GoXTreme Barracuda 4K Action Camera Review

A Closer Look and Performance

The accessories all feel well made with the exception of the camera case surround. Although this is didn’t give me any problems while operating the camera, it did feel very delicate. Not that I would want to test its durability, but I felt compelled to treat it a little delicately. In addition, the lack of a full strap and a suction cup attachment was a little disappointing.

I had hopes of being able to record footage from my car given the excellent wide-angle lens and although this can be achieved with the adhesive attachments, the lack of a simple suction cup attachment was a little unexpected. Aside from this, my only other real quibble was the lack of the inclusion of a micro-SD card, but having to buy one of those is a common enough factor with these products.

While the camera is fairly self-explanatory a pretty hefty manual (with multiple languages) is included. While the manual does tell you everything you need to know, it is a little sparse. For some who are a bit less tech savvy, the internet, rather than the manual, might be your go-to location.

Functionality

The camera largely operated by 2 very prominent buttons and a 2″ touchscreen to the rear. The touchscreen is of a nice quality and for the size of the camera, is more than sensible. The interaction works on a picture display which although isn’t entirely intuitive from your first look are quickly figured out. From this, you can access all the camera modes such as video, photo, playback, slow motion, video quality and time lapse.

As for the body of the camera itself, as above, it only has 2 main buttons and for a camera of this type, less is certainly more. The buttons are nice and large which surprisingly also not being overly intrusive. One acts as an on/off button, the other as a start/stop for video or picture taking. It really is that simple.

While able to connect to PC’s and act as a simple storage device to access your recordings or images, the GoXtreme Barracuda 4K action camera also has the ability to connect wirelessly to your smart devices. Being compatible with both Android and iPhones if anything the product seems more at home being used in conduction with a smartphone or tablet than it would a traditional PC.

Recording Quality

The camera is remarkably easy to use and within a couple minutes, I was easily able to find a recording option that suited me. In the below video we have recorded the test sample in a 4K resolution which runs at 25FPS. I should also note that in this resolution using a 32GB micro-SD card, it was able to record for around 1 hour and 10 minutes. If you consider this resolution, that isn’t bad at all.

To give a comparison to lower recording options, the next sample was recorded at standard HD (1080p resolution) at 60fps.

While operating the camera, switching between quality modes did prove somewhat difficult. To switch from 4k to 1080p, I had to switch off the camera and turn it back on again. This may have been a minor fault, but it was a little inconvenient. What does seem very unusual, however, is that the 1080p recording seems to have captured at a much better quality than the 4k. Admittedly, the 1080p was at 60fps in comparison to the 4k’s 25fps, but to see such a contrast clearly indicates that while this might be a 4K camera, it may not be where its strengths lie.

Evaluation

In other recording modes, we found that the camera gives excellent performance. The camera, while able to support 4K and within a comfortable remit, is though perhaps best at home at lower resolutions but in higher framerates. The 1080p 60FPS seems the best-balanced settling for both video quality and performance. I must admit I was surprised by the above examples that the 1080p video even appeared to be a lot crisper than 4k, but that might have just been the luck of the filming. It should be noted that the slow-motion performance and time-lapse features were also excellent.

Overall, the product was very easy to use and the 2 large buttons made operation simple. An issue I did find with the operation was that when the recording was turned on or off, no noise was made. If the camera was mounted to, for example, your cycling helmet, it might perhaps be a little frustrating to have to physically check before setting off. Although such things generally tend to go against my nature (putting electronics in water), I could also confirm that the camera successfully operated during and after being submerged in water. Alas, I was unable to test this at 10 meters in depth. I do, however, see no reason why, if you did go that far down, that you would have any problems.