Blackview Hero 1: A cheap GoPro alternative

These kinds of action cameras, like the Blackview Hero 1 are beneficial also for everyday activities as well as for outdoor sports. As they are very lightweight, they can be suitable for installing on a quadcopter for capturing amazing aerial videos and photos.

Everything started with GoPro cameras which were the first to have very good image quality and enough lightweight to be lifted with quadcopters. Recently, many clones for these cameras were launched that surprisingly have medium to high image quality keeping approximately the same dimensions and weight. One of these clones is the Blackview Hero1 action camera which has 2K resolution and a Wi-Fi connection.

I received this model action camera two days ago from Banggood, and I plan to test it on my vacation by the Black Sea, where I’m leaving tonight. As I’m traveling by car between beautiful mountains and country landscapes, I was thinking of starting the testing by mounting it behind the windshield. In all my, before vacation, I used to carry with me my heavy DSLR Camera together with few lenses, and it was a pain in the ass. This time, I decided to go light and leave my photo backpack at home and just put this Blackview Hero 1 action camera in my pocket.

Blackview Hero 1 camera review

At first glance, everything on this camera is high quality, from the package to the accessories. The only negative thing that I found was the instruction manual that was very summery. After using it for 10 minutes, I realized that I do not need a user manual for the Blackview Hero1 because it is extremely easy to use with a suggestive menu system.

The camera has only 4 buttons, a power ON/OFF button on the front – near the lens, two buttons (up/down) on the opposite side of the connectors, and a shutter button on the top of the camera.

To prevent accidentally turning ON the WI-FI connection, which will drain even faster the camera’s battery, first, you have to put it in a Wi-Fi pre-state mode, and only then you can truly enable the Wi-Fi connection.

Before pairing your smartphone with the camera, you must download the “LinkInEyes” app according to your OS type (Android or iOS).

The pairing process has a few easy steps:

• long pressing of the “shutter” button until the Wi-Fi icon with a red cross will be displayed on the LCD screen;
• long pressing of the “up” button until the Wi-Fi icon is shown normal green on the LCD;
• enabling the wifi connection on the smartphone and looking for the “amba_boss” network;
• when you are asked for the pre-shared key, enter “0123456789”;
• You are done with the pairing process, now you can start the previously installed “LinkInEyes” app and access your action camera.

The camera has three working modes: video, photo, and playback. switch between these modes can be made by long-pressing the “up” button. The camera’s default mode is video mode at 1080p/60fps, but you can switch the resolution anytime between 2304*1296, 1920*1080 or 1280*720p. Higher resolution means better image quality and much bigger file size; for example, 1 minute of 1080p/60fps video has around 120MBytes.

I’m planning to use this camera not just during sports activities but also I want to install it on the Syma X8W quadcopter that I ordered it last week. Hopefully, the quadcopter will have enough lifting power to carry the 71g camera and allow me to make some aerial videos.

I had the chance to choose between the Blackview Hero 1 and Hero 2, but I preferred the Hero1 because is uses a better Ambarella imaging unit and a Sony CMOS image sensor. The only advantage of the Hero2 is the wireless bracelet with a small LCD screen that serves as a remote controller.

After I return from my trip, as I promised, I will add some sample videos and photos made with the Blackview Hero 1 camera.

Blackview Hero 1 features and specs

• Ambarella A7LS75 700 MHz ARM SoC;
• Internal 2GB memory;
• micro SD slot for up to 64GB memory cards, recommended Class 10 or above;
• 2″ high-definition color LCD with 960 x 240 pixels;
• Image sensor: 16MP Sony CMOS;
• Lens specs: 7G 170degree ultra wide-angle, high resolution, FNo=2.4, TTL=23mm;
• Image resolutions: up to 16MP (4608 x 3456) with JPEG image compression;
• Video resolutions: 2K 2304*1296/30fps, Full HD 1920*1080/60fps or 30fps and HD 1280*720p 60fps or 30fps;
• Video code: H264 – MPEG-4 ACC (part 10) (avc1);
• Auto white balance and sensitive mode;
• Micro HDMI video out;
• AV-out via micro USB port for FPV flights;
• Built-in microphone and buzzer speaker;
• Connectivity: Wireless Wi-Fi and USB;
• Up to 30m waterproofing case;
• 3.7V 1,050mAh Li-ion Battery;
• Size: 6 x 4 x 3 cm;
• Weight: 71g with battery and without a waterproof case;

The Blackview Hero1 is now in a good promotion, with 27% off, and can be ordered for only $116.99 on BG’s website. Usually, when I order a new product, I always search for the spare parts I might need in the feature. For the Blackview Hero1 I (aka DV800A) I found it very useful to order one spare battery, lens cap, and USB AV-out cable that is required to connect the camera to the quadcopter’s FPV system.

Blackview Hero1 package includes:

• 2K sports action camera with 30m waterproof case
• Genuine BlackView 1050mAh battery;
• 2000mAh 5v battery charger;
• USB data and charging cable;
• 2pcs of 3M adhesive tape;
• Cleaning wipe;
• 4pcs of ribbon;
• Wire rope;
• 5pcs of camera mounting accessories;
• 2pcs of helmet base;
• 2pcs of Velcro tapes;
• Camera belt mount adapter;
• Bicycle mount;
• Fixed camera base;
• Camera tripod adapter;
• Blackview Hero1 instruction manual.

After almost a month of usage, I found some minor bugs that hopefully will be solved with the latest Blackview Hero 1 firmware.