Flying FPV is a very sharable experience. YouTube and Facebook are packed with race laps and freestyle edits from all kinds of locations and skill levels. What do all of these video producers have in common. EKEN is a brand that is quickly rising through the action camera ranks.
EKEN H6S
- Features
The H6s is a balanced action camera; it has the base features and a solid build that all comes in at a great price. But, it doesn’t pack in some of the more advanced features we’ve come to expect such as touch screen and voice activation. Read also: Garmin Virb XE vs Garmin Ultra 30.
The build quality is a huge leap up from the EKEN Alfawise V50 which I looked at a few months back, and to be honest, that wasn’t bad, overall this feels like a far higher quality offering.
Video quality at 4K is excellent and despite the poor lighting conditions offered by the British winter, the results were surprisingly good. Where this camera has issued is with low light, once the light drops it struggles with video quality at anything other than 4K. The 1080p footage looks washed out and lacks tone or detail.
| Eken H6s | Eken H5s plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Shop now at Amazon | click here | click here |
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| Product Dimensions | 2.36 x 0.91 x 1.57 inches | 11.73 x 6.93 x 3.23 inches |
| Item Weight | 2.82 ounces | 1.34 pounds |
It also has the ability to shoot stills at 14MP. These specs are made possible by an A12S75 Ambarella processor and Panasonic 34112 Sensor.
- Build quality and handling
Action cameras are built tough, and the H6s is reassuringly solid. Actually, it’s more than solid, if this was thrown at you it would hurt a lot. As ever the camera comes with a waterproof housing and with the weather doing overtime to promote traditional British winter a casing that can stand up to the elements is needed.
The waterproof housing like the camera is well thought out and solid. It’s a no-fuss affair but get things right. The lens is 100% flat so, despite the mud and rain, it’s easy to wipe clean.
H6s is a solid and well-made piece of kit, I’ve instantly warmed to it as it doesn’t feel cheap and the design really does reflect what’s needed from an action camera.
A decent amount of time has gone into the design and it’s not just another action camera sporting the latest cut priced sensor and processor to get 4K video.
- Performance
The Eken H6s is the standard action camera size, so when it comes to mounting it’ll slot into all the usual mounts. The App performed solidly although outside was a little slow to connect, once it had the stream was robust. Although the options in the App are limited.
The housing really does come into its own, I have four cameras on test at the moment and this one stands out for its quality of design. It’s just a joy to use. Once switched on it does an OK job, taking out the small wobbles from handheld footage and vibrations from being bar mounted to some degree.
EKEN H5S PLUS
- Usage
The camera is pretty straightforward. There are only three buttons: power, WiFi, and recording. The power button doubles as a mode button on short press. The menus are pretty easy to navigate and understand, though it takes a moment to realize that video and photo recording aren’t menu items at all; the menu items labeled that way are for playback.
The video icon looks a little like a battery, and it turns half-empty and red (like a dead battery icon might) when you’re recording. On the front screen, you need to watch the time counter to know if the camera is recording—Eken seems to have left the standard blinking LED indicator out of this particular design.
When you record a video, a second file is also saved. This file is also a video in a much lower resolution and is never smaller than 20MB. It might be related to the camera’s playback function, but I’m not sure. The second file is hidden, which means you won’t see it in your file manager unless you’ve changed settings on your computer that allow this.
- Quality
Pixel peepers aren’t going to be satisfied. Focus was fine, and dynamic range is par for the course on a budget action camera, but I expected less noise and visible artifacts. Particularly poor are the lower resolutions, where you would expect super-sampling from the available sensor pixels to be used to improve image quality. Instead, you get an overall picture that’s actually worse than full 4K mode. 1080P is especially bad. This is a disappointment, to say the least, as it means getting a clear picture at 1080 requires shooting higher-res video.
When taking a photo, there are no reduced-resolution options. Though there is a menu for this, the only choice on it is 4000×3000. This shows the camera contains a 4:3 aspect sensor, though all of the available video modes are 16:9.
Eken touts their image stabilization (EIS) as a major feature. Stabilization is achieved through image processing, not through physical/optical means; it’s probably for the best that a budget action camera doesn’t contain moving parts. There’s a cropping of the image when EIS is on, but the amount of cropping isn’t too strong and it probably won’t bother many FPV pilots.
Eken H6s vs H5s plus
Conclusion
The Eken H5s Plus is a good camera. You get a 4K/30-capable video recorder for less than a quarter the price of a new HERO6 Black. If you’re looking for a good all-around camera for many activities, the H5s may well be worth a look.
On the other hand, the H6s definitely feels worth the money. It’s well designed and there’s been a lot of thought put into what it offers. Action camera’s at this price don’t usually feel of as good as the H6s.