This Action Camera Was Meant to be Great: Akaso Brave 4 Elite Review
Akaso Brave 4 Elite is the most tech speced action camera of 2023, it can shoot 4K 60FPS and comes at a great price. Initially, I was very excited about the new action camera, but then I remember the previous model, which apparently had superb hardware, but it totally failed to deliver in terms of image quality, user experience, and quality updates. But still, I have high hopes that the action camera will be able to deliver the goodies.
So, here is the thorough review of Akaso Brave 4 Elite with all the detailed explanation that matters the most.
Let’s Inspect
Summary
Pros
- Affordable pricing
- Bunch of useful accessories
- Easy to use menu
Cons
- Deceiving 4K 60FPS video
- Low-quality software and hardware
- Bad electronic image stabilization
- Basic Smartphone app
- No standard charging cable.
Akaso Brave 4 Elite – Price
Akaso Brave 4 Elite comes at a tempting price of 189$ which is quite great considering the steep prices of new 2023 action camera models. The dual-screen action cam is almost half the price of GoPro Hero 11 and not too far from Insta 360 One RS and DJI Osmo Action 3. In fact, I have also seen DJI selling Osmo Action 2 pretty much at the same price as Brave 4 Elite. So, the competition is high let’s see how does it stands out.
Akaso Brave 4 Elite – Unboxing
Unboxing has been rather fun; reminded me of the old packaging of GoPro action cameras. Opening the box was easy, but taking the camera off the mount was some work despite clear instructions; it took me a couple of minutes. But let’s just assume it was my fault.
The rest of the box has all kinds of accessories, including a camera frame, waterproof housing, charging cable, quick start guide, 7 kinds of mounts, filters, remote control, spanner, USB cable, tethers, bandages, and double-sided tapes. So, there are a bunch of accessories that will surely prove to be quite useful.
Appearance and Build Quality
Out of the box, the Akaso Brave 4 Elite feels quite cheap in hand; the plastic feels low-quality. The appearance is quite generic color screens on both sides along with the necessary lens and a couple of buttons on top. But one thing that is fairly different and unexpected is there is no slot for the battery and memory. It’s built into the system so you cannot extend the storage or change the battery when needed, which is a big drawback.
Moreover, the overheating will eventually affect the battery and will tune down the performance, and there will be no way to exchange the battery. Despite the camera being sealed from all four sides, it’s not waterproof you will need a separate case to use it underwaters.
Akaso Brave 4 Elite – Tech Specs
- Image Sensor: IMX 383
- Chipset: Sunplus iCatch V39
- Resolution: up to 4K 60 FPS
- Battery: 1650mAh
- Display: Dual Color Screens
- Smartphone App: Akaso Go App
- Storage: 64GB Built-in
Akaso Brave 4 Elite – Performance
The specs might look tempting but don’t get lured because 4K 60FPS is more like a delusion. It is a low-end feature where the video is likely shot in 1080p or 2.7K and then upscaled to 4K 60FPS. An easy explanation will be it shoots the video in Full HD and then export it in 4K 60FPS. Which is not a good thing by the company.
In my opinion, Akaso Brave 4 Elite is nothing better than the old Akaso V50X in terms of image quality which is a shame. Doesn’t matter whether it is 4K or 1080p. The video is oversaturated and often distorted. The low-light footage is the only thing that is like other action cameras because none of them are good at it.
It also has a slow-motion mode but it looks quite bad when compared to the other action cameras in the market.
Electronic image stabilization is also below par as it relies on shutter speed and doesn’t has optical stabilization. So, the darker the surroundings get, the higher the speed will be, which will increase the ISO and will produce a grainy video with a lot of noise. So, you cannot use it to shoot action videos.
The battery performance is satisfactory. It can last up to an hour. But the charging cable is something that’s not good. It is a custom cable which, if you lost it, is quite hard to find in standard stores.
User Experience & Connectivity
The menu of the camera is very familiar. If you have used old GoPro, Instat360, and DJI cameras with Sunplus chipsets, then you must have used this before. It’s fine but it doesn’t try to do advanced things with
the menu. You can make basic camera adjustments, change resolutions, FPS, date and time settings, image stabilization (it doesn’t work together with image distortion), and much more.
Moreover, connecting the wire unlocks some extra features like using it as a webcam, file transfers, etc.
Akaso Go Smartphone App
Akaso Go is the official app for Akaso Brave 4 Elite. It is nice with a bunch of cool features. The thing that I like is 2.4GHz file transfer via Wi-Fi which is pretty good. Other than that, it’s a very generic smartphone app that can help you control the camera.
Drawbacks
- Bad Video Quality
- Deceiving 4K 60FPS
- Non-Removable and Non-Upgradable Battery and Storage
- No external mic supports
- Ineffective Electronic image stabilization
- Cheap housing
- Basic Smartphone App
Conclusion
Before making any decision, the 5-year-old Akaso v50X is almost as good as the twice-expensive 2023 Akaso Brave 4 Elite. Moreover, considering the old GoPro models also cost around 190$, I don’t think that Brave 4 Elite is a camera I can recommend to anyone. It could have been a good option if it was priced at 120$. Moreover, its non-removable battery, non-upgradable storage, and cheap build quality make it completely useless.
