Consumer Electronics, Gadgets & Accessories

Akaso Brave 7 – Feature-rich action cam in test

With the Brave 7, Akaso has introduced a new action cam that vies for attention with various features at a moderate price. Besides the widely used 4k30 recording, the camera offers an electronic image stabilizer, voice control and a second display on the front, among other things. At the same time, the device is supposed to be aimed at the typical target group: All people who want to shoot outdoors, and where the camera should not be in the way or prone to damage.

What special features the Akaso Brave 7 offers, and where the strengths and weaknesses of the approximately 140 euros expensive action camera lie, we clarify in the following test.

Technical details

Dimensions:

66 x 45 x 34 mm

Weight:

Camera & Battery: 137 g, Battery: 23 g

field of view

70/110/140/170 degrees

Video modes:

2160p@30, 1080p@60, 720p@120

Video format:

H.264 / H.265

Photo modes:

5MP, 8MP, 10MP, 12MP, 16MP, 20MP

Photo format:

JPG, JPG+DNG

Features:

Electronic image stabilizer (six-axis), voice control, second display, time-lapse, slow-motion, smartphone app

Display:

2.0″, touchscreen/unknown

Battery:

Lithium-ion, 1350 mAh, two pieces

Connectivity:

USB-C , WLAN, microSD slot

Protection standard:

IPX8 (protection against continuous submersion up to 10 m)

Price:

€ 143.99 *

Scope of delivery

When it comes to the Brave 7’s scope of delivery, Akaso goes straight for the jugular: In addition to the actioncam itself, there is a mounting and protective housing as well as numerous mounting attachments for tripods, bicycles or helmets, for example. A wireless shutter release, a USB-C cable, a replacement battery and a charger for both batteries are also included. However, you do not have to rely on the charger: The batteries can also be charged by the actioncam itself, if you connect it to a power source.

Design & Workmanship

When it comes to the design of the actioncam, Akaso follows the typical conventions. The back of the device is largely covered by the touchscreen, which is used for operation. The shutter button, the two control buttons, and the access flaps for the battery, USB-C port, and microSD card are on the sides, and the lens along with the second screen is on the front.

The camera itself has no tripod thread, mounting is only possible together with the protective frame. The protective frame really only serves to protect the camera from impacts – the camera itself is waterproof. Accordingly, most of the controls can be reached directly with the mounted frame: Only the access to the battery compartment is covered.

Ergonomically, the camera does well: It is easy to use and the various elements are almost always easy to reach. We only criticize the microSD slot: The memory card is located so far inside the case that it can only be reached with very small fingers or long fingernails. Thus, a thin object such as a ballpoint pen is needed every time to remove the microSD card.

With regard to workmanship, the camera does well. The seams on the plastic casing could be a bit cleaner, but that’s complaining at the highest level. The case is stable, torsion-resistant and feels comfortable in the hand. The accessories look similarly good: The build quality of the mounting elements is on par with the competition.

Technology, software & configuration

The Brave 7 offers various setting options on the device, which can be adjusted via the touchscreen. This is high-resolution enough to display the menus and images without problems – and the touch control also works well. In addition, the display, like the front screen, is very viewing-angle stable. The latter, on the other hand, has a slightly lower resolution, but is just as problem-free sufficient for typical use to correct image details.

Besides the normal video recording in numerous formats – from 2160p at 30 fps up to 720p at 120 fps – the camera also offers a photo mode with self-timer or continuous shooting as well as a time-lapse function. There are also various other general settings, such as white balance, an electronic image stabilizer, image equalization or different viewing distances. Thus, the Brave 7 leaves nothing to be desired in terms of settings: More is always possible, of course, but we found what’s offered more than sufficient.

The app, which is offered for iOS and Android, hides some functions behind a registration requirement and offers less important features such as community functions or reward points for certain activities, among others. With regard to the camera features, you get full access: As soon as the action cam is connected to the smartphone via WLAN, you get a live broadcast of the recorded video material and can view and adjust all settings as well as start recordings and stream them from the microSD card.

In addition, there is also a function for adjusting photo and video recordings, through which you can, for example, add color effects, blur image areas or add texts as well as overlays. The usual demands on the app are thus covered, and the operation is also intuitive, apart from some idiosyncratic translations.

Image quality & battery life

Everything is right up to this point in terms of key points such as build quality and software, but an action cam obviously needs good image quality as well as some battery life.

With regard to the former, as is so often the case, exposure conditions are particularly crucial here. In bright surroundings, the Brave 7 can take quite appealing pictures on the memory card, whereas the image noise quickly gets out of hand in poor lighting conditions. Thus, the Brave 7 is well suited for the usual “outdoor” use, and indoors it is still a better alternative to most common webcams. The only negative note we would like to make is the sometimes inappropriate brightness selection, which occasionally swallows up details or does not fully utilize the color space, especially in photos. However, this can often be counteracted with a bit of post-processing.

Once again, we really liked the built-in image stabilization, although it is not used in all modes and not together with the fisheye equalization. In 4K mode, however, the stabilizer works and makes shaky shots surprisingly smooth. Although there are still some blurry details during movements, the price is definitely appropriate in our eyes – if you want professional pictures, you will not get around the corresponding prices.

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One problem, however, is the sound quality, as the microphone built into the action cam is relatively quiet and the recordings are noisy. Therefore, external accessories that can be connected via the USB-C port should be used. Such accessories are offered by Akaso, for example, in the form of the ten-euro Brave 6 Plus External Microphone, which offers a much better audio quality. However, a different, more expensive microphone is necessary for distortion- and noise-free recordings.

With regards to battery life, the Brave 7 does well. At 4k and the compute-intensive H265 as the output format, the action cam lasts 90 minutes, and it’s a similar story at 1080p. 720P recording at 120 fps, on the other hand, can run around 135 minutes, and a 4K timelapse recording that takes a shot once per second lasts 150 minutes without a charging cable connected.

Conclusion

Akaso’s new Brave 7 combines many good features that make it an interesting action cam. The wide range of accessories, including a spare battery, optional charger, well-functioning remote trigger, and numerous mounting adapters, along with the decent build quality, provide a solid foundation.

Building on this, the Brave 7 is relatively enduring with 90 minutes of battery life in UHD, and the image quality is also decent considering the price. In bright environments, the recordings are quite respectable, and the various modes, such as 120-fps recording or the time-lapse function, work well. However, you should not expect miracles here: With insufficient light, noise is fast, and even in good conditions, recordings can sometimes be blurry. Furthermore, the camera is hardly suitable for recording videos with an audio track without an external microphone.

Whether the Brave 7 is suitable for you in the end probably depends on the price and your own requirements. If you want to make a few recordings outdoors and can make use of the very diverse accessories, you are well advised here for the targeted price of 160 dollars. Other plus points are the easy integration as a webcam and the smartphone app. However, one should not have unrealistic expectations when it comes to the video quality, of course, and the sound quality is in great need of improvement.

Akaso Brave 7

Workmanship
Software & Features
Quality
Value for money

85/100

A good actioncam with a comprehensive scope of delivery.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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With the Brave 7, Akaso has introduced a new action cam that vies for attention with various features at a moderate price. Besides the widely used 4k30 recording, the camera offers an electronic image stabilizer, voice control and a second display on the front, among other things. At the same time, the device is supposed … (Weiterlesen...)

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Die Ausführungen haben mich bewogen die AKASO Brave 7 zu kaufen. Alles in Ordnung außer !!!!!!:
Es ist weltweit nicht möglich reserveakkus zu kaufen !!!
Auch der Kontakt zu AKASO war frustrierend. Die Menschen dort wissen gar nicht was sie vertreiben.
Natürlich habe ich in Englisch geschrieben, dass ich zusätzliche Akkus benötige. Darauf kam die Rückfrage ob das Gerät noch Garantie hat.
Nach 5 maligem Mail-Wechsel kam ein Hinweis, ich solle öfter mal auf der Homepage nachsehen.
Katastrophe. In 14 Tagen mache ich eine Seereise mit 2 !!! Akkus.

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