Akaso Brave 7 LE Action Cam: Close To GoPro Quality For Much Less

When you think of action cameras, you automatically think of GoPro and now maybe DJI. However, they aren’t the only ones out on the market. Today, we’re talking about the latest from Akaso w/ their Brave 7 LE. This gives you a 20MPcamera, 4K video@30fps, dual displays, and a host of accessories included in a package that’s less than half of what GoPro charges for their latest Hero camera. So after a few weeks w/ it, let’s see if the overall quality is great, good enough, or what you pay for.

The Brave 7 LE comes in a small, plastic but sturdy build. You got 2 doors (one for microSD card/battery and another for micro HDMI/micro USB ports) that sit flush w/ the design. Both of the doors can be accessed via pressing down on a button while sliding open. The body itself is IPX7 so it can handle up to 3.3ft for 30 mins. If you need more than that, it’s included waterproof housing can get you up to 131ft.

The dual displays are a good thing to have here. The only thing worth noting is that you have long-press the M button to switch between the front + rear displays before hitting record. The 2inch display on the rear is good as it is responsive & good enough quality to view photos/video playback. The 1.5inch display on the front is on the smaller side but good enough to frame your shot or vlog.

20MP Sony sensor
4K video @30fps + 1080p@60fps
EIS (electronic image stabilization) on a 6-axis gyroscope
dual displays (a 1.5inch on front + a 2inch touchscreen rear)
micro-HDMI + micro USB
IPX7 dust-water-resistant body before adding the waterproof case
2 x 1350 mAh batteries
Remote control
waterproof housing
multi-functional mounting kits

Akaso pulls off good 4K video but there is a noticeable crop w/ image stabilization on though.

Being an action cam it’s really all about its video capabilities. Akaso gave this thing the options of 4K@30fps/2.7K@up to 60fps/1080p@up to 120fps/720p@up to 240fps. The image quality you get from it is actually pretty good. It offers a good amount of detail, good colors however on the warmer side of things, and details can be a tab bit oversharpened. The audio quality is OK as well – even w/ a wind reduction feature. I would have loved an option to add a sort of mic on here though.

It does well at 4K & 1080p@30fps, however, anything outside of that isn’t as great. Also in low-light, shows off the Brave 7 LE’s limitations as well. The image stabilization here is fine but not at the level of what GoPro is doing w/ their HyperSmooth. Keep in mind that there is a noticeable crop present w/it turned on as well.

You can choose your angle via Settings from Narrow, Medium, Wide, & Super-Wide. All while having a 3x digital zoom present. You got a Diving mode (compensates for the lack of red light + to be used in tropical/blue waters) and a Driving mode (allows you to keep recording while your car is on when plugged in the car charger). There are even options of White Balance from Auto to Daylight to Shade to Tungsten to White lighting as well.

As far as its performance, I didn’t come across any lag in everyday navigation. With things like going through the menus, switching modes between photos/videos, syncing it w/ my iPhone, recording/stopping and such. Not lighting fast but not ridiculously slow either – a nice in-between.

The 1350 mAh battery lasted for about an hour using it continuously in 4K. You can go up to 1 hour & a half in 1080p and up to 3x times that when recording in 720p. Shooting every here and there, I got about a little over a week on a single charge. Pretty good along w/ the fact Akaso gives you 2 of these in the box. I spent about 85% of the time using it for video and the other 15% on photos BTW.

There are limitations on the Brave 7 LE but the value might be worth it for you - depending on your need.

Akaso gives you a great budget option w/ plenty of accessories to get started with. The only accessory you would need to buy is a car mount – which the GoPro one workes w/ the Brave 7 LE BTW. It’s a little of getting a good value and getting what you pay for so it all really depends on the video quality you need. You get pretty good video quality along w/ photos to go along w/ it. Great battery life and plenty of accessories to get you started for a much more affordable package than the competition. The price tag of $140 is way more appealing than the $379 GoPro is charging.