There are typically three brands that you think of when you think of the Action Camera: GoPro, Insta360 and DJI, and virtually everyone else who steps foot in the market gets dismissed in one “other” category. XTU, the brand that has created doorbell cameras and trail cameras for the outdoor sportsman, have introduced their action cam, the XTU S7 Pro Action Camera, in the hopes that it can enter the conversation.
In the box, you get the XTU S7 Pro Action Camera, the battery, a USB-C cable and a magnetic quick-release mount with the standard action camera mounting standards. The camera is built well enough. It doesn’t feel quite as solid as the bigger names, but feels solid enough that you don’t feel like you are going to break it. I don’t care for the power button being on top, next to the shutter button, as it feels like an easy way to miss moments by hitting the wrong button.
Where the design of the XTU S7 Pro Action Camera lacks is in something like the rubber door that covers the USB-C port, which fell off the first time I opened it and never properly stayed in place. This door isn’t meant to make the camera waterproof, however. It does require a special case to be able to take the camera in the water, something that the other cameras have done away with. The mic is also weirdly designed, with just two tiny pinholes taking in the sound, rather than some sort of open, screened conduit.
The XTU S7 Pro Action Camera has dual displays, with a 2.29” rear display and a 1.4” front display for vloggers. It has no internal storage, so it requires an SD card to get started, and it can house a microSD card up to 512GB. They claim up to 200 minutes of battery life on the camera, but the conditions used to make that claim are unknown to me. It’s likely shooting at the lowest settings, so think closer to 150 minutes at highest resolutions.
The XTU S7 Pro Action Camera comes equipped with a 1/2” Sony CMOS sensor, smaller than any of the competition, but not much smaller than the GoPro Hero series. The camera is capable of taking 48MP photos and can shoot at up to 4K/50fps in NTSC or PAL. The S7 Pro has a 152-degree field of view and has its Super EIS 5.0 stabilization with horizon correction.
The UI in the XTU S7 Pro Action Camera looks reminiscent of the other brands, swiping from the sides, top and bottom to access different menus, but I found the UI to be incredibly clunky. It doesn’t move smoothly as you try to navigate the menu. As you swipe through options, it would just accept that as a click on a setting, so I spent more time than I cared for undoing what was accidentally done.
“The XTU S7 Pro Action Camera comes equipped with a 1/2” Sony CMOS sensor, smaller than any of the competition, but not much smaller than the GoPro Hero series.”
The image quality on the XTU S7 Pro Action Camera was generally fine in daylight. It doesn’t have the dynamic range to not wash out parts of the photo on a bright day, and the colours were a bit duller than they appeared in photos I took with other cameras on the same day. The smaller sensor was revealing itself here.
The quality of the video was a little bit more of a problem. Outside of ideal lighting conditions, there was a lot of noise in the image. The image stabilization did its job, though. What was worse was that the bulk of my videos only captured the first second of what I recorded, despite the camera indicating that it was recording for the duration. This was a memory card that I have used in other action cameras with no issue, but you never know with these things. A new card gave me better results, but test the recording before shooting for real.
Processing photos and videos was an arduously long process, with videos taking as much as 20 seconds to process (even the ones that only gave me a second of footage. The XTU S7 Pro Action Camera’s responsiveness was a problem across the board, however. Trying to turn it off resulted in the camera freezing about 10% of the time.
The audio was fairly weak for anyone who was hoping to vlog without a mic, but they do offer an external mic that connects to the camera that would likely make that a better experience. The mic is sold separately, but connects wirelessly to the XTU S7 Pro Action Camera.
At $109.99, the XTU S7 Pro Action Camera is a great budget option on paper if you don’t want to opt for the pricier competition, but I found the reliability to be such an issue that I would gladly spend a bit extra on maybe an older version of any of the competing cameras and have a much more dependable piece of equipment. The XTU S7 Pro had potential, and I can’t say for certain that the problems I experienced would be consistent across all cameras, but the ok-at-best quality regardless of those problems makes it a camera I can’t recommend.
- 【Super 5.0 Stabilization for Ultra Smooth Video】The upgraded Super 5.0 stabilization delivers smoother and more stable footage during motorcycle riding, cycling, skiing, hiking, and fast-paced outdoor adventures without heavy shaking.
- 【1/2” 48MP Sensor with AI ISP Imaging】Equipped with a large 1/2” 48MP sensor and advanced AI ISP technology, this 4K action camera captures clearer details, richer colors, and enhanced low-light performance for immersive outdoor shooting.
