Surfola Action Camera 4K 30fps, Underwater Camera 131ft Waterproof for Snorkeling, 20MP WiFi EIS Camera for Vlogging, External Mic, 2 Rechargeable Batteries, Remote Control, Accessories Kit

This is an amazing action camera. I bought it to record some guitar lessons to share online with a few students. Clarity of video was of paramount importance as the students need to be able to clearly see finger and string positions, and this little camera is just perfect that. The provision of an external microphone is a real bonus as this ensures the audio is as clear as the video. There are plenty of accessories included in the box so there is a mounting option for just about every scenario. I used the frame mount, which has a standard tripod female thread, which meant I could mount it on my tripod and position it focused on the guitar fingerboard. The addition of the included remote control is a real bonus, as you don't need to touch the camera to stop or start recording. It comes with two batteries and an external charger, so running out of battery isn't a worry. Battery life is excellent, I had it running for over 40 mins constantly and it was still going strong. For a bit of fun, I also fitted it to my 1000cc motorcycle in the waterproof case provided. I was unlucky enough to encounter some very heavy rain on my ride, but the waterproof case did its job well, and the internal mic coped well despite it being in the sealed case. Surfola emailed me a few days after purchase, just to see if I was happy with my purchase. I did have a couple of questions, so I took advantage of this dialogue to speak to them. My questions were answered promptly and way above my expectations. Their customer service is second to none. In conclusion, if you're looking for a inexpensive action cam and want top quality results, then surfola is the one to go for. All you need to add is a decent micro sd card, I purchased a 128gb Samsung ultra card, which is perfect for my needs. I have since got a surfola sf530 camera to use for my teaching, which has even more useful functions, such as front and rear screens, which is even better for my teaching as you can see what you're filming in the front screen. The sf 230 is now in my car as a dash cam, which I'm sure will give fine quality video should the need ever arise.

for the price it's a pretty ok camera. the audio is pretty bad on it even with the included microphone, and I wish it came with more practical attachment options vs what's included, but the action of filming stuff itself is pretty great. It's a dirt cheap budget gopro, so video and audio quality should be expected considerably lower, and they are. It's a reasonable miniature camera at a very good price point.

This camera is far better than it should be, given the price. Let's be honest here: you shouldn't be expecting a sub-£60 action camera to rival a GoPro. But if, like me, your expectations are reasonable to the budget, I think you'd be very pleasantly surprised with this device. First and foremoset, the video image quality is perfectly acceptable. You won't be capturing TV-quality footage, but you will be getting more-than-serviceable HD video. My one caveat to that claim would be to not expect wonders if you're trying to shoot 4K30fps. While the file output will technically BE 30fps, you'll find a lot of dropped and duplicated frames - to the point where playback feels more like 15-12fps. If your target is 1080p, though, this camera will serve you well under most circumstances. Image compression is a little on the high side, but not terrible - and you will fit a lot of footage on your MicroSD so, once again, this is a budget-friendly device since you can potentially save a few pounds by reducing your storage card size. As a test, I captured 60 seconds of footage with a mixture of high and low motion and at 1080p30, it came to just shy of 115MB. Taking that as a baseline, that equates to around 9.2 hours of footage on a 64GB MicroSD card. And of course, the maths isn't that straightforward with compressed video (generally speaking, the longer the footage, the more you get per byte), so you may find you can fit in even more than that. You should also be aware that the camera has a wide angle/field-of-view lens and there is no software built into the camera to compensate for this and allow for different fields of view - so there is a noticeable "fish eye" effect to the captured footage. This could be a benefit or a deficit, depending on your particular use case. The Electronic Image Stabilisation is functional and "good enough." It serves its purpose and I have no doubt will be useful for instances such as helmet-cam or bike-cam footage - but if you wobble the camera around a *lot.* you can visibly notice how it warps the image to keep it stable in-frame. It's not massively noticeable, but it's there if you know what to look for. Battery life in my experience has been good. I'm yet to use either of the two cameras I bought to the point where their battery expired, and a spare battery comes packed in with the device. The on-screen display claims around 4.5 hours of filming from a full charge, and I have no reason to doubt that claim. The screen on the back fills a good portion of the device, is bright and high-enough-resolution that the User Interface is clear and easy to read. The UI itself makes sense and is easy to understand. There's no touch screen (again, you really shouldn't expect that at this price point), but navigating with the camera's buttons is simple and the UI is quick to respond and never sluggish. Smartphone integration is handled by an app called "Live DV". It's unsurprisingly not as user-friendly as GoPro's Quik app, but it's easy enough to sync with the camera (via the cam's own built-in WiFi network) and provides a live on-screen feed from the camera (which helps to set up shots) as well as the ability to start/stop video recording, take photos and access/change settings for image quality/resolution etc. Also provided is a simple radio remote control with two buttons (video start/stop and photo). This requires no syncing and just works out of the box. In fact I found, to my delight, that a single remote can be used to control both my cameras at the same time - so I can just set up my shots and press one button to get them both recording at the same time. I suspect I will actually use this more than the app. Moving on from software to hardware; the camera itself is incredibly light (so would make a superb helmet cam) yet manages to feel robust and solid in its build. There's no flex in the housing and the sides have an inlaid cross-hatch pattern which provides and comfortable and secure grip. Alongside the camera are provided the aforementioned spare battery, the waterproof housing, the remote control (along with straps to place it on your arm/clothing/backpack etc.), an external microphone to plug in for audio recording and enough mounts that you will almost certainly be able to attach the camera to almost anything. Paired with something like a Joby Gorillapod, you could potentially mount the camera almost anywhere. Like the GoPro Hero 4, the mounts attach to the housing rather than the camera itself, but all buttons are accessible through the housing. The MicroSD card, mic port and USB port are not, however (it is waterproof after all) - so you cannot mount the camera while also attaching it to a USB power source. If you're aiming to use this as a dash cam, security cam or some other use case where continuous power would be beneficial, you might want to buy some adhesive velcro or other "sticky" mounting method. I do not intend for this review to be harshly critical in any way - any negative points I've raised above spring purely from the budget nature of the camera - and at this price point, this camera performs far above my expectations. *TLDR:* At this price point, this camera performs beyond reasonable expectations and comes with a plethora of useful bonuses, attachments and accessories. Highly, highly recommended for a budget action cam.

Last month I purchased the Surfola sf230 ....a budget entry level camera at a ridiculously low price for its specs... Although the pics and playback were impressive, the eis was not as good as I wanted so, I acquired Surfolas higher spec model sf530, which boasted a 4k at 60fps and 24 meg capability!... When un boxed, I was impressed by the sf530 small size and after charging the 2 batteries up, I brought the 530 into life..The touch screen was amazingly responsive and positive and the menu dead easy to manipulate.. Wifi connection was a doddle to my android running the iSmart 2 app...I didn't like it when the app said it had ads but I accepted it and it hasn't really been a problem... My first videos and stills have proved to be extremely good quality and EIS was much better than the cheaper model previously used ...once I found out that I didn't have the internal mic switched on via the menu and when switched on, the sound was very good.. It comes with a brilliant wireless mic, which saves having leads dragging around your neck!...Good range and brill quality... The remote control 'watch' works well and a must if you're using a selfie stick... The sf530 comes in a waterproof case and many accessories...looking forwards to using this function on a forthcoming cruise... Overall, I'm really impressed with this Surfola model and at 75% cheaper than a gopro 11, it's a marvellous buy to capture those holiday moments or your sporting exploits.. Further more...surfola customer service is outstanding....having lost my Bluetooth mic overboard on that recent cruise, I contacted Surfola in an attempt to buy a replacement...Surfola went above and beyond...not only did they replace it but also sent it free of charge...outstanding service!..well done Surfola...Mike.

Really not as good as I was hoping.

Great little camera for paddleboarding, used it a couple of times and was really great. Picture is very clear at 4k 30fps. One battery will last about 20 minutes on 4K so I put in a lower setting and was still very good but more to the point the battery lasted about an hour and you have 2 of them in the box. Wireless downloading to your phone from an app and was very easy to set up and use. I did get a message from Surfola about a upgrade kit and so glad I did respond. You get a choice of 1 of 2 things for FREE but you have to find that out yourselves lol. All in all a great little waterproof camera that will record in 4k and for the price can't be beaten. Thanks Surfola

Very good but very fragile, needs better battery life, fairly small has good video quality, sound is crao but I use it on a motorbike so

Picture quality not good at all compared to similar priced models from AKASO etc. It was easy to set up and use build quality ok , pretty much the same as others brands and came with a lot of accessories but that was as far as it went. App connectivity and downloading to devices was useless - much like the app which was awful too, but only ended up with pretty average pictures that looked like they were taken on an early 2000’s mobile. Returned and bought much better for a similar price.