Who doesn’t like to go on an adventure every once in a while? Climbing mountains, crossing rivers & Adventures like Off roading with dirt bikes surely fills us up with an adrenaline rush. It would be even more fun if we would be able to capture all these thrilling moments of our journey and show it to our family, friends and the world. Frankly, normal camera’s won’t be able to sustain in those harsh situations, nor they come with mounting accessories for different situations.
So this specially made sports action cameras are catching up a lot of attention since past few years, that can sustain climbing, jumping, surfing and even underwater situations, and can record every bit of action in high definition.
The STK Explorer action camera is one such device forged for the adventurous souls, and let’s find out if it fits our expectations in our following review.
STK Explorer Action Camera Review
Build & Design
The STK Explorer action camera has a rugged and compact design which is necessary to survive extreme conditions. It comes with a waterproof, hard shell transparent case in which the camera can rest and capture our adventure. It comes with tens of different types of mounts that are suitable for providing solid grip be it on a bike, car, cycle, surfing board or your body.
Specifications
STK Explorer action camera is capable of recording 1080p Full HD videos. It’s waterproof case makes it possible to record underwater footage up to 30m. It has a 12MP camera with 170-degree wide-angle lens and perfect focus. The camera can be connected to smartphones via WiFi using mobile app which is available for iOS and Android.
The generic app has little to no option except major recording, photo capturing and little tweaks with white balance. You can play recorded videos or see photos even on the tiny screen of the camera as well as its app. The App could have been much better, if STK has made it themselves, and fine-tune the features and customization of video recording.
You can use your smartphone as a viewfinder to watch recorded videos and live streams from the camera. Your smartphone can also act as a remote control for you to start/stop recording videos and click pictures. It has a 9,000 mAh battery which will last you for a really long trip.
Performance
First of all, like most cheaper versions of all sports cameras, Explorer has fish-eye like output, that is clearly visible in the small work area. If you go out, it doesn’t pop up as much, because it can take more surroundings in a viewfinder, but don’t expect it to use for any indoor activities in general.
The Wi-Fi connection is quite easy to make, but you have to disable any other Wi-Fi you are using already. Once you connect, you can setup your view, and disconnect the app from the camera, so you can freely go out. The Wi-Fi range works good about 20 feets, and the camera to app connection works flawlessly.
The footage outdoor is quite stable, and moving the camera faster doesn’t create heavy motion blurs. Mounting guides are provided in the manual, that are mostly pictorial and hard to follow, as there is no naming to accessories. It took me about an hour finding right accessories to create a combo for the bike mount, and at the end, the I realized, it’s not a perfect way to do so.
The footage looks great in 1080P 60FPS (Check Our YouTube Youtube Video) , and you can create slow-motion in 720P up to 60FPS. This is where this lacks from the sports cameras like the Go Pro, as the newer versions offer the video recording in 4K and slow motion twice as much of Explorer. Note that they cost much higher and accessories are not provided free like with the Explorer.
Photos are not very great, even if it promised 12MP, it’s just the resolution, with very low pixel density. Yet, you can take photos in action adventure, which you would not dare to do with your compact cameras.
I have used a generic Chinese Go Pro rip-off devices before, and STK Explorer camera is a slightly better version of that, with high-quality packaging, good hard shell carries case and better quality in general. I did not get the chance to try this underwater, but if you are going out on biking trips very often, you won’t find a decent camera like this under a strict budget.
Verdict
Price at about Rs. 12,499 in India, what you get is a really good camera coupled with 19 complete accessories. Its compact case and the capability of recording underwater makes it very appealing. With Full HD video recording and a 170-degree wide angle lens makes it quite a great package for the cost. So, if you are an adventurer and want to show the world what you do, then the STK Explorer action camera is just for you.
So, if you are an adventurer and want to show the world what you do, then the STK Explorer camera is a great first device in the world of sports videography for you.