch to the video example.
If you watch the video above, you will notice that in the first clip using the iPhone, you can hear the water in the creek and the chirping of the birds, and the Wristcam clip, except for my shoes creaking, I’m right. Walking. Speaking of walking, that clip made me look a little disgusting because it was so jerky. Wristcam does need some image stabilization features.
what do I like
- Take videos and images without carrying an iPhone
What will i change
- Improve the microphone
- Add image stabilization
- Improve image quality
- Lower the price
Final thoughts
I wanted to like the Wristcam Apple Watch camera, but in the end, the image and video quality did not surprise me enough to justify the $300 price tag. I found that I would rather take out my phone to take a quick photo or capture some real-time video instead of using a camera connected to my strap, because it is awkward to tie the camera to my wrist to compose the image/video. In its current state, I think Wristcam is more like a novelty product than an important camera accessory for Apple Watch. I like the idea of it, but I think it needs improvement before I can recommend it.
price: $299.00
Where to buy: wristband with Amazon
source: The sample for this review is wristband.
