The Chinese technology company Xiaomi has just announced a new Action Camera that is poised to challenge GoPro as the defacto standard of compact, portable action cameras.
Xiaomi, known for selling cheap smartphones in China, has launched the Yi Action Camera for 399 CNY (around $64 USD) which is a fraction of the price of the entry level GoPro HERO camera that retails at $130. The specs of the Yi seem to out-class those offered by the HERO:
- 1080p at 60FPS for the Yi / 30FPS for the HERO
- 16-megapixel still photos for the Yi / 5-megapixel shots for the HERO
- 64GB max storage for the Yi / 32GB for the HERO
- 72g weight for the Yi / 111g for the HERO
For divers the important news is the Yi can go to 40m / 131ft underwater which is the same as the HERO. A notable difference is that the Yi will not ship with any cases or rigging, that only being available on the $80 ‘travel edition’ that also includes a “selfie stick”.
The important caveat here is the Yi Action Camera is limited to China, where is can be bought via the Mi.com store, and it is likely that is will never officially be available outside China given Xiaomi’s history but it certainly will give GoPro pause for thought.
