AKASO Brave 7 LE vs GoPro Hero 7/8 vs something else for my use-cases?

[SlugLife]

I'd like to get a small dive camcorder. GoPro seems like a natural choice, however I've also been blowing a lot of money on scuba-equipment and classes lately, and to be honest, probably don't need anything special.

I only really want it for diving purposes. The main use-cases are (1) scuba skill review, recording full dives or videos of myself practicing skills (2) recording treasure-finds in murky water & maybe sharing footage with friends.

While I might occasionally travel somewhere interesting, I wouldn't be getting into underwater photography any time soon. While I can afford any GoPro + accessories, I'm thinking if I had a reason to get a nice camera, I'd be better off saving money and getting something better (~$1k range).

I'd need at minimum the (1) camera, (2) underwater housing, and (3) 2x batteries. Here are my notes:

• GoPro Hero 8 Black ~$350 total
  • $300 Cam + 1x Batt (1220mah?) + Remote https://www.amazon.com/GoPro-HERO8-Black-Waterproof-Stabilization/dp/B08Q74FWNN
  • $300 Cam + 1x Batt (1220mah?) + 64 memory https://www.amazon.com/GoPro-Waterproof-Action-Camera-Accessory/dp/B07Y13ZWQQ
  • $50 housing, $30 Ebay
  • $19 Battery 1220 mah https://www.amazon.com/GoPro-Rechargeable-Battery-HERO8-Black/dp/B07WWYQG4S
  • $37 3x Offbrand Battery 1500 mah + charger https://www.amazon.com/Artman-Replacement-Batteries-3-Channel-Compatible/dp/B0836YW97C
• * GoPro Hero 7 Black ~$260 total
  • $260 Cam + Housing + 2x battery https://www.amazon.com/GoPro-HERO7-Battery-Housing-Commerce/dp/B091FZQMJ9
  • Housing $15
  • Cons: Complains about battery-life & occasional freezing (unfixable underwater)
  • $19 Battery
• AKASO Brave 7 LE ~$140 total
  • $140 Cam + Housing + 2x 1350mah Batt https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B3MFDQL
  • $17 2x extra batteries & charger
  • Pros: Cheap, Built-in red filter, good scuba reviews
  • Cons: China Brand, Possibly fake reviews, Audio Quality (irrelevant), Requires case to mount (irrelevant), slightly less-good stabilization.

I'm leaning towards the Akaso Brave 7 LE at this time. Akaso has some cheaper ones, around $90 which seem workable, but I think I'd be constantly wishing I had slightly upgraded.

 

[apenland01]

I can't speak to the GoPro's, but I have the Brave and like it for my fishing video needs. It has good video quality for the money, but poor audio unless you are in very close proximity to the camera. I have not used it underwater, but if you use the housing, it should be great for video, without audio....

 

[sunnyboy]

I've been through 4 different go-pro clones before I finally splurged and bought an 'official' gopro (the hero 8). The difference in video quality is well worth the difference in price, IMO.

 

[apenland01]

I've been through 4 different go-pro clones before I finally splurged and bought an 'official' gopro (the hero 8). The difference in video quality is well worth the difference in price, IMO.

Unless you specifically used the Akaso Brave, the "go-pro clone" statement is irrelevant in terms of video quality, since every camera is different. The Brave has excellent video quality for the money. The image stabilization on a boat is quite good.

The Brave is half the price of a Hero 7 and a third the price of a Hero 8. The nice thing of the Akaso is that they will offer discounted or free accessories packs after you buy it and it's often stuff you would use, like a selfie stick, tripod and other nifty stuff.....

 

[SlugLife]

I ordered one of the Asako Brave-7's, just need to figure out mounting now. I'll mostly be diving side-mount & prefer hands free. So maybe shoulder, chest, head-mount, or upper back-plate mount.

I too have read/see the video quality is pretty decent on the Asako. Maybe not audio-quality, but that's not a huge deal.

As a side-note, I found a water-logged GoPro Hero 8 black while scuba-diving at ~60ft. 98% chance this thing is junk, but I'll open it up, throw it in some silica-gel for about 60 days and see what happens.

 

[apenland01]

When Akaso sends an email offering an accessory pack with extra battery, selfie stick and other stuff, take them up on the offer. You'll get the stuff in about a week and it's nice to have an extra battery pack for free....

 

[Johnoly]

. Akaso has some cheaper ones, around $90.....

I'm a big fan of the Akaso V50X at $79 and I dove it to 121ft deep and the buttons worked perfectly. Remember that 90% of your video users will be looking at your footage on a phone screen so keep it simple. (let alone the long 4K CPU processing time).

Want to see my 2 minute underwater footage last week from the V50X camera at the ScubaBoard Jupiter Gathering???

 

[AbyssTek]

 

[SlugLife]

The Asako brave I bought died. Then I got a Go Pro used off scubaboard.