It seams that Chinese manufacturer SooCoo is warming up to get into a big league of action camera creators. After their release of very interesting, but yet not perfect SooCoo S60, company launched a new WiFi camera on the market, humbly called – SooCoo C10.
Camera has a WiFi, can record video in full HD and comes with lots of bells and whistles. Further more it has a waterproof housing which apparently is waterproof up to 40m.
In this article, I will review this action camera, preform various tests, but also show you how to set it up, present to you all the functions and ways to get the most out of it.
The price for this camera goes as low as 79$, which is certainly pretty good for what it offers.
SooCoo C10 Specification
Bellow is a table which presents official specs of this camera. Specifications are great way to judge the quality of a certain product, but when it comes to action camera they can always be tricky, since all cameras seams to be similar.
Check out the official specification table bellow. Do not worry if you do not get every single number and term, I will try to clarify and review most important ones a bit later in the article.
[go_pricing id=”socooc10″]
Design
Since I previously had a chance to buy and review S60, I was so excited when I heard that a brand new camera by SooCoo appeared. I expected the company to push their own design and innovative solution and present something interesting, just like they did few mounts ago.
Bummer.
As soon as I opened a pack, I was disappointed. Not because they have fewer accessories inside the box compared to competitors or anything like that. My frustration was seeing SooCoo stepping down and decreasing costs when it comes to packing and design.
Their camera looks like any other action camera from China this year. Nothing fancy. Nothing cool. Nothing funky. They managed to completely blend in in hundreds of others cheap action cameras originating from this Asian country.
I do not think they are the only one to be blamed for this. Lets take a moment and blame the market as well. People expect action camera to have certain look, shape and design. If it does not look like a GoPro, it is not an action camera, right?
Nope.
This time, they did not go with crazy black and orange colors. Camera comes only in one color – silver and looks standard shaped and sized.
Box itself looks slightly better and bit more quality then SJCAM or Amkov boxes for instance, but again, nothing groundbreaking when it comes to package and camera design.
What’s inside the box?
The additional gear inside the box is pretty standard. If you remember, their previous SooCoo model came with RC watch, waterproof case, wrist mount, etc. This time they drastically reduced the diversity of equipment which comes with the camera.
Long story – short. Here is what you will get when you open the packaging:
- 1x SooCoo C10 camera
- 1x Waterproof housing
- 1x 17 page manual (Chinese and English language)
- 1x spare waterproof back cover
- 1x USB cable for charging and file transferring
- 3x switch supports (different sizes and shapes)
- 1x fixed base mount
- 1x mount adapter
- 1x long neck base
- 1x bicycle stand
- 2x bandages
- 3x ribbon
- 2x 3M adhesive tape
- 2x 3m self-adhesive mounts (flat and slightly curved one)
- 1x wire rope
- 1x cleaning cloth
If you are totally new to action cameras, and never owned a one, you can easily get overwhelmed and think that its so cool to have all these additional gear. Of course, its great to have as much of these as possible, but trust me, not all of these are useful for everyone.
Their previous model had a gear with a huge advantage – usefulness. This time its just OK. Nothing different, nothing special about the accessories. But also nothing wrong with it.
Not until I wanted to mount a camera on a tripod have I noticed that something is missing. A mounting bracket. Huge disappointment.
Without a bracket, you will always need to use a waterproof case to mount a camera on a tripod. Terrible. Especially because waterproof case always reduces the quality of footage.
I can not believe what their engineers were thinking. Or lets better say not thinking. Excluding the bracket, possibly the most important piece of gear for cameras that do not have a mounting hole. Terrible gear choice SooCoo, shame on you! Bracket is essential piece of gear for cameras that do not have a mounting hole, and you forgot to include it? Oh dear.
Luckily, since the cameras is identical in dimensions with SJ4000 I used SJCAM bracket. It is nearly a perfect fit and did the job. It fits a bit tighter then the SJ4000 and its a bit harder to pull out, but as long as it does not fall off, its great.
Few words about the manual. It is on two languages only. Starts with bunch of Chinese marks, but do not worry, second part is on English. I am already used to the fact that Chinese action camera manufacturers do not give a damn about manuals.
They do have some basic information, how to install the battery and connect to the WiFi, start and stop recording, but besides that you are on your own. Do not worry, I will clarify each and every option of these camera and show you how to use it, keep reading.
Size
SooCoo C10 WiFi action camera is pretty tiny. Its dimensions are 4 x 4 x 3 cm / 1.57 x 1.57 x 1.18 inches . Where as the box exterior dimensions are 27 x 18 x 7 cm / 10.61 x 7.07 x 2.75 inches.
Weight
If you are wondering what is the weight of SooCoo C10 camera, it weights around 46 grams without battery and 61g with a battery in it. It is without any doubt, one of the lightest cameras I have seen, which is huge plus. These measurements are done with my own scale, so slight variations are possible.
Not that this info is useful, but just in case you are one of those guys obsessed with numbers – weight of an entire box with camera and all the gear is approximately 650 grams (0.65 kg).
Display
Camera has a 1.5inch LCD screen. I wrote about pros of having a screen on a camera already, but lets revise :
Screen allows you to see what you are recording/photographing- Having an LCD screen enables faster access to the various settings
Even though, this camera is WiFi and you can connect and change settings and preview footage from your mobile device, its always more convenient to do it via the screen. So, the screen comes as a big plus, though for some people its not necessary option. Bad thing is that screen always consumes more power, which means battery lasts shorter.
Top left icon indicates in which mode you are photo/video/preview. Next to it are Timer and HDR settings together with microphone and battery indicator. Bottom of the screen shows time, date, and a length of video you are currently recording.
Buttons and ports
One thing I really like about this camera is that it reduced the number of buttons compared to its predecessor. Simplicity is great.
For instance, the shutter button does 3 functions : It can be used to take photo or start/stop recording a video. It is also used as an OK button while you navigate through the menu.
Finally, the biggest change is that while holding this button for few seconds you will turn cameras internal WiFi. However no matter how impressive this seamed to me at first, I realized later that it was not as good solution as I originally thought. It happens quite a lot of tries to turn the WiFi on, without starting to record at first. But after a while, I got used to it.
- ON/OFF – Mode button – Used to turn camera or on or off while holding it. When the camera is on, you can press it to switch between video, photo, preview and settings.
- 170 degrees lens
- internal microphone
- SD Card slot – this is where you slide your MicroSD card in. I recommend at least Class 10 card for all action cameras. Camera supports up to 32gb cards.
- USB port – this is where you put the USB cable to charge the camera or transfer the files to PC.
- HDMI – For previewing photos and videos on your tv as well as some other things such as Video Out, used for aerial photography mostly.
- Navigation arrows/ zoom in out – Used for navigating through the menu or for zooming in or out (4x digital zoom)
- Microphone
Video
SooCoo C10 is a WiFi action camera that can record videos in full HD at 30 frames per seconds. There are also various resolutions to chose from, though you probably wont use any of them except maybe for 720p 60 fps which is decent when you want to slow motion your video since you get smoother video the more fps you have.
For normal recording, 30 fps is just fine. 60 frames per second in full HD is not possible with this camera. If 60 fps in 1080p is important, you can check Xiaomi Yi or Blackview Hero 1.
Here is a list of all resolutions :
- 1080p / 30 fps – 1920*1080 (default)
- 720p / 60 fps – 1280*720
- 720p / 30 fps – 1280*720
- WVGA 848*480 60fps
- VGA 640*480 60 fps
Download free video samples
I always recommend readers to download raw, untouched video files and play them on their own PC. Make sure to use decent video player such as QuickTime or VLC.
On this link you can download sample videos I personally took. Note do not playback video in DropBox since, like YouTube it reduces video quality. Download files, do not preview them online.
Photo
Besides video, camera allows you to take still images in different resolutions.
- 12M 4032 x 3024
- 10M 3648 x 2736
- 8M 3264 x 2447
- 5M 2592 x 1944
- 3M 2048 x 1536
- 2MHD 1920 x 1080
- VGA 640 x 480
- 1.3 M 1280 x 960
The quality and colors of your photos will depend on the setup. Be aware that you must learn how to adjust settings, to be able to get the most out of the camera. White balance is great option that can have a huge impact on how your video will look.
SooCoo C10 is not that good when it auto WB. Try switching through different setups to see what works for you and what does not. Bellow are some photo samples I have taken with this camera. All images are compressed so that they can load faster on the website.
I must apologize in advance for not being able to take more interesting photographs. I will try to add more images from this camera as soon as I come back from my next hiking trip. Due to my constant experimenting with resolutions and different quality, not all photos have been taken in correctly set quality. Some of them are in “fine”, where I should have taken them in “normal” since its much better.
Anyway, I promise to add more photo samples soon. Until then, you can download raw samples on this link.
That is why I recommend you to download original files here. Download them and preview them on your PC to see if this photo quality is satisfactory for you or you maybe need something better.
One thing to note is that action cameras are primarily made for videos, so none of the action cameras creates perfect photos. None of them (for now) can not be compared with expensive DSLR or entry-level mirrorless cameras equipment.
In my experience, SooCoo C10 makes decent photographs. Nothing impressive, but satisfactory considering its price.
Settings and features
There are quite a lot options that you can switch, turn on or off in this camera. Since C10 has an 1.5 inch LCD screen, its is quite easy to quickly go through options and set everything up. You can also change settings via the SooCoo App, but lets talk about the app in a moment.
Camera menu is multilingual and supports different languages : English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Mandarin and Russian.
Here are all the options. I did not cover some self-explanatory ones, such as format and date stamp, since they are pretty clear right away.
Loop recording
If your goal is to create shorter length clips and you do not want to worry about having to stop recording, you can turn on loop recording. By default its set to 3 minutes, which means whenever your video reaches 3:00 it will stop and start recording a new one. Personally for me this is not an option I need, so I always keep loop recording to off.
- off
- 3 minutes
- 5 minutes
- 10 minutes
HDR
If you are curious to learn more about HDR, you can check this article which explains HDR in details. This camera has HDR, but in my opinion it makes no difference weather if its on or off.
Time Lapse
Creating time lapse videos is one of the most enjoyable features of any action camera addict. Time lapse can be set to 1/5/10 fps. When on, it will take a photo every 1/5/10 seconds allowing you to create amazing videos. More on time lapse here .
- off
- 1 fps
- 5 fps
- 10 fps
In order to make time lapse video, first you must chose the interval and then enter video mode and press record (OK) button. Make sure your camera is still. Using a tripod is also a good idea.
CLARIFY TIME LAPSE INTERVALS HERE HERE HERE HERE
G-Sensor
All these features that SooCoo 10 offers are not new. Plenty of other Chinese action cams has them.
However, if there is one feature that makes this camera stand out from the crowd, its the G-sensor. Even though it sounds like something extremely cool, it actually is not as impressive as it seams.
When G-Sensor is turned of, camera will measure the movement in different directions and automatically start recording. This sort of info can help you when using it as a dash camera, or a camera inside your car. Camera will use G-sensor to detect significant or sudden movement and start recording. While this is great option for in car use, it can also trigger itself pretty randomly.
Luckily you can adjust the sensitivity of G-sensor so that camera reacts to higher or lower shake.
- off
- low
- medium
- high
In theory if you set G-sensor to high, C10 will be more sensitive on shake. Personally I haven’t noticed huge difference between these setups, though I have not tested sensitivities in a car.
Exposure
Exposure lets you manually modify brightness or darkness. It is hard to say which of these is the best as it depends on light and environment you are recording in. In most of the cases I use the default 0.0 exposure.
- +2
- +5/3
- +4/3
- +1.0
- +2/3
- +1/3
- +0.0
- -1/3
- -2/3
- -1.0
- -4/3
- -5/3
- -2.0
Capture mode / Timer
Timer allows you to take single photo or photo each 2,5 or 10 seconds. This is great option for group photos. It also comes quite handy if you want to take a selfie with a monopod (selfie stick).
- single
- 2s timer
- 5s timer
- 10s timer
White Balance
I never get bored talking about white balance. Trust me, its because I have nothing better to do. It really has a major influence on how your video/photo appear. White balance will change warmth of your video or photograph. This cam has 5 different WB options :
- Auto (default)
- Daylight
- Cloudy
- Tungsten
- Fluorescent
In the image above you can see how white balance changes colors of the images. In my personal experience, I got the best result when using cloudy and fluorescent in both cloudy and daylight situations. The colors are much better then on auto mode, which looks a bit bleached out. Daylight and tungsten are too warm for my taste.
Color
If you are one of those old-school guys who enjoys black and white and vintage looking images or videos, you will love the fact that you can change colors. There are 3 options to chose from :
- Color (default)
- Black and White
- Sepia
Bellow is a sample image of same object taken in all three setups.
ISO
ISO control how sensitive the camera is to light. You can chose from auto to 100-16000 ISO range. I noticed that camera handles light sensitivity pretty well automatically, so I always keep it on auto. The lower the light, the higher ISO should be. The higher the ISO, the more grainy footage will be.
- auto
- 100
- 200
- 400
- 800
- 1600
TV Switch
Switch to TV mode if you have the HDMI cable. This enables you TV Output, so that you can watch what camera is recording or simply to preview photos or videos on TV while you show them off to your friends or family (mini HDMI cable required, not supplied in the box).
Motion detection
Even though I always advice that in case you need a camera for home serious home surveillance, you should get a specific camera for that, its good to know that this camera has motion detection. This option in essence, activates video recording when it detects a motion. However it is too unreliable at doing this and can be used just for fun.
Generally, it will detect only motion in close distance, not in the long one. I really do not know why Chinese software developers love putting this option in nearly any camera. In my opinion its pretty useless for this type of product.
Sequence
This is one of the options that confused me the most first time I reviewed their previous, SooCoo S60 camera. Even though it sounds confusing, it is pretty straight to the point. Once you turn sequence on, your camera will take few continues photographs instead of a single one.
This feature is better known as burst mode in some other cameras. It is good for taking photos of objects or subjects in motion.
Quality
If by any chance (although I do not see why anyone would do this) you wish to change the quality of your video, you have 3 options available. Keep it on normal if you want the best setup.
- normal
- fine
- economy
Sharpness
You can switch between strong normal and soft sharpness depending on your needs. I always keep mine to normal.
SooCoo App – Worst App I have ever used
Okay, we are now at the point at which I should explain to you how to use SooCoo WiFi App. In theory, camera apps should allow you to take photos, record videos, download them to your phone or tablet, control your camera remotely by having silky smooth experience.
In theory.And if you are NOT using SooCoo App.
The official SooCoo app is an absolute crap (pardon my language). It is pretty shame to even call it an app.
Not only that camera app works slowly but half of functions are confusing and not working.
Honestly, there is not a single thing I could do with this app. It managed to bug my entire phone and tablet. I even tried on 2 different phones – no success. As far as I am concerned, SooCoo needs to create an app.
App is without any doubt the worst thing about the camera, which totally ruined a decent impression I had about it. If you are looking for a camera that you would like to control via a mobile device, you should avoid using SooCoo app, as it brings nothing but headache.
There are 2 other alternative, unofficial apps that claim to work with SooCoo cameras, but I haven tested them, because I lost all my patience and nerves with the official one. I really hope manufacture will step up and finally fix this application that has not been working properly.
If you are still interested in what this app brings and it features, here is a photo of its cluttered interface.
Connecting camera to your PC
In order to charge your camera via the USB, you have to plug in the USB cable in both camera USB port and your PC. Camera will charge only if its turned off. When the camera is turned on and plugged into a PC, you will see 3 options appearing on your screen :
- Mass Storage
- PC Camera
- Video
Mass Storage
To transfer files from your camera to PC, simply select mass storage on the start-up. Camera should connect automatically. Simply copy/paste videos and photos to your personal computer.
PC Camera
If you already read some of mine articles, you probably are tired of me saying how much I love action cameras that you can plug into a PC and use it as a web camera. Well, this camera also offers web camera option. I have been using it and it works great. Why waste money on separate web camera, when this one will look decent for Skype talks?
Video
By enabling video option when the camera is connected to your computer, you allow the camera to be charged and allow you to record video and take photos at the same time. This is fantastic feature. Very important for people who have a power bank and wont to power their camera continuously.
Summary
Even though I was so excited when SooCoo announced their C10, I must admit it failed to meet my expectations in a certain way. I expected innovative approach and plenty of gear, since that is what they were famous for.
However with SooCoo C10, manufacturer failed to create something new. Its pretty much similar to SJ4000. I am under an impression that the same company produces parts for both C10 and SJ4000.
Price-quality wise, for around 80$ that this cameras is priced at, you get a pretty decent gadget. Software is pretty stable and I have not encountered any bugs while using the camera. It works pretty fast.
User interface and navigation is pretty simple. I like the fact that the cam has only a few buttons which shows minimalistic approach. However with the minimalism in mind, they did not sacrifice the functionality.
When it comes to video quality, camera handles pretty well in daylight situations but becomes slightly grainy in the night. Images are quite sharp but it seams that resolution has been interpolated, which means camera does not make true 12 megapixels photos.
I am still quite mad that they did not include at least a bracket for this camera, so its impossible to attach it to anything that has standard camera 1/4 inch screw. It seams that engineers have been sleeping when determining the amount of gear that comes with this camera. I would rather see a camera bracket then plenty of useless wires, straps and cleaning cloth. If you do intend to buy this camera, you should know that it fits (not perfectly but fits) the bracket for SJ4000.
The worst thing about SooCoo C10 action camera in my personal experience is the WiFi app. It is completely useless and buggy. If controlling your camera remotely via the phone is important to you, you should probably check some other action cameras I reviewed.
Because camera has an LCD screen, you are not tied up to an app. You can do everything without it.
I hope that this short (ehm, well not so short) review and guide was helpful. If it was, feel free to drop a comment and let me know. For any questions or suggestions to improve this review, just click the post comment button. I am all fired up to hear what you have to say and reply to all of your questions regarding this product.
If you think this camera is right for you, the lowest price I was able to find is on this link.
