3SIXT action camera review: little battler will go full circle
Date: December 28 2016
Peter Wells
The new Sports Action Camera from Aussie makers 3SIXT (360, geddit?) is a GoPro-esque thing that sells for $99.
As soon as you unbox it, you can see where the company has cut corners to hit that price point. Everything feels a little cheaper and plasticky when compared with the GoPro, the resolution and frame rate are lower, the software isn't as nice and the accessories feel a little flimsy.
But those accessories — bike helmet strap, bike handle and underwater casing — are included in the box, and they are everything you'll need to quickly upload your next weekend surfing, skiing, or mountain-biking to YouTube.
3SIXT has a 4K unit available for $179, but I wanted to try the cheaper 1080p model. I have a feeling the $99 job will be the more popular seller.
Overall, I was impressed. If your final output is YouTube or Facebook, this tiny little camera is more than good enough, and it costs little enough that you won't feel too bad if you crush it under the wheel of your bike.
You can even set it to "dashcam" mode, when it will automatically record your journeys, overwriting older files.
The camera is designed to be thrown around. It's a squat little unit with not much complexity. On the back is a postage-stamp-sized screen — with just a few buttons to control everything.
You can connect your iPhone or Android to these cameras for a live view, which is handy for framing if you're pointing the camera at yourself. And let's be honest, in today's world where else would you be pointing it?
The accompanying app is bare-boned, but that doesn't really matter: you have a thousand options to edit or upload the video from any modern smartphone.