Hands-On Test
We have been using the camera in Igor's laboratory for about two months – but with a lot of use. For example, we document the dismantling of graphics cards so that no errors are made during later assembly, or use its time-shift mode to support projects with one or two frames per second during long-term tests. document or/or monitor. The wide-angle lens is relatively bright and still works with moderate lighting in the interior.
We recorded the following video intentionally in a slightly damped light, because it reveals what we consider to be the only error of automatic exposure correction. When recording in slow motion, 720p mode becomes active at 240 frames per second. However, this mode leads to visible underexposure in low light, as can be clearly seen in the video.
All other modes work almost perfectly and the customization does what it should. In the case of exterior shots, this is no longer important after a certain brightness. The rather low image noise can be well enjoyed, if you have brightened the somewhat too dark clips with suitable software.
The countless videos of the Xiaomi community show that this camera can do more than just keep it for laboratory games and the security needs of forgetful editors, which show what self-acting potential is actually dormant in this camera.
Extreme wide-angle lenses quickly lead to ugly edge distortions – and no one really likes optical frog-eye soup. Here, the camera manages very well to compensate for many errors, especially in the image center, and to correct them in real time before saving in such a way that a later post-processing becomes almost superfluous. However, this option, which can only be activated manually, also has a price, because the battery life decreases by about 10 to 15 percent (4K) when the correction is activated.
Wi-Fi, live stream and app
The camera supports the 5 GHz band, which makes it much faster, because the built-in Broadcom chip creates a significantly better transmission rate.
This even makes the camera live-streaming, which can be tested quite well with Facebook, as the Facebook live stream is directly supported. The right app for Android (approx. 33 MByte) ran relatively stable and fast, but here too it is sure to push the language boundaries of many German users. It is a pity that no native German support is offered.
By the way, we like to use the function of serving as a Wi-Fi hotspot and being able to be addressed as such in the laboratory, if we have to leave the test room for a longer time. In the adjoining room you can then monitor almost everything perfectly, because the large angle allows to capture all relavant areas well.
However, the transmitting power is not as high as with the router, so that you quickly reach ranges, especially with the 5 GHz band. Outdoors, however, up to 30 meters and more are not an issue, but we have not yet tested the maximum distance to the disconnection.
Battery and charging times
With a battery charge on 4K video recordings, you can achieve at least 100 minutes more and thus at least 40 minutes more than the GoPro Hero4 can.
We used various sources to charge, with the USB 2.0 port on the notebook being the slowest with two hours. A Samsung charger from the Galaxy S7 makes the upslaught in almost 40 minutes, which you can accept, as a real quick-release function is unfortunately not supported.
Here we would have liked to have spent 20 euros more and expected a suitable power supply. But there are also second batteries for long-distance filmmakers, which can be "pushed" if necessary.
An important word for import
The problem with imports from the Far East is usually customs clearance and other fees, as parcel services such as DHL like to declare automatically without consultation and interpret the costs first. However, this has nothing to do with Mother Theresa, as DHL charges a whopping service fee of almost 12 euros.
At least Gearbest has found a kind of loophole for this by using other European countries with lower tax rates or tax rates. other import regulations are in fact used as "intermediate storage". While it was the Netherlands and, above all, the United Kingdom, after Brexit, they switched quite quickly and built up another suitable counterpart in the Czech Republic.
Depending on the department store location in the system (e.g. for this action cam "Hong Kong 2") you then have to click "Standard Shipping" (as with the YI 4K) and depending on the product it costs only a small amount or is free of charge.
Behind this lies what Gearbest himself calls "Germany Express" or "Germany Direct Express". This reduces the shipping time to a maximum of 15 working days, saves import VAT and other customs costs.
Similar to DHL Express, Gearbest's logistics company cooperates with the respective national customs and only pays a flat rate, which is not possible in bureaucratic Germany. You can also find out more about this on the relevant Gearbest page, which explains everything in detail and also contains important updates on what can be delivered (keyword tracking, etc.).
Conclusion
For a price of around 200 euros or with a little luck even significantly less, the Xiaomi YI 4K makes almost everything right and nothing really wrong. Except for the lap with the slight underexposure in slow motion mode, we have not actually noticed anything disadvantageous.
The app has even updated the cam firmware, which went via Wi-Fi transmission over time. As a handy lightweight, the camera can inspire anew every day and has proven itself perfectly even in misappropriated applications.
Online shops are also learning, so the options of suppliers such as Gearbest to send their goods for a small fee via intra-European "tax havens" are to be welcomed. This does not make oneanother a criminal offence, but it leads all customs activities in Germany to a certain extent ad absurdum.
After all, it is no secret that almost all hardware importers and branch offices of international manufacturers operate their own warehouses in other European countries, only to avoid the high German import duties on direct imports. Here, the customer only does in small things what the established companies have been doing successfully for years: practically saving costs.
All in all: thumbs up for the Xiaomi YI 4K.
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