Bandit camera takes on GoPro
BLAYNE SLABBERT tests out the new entry to the action camera market.
It’s a brave company that takes on an incumbent as dominant as GoPro. TomTom, which is better known for its navigation gadgets, thinks it can carve out part of the action camera market.
The TomTom Bandit ($620) faces stiff competition from GoPro, along with other smaller players such as Panasonic and Sony.
The two things I liked best about the Bandit was its shape and ease of use.
FUNCTION OVER FORM
It’s not that good looking, but the design is very functional.
The oblong shape is really nice to hold and if you do a lot of handheld recording, it has a nice heft that makes it easy to wield.
It’s almost twice the size of the new GoPro Hero 4 Session, so you can’t mount it in tight spots. However, it’s easy to attach to a helmet or handlebar and you can buy a GoPro adapter so you can use that company’s mounts.
I liked how it was easy to use. It has two buttons, one to start recording and the other to stop.
Once turned on, you use a fourway button to navigate and select options.
It feels old-school compared to the touchscreens on some GoPros, but it works fine.
VIDEO QUALITY
The footage I took when skiing was nice and crisp, and, for the most part, it captured nice colours. However, I was a bit disappointed with the blue tinge it gave to snow.
When used elsewhere it was great. It has plenty of choice for video modes and has what I think are the two most important – 1080p at 60fps for being able to slow down the action – and 2.7k at 30fps for high-quality video at normal speed.
It does have 4k at 15fps (same as the Hero4 Silver) as well as several other options.
For those who like taking photos, it can take 16 megapixel images, compared with the 12MP of the Hero4 Silver.
FEATURES
One of the biggest selling points of the Bandit is the ability to edit footage on the go via the app.
The app also has a feature that can automatically edit a short movie. This works at a very basic level and is good if you are in a rush but if you are fussy about your edits then you’ll want to do it yourself.
These features are intended to give it an edge over GoPros, but that company has now introduced on-the-go editing for its touchscreen models.
VERDICT
It’s a good camera, but I don’t think it has enough tricks to put it ahead of the various GoPro options.
The Bandit is also priced similarly to its competitors which means it’s tackling them head on, which is a tough challenge.
However, it is a good device and worth looking at if you are considering buying an action camera and don’t fancy any of the GoPro options.