SJCAM SJ10 Pro
Until a few years ago, SJCAM was a really big number on the action cam market. Action cams like the SJ4000 were considered a strong GoPro competitor at a low price. Some of SJCAM's products were even viewed in such a way that many fake workshops could not be ignored and copied SJCAM.
With the appearance of Yi Technology and DJI, competition in the action cam market grew. SJCAM could hardly prevail against the market sizes and lost more and more customers despite many new models. It even went so far that last year's SJ9 Series existed, but never went on sale. But let's take a first look at the SJCAM SJ10 Pro.
Marketable packaging
The Action Cam comes in a marketable packaging that contains the SJ10 Pro as well as accessories and an instruction manual. There is no waterproof housing, because the Action Cam is inherently waterproof up to 10m. In order to still be able to attach the SJ10 Pro, a solid frame bracket is part of the accessories.
Not a lightweight
What is immediately noticeable when unpacking is the very high weight of the camera. Much of the case is made of metal. Without the battery, the SJ10 Pro already weighs 100g. If you add the battery, it's a proud 125g. In terms of form factor and structure, the new SJCAM does not differ from other action cams. The dimensions are 65 x 44 x 31 mm.
Display, USB-C and tripod thread
The power button is on the top. There are no other control buttons, because the Action Cam is mainly operated via the 2.33 inch IPS touch display. On the left side, the USB-C socket and the microSD memory card slot are hidden behind a small flap. The underside includes the battery compartment and an adjacent tripod socket. The front does not have an additional display. In addition to the lens, which incidentally resembles that of a DJI Osmo Action, the front has an indicator LED and a microphone.
Sensor technology and processor
In terms of hardware, nothing has changed at SJCAM for two model series. Like the SJ8 and SJ9 series, the Pro model of the SJ10 uses a 12 megapixel Sony IMX377 image sensor and an Ambarella H22 image processor. Although this combination of image sensor and image processor has already proven itself and is also used in a similar form in action cams from YI Technology or GoPro, this hardware that is over 3 years old still tastes somehow warmed up.
Further hardware features are dual-band WiFi (802.11 a / b / g / n), a 6-axis gyroscope for image stabilization and two noise-reducing microphones. The SJ10 Pro records videos in 4K at up to 60 frames per second. Gyro stabilization is available up to 4K30. Recordings can be saved in MP4 format, either coded with H.264 or HEVC (H.265). In order to get your own picture of the recording quality of the SJCAM SJ10 Pro, I will add the first test recordings in the next few days.
User interface and battery
There is also little news regarding the user interface. The structure and design have also not changed since the SJ8 Series. In addition to a classic list style, there is the SJCAM style, which displays the individual functions and settings as an icon. To get an overview of the individual features, I refer to the SJ8 Pro review. The battery has a capacity of 1300 mAh. SJCAM has once again adjusted the form factor so that batteries from older SJ series are not compatible.
New Year New luck?
You might think if you look at the SJ10 Series. Because with the new SJ10 model series, SJCAM is similar to last year's SJ9 series. The product is teasered, pre-series models are sent to testers, but it remains to be seen whether it will ultimately reach the trade. In addition, SJCAM is once again hiding old hardware in a new guise.
As the saying goes? “Only goulash tastes good warmed up!” - You will soon be able to read in the detailed test whether this also applies to the SJCAM SJ10 Pro.
