Original Yi Action Camera - Still Relevant in 2017?
I received my Yi Action Camera over two years ago, when it was still a hot new product. (Thanks to Mi Singapore) Two years in, Yi Technology is still selling it at S$119 a la carte. If you purchase the selfie stick and waterproof casing, that goes up to around S$200.
That is actually really close to the original pricing, if not exactly the original pricing. Is it still worth that much? Should you even be paying any attention to it? In this article, we will be revisiting the original Yi Action Camera and take a look at what has changed in these 2 years.
Design & Build Quality - Well Built, But Lacks Modern Features
Even without the optional waterproof case, the Yi Action Camera is pretty though on its own. I have dropped it multiple times over the last 2 years and there isn't any obvious damage marks. With the case, I am not afraid of dropping it at all.
The only thing that shows the age of my Yi Action Camera are the stains, which are very visible due to the white plastic body. You can avoid this by picking the two other color options: green (turquoise & lime) and black. I really like the black one.
Unlike the new Yi Lite and Yi 4K/4K+ action cameras, the original Yi Camera does not have a display on the back. Instead, you get access to the battery, as well as the ports. A plastic piece is supposed to be covering the ports, but I lost mine really easily.
The lack of a display means you do not get to see what you are capturing. The camera may have a wide-angle lens, but it would still be nice to know that everything is in the frame. Also, this means that you have very limited control over the camera without your phone.
There are a couple of LED lights around the entire device and they are pretty bright. The one around the power button tells you if it is on/off and the mode. There are three red LED that tell you if you are recording. Lastly, on one side we have a WiFi indicator.
Photos - Great Potential Outdoors
As long as you do not shake it too much, the Yi Action Camera actually takes some really sharp pictures. Colors turn out a bit dull most of the time, but that can be edited with a photo editing app like Google's Snapseed, free on iOS and Android.
Having a wide-angle lens is the best part of the Yi Action Camera. It allows for some really cool selfies, as well as really convenient group photos. And that is what the Yi Action Camera is for. It isn't about taking the best pictures, but rather capturing the fun moment.
The Yi Action Camera tends to struggle in low and artificial lighting, producing photos that are out of focus. At night, photos turn out mostly unusable. For such environment, your phone will probably do a much better job.
Without a display, you have to rely on estimation to frame your shots. Photos turn out blurry and out of focus sometimes, but you will not know unless you connect to the app. Hence, I always take the same shot multiple times, especially in low light.
Videos - Stable Hands Only (Or Use a Tripod)
In my opinion, the biggest disadvantage of getting the original Yi Action Camera over the newer action cameras by Yi Technology is the lack of any form of image stabilization. This means that videos often turn out shaky and blurry.
But as long as it is not moving, the Yi Action Camera takes some pretty neat videos. You can record 480p at 240fps, 720p up to 120fps, 1080p up to 60fps and a weird 2304x1296 resolution at 30fps. Below is a video taken at 1080p 30fps.
Here is a 720p 120fps slow-mo video taken with the Yi Action Camera. The video turned out grainy, unsurprisingly. If you want to record slow motion, do so in a really well lit environment. I was holding the Yi Action Camera when recording this, so it turned out really shaky.
My favorite thing to do with the Yi Action Camera is recording timelapse. On the Yi Action app, you can adjust the interval frames are captured, but the resulting video is now fixed at 60fps. Here are two timelapse I took a while ago, one in great lighting and one in low lighting.
If you are planning to use the original Yi Action Camera for sports like cycling and surfing, forget about it. Without EIS, videos will turn out extremely shaky so consider paying slightly more for the Yi Lite Action Camera (S$219) instead.
What about attaching it to a drone? Although it is pretty light weight, the Yi Action Camera is not ideal for toy drones like the foam ones made by Parrot, preventing it from flying properly. Also, notice how the focus is on the drone and not the surroundings.
App - Cool New Features!
Even though the original Yi Action Camera is so old, it uses the same app as other Yi Action Cameras so it gets "updated" frequently too. A lot has changed in the app since I first used the Yi Action Camera, from a redesign to new editing features.
You can configure your Yi Action Camera from the app, view photos in the camera and use it as a view finder, but I will not be covering those mundane stuff in this article. Instead, we shall take a look at the new photo editing feature, which has some really cool tricks.
On top of the regular filters you find on other photo editing apps, the Yi Action app also has an AI art filter, which makes your photo look like an art piece. (It takes a while to generate) There over 20 art styles to choose from and some of them look really cool.
If you want, you can also add stickers and words to your photos. The stickers are really cute and there are a lot of them, but I wish there was a way to add your own ones. For words, there are six fonts to choose from, but you can only choose between black or white.
If you want to turn your photo into a tiny planet style image, you can also do so from the app. No need to download another app from the app store! You get your usual fine tuning options in the Yi Action app as well. Almost everything you need is here.
You can even import photos from elsewhere and edit them in the Yi Action app. After editing the images, you can either share them on social media or save them. To save them, select "more" and select a cloud storage app like Google Photos.
Editing is a lot more limited for videos. At the moment, you can only trim them, crop to aspect ratio and edit playback speed. I wish that there are filters for videos.
Battery - Overheating, But Relatively Good Battery Life
Recording continuously at 1080p 30fps, the Yi Action Camera lasted approximately 1h 15min. If you are using this to record events, I highly recommend getting spare batteries. But for regular photo taking, this should be enough to get you through more than half a day.
The Yi Action Camera gets a little hot during video recording, especially on the front, but not hot enough to hurt your hands. It is normal for action cameras to heat up during video recording, so no need to worry. This is not a problem when taking photos.
Conclusion - Still Really Fun to Use
Despite all the shortcomings, I will still recommend the Yi Action Camera in 2017. But get it not for serious photography or sports filming; the Yi Lite and Yi 4K will do a much better job. Without any form of stabilization, the original Yi Action Camera isn't meant for action.
Instead, get one to capture your happy moments, moments so precious you should be enjoying them and not worrying about how the photos turn out. As long as you do not use it in low-light conditions, you should get Instagram-worthy photos most of the time.
