SJCAM SJ7 Star Review - Action Cam with native 4K!

Foreword: SJCAM SJ7 Star - "Reach for the Stars"

When it comes to cheap action cams from China, "SJCAM" is one of the best-known manufacturers. The company gained notoriety primarily through the box office hit "SJCAM SJ4000", an action cam that is considered the origin of the GoPro clones and has even been copied many times. With the appearance of the successor models of the SJ5000 and SJ M series, it became quiet about the manufacturer. Due to the steadily growing and changing market, the hype about the good and cheap SJCAM action cams faded. With the SJCAM SJ7 Star, the manufacturer is now daring to look ahead again and is trying to keep up with the competition with a functional hardware configuration.

First impression of the SJCAM SJ7 Star

Scope of delivery and accessories

The scope of delivery for the SJCAM SJ7 Star is generous. The Action Cam is delivered including a waterproof housing, numerous brackets and adhesive pads, a cleaning cloth, a lens cover, a Mini-B USB cable, an additional cover for the waterproof housing, a battery and a user manual.

The additional housing cover, which can alternatively be attached to the waterproof housing, is extremely interesting. This cover is equipped with a resistive surface, which means that the Action Cam can also be inserted into the housing and operated via the touchscreen. The fact that the manufacturer only includes a single battery is the norm these days, but it's still a shame. Batteries of the older models are no longer compatible due to changes in size.

Additional and separately available accessories for the SJCAM SJ7 Star are special lens filters, a lavalier microphone, a wristwatch-like remote control and a transport case. All accessories can be obtained from the manufacturer's official shop.

Design and workmanship

 The design and workmanship of the SJ7 Star are right. The 60 x 41 x 24.7 mm action cam consists of a matt black plastic front that houses the lens, the power button, another setting button and two status LEDs in between.

The housing frame of the 74g Action Cam is instead made of brushed aluminum, which gives the Action Cam an extremely high-quality look. The release button is located on the top of the housing frame. The connection options are all located on one of the sides of the housing. These amount to a Mini-B USB socket, a Micro-HDMI socket and a Micro-SD memory card slot. The criticism here is that all sockets are exposed and are not protected by any cover or rubber caps. It is also questionable why SJCAM opted for the outdated Mini-B USB connection. A USB-C, or at least a micro-USB socket, would have been much more appropriate.

As expected, the battery compartment is located on the underside of the case and is opened using a folding mechanism. There is no way to connect a tripod directly to the camera due to the lack of a tripod thread. Finally, the SJ7 Star has a 2-inch LCD touch display on the back. There are two more status LEDs to the left of the display.

Display and touch screen

An action cam without a display is hard to imagine today. Neither does an action cam without a touchscreen. In line with the market, the SJCAM SJ7 Star is also equipped with a 2-inch LCD touch display on the back. The display resolution is 320 x 240 pixels, which corresponds to a point density of 200 PPI.

The display primarily impresses with its extremely high display brightness, which makes it easy to read even in strong light. Due to the high display brightness, however, the contrast is also rather modest. The color representation looks extremely pale. The touchscreen was convincing. All swipe and touch gestures are recognized without any problems. If you want to use the touchscreen through the waterproof housing, an additional housing cover with a resistive surface is included, as already mentioned. In spite of the waterproof housing, the Action Cam can be operated without any problems. An extensive operation purely via the physical control buttons is also possible as an alternative.

Hardware

The hardware of the SJ7 Star amounts to an Ambarella A12S75 image processor and a 12 megapixel Sony IMX117 image sensor. An identical hardware combination of image processor and image sensor is also included in the  ThiEYE T5e  as the  Hawkeye Firefly 8S  to find. The Sony IMX 117 image sensor was already used in the GoPro HERO 4 Black. The Action Cam also offers a WiFi module, which enables remote control via app or remote.

Commissioning and user interface

According to SJCAM, the Action Cam can be guaranteed to be used with any 32GB Micro-SDHC memory card. Micro-SDXC memory cards with memory sizes of 64GB and 128GB are also supported, but compatibility problems may arise depending on the type and manufacturer. The one we used in the test  Samsung EVO Plus Micro SDXC  with a memory size of 64GB was recognized without any problems. A memory card with a UHS-4 interface is recommended for high-resolution 3K video recordings. 

The commissioning does not differ from other action cams. Insert memory card and battery, switch on SJ7 Star and start filming. The user interface is available in several languages ​​including German.

The user interface is clearly structured. After switching on you are on the start screen. This provides information on the recording mode, recording resolution, WiFi, battery, date and time as well as the remaining recording time, both at the top and at the bottom. A quick selection opens by swiping from top to bottom. This can be used to switch to the photo and video gallery, connect the SJCAM Remote and switch the WiFi on or off. A swipe from bottom to top opens the selection of the individual recording modes. You can switch between video and photo mode with a swipe to the side. The speed of the menu navigation is acceptable, but does not come close to one YI 4K + or GoPro Hero 5. 

Here is an overview of all recording modes and setting options.

shooting

The SJCAM SJ7 Star offers a total of 6 recording modes. Here is an overview:

• Photo mode
• Photo Timer (Delayed Recording)
• Burst mode (multiple recording)
• video mode
• Time-Lapse Video (Time Lapse Recording)
• Time-lapse photo (time-lapse shot with photos)

Settings

The settings menu is divided into two categories. There is a sub-item for each "Shooting Mode" and "General Settings". Here is an overview of the settings options:

video mode

• Resolution - 4K @ 30 / 25 | 2160p @ 30 | 2.7K @ 30 | 2.5K @ 60 / 30 | 1440p @ 60 / 30 | 1080 @ 120 / 60 / 30 | 960p @ 120 / 60 / 30 | 720 @ 240 / 120 / 60 / 30
• Video quality - Normal / Fine / Super Fine
• FOV - Near / Middle / Far
• Slow Motion
• Auto Low Light - On / Off
• Gyro Sensor - On / Off
• Detection - Off / Low / Medium / High
• Duplicate File - On / Off
• Video Timestamp - Date / Time / Date and Time
• Timelapse Video - 1 / 2 / 5 / 10 / 30 / 60 seconds
• Loop recording - Off / 1 / 2 / 3 / 5 minutes
• Car DV - On / Off
• Microphone Volume - Off / 50% / 60% / 70% / 80% / 90% / 100%
• Sharpness - Gentle / Normal / Strong
• Auto White Balance - Auto / Glowing / D4000 / D5000 / Daylight / Cloudy / D9000 / D10000 / Flash / Fluorescent / Water / Outdoor
• Exposure - +2 to -2 in 0.3 steps
• ISO - Automatic | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1600
• Metering Mode (Measurement for Exposure) - Multi | Center | commercial

Photo mode

• Resolution - 16MP | 14MP | 12MP | 8.3MP | 5MP | 3MP
• Photo quality - Normal / Fine / Super Fine
• Shutter speed - Off | 1 / 30 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 60 seconds
• Photo Timestamp - Date / Time / Date and Time
• Self-timer - 2 / 3 / 5 / 10 / 30 / 60 seconds
• Burst - 3P / 5P / 10P second
• Timelapse Photo - 3 / 5 / 10 / 30 / 60 seconds
• Sharpness - Gentle / Normal / Strong
• Auto White Balance - Auto / Glowing / D4000 / D5000 / Daylight / Cloudy / D9000 / D10000 / Flash / Fluorescent / Water / Outdoor
• Exposure - +2 to -2 in 0.3 steps
• ISO - Automatic | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1600
• Metering Mode (Measurement for Exposure) - Multi | Center | commercial

General Settings

• Quick Capture - On / Off
• Delay Off
• FPV - On / Off
• TV mode - NTSC / PAL
• Refresh Rate - Auto / 50 / 60 Hz
• Image Rotation - On / Off
• Watermark - On / Off
• Auto Shutdown - Off / 3 / 5 / 10 minutes
• Display Off - Off / 30S / 1 / 3 / 5 minutes
• Status LED - Off / 1 / 2 / 3
• WiFI LED - On / Off
• Sound - On / Off
• Date
• Time of day
• Date format - Y / M / D | D / M / Y | M / D / Y
• Language
• WiFi - On / Off | SSID | password
• format
• default settings
• firmware

"SJCAM Zone" App

The remote control of the SJ7 Star can be done either via the wristwatch-like remote control or via the "SJCAM Zone" app. The app is free and can be downloaded from the Google PlayStore or Apple AppStore for the respective mobile device. The connection between the Action Cam and the mobile device is established via WiFi. The SJ7 Star sets up its own 2.4 GHz WLAN for this purpose.

The app offers the same options that can be done directly via the camera. In addition to live image output, it is also possible to access the inserted memory card via a gallery and transfer recordings, but also share them directly on social media. The app also offers its own video and photo editor. All recording and camera settings can also be made remotely via the SJCAM Zone app.

 Establishing the connection was not a problem in the test. The stability of the connection is not objectionable. However, individual image artifacts can occur. The delay in signal transmission is around 2 seconds, depending on the stability of the connection. The data transfer speed when accessing the SD memory card is average.

recording quality

Video quality of the SJCAM SJ7 Star

In terms of hardware, the SJCAM SJ7 Star is well positioned, even if it cannot quite keep up with the current market leaders from Sony, GoPro or YI Technology. The combination of the Ambarella A12S75 image processor and Sony IMX117 image sensor allows the Action Cam to record videos natively in 4K at 30 frames per second. The recording format is MP4, encoded in H.264.

The video quality hardly differs from the one we tested just a few months ago  ThiEYE T5e . Video recordings impress with their pleasant sharpness, a high level of detail and natural color reproduction. However, the sound recording quality is not convincing. It is recorded in mono with a 128 kBit / s bit rate and a sampling rate of 48 kHz. Even without a waterproof housing, the sound recorded by the Action Cam's microphone is hardly usable. The sound is captured too quietly and is hardly understandable due to the strong background noise. If you record the sound again via the SJCAM Lavalier microphone, you get one of the best sound recording qualities that an action cam has to offer.

An additional feature of the SJ7 Star is the electronic image stabilization (EIS). However, this is only available up to a resolution of 1080p at 60 frames per second. The image stabilization delivers acceptable results.

 Sound recording without waterproof housing 

 Sound recording with waterproof housing 

 Sound recording with SJCAM lavalier microphone 

Photo quality of the SJCAM SJ7 Star

The maximum resolution for photos is interpolated 16 megapixels. The native maximum resolution of the image sensor is 12 megapixels. The photo quality is convincing, like the video quality, with a high level of detail and good color rendering. Despite the many setting options for exposure, white balance or ISO, the photo mode lacks the ability to digitally correct the curvature of the lens.

Battery

The capacity of the battery is 1000 mAh. The battery life measured in the test, with a resolution of 4K, was 60 minutes. If you also activate WiFi, the runtime is reduced to around 45 minutes. The recording time at 1080p is around 75 minutes. The charging time is heavily dependent on the charger. If you charge the battery directly via the Action Cam, the charging time is just under 3 hours. With the help of a special battery charger, the charging time can be reduced to about 1 ½ hours.