Here at Gearflogger we've traditionally had a ho-hum attitude towards action cams like the eponymous GoPro. We don't generally feel the need to revisit or share our outdoor experiences, but clearly there are plenty of people who do. Lately we've been wondering if we're missing something, so when we saw there was a new kid on the block in the form of the OmiCam we decided to give it a try.
We'll give you the tl;dr up front: the OmiCam has some exciting new technology and captures beautiful video with good image stabilization at a reasonable price point, but the learning curve is steep and the support could use some support. The good news is that the OmiCam records 4K video at 30fps, has good battery life and decent image stabilization, achieved with clever software rather than external gimbal hardware. It also has a wide-angle 240 degree lens that performs some neat tricks, like allowing you to rotate the camera while maintaining a level field of view, while still being smart enough to switch the orientation when you flip the camera from vertical to horizontal.
Another plus is that the OmiCam comes with a belt/webbing clip for vertical use, a stand for VR-style applications, and a GoPro compatible quick-release mount as well. The OmiCam is water-resistant with a rubber door over the micro SD card and micro USB slots, and it has a standard camera screw mount on the bottom. Recording options include stills and a LifeLog mode where it records a 5sec video clip every 3 minutes. Video takes up about 100MB/minute, and you can connect via wifi to download the Omi Studio app to view, edit and change quite a few of the camera settings. You can then choose to process and download in various resolutions. Audio capture is adequate if not great.
The hardware could use some tweaking. Specifically, inserting a micro SD card can be done the wrong way, resulting in a stuck card that takes some doing to unstick. The card is a little difficult to insert or remove if you have normal size fingers. If you unwittingly insert an incompatible card, e.g. too slow as in a class 2 card like we did, you get two blinking green lights that aren't in the Quick Instruction booklet that's included with the camera. When you visit the support page, it's not well-organized and mixes Chinese and English language. After a bit of digital spelunking we eventually were able to sort things out.
All in all the OmiCam is some really interesting technology, and the end result is captivating video of your adventures that will show well at the highest 4K resolution of today's consumer screens. If you're willing to put up with some quirks in the hardware and invest some time - and patience - in navigating the software and support section of the website, you'll get quite a bit for your money.
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