These days an action camera’s app is almost as important as the camera itself. At launch the Olfi One.five did feature a working app, but as I mentioned in the Olfi review the app was limited, in as far as it would only enable you to start and stop recording or switch to taking photo’s.
However as apps go it was clean and crisp, but way down the list when it camera to actual functionality.
Major update for the Olfi One.five mobile app
On the 30th of November the new Olfi One.five app was launched and it has made a huge difference to the usability of the already excellent camera.
Once downloaded you can then connect to the app by pushing the up navigation button on the one.five, then go to your mobile device and select the Olfi from the list of Wifi enabled devices.
Now start the app and you get the m
ain screen that enables you to connect to the camera, flick through footage you’ve shot, checkout the latest news, or pop along to the Olfi shop.
Using the app to connect to the camera is almost instant with the live view appearing across the middle of the screen. The delay between real time and the screen is about a second.
As we’ve come to expect with these apps flipping the mobile to landscape orientation forces the screen maximise its size and gives a good large live view.
Tapping the shutter button on screen starts the camera recording and it’s nice to see that after the spinning graphic that highlights that the recording process has started the live view pops backup.
Although you’d think having live view active during recording would be a common feature its surprising how many cameras still freeze or blank out the screen.
Testing out the Wifi signal strength I managed a distance of about 5m any further than this and the image did start to break and the signal became weak and dropped. In terms of other action cameras this distance is about average.
On the live view screen as well as seeing what your recording you also have direct access to many of the cameras settings, but as is quite common these options are slightly limited when it comes to resolution and frame rate. Selecting the General settings and video size you can quickly select between 1080p 60 or 30fps or 720p 120 or 60fps, really these are all you need when it comes to really using the camera. Options for the 4K however are not available through the app.
On the home page there are a few other direct settings that you can adjust, including HDR which increases the shadows and highlights captured, Gyro that stabilises the footage and time-lapse.
The Gyro option works exceptionally well, and the difference between footage shot with and without is markedly different. Even though the stabilisation is all carried out electronically in camera if you’re careful with your movement then there is very little in it between this electronic stabiliser and a mechanical version.
Across the bottom of the screen are the quick swipe shooting mode selections. Here you have Photo, Video or Time-Lapse. Once selected the button below quickly enables you to start and stop recording, take stills or shoot a time-lapse.
Leaving the shooting section of the app and going to the Gallery again the connection speed is quick, but it does take a couple of seconds for the icon thumbnails of the video and stills to appear.
The latest update of the app makes a difference to the overall usability of the Olfi One.five and as a direct result pushes up the overall review score from 80% to 85%…
For the full review of the Olfi One.five check out:
Olfi one.five – A new wave of action camera – Review – Part 1
The Olfi one.five in use – Part 2
Olfi one.five – Verdict – Part 3