The Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi is releasing its own Action Cam, which appears within the “MIJIA” product range. In addition to the possibility to record videos natively in 4K, the camera also offers other interesting features, which we will deal with in this article.

Some will now be wondering why the “Xiaomi Mini Camera” should be the first action cam of the manufacturer. After all, in 2015, the first Xiaomi Yi Action Cam captured the market. However, this was a product produced by Yi Technology and marketed exclusively in Asia by Xiaomi. Meanwhile, Yi Technology produces and distributes its products completely independently from Xiaomi. The Xiaomi Action Cam, which is now called “MIJIA”, is thus the first Action Cam, in which Xiaomi itself as a developer participated and at the same time drives away.

Design

The operation is carried out on the back via a 2.4-inch touch screen and a physical operating button on the housing top. Thus the Xiaomi Action Cam uses a larger touchscreen than the current market leaders GoPro Hero5 (2 inches) and Yi 4K + (2.19 inch). There are still no indications for the resolution of the display. The battery has a capacity of 1450 mAh. According to Xiaomi, battery charging is sufficient to record 4K video material for more than 2 hours. With a resolution of 1080p, a recording time of 3 hours should be possible. The camera is charged via micro-USB. The housing dimensions are 71.5 × 42.7 × 29.5 mm. The weight of the Action Cam is 99g.

Image Sensor & Image Processor

Xiaomi sets the MIJIA Action Cam on a very interesting and atypical combination of Sony IMX317 image sensor and an Ambarella A12S75 image processor. The Sony IMX317 is a native in 8-megapixel resolution and 1 / 2.5-inch image sensor, using the Exmor R DOL-HDR technology. DOL-HDR stands for “Digital Overlap High Dynamic Range” And ensures that a shot with the improved interplay between light and dark is produced by different exposure and subsequent processing. Theoretically, this allows better night shots, while at the same time improved color reproduction. The Xiaomi Mini Camera records with a maximum 4K resolution at 30 frames per second. With a resolution of 1080p, even 100 frames per second are possible and up to 720p even up to 200 frames per second. Video recordings are compressed with the H.264 standard and saved in the MP4 format. Images are recorded natively with a maximum of 8-megapixel resolution. The images can be saved as jpeg and raw data format RAW.

Further equipment features are an f / 2.8 aperture, as well as a comparatively low wide angle of 145 degrees. Compared to other action cams, which usually use a 170-degree wide angle, the typical “fisheye effect” should be slightly lower. In addition, it is possible to eliminate the fisheye effect on the soft side by means of a lens correction function. According to Xiaomi, the lens is a high-quality 7-layer glass lens with UV coating and an integrated IR filter.

Image Stabilization, WiFi, & Bluetooth

The image stabilization is electronic (EIS). The Xiaomi MIJIA Action Cam uses a Bosch BMI160 IMU, which consists of a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis acceleration sensor. How accurate the electronic image stabilization works will have to be shown. Remote control lets the camera via an app and via a Bluetooth remote. To control the app, the Xiaomi Mini Camera can be connected to a smartphone or tablet via WiFi. All recording functions, as well as a live image, are available via the app. In addition, recordings can be transferred to the connected device via the app and shared in the social media.

Conclusion

Already from the manufacturer data, it can be seen that the Xiaomi MIJIa Action Cam could be a very interesting sports camera. About the Sony IMX317 image sensor is so far little known, but the Exmor R DOL-HDR technology sounds promising. Added to this is the good Ambarella A12S75 image processor, which has already proved itself in numerous other action cams. Currently, the camera is still in the Presale and is already listed at Gearbest. The current price is about $122.24 With the Coupon Code: GBCE. Delivery will be from mid-September.