TomTom Bandit Action Camera

The media could not be loaded. Received this and was immediately impressed with the packaging.I am so used to cheap packaging, and this has a real high quality feel from the start, with the thick plastic cover and the internal mounting system.The first challenge was removing the camera! It turns out that there are two clasp buttons underneath that have to be pushed.After that, the next challenge was getting it to see the app on the phone.The included instructions are poor and of little help, but you can download the 103 page full manual here http://download.tomtom.com/open/manuals/bandit/refman/TomTom-Bandit-RG-en-gb.pdf which is very good, and I found out that you need to scroll up to get to the wifi setting. After that it was simple.The quality of the videos and the photos seems to be very good, although to be objective I would have to have other cameras to be able to compare like-for-like, and I have no other action cameras.The shape of this camera makes more sense to us than the GoPro type, which I always thought looks a bit strange on a helmet, and although I know it is not a real factor, it makes me think of wind drag forcing a persons head back.But with the bullet shape of this, no such problem.It is hefty, whether you think of that as good or bad is a matter of opinion, but it is solid.The Premium pack is good, more mounts than I need but the waterproofing lens cover is great, why this is not standard I do not know. I mean, who wants a camera that is LESS waterproof?Also the remote control is a nice inclusion, with a couple of strap options for it, for instance, to strap to your wrist or hold it securely.The lack of a viewfinder may or may not be a factor in the long term, I suppose that in action sports you would rarely have an opportunity to look through a viewfinder, but for underwater shots it may be an element I wish I had, as your phone is the viewfinder and that means an underwater bag for the phone IF the wifi connection would work underwater, and I don't think it would.But it is a side angle lens, so if it is pointed in roughly the spot you want, it will no doubt get the shot.I think that the heart rate monitor is a bit of a strange inclusion, as it does not have one but instead links to a chest strap (apparently-I do not have one). I wonder if anyone has used this yet?The GPS is a good inclusion.The 4K video shooting at only 15fps is a miss, I wonder and hope that a firmware or software update will boost this to at least cinema speed of 24fps, but perhaps that is something they will included on the next one and TomTom hopes you will update to get that. I probably should give it 4 stars for not having a better fps rate in 4K, but as that fps rate is common in other action cameras, or they don't include any 4K, I will not penalize, and hope for an update. How about it TomTom? Will you update the 4k fps?All in all, a good buy.Hope the video helps.

At the time of buying the camera, I was unaware that it had already been discontinued by TomTom. This is something to consider, as customer support may not be strong for a product they no longer produce.I've had the camera a few months now and have been able to use it several times. I have mostly used it whilst attached to my motorcycle, to record rides. It does an excellent job at this, as the lens is perfect for capturing the road and the views. Resulting videos are bright and crisp and have received positive comments from viewers.I've also used the camera whilst attached to a GoPro selfie stick to record motorcycle enduro events whilst close to the action, and it performed this task well.The camera comes with its own brand of adhesive mounts, as well as an adaptor that permit it to be used with a wide array of GoPro mounts. So flexibility of mounting options is great.I think the strength of the camera is how easy it is to edit several clips together to create a compilation video. Whilst it does have a 'shake' feature that will select highlighted clips for you and put them together, the feature only works for short compilations. For anything longer, you have to manually select the highlighted clips. This is done by pairing the camera to a phone. Each selected highlight can be adjusted for duration and the position of clips in the final compilation (story) can be changed. During the editing process, an audio track can also be added to the compilation, but the audio track (e.g music) must already be on the phone as the phone is connected to the camera via wifi (preventing the phone from accessing online material during the editing process). That's a bit of a nuisance if you find that the music you want is not downloaded to he phone already, but otherwise the process is fairly easy.The cameras can also be paired to a phone to check on alignment before use, as the camera does not have a viewing screen.One downside is that I can't easily see whether the camera is recording when I have it mounted on the front of my motorcycle. The same would the case if it were mounted on my helmet. The status is shown on the camera's small screen, but that is on top of the camera. A red light also flashes at the front when recording. But neither can be seen when siting behind the camera. So, I tend to start the camera when I'm stationary and off the bike. Once I've confirmed it is recording, I start riding.I previously had a GoPro and didn't like it. I wanted something that was easier to use and easy to edit. The Bandit meets those requirements. It does have some weaknesses, but I am generally happy with it.

I bought this to use on my motorbike and,so far I'm very impressed.Even the packaging is a qualty item.When you remove the camera,you'll feel it's fairly weighty,and in my opinion,the camera and all fittings ooze qualty.I've messed around with cheaper action cams over the years,and although they've worked quite well,they've always been a bit of a fiddle to use.The Tomtom Bandit,is incredibly easy.Once you've set up the nice simple remote,it's just a case of pressing it when you want to take a picture or start recording.The red light on the remote flashes dimly to show recording has started.A couple of straps are supplied,so the remote can be fastened round your arm,or any other accessible place..Mine stays attached to my jacket.The feature of being able to view and edit your recorded video from you phone or tablet is excellent as well,however,you won't see the true video quality through the wireless connection.The only way to do this it to attach the battery pack directly to your computer or put the sd card straight into your phone or tablet.The two very minor gripes I have,are the aforementioned video quality over wifi,and the fact is you can't power up or power down the camera from the remote.Maybe you can,but if so,I haven't discovered how yet.I thought I'd add to this as it's been a while since I bought the camera.I've used the camera pretty much every day since buying it, and I have to say, it's simply brilliant.Although, it now looks a bit grubby, it works just as well now as when I bought it.A bit of video from my motorbike trip this year.[...]I've added some stills from some of my bike trip videos.