POV Camera to Take on GoPro

Will GoPro ever be knocked from its perch at the top of the hands-free camera mountain? Challengers keep challenging, and the latest is TomTom — yes, the GPS maker — which thinks smart editing is the key

The Bandit Action Camera attempts to solve one of the biggest hassles of shooting with POV cameras (or any other video camera, for that matter): finding the best footage after you’ve shot it. TomTom’s solution is to tag automatically what it thinks are the best segments, based on a combination of g-forces, speed, acceleration, and altitude, calculated via on-board GPS and accelerometer. Figuring the action’s raddest when things are at their wildest, the Bandit then edits the winners into short compendium that you see and access via smartphone. Activating the feature is as simple as shaking your phone, which tells the media server in the camera to quit snoozing and get busy.

The Bandit shoots 1080p at 30 and 60 frames per second and it claims 4K capability, but that’s at 15 fps. It also has slow motion and time lapse built in, and while it lacks a screen, you can view the footage on your phone. Currently, it’s on iOS only, but an Android app is in the works. And while it’s built with its own proprietary mounting system, it does ship with a GoPro mount adapter.

$400 • BUY

Read more from Steve Casimiro at his blog, Adventure Journal.