GoXtreme snap verdict
GoXtreme has a proven track record when it comes to action cameras with their flagship product, the Black Hawk 4k rivalling the GoPro Hero 4 Black when it was released.
The GoXtreme Vision 4k hits the top end of the budget market and packs in features that will appeal to both beginners and seasons action camera uses.
Following the traditional action camera style and featuring a waterproof housing to protect delicate camera inside the Vision 4k has an instant and comfortable feeling of familiarity.
Design and features are carefully balanced providing crowd pleasing 4K at 24fps alongside more workable resolutions and framerates such as 1080p at 60 or 30fps.
The Vision 4K retail package contains a host of useful accessories that enable you to get straight into capturing the action without the need to fork out more cash for additional mounts.
The specifications and package offer an action camera that looks sure to provide reliable performance at a decent price and quality.
For GoXtreme Vision 4K
- Well priced
- 1080p at 60fps
- Decent LCD
Against Product
- Basic feature set
- Confusing dual app option
- Poor low light performance
Intro
The action camera market is segmenting with the budget end now clearly divided.
There’s a sub £50 bracket of cameras that sail on the back of the genre’s popularity, however, pay a little more and you start to get real robust performance with cameras such as the Vision 4K.
The GoXtreme vision 4K shows the manufacturer has cherry-picked the best features from the previous generation of cameras and refined them from the Vision 4K.
Features
At the top of the feature list is 4K video at 3840 pixels by 2160 with a maximum frame rate of 24 fps, you can also shoot 2.5K, and there’s 1080p at 60fps or 30fps option.
Lower resolutions are quickly disappearing from mid to high-end cameras, but they’re still available at this end of the market, and the Vision 4K features 720p at 120fps.
720p at 120fps is excellent for capturing spectacular slow-motion shots, but then there’s also WVGA, VGA and QVGA if you feel the need – These resolutions are so low that they’re only useful for rough surveillance or dashcam style footage.
As ever alongside the video, you also get 16mp still images, and if that’s too much, then you can always drop it down to 14, 12, 8, or even 3mp although I’m not exactly sure why you would want to.
Audio recording is a course built in and fronting the camera is a standard 170 degrees fixed wide angle lens.
Size and weight measure up well against other action cameras with dimensions of 59 by 41 by 29mm.
Weigh in the waterproof housing, and including the battery and MicroSD card tips the scales at 125g, remove the housing and it’s down to just 64g, that’s pretty much identical to the GoPro Hero 4 Black.
No action camera these days would be seen without a full-colour LCD screen on the back, and the vision 4K features a beautiful large 2.5-inch display.
This screen can be used to compose your shots, make a selection from the options and of course review your footage.
The camera’s power comes from a 1050mAH rechargeable lithium battery, and this can be swapped out and changed for a spare once depleted.
Connection wise the camera features a micro USB, micro HDMI, and course a MicroSD card slot.
While many action cameras are reducing the number of buttons that feature on the exterior, the Vision 4k has four.
The standard power button on the front the shutter button on top and navigation up and down buttons on the side.
For me, one of the significant features that will usually dictate the quality of the camera is the waterproof housing.
The housing is waterproof to 30m which is pretty standard, and on the front, you have an excellent flat, smooth lens that makes it easy to clean, and the whole thing is held closed by a simple lever lock.
Popped the camera out of the housing and you can feel that it’s fit is snug and secure, this should prevent any incase rattling.
Four small circular foam pads adorn the rear door to ensure that the camera stays nice and tight inside. The only feature of this case that highlights its position in the market is that there’s no rubber bung around where camera lens slots into the housings lens cover.
Alongside the video and stills options that are, of course, a variety of other modes and features. These include; motion detection, time-lapse, slow motion and image stabilisation.
As is now commonplace the Vision 4K also features Wi-Fi and therefore app with full compatibility, although here it becomes slightly confusing as there are two app options either OKCAM or Final Cam.
Build quality and handling
Although all those buttons may seem a little dated when it comes to usability they do make it extremely easy to find your way around. Whether that’s to review footage or change the shooting options and the process of navigation follows a tried and tested procedure.
Firstly to power-up you merely hold down the power button on the front and after a couple of seconds the camera boots and is ready to go.
The camera loads as default into the video mode, highlighted with the small video icon in the top left.
As ever when I get an action camera, I like to make sure that the date and time are correct, and that the date and time video overlay is switched off.
To get straight into the camera settings all you need to do is click the power button three times, this cycles through; stills mode, review mode and then the camera settings.
Goxtreme has thought carefully about the layout of the navigation with the resolution being the first option, hitting the power button brings up all the possibilities.
You can’t set the resolution and framerate separately, but there’s a good variety of preset options with the 4K at 24fps topping the quality options all the way down to QVGA at 30fps.
Any camera wanting to be taken seriously in today’s market needs to have 4K at 24fps for scene setting and 1080p at 60fps seconds to capture the action, both of which thankfully the Vision 4K has.
I also like to see an excellent slow motion mode, and although you do need to drop the resolution to 720p, you can capture footage at 120fps. Again an essential baseline feature.
With the resolution set, the navigation buttons on the side of the camera are used to scroll through the options. For example to remove the date stamp; scroll down to the date stamp option and press the shutter button to confirm, then the side button to select off and the shutter button to confirm.
Now I’m ready to hit the road and test out the visual quality and handling of the camera.
Back inside the waterproof housing
I now used to cameras without waterproof housings although having one does just give me that extra reassurance that my camera stays protected from crud.
The case supplied with the Vision 4K is of good quality, and all of the buttons that surround the exterior make good contact with the buttons on the camera.
The shutter and power buttons are of a good size and easy to push with the gloved hand. Likewise, the navigation buttons on the side are equally well sized and again feature a spring-loaded action gives a reassuring amount of resistance when pushed.
On the base of the housing is the standard GoPro style mount, this means that the Vision 4K is fully compatible with all standard action camera mounts.
In use and used off-road when mountain biking the small screen was ideal for composing and also checking that the camera is recording.
When reviewing footage, the screen proved decent enough with a good balanced of saturation, tone and brightness.
Finding my way around the camera was easy enough, but of course, as with all action camera, there is also an app.
OKCAM is used to control the camera, and the layout and robustness of the interface make it extremely straightforward.
Before you can start to use the app you need to connect the camera and mobile device, making this connection is relatively straightforward.
Click on the navigation button, and the Wi-Fi logo on the front of the camera illuminate with a graduated red to blue highlighting that the WiFi is switched on.
The select the Vision 4K Wi-Fi network on your mobile device and enter the password, and you’re connected.
The layout of the app is pretty straightforward with stills camera video, folder and options listed along the bottom of the screen. In the centre is a large preview, flipped the mobile device to landscape and that preview then fills the full screen.
The live view preview has about a second delay, so it is noticeable, but it’s not too much of an issue.
When you’re all set and ready to go, all you need to do is push the big red record button in the middle of the screen, tap again and the camera stops.
If you decide to change resolutions or for that matter any of settings then if your landscape mode all you do is touch the icon which appears on the top right of the preview. Tap and all of the video resolutions are listed, and all you need to do is tap to select.
Tapping the small cog in the top right of the screen takes you into the camera settings, here you’ll find video resolution, microphone options, motion detection and all the other settings.
You’ll also find a few manual features including ISO ranging from 100 up to 400 as well as auto; then there’s sharpness, white balance and most importantly exposure compensation, with a range or +-2 EV.
I’d say that the features of the Vision 4K are base level, as in it offers all the resolution, framerates and modes such as timelapse than any true action camera should offer.
They may be basic in comparison with the latest generation but as long as you can shoot 4K at 24fps, 1080p at 60fps, it features timelapse and has Wifi then you really can’t go wrong.
As yet I haven’t spoken about all of the extra mounts that are included in the package, suffice to say that GoXtreme has selected them with care and not just rammed in everything and anything.
You get an all-important bike, helmet, clip mount, Tripod and monopod adapter, zip ties and a selection of orientation arms all set to get you started.
This once again proves that GoXtreme is working hard to provide their users with reliable camera and system They should give many years of use.
Performance
The Vision 4k has everything that you could want from an entry-level action camera, and once you take it out into the field and put it through its paces you can see the benefits of spending an extra £50. The usability, video quality is all a step-up from the lower budget end.
For the more significant part of the test, I set the camera to film at 1080p at 60 frames per second. This ensures that I’m able to capture smooth footage even when travelling at speed, although it being winter, at speed, didn’t happen.
One downside of shooting at an increased frame rate of 60fps is that the bitrate captured is slightly lower than that captured at 3ofps.
However the benefit is that you capture proper smooth motion with out the slightly jerky movement or image break-up that video can suffer from when shot at the lower frame rates.
At 1080p at 30 frames per second the camera proved it was capable of capturing excellent quality footage with plenty of depth tone and Colour.
Likewise using a 4K at 24 frames per second also produced good quality detail in the video.
Distortion at all resolutions was handled well, and even you though there is a stereotypical fish eye distorted look it isn’t overbearing.
Across the frame, the is sharp and although there was some signs of chromatic aberration in the corners, it was nothing to worry about and comparable with other action cameras.
The overall quality of the camera gave me confidence, so even when the camera was dropped in water and left there for an hour; it only served to prove that waterproof housing with more than up to the job.
Likewise, as it rained throughout most of the test that waterproof housing successfully stopped mud, water and grit from getting into the delicate electronics.
The design of the housing, although of the out dated style, did made it very easy to adjust settings or review footage while in use and there was never the need to remove the housing until safely back home in the dry.
As the case uses features the standard GoPro style mount it was extremely easy to mount the Vision 4K onto my bike and for that matter onto other mounts that I tried.
Although the footage is good at both 1080p 60fps and 30fps, it is possible to see a slight quality increase in the footage at the lower frame rate.
Increase to 4K, and the tone and detail in the image does shine through.
At all resolutions, low light did prove to be an issue, and the clarity, punch and vibrancy of the footage were reduced as the small sensor and processor tried their best to process out a decent image.
This caused some pixelation which is familiar with most action cameras.
However when the sun broke out, on those rare occasions, the footage quickly and improved producing punchy colour and a balanced level of contrast and tone.
I did find that in lower light conditions reducing the sharpness of the footage slightly did improve the image somewhat.
The pixelation was, of course, more apparent when shooting footage on the move and if you just have the camera stationary or you’re just filming your family and friends then shooting at 1080p 30fps or 4K 24 frames per second will produce decent footage.
Verdict
There’s no doubt I like the Vision 4k; it’s a solid no fuss action camera that provides the user with all of the features that they need to capture the action.
You could compare it against the latest batch of action cameras with their touchscreens, voice activation GPS, and motion sensors, but this would detract from the large user base that still just want to capture the action and have fun in an easy to use and straightforward way.
The Vision 4K offers this with a versatile package. The 30m waterproof housing means that it’s great for holidays, you can use it on the beach or go to diving and you know that camera is going to stay safe and secure and protected from the elements.
The button layout is well thought out, and for anyone just joining the action camera world, it doesn’t take too much to get to grips with whats going on.
Using the camera off-road and in muddy conditions does show the limitations of the older design. Those buttons do tend to clog with mud, but the housing is of a high enough quality to keep the majority of dirt out from behind the buttons, so the spring loaded action continues to work.
The size of those buttons is perfectly adequate, and they’re easily pushed with a glove, there’s also just enough resistance to avoid you accidentally knocking them.
The two real winners of the waterproof housing are the beautiful flats lens that means it’s straightforward to clean when it gets caked in mud and the single lever lock at the top. This makes it easy to remove the camera when you need without faffing around with secondary locks or sophisticated locking mechanisms.
A couple of years ago it was unusual to see a decent LCD screen at this price range, but it has to be said that the one that features on the Vision 4K is bright clear and makes it extremely easy to navigate and review your footage.
When it came to performance the camera handled well, and the footage was of a good overall quality.
I did have a few issues with the low light performance, especially in the British winter were inevitably we were going to be hit by dull overcast skies in which conditions light is at a premium.
The camera struggles with the lack of light, and you can see some pixelation and breakup of footage especially when the camera is mounted on a bike and moving at speed – even when you up the frame rate to 60fps.
However when the sun comes out the image quickly enriches giving you good quality footage.
The GoXtreme Vision 4K is an ideal first camera, and I like the fact that GoXtreme has a proper succession of cameras; from the entry-level Pioneer at £50 through to the Black Hawk 4k at closer to £200.
Who should buy the Vision 4K?
The Vision 4K is an entry-level camera, OK there are cheaper cameras out there, but they are not of the quality that I would expect for a true action camera.
The Vision 4K offers an excellent LCD screen on the back a 30m waterproof housing and plenty of extras that will help anyone get started.
If you want a decent action camera that’s not going to cost you a fortune and you’re not going to be using it in low light conditions, then I would highly recommend the GoXtreme Vision 4K.