Elephone Explorer Pro Action Camera Review

The Elephone Explorer Pro is an action camera from the Chinese brand Elephone.  Elephone was established as a smartphone manufacturer in 2006 and later entered the action camera market.  In this article I’ll be reviewing their Explorer Pro model.  The latest edition of this model includes a 2.4GHz RF remote control (not included with my camera).  Although the normal price is about $100 you can sometimes find it on sale at a number of websites for about $80.

With so many other action cameras available to consumers, how does one from a smartphone manufacturer measure up against the competition?  With this review I hope to answer that question.

Specifications

Elephone claims the Explorer Pro is a 4K camera but this is simply untrue.  The “4K” resolution is actually interpolated from 2880 x 2160; it’s not a native 3840 x 2160.  At least it records at a true 24 frames per second (fps) instead of the useless 10fps-15fps typical of many “4K” cameras.

They also say it records in 2K, a generic term for a number of resolutions.  In this case it means the Explorer Pro can record 2560 x 1440 at 30fps.  It also records 1080p at 60/30fps, 720p at 120/60/30fps, WVGA at 30fps, VGA at 240/30fps and QVGA at 30fps.  The 720p at 120fps is actually 40fps at triple frame rate.  The VGA at 240fps is actually 30fps with each frame shown 8 times – octuple frame rate!

The camera is equipped with the 12 megapixel (MP) Sony IMX117CQT image sensor while the image processor is the ubiquitous Novatek NT96660.  Naturally it also has WiFi.  The app is available for Android and iOS devices.

An unusual feature of the Explorer Pro is the audible feedback feature, what Elephone calls “Voice Broadcast“.  The camera speaks to you (in English only) for common actions like start and stop recording and useful warnings like memory full and battery low.  Other nice features are the Underwater Mode fill-in light  (called Diving Mode in the menu) and Night Scene.  These adjust camera settings based on conditions.  However, as I’ll show you later, Night Scene made no difference at all.  I didn’t have the opportunity to test Diving Mode.

The camera has an adjustable 170°-140°-110°-70° field of view (FOV).  It also has both gyroscopic and anti-shake image stabilization.  A separate waterproof enclosure good for a depth of 30 meters (about 99 feet) and a 1050 milliampere-hour lithium-ion battery are also included.

The Explorer Pro has an internal microphone but doesn’t support an external one.

Using my own calipers and scale I measured the camera as follows:

Width x Height x Depth:

• Camera body – 59mm x 41mm x 31mm  (2.3in x 1.6in x 1.2in)
• Waterproof enclosure – 76mm x 76mm x 44mm  (3.0in x 3.0in x 1.8in)

Weights:

• Camera only without battery – 47.0g  (1.66oz)
• Camera with battery – 64.5g  (2.27oz)
• Waterproof enclosure plus camera and battery – 139.4g  (4.91oz)

The Explorer Pro has a one-year warranty according to the included warranty card.  The handling of warranty claims might vary depending on your location and the seller you choose.  The camera can be purchased directly from Elephone or from a number of online sellers.

Unusual for Chinese action camera brands, Elephone’s customer service was actually quite good.  They usually responded within a day and their answers to my questions were complete and clear.  Perhaps their background as a smartphone manufacturer has had a positive influence.

[go_pricing id=”elephone_explorer_pro”]

Unboxing

The box is an elegant and sturdy design.  There’s an inner box with the camera and accessories that slides out of the outer box like a drawer.  There’s even a drawer pull tab!

The outer box has simple graphics with the logo, a photo of the camera and the model name nicely printed.  Inside the inner box are two more boxes, one with the camera visible in its waterproof enclosure and another with the accessories.  The camera box has good protective padding.

Quite a few accessories are included.  While a USB cable is included, Elephone continues the recent trend of excluding the AC adapter.  An HDMI cable is not included.

The User Manual is seriously lacking. Only a few of the settings and operations are explained and none of the on-screen display (OSD) icons are depicted or described.  No mention is made of the Elephone’s Voice Broadcast feature.  The User Manual also makes this odd statement: “Fall or hitting the camera will do irreparable damage to internal components.”  But this is an action camera, isn’t it?  Perhaps the camera should have been called the “Armchair Pro” instead.

The list of included accessories is as follows:

• Waterproof enclosure
• 3M Adhesive Tapes
• Cleaning cloth
• Straps
• Bicycle mount
• Accessory Seat (No. 1)
• Accessory Seat (No. 2)
• Steel Rope
• Ribbon
• Fixing Base
• USB Data Cable
• Helmet Seats
• Adapter
• Adapter stand (No. 1)
• Adapter (No. 2)
• Adapter stand (No. 3)
• User Manual
• Warranty Card

The following is a photo of the contents

Design and Build Quality

I must say I like the appearance of the Explorer Pro.  The brushed finished in front, the vertical band with an elongated red button for Power/Mode and the u-shaped insert for the lens are all nice touches.  The knobby texture of the top, bottom and sides makes it easy to grip.

Unfortunately the build quality leaves something to be desired.  The front of my camera was ever so slightly bowed out along the top seam.  It clicked into place when I pressed on it, like plastic on plastic, but it popped out again a few times until it finally stayed in place.

The bottom-mounted battery compartment door was installed the wrong way ’round but I easily reinstalled it the right way.  Even correctly positioned it’s not especially easy to open.  You need to be sure it goes back the right way because it’s not attached to the camera and if it pops open or you lose it, the battery falls out.

There’s no dust cover over the ports and memory card slot on the side.  The outermost convex surface of the lens extends just beyond the ring that surrounds it.  The lens can get dirty and scratched and Elephone doesn’t include a lens cap among the accessories.

The Explorer Pro is a four-button design.  It has one button in front, one on top and two on the side.  The side buttons are used to navigate menus and activate the WiFi.

The buttons are a bit stiff but that means you’re less likely to press them in accidentally.  They have a definite but unrefined click.   The power turns on with a single press-and-release of the button rather than a press-and-hold.  That makes it too easy to inadvertently turn on the camera.

The camera has a built-in microphone and speaker.  Don’t expect much from the speaker.  It’s rather loud and tinny but at least it gives you some idea of the recorded audio.

Although the camera body doesn’t have a threaded opening for tripod mounting, the accessories include a clever camera clip that has 1/4″-20 connections top and bottom.  That way you can mount the camera hanging down without the image being inverted.  Unfortunately the clip blocks your view of the LED’s on the back of the camera.

The waterproof enclosure seems reasonably well constructed but the camera sits inside it a little bit loosely.  The latch closure has a pretty good feel but it doesn’t snap as tightly into place as some cameras.  The advantage to the hard click of the buttons on the camera is that they turn out to be just right when using the waterproof enclosure.  The feel of pressing the housing buttons combined with a muted click is very nice.

Using the Camera

To turn on the camera press the Power/Mode button. After the start screen the first mode to appear is Record Mode.  Press the Mode button again to advance to Camera mode, again for Playback mode and again to enter the Setup Menu.  To turn off the camera press and hold the button at any time.

On-Screen Display Icons

Record Mode

1. Record Mode icon
2. flashing red light when recording
3. WDR – wide dynamic range
4. Night Scene
5. available recording time – based on current settings and remaining memory.  Changes to length of video when recording.
6. resolution and frame rate – in format rrr Pff, where r=resolution, P=progressive and f = frame rate
7. white balance – different icons indicate different settings (Auto is shown)
8. audio recording – two different icons to show on or off (on is shown)
9. memory card – two different icons to show presence or absence of card (presence is shown)
10. battery status – shows remaining battery power
11. time of day – in format hh:mm:ss using 24-hour clock
12. “No connect” – only appears when WiFi becomes disconnected during use
13. date – in format YYYY/MM/DD
14. WiFi – indicates WiFi is on.  This does not mean that the camera has connected to your mobile device.
15. time lapse record
16. Diving Mode
17. exposure value – EV number shown in green
18. motion detection
19. loop recording – green number indicates length of file segments in minutes

Camera Mode

1. Camera Mode icon
2. self timer – shutter delay.  Green number shows seconds of delay.
3. anti-shaking
4. burst mode
5. number of photos remaining – based on current settings and available memory
6. image size – megapixels
7. quality – letter indicates Fine, Normal or Economy
8. memory card – two different icons to show presence or absence of card (presence is shown)
9. battery status – shows remaining battery power
10. ISO setting – setting shown in green
11. white balance – different icons indicate different settings (cloudy is shown)
12. exposure value – EV number shown in green

Playback Mode – Videos

1. Video playback icon
2. file number – in format YYYY_MMDD_hhmmss_nnn, where Y=year, M=month, D=day, h=hour, m=minutes, s=seconds and n=sequential number of video file..  For protected file numbers, YYYY is replaced with a key icon and the suffix .MP or A.M is added after the file number to indicate it’s protected from deletion.
3. resolution and frame rate – in format rrr Pff, where r=resolution, P=progressive and f=frame rate.  Changes to a timer in the format of hh:mm:ss when you start to playback a video.
4. memory card – if the memory card is missing you’ll get a blue screen with “No File” indicated
5. date when the video was recorded – in format YY/MM/DD
6. time when the video was recorded – in format hh:mm based on 24-hour clock
7. battery status – shows remaining battery power
8. stop
9. fast forward
10. rewind
11. play/pause

Playback Mode – Photos

1. Photo playback icon
2. file number – in format YYYY_MMDD_hhmmss_nnn, where Y=year, M=month, D=day, h=hour, m=minutes, s=seconds and n=sequential number of photo file.  A key icon replaces the first two YY digits in protected file numbers.
3. image size – dimensions given in pixels
4. quality – letter indicates Fine, Normal or Economy
5. sharpness – three slightly different icons depending on sharpness
6. memory card – if the memory card is missing you’ll get a blue screen with “No File” indicated
7. date when the photo was taken – in format YY/MM/DD
8. time when the photo was taken – in format hh:mm based on 24-hour clock
9. battery status – shows remaining battery power
10. white balance – different icons indicate different settings (cloudy is shown)
11. exposure value – EV number shown in green

There’s no indication of the FOV setting nor is there an icon for gyro stabilization in Record mode.  The battery status icon is divided into rather large segments so you don’t realize you’re very close to the end until you’re already there, although the Voice Broadcast warning is helpful.

In Record mode press the OK button to begin recording videos, press again to stop.  If you press the Mode button while recording video the camera takes a photo and the Camera mode icon briefly flashes on the OSD.

In Camera mode press the OK button to shoot a photo.  Depending on the settings there could be a burst of photos or a delay with a beep sound counting down each second.

To playback video go to Playback mode and press the OK button.  Press it again to pause or press the Mode button to stop.  When stopped press the Down button to advance to the next photo/video and the Up button to go back one video/photo.

During video playback press the Down button to fast forward 2X, again for 4X, again for 8X.  While fast forwarding press Up button to reduce playback speed.  During playback press the Up button to rewind 2X, 4X or 8X and press the Down button to reduce rewind speed.

I used the camera to record a contractor replacing the roof on my house.  Connected to a USB power bank, it recorded continuously for about 7 hours in 1080p 60fps with WiFi and display off.  The ambient temperature peaked  at 33°C (92°F).  Although the camera was hot by the end of the day it didn’t overheat and recorded the entire 7 hours without incident.

The 2-inch display on the Elephone is bright and crisp.  The colors are true-to-life and details can be seen quite clearly.  Playing back videos and viewing photos on the camera display works well.  The icons and OSD data are easy to see and the Setup Menu is easy to read.

Playing back videos on my 1080p TV directly from the camera via the HDMI connection worked well for videos at all resolutions and frame rates.  Playback includes audio.  Photos looked good too.  All camera functions remain available while connected – you can change settings and shoot videos and photos just like normal.  There’s essentially no lag between the camera and TV.  The camera automatically recognizes the HDMI connection.

A useful feature missing from the Elephone is one-button toggle for gyro stabilization.  Gyro stabilization is intended for recording videos.  When shooting photos it can cause them to be blurry.  If you want to alternate between videos and photos it would be best to switch between gyro on and off but with the Explorer Pro you need to enter the Setup Menu.  A simple one-button toggle would make things much easier.  And because there’s no icon in Record mode to show when gyro stabilization is on you’ll need to remember your setting.

On the other hand there is a one-button toggle for audio recording.  Simply press the down button on the side to turn audio recording on or off.

The Elephone Explorer Pro also lacks adjustable metering.  Metering is the way the camera reads the brightness of the entire scene, just the center or something in between.  Adjustable metering can make a difference when you’re shooting a scene having high contrast between the brightest and darkest parts of the scene.

Lights

• Solid blue light – camera on
• Flashing blue light – recording video
• Solid red light – battery charging
• Flashing amber light – WiFi on but not connected
• Solid amber light – WiFi on and connected

Beeps (if turned on) and sounds

• Single beep – when you scroll through menu selections or change a setting; when you choose a file in Playback mode
• Shutter sound – when you snap a photo
• Chirp – when you turn the camera on or off
• Voice Broadcast – “video start”, “video stop”, “low power” and memory full

Video and Photo Settings in Common

The following describes various settings that affect both videos and photos.  Only photos are shown for clarity.

White Balance allows you to adjust the color temperature to match ambient conditions.  The settings include Auto, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent and Tungsten.  Auto looks best outdoors on this sunny day.

By changing the ISO setting you can adjust the image sensor’s sensitivity to light.  The settings include (below, clockwise from top left) Auto and ISO 100, 200 and 400.

You’ll notice they all look the same.  That’s because the camera automatically reduced the exposure time in concert with the change in ISO value – doubling the ISO halved the exposure time.  Thus changing The ISO setting but leaving the Exposure Value on Auto doesn’t do you much good.

You can also adjust the Exposure Value (EV).  This changes the amount of time an image is exposed to the sensor.  The following shows how the Elephone Explorer Pro does a good job of changing the EV in the normal 1/3 increments from -2 to +2.  Each step change is subtle but noticeable just as it should be.

You can adjust the color effect you want including Color, Black & White or Sepia.

WDR (wide dynamic range) can be turned on or off.  Normally turning WDR on improves the colors in your videos and photos.  I didn’t notice any difference.  See for yourself in the following two photos.

You can set Sharpness to High, Normal or Medium.  I could only notice a difference when an image was substantially zoomed: the edges looked rather poor but in different ways depending on the setting.  Under normal circumstances and reasonable magnifications you probably won’t notice any difference.  I suggest you leave the setting at Medium because adjustments to sharpness are best done with your editing software.

Video Quality

As I mentioned earlier, all the Elephone’s video resolutions and frame rates are true to their settings except 4K is interpolated and VGA at 240fps is actually 30fps at 8X frame rate.  While  WVGA is normally 768 x 480, on the Elephone it’s 848 x 480. 

For videos recorded at night with all setting on default or with Night Scene turned on, 720p at 120fps is actually 40fps with tripled frame rate.  VGA still records at 30 fps and plays back at octupled frame rate while 4K is still 24fps.  Frame rates at all other resolutions are reduced to 30fps, typical for action cameras recording at night.

I thought the best quality videos were achieved recording in 2.5K day or night.  This isn’t surprising considering this is the highest resolution without interpolation.

The field of view (FOV) is adjustable to four different settings.  As you can see in these frame captures, the difference between each setting was noticeable. (Below, clockwise from top left,  70°, 110°, 140° or 170°)

When used as a dash cam, the camera’s gyro stabilization usually does a very good job of smoothing out large motions, making the video look smooth even when the road is not.  (See Dash Camera section below.)  However, when I was holding the camera with a hand grip and walking along the sidewalk the camera picked up every single motion, making the video look nervous.  Admittedly I was walking but even when I stopped and held the camera steady it still picked up even the tiniest twitch.

You’ll find two unedited videos downloadable at this link.   The river video was recorded in 2.5K at 30fps with settings on default.  You’ll hear the Voice Broadcast say “Video Start” and “Low Power” (this can be turned off).  The other video was recorded at night at 1080p 30fps with settings on default.

Except for the gyro problem, videos at night looked okay in 4K, 2.5K and 1080P.  At 720P 120fps the video had a lot of noise unless the scene was well lit.

Dash Camera

The Elephone Explorer Pro works okay as a dash camera, just don’t expect too much.   When CAR ACC is turned on with the camera connected to a 12V power outlet it powers up and automatically begins recording when you start your vehicle.  It shuts off automatically when you turn off your vehicle.

The following is a frame capture in a parking lot with my vehicle barely moving.  You can see the closest license plate clearly but just two spaces further down the plate is completely obscure.  The inset photos were zoomed 400%, 500% and 600%.

It does a nice job if you want a general record of a road trip.  However, at the end of a six-hour drive the gyro stabilization exhibited a strange jumping phenomenon.  Here are two videos showing a short trip to my post office (good) and the end of the six-hour drive (bad).

Here are three sets of videos showing a residential street, a road through a shopping district and a narrow country lane.  In each you can compare the camera’s performance side-by-side when recording during the day with all settings on Default, at night with all settings on Default and at night with Night Scene turned on.

The daytime videos were recorded at 1080p 60fps.  As with all action cameras, the frame rate at night dropped to 30fps.  However, as I discovered after recording these videos, with the Elephone you’ll have better quality with the resolution set at 2.5K

The following video demonstrates the camera’s performance in a demanding situation where conditions quickly change from bright to dark to bright again passing through tunnels.  The camera quickly adjusted to conditions, though as it approached the light at the end of a dark tunnel the view was briefly washed out.  Settings were on default.

Photo Quality

Because the Elephone Explorer Pro has a 12MP sensor, and the full dimensions of the sensor aren’t used from edge to edge, photos above 10MP are interpolated.  Therefore you don’t really gain anything by choosing 12MP, 16MP or 20MP image sizes.

Annoyingly, even when you turn off the date stamp it still appears on photos.  There’s no such problem with videos.

The FOV for photos has four settings just like videos.  However, I could detect no difference between the 140° and 170° settings.  I can’t say for sure but I’m speculating that 170° isn’t available due to photos having a somewhat narrower aspect ratio of 4:3 as compared to 16:9 for videos.  (Below, clockwise from top left, 70°, 110°, 140°, 170°)

Anti-shake did a good job of eliminating any blurriness in photos I took while holding the camera by hand.  If I was reasonably steady then it was no different than using a tripod with anti-shake turned off.

The two photos downloadable in this link are original unedited photos.  They give you an idea of the good quality daytime photos the Elephone shoots. The building was photographed at 2X zoom.

Audio Quality

The Elephone’s audio quality is pretty good.  It’s sensitive enough to pick up average conversations at a modest distance but when recording music the sound seems a bit flat and colorless.  The volume is plenty loud, perhaps too loud.

Battery and Power

Here is a sample of various settings and how long the battery lasted on the Elephone Explorer Pro.  If you’re using a 32GB or larger memory card the battery will always run out before the memory fills up.  In all cases WiFi was off.

• UHD P24 (4K, 24fps), Quality Fine, display on, gyro on:  59 minutes
• QHD P30 (2K, 30fps), Quality Fine, display off, gyro off:  78 minutes
• FHD P60 (1920 x 1080, 60fps), Quality Fine, display on, gyro on:  42 minutes
• FHD P30 (1920 x 1080, 30fps), Quality Normal, display off, gyro on:  97 minutes
• HD P120 (1280 x 720, 120fps), Quality Normal, display on, gyro off:  73 minutes
• VGA P240 (640 x 480, 240fps), Quality Fine, display off, gyro on:  111 minutes
• QVGA P30 (320 x 240, 30fps), Quality Economy, display off, gyro off:  149 minutes

These recording times could be better, especially because turning on the WiFi would make them shorter still.  Spare batteries and a charger or a USB power bank might be necessities for you.  I’ve seen Elephone spare batteries for sale but not an external charging dock.

However, SJCam SJ4000 batteries are identical and work fine in the Elephone, plus the SJCam charging dock works with either brand battery.  SJCam products are inexpensive and widely available.  Two spare batteries and an external dual-battery charging dock are often discounted on websites like to less than $10.  I decided to try an SJCam battery in the Elephone to see if it made any difference.  It did, but it was actually a tiny bit worse:

• FHD P60 (1920 x 1080, 60fps), Quality Fine, display on, gyro on:  40 minutes (with SJCam battery)

It took about 2 hours to recharge the Elephone battery using a 2.0 amp AC adapter.  That’s pretty good by action camera standards.  Your recharging times might be different if your adapter has a different output.

The Elephone Explorer Pro can work without a battery when connected to AC or 12V DC adapters.  It also works with a USB power bank with or without the battery installed.

Charging the Elephone’s battery (or using a USB power bank) while the camera is turned on causes it to get quite hot.  Hottest of all was the glass lens – you’ll get a minor burn if you touch it.  If the camera is off while charging then it just gets warm.

You’ll need to reset the date and time whenever you change the battery.  Surprisingly other settings are retained rather than reverting to default.  The camera date and time will reset to current when you connect with your smart device via WiFi.  Also keep in mind this hint: Leave the battery tab sticking out when you close the battery compartment door.  It makes it easier to pop the door open again.

Menu and Settings

The Elephone Explorer Pro has a 10-page Setup Menu with 4 selections on each page.  Once you’re in the menu you can start at Page 10 by using the up button to go backward through the pages so you’ll never need to scroll through more than 5 pages.  Default settings are noted with an asterisk (*).

Page 1

• Resolution – UHD P24, QHD P30, FHD P60*, FHD P30, HD P120, HD P60, HD P30, WVGA P30, VGA P240, VGA P30, QVGA P30.  These are the available combinations of resolutions (the first three or four letters) and frame rates (the number after P).  UHD = 3840 x 2160 interpolated from 2880 x 2160, QHD = 2560 x 1440,  FHD = 1920 x 1080, HD = 1280 x 720, WVGA = 768 x 480, VGA = 640 x 480 and QVGA = 320 x 240.
• Loop Recording – Off, 3 Minutes*, 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes.  The lengths of video file segments.  Off indicates continuous recording.
• Gyroscope – Off*, On.  Gyroscopic image stabilization for recording video.  For better still images make sure Gyroscope is turned off when shooting photos.
• WDR – Off, On*.  Wide Dynamic Range.  In scenes that have both dim and bright areas or a very wide range of colors, WDR normally helps improve the appearance of videos and photos.  In fact it made no difference with the Elephone.

Page 2

• Time-lapse Record – Off*, 100ms, 200ms, 500ms, 1Sec,  5 Seconds.  Time intervals between still images that can be played back as a video.
• Motion Detection – Off*, On.  When on, if the camera detects motion it will record for 10 seconds.  It will continue to do this each time it detects motion until the battery is exhausted or the memory is full.
• Record Audio – Off, On*.  Choose whether or not to record audio along with video.  In Video mode you can also push the down button on the side of the camera to toggle between audio On or Off.
• Date Stamp – Off, On*.  Choose whether or not to display the date on your videos and photos.

Page 3

• Angle – 170°*, 140°, 110°, 70°.  Field of view.  The angle of view captured by the camera.  For example, 170° field of view captures everything that’s 85° on either side of the lens.
• Diving mode – Off*, On.  Adjusts camera settings for use when diving
• Night Scene – Off*, On.  Adjusts camera settings for use at night
• Self Timer – Single*, 2S Timer, 5S Timer, 10S Timer.  Choose the shutter delay time in seconds.  Single means no delay.

Page 4

• Image Size – 20M 5120×3840*, 16M 4608×3456, 12M 4032×3024, 10M 3648×2736, 8M 3264×2448, 5M2592x1944, 3M 2048×1536, VGA 640×480
• Burst – Off*, On.  When turned on the camera will shoot photos continuously as long as the shutter button is pressed
• Quality – Fine, Normal*, Economy
• Sharpness – Strong, Normal*, Soft

Page 5

• White Balance – Auto*, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent.  Adjust for the type of lighting you’re shooting in or leave it on auto.  Tungsten refers to typical incandescent lighting.
• Color – Color*, Black & White, Sepia.  Record videos or shoot photos in color or black & white or with a sepia effect
• ISO – Auto*, 100, 200, 400.  ISO is the sensitivity of the image sensor.  The higher the number, the greater the sensitivity to light.
• Exposure Value – +2.0, +5/3, +4/3, +1.0, +2/3, +1/3, +0.0*, -1/3, -2/3, -1.0, -4/3, -5/3, -2.0.  Adjusts the amount of time that an image is exposed to the sensor. 

Page 6

• Anti-Shaking – Off, On*.  Helps to keep photos from blurring when there is inadvertent movement of the camera.  However, if you’re using a tripod to keep the camera still then anti-shaking can actually make photos more blurred.  In that case turn it off.
• Delete – Delete Current > Erase This? > Cancel or OK  –OR–  Delete All > Erase All Images? > Cancel or OK.  Deletes one or all videos and photos that aren’t protected.
• Protect – Lock Current, Unlock Current, Lock All, Unlock All.  Locks or unlocks either 1) the video or photo shown on the display or 2) all videos and photos.  When you lock them they’re protected from accidental deletion during the Delete function.  However, all files including protected files will be deleted when you format the memory card.
• WiFi – Off*, On.  Turns off or on the WiFi signal broadcast and reception.  Use with Android and iOS devices having the Elephone app installed.  It allows your device to be used as a remote control and viewer.

Page 7

• WIFI SSID – choose a combination of 18 letters, numbers or spaces
• WIFIPass Word – choose a combination of 8 numbers for your password
• Date/Time – set the date and time
• Auto Power Off – Off, 1 Minute, 3 Minutes*, 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes.  The camera automatically turns off after the time period selected.  It remains on if Off is selected.

Page 8

• Beep Sound – Off, On*.  Turn off or on the beep sound heard when scrolling through menus or changing settings.
• VoicePrompt – Off, On*.  Turn the Voice Broadcast feature off or on.
• CAR ACC – Off*, On.  When On and connected to a 12V adapter the camera automatically turns on and begins recording when you start your car.  It turns off when you shut off the car.
• Language – English*, Français, Deutsch, Español, Italiano, Português, Russian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Polski.  Choose among these languages for the on-screen display and menus.  Some selections in the Setup Menu remain in English regardless of the language setting.  Voice Broadcast is always in English as are the app menus.

Page 9

• TV Mode – NTSC*, PAL.  The TV signal encoding system for your country.  Use NTSC for North America and much of Latin America, PAL for Europe and elsewhere.  Check to be sure about your country.
• Tv – Off*, On.
• Screen Save – Off, 30 Sec, 1 Minute, 3 Minutes*.  The time until the display shuts off after your last activity such as changing settings or shooting a video or photo.  If the screen is off you can turn it on again by pressing the OK button at any time.
• Frequency – 50 Hz*, 60 Hz.  The frequency of AC electricity where you live.  Choose 60 Hz for North America and 50Hz for Europe.

Page 10

• Format – SD Card > All data will be deleted > Cancel, OK.  Formats the memory card.  All videos and photos including protected files will be deleted.  Always format a new memory card in the camera.
• Default Setting – Return menu setting to defaults > Cancel, OK.  Select OK to return all camera settings to their defaults.
• Version – The version of the firmware installed on the camera.

WiFi and App

I had no problems downloading the app to my Android smartphone.  I couldn’t find an iOS app in the Apple Store but I easily installed it on my iPad Mini by scanning the QR code on the Elephone website.

WiFi can be turned on or off in the camera’s Setup Menu.  It can also be toggled on or off by pressing the Up button on the side of the camera but only in Record mode.

The camera I received had the original version of the firmware.  With that version the WiFi and app were so unstable I wasn’t able to test them.  After installing the firmware update things improved, at least with my Android smartphone.  You can check if you have the latest version of the app (20160408 V1.0) but by the time you read this review it’s likely that any camera you buy will have the latest firmware.  If not you can contact Elephone Customer Service to get the latest version.  Follow these steps to install it:

• Transfer any photo or video files you want to save to your computer and format the memory card in the camera.
• Remove the memory card and download the firmware to the card using a card reader.
• Reinstall the memory card.
• Remove the battery from the camera.
• Connect the camera to your computer via USB.  (I only tried this with a Windows 7 computer.  I don’t know how it will work on other machines.)
• When the camera turns on by itself the firmware is installed.  This might take a minute or so.
• Disconnect the camera from your computer and reinstall the battery.
• Format the memory card in the camera.

Screen shots of my phone and  iPad after the update are shown below.

The camera required three or four tries to connect to my iPad whereas it connected to my Android phone on the first or second try.  There was only about 1 second of lag when viewing shots on my phone.  With my iPad it took some time before the app would engage, frequently it would disconnect (but then automatically reconnect) and there was quite a bit of lag.  On my phone there was some delay between the time I pressed the button to start/stop recording or snap a photo and the time the camera reacted.  It was much worse with the iPad.

If you want to you can use the app while the camera is connected to your TV via HDMI.  However, when I did so I got a “Slow Card” message on the OSD.  I’m not sure why or what it means.  It had no effect on the video quality.

When WiFi is connected all controls at the camera are disabled except start/stop recording.  Many settings that are adjustable on the camera can’t be adjusted using the app.  You should set these at the camera before connecting to your mobile device.  The more important ones are listed below.

• Gyroscope
• Night Scene
• Quality
• Sharpness
• White Balance
• Color
• ISO
• All photo settings except image size

APP Menu

The menus on the Andriod and iOS app are the same (though the misspellings vary!) and the Android app adds a “wi-fi” selection (Why?).  A screen shot of each app is shown below.  I’ve used the Android app for the descriptions.

Video Setting

• Movie date in print – off, on
• Video resolution – FHD P60, FHD P30, HD P120, HD P60, HD P 30, WVGA P30, VGA P240, VGA P30, QVGA P30
• moview cyclicrec – Off, 5 minutes
• Movie WDR – off, on
• Motion detection – off, on
• movie audio – off, on
• Video exposure value – P20, P16, P13, P10, P06, P03, 00, N03, N06, N10, N13, N16, N20.  This is a simplified 2-digit way of expressing the normal 1/3 EV increments.  For example, P13 is plus 1-1/3; N20 is minus 2.

Photo Setting and more Setting

• Photo Size – 20M (5120×3840), 16M (4608×3456), 12M (4032×3024), 10M (3648×2736), 8M (3264×2488), 5M (2592×1944), 3M (2048×1536), VGA (640×480)
• Wipe Cache – “Sure you want to clear the cache” > OK or Cancel
• wi-fi (Android app only)
• Formatting – “Format storage card” > “Confirm format?” > OK or Cancel

The following screenshots of my phone and iPad show the list of files.  These are the files stored on the camera’s memory card whether they were recorded via WiFi or not.  Photos and videos are not automatically saved to your smart device’s memory when using the app.  You can transfer the files to your device via WiFi by pressing the arrow after each file.  You can also transfer them via USB from the camera to your computer first and then to your device.  You can also transfer them using a card reader.

Summary

High Points

Low Points

The Elephone Explorer Pro’s normal price is a reasonable $100 but when it’s on sale for $80 (as is often the case) it’s quite a bargain.  It doesn’t break any new ground: It’s mostly competent with a few high and low points.

Some of the higher frame rates are false and it only records interpolated 4K video, not native.  Like most action cams, images in the dark leave something to be desired, even when the camera’s mysterious Night Scene is turned on, but in daylight it records very good video.  QHD (2.5K resolution) seems to give the best results.  The gyro stabilization could do a better job. Daylight photos look good.  Unfortunately WiFi with the iOS app is unstable.

While videos and photos are average or better, what makes the Explorer Pro a good camera is it’s everyday ease of use.  The menu is easy to navigate, it has a full complement of menu selections to play with, the display is bright and crisp, and it comes with a good selection of accessories including a remote control.  The Voice Broadcast feature is useful and fun – there’s nothing like having a camera that talks to you!  The Android app works well.  And almost any SJCam SJ4000 accessory, including batteries, will work with the Elephone.

Best of all for beginners, Elephone’s customer service is actually good – an amazing feat for a Chinese action camera manufacturer.  You can thank the company’s roots in the smartphone market for that.  It’s a more than decent action camera that won’t break the bank.  If you’re using it with an Android device I can definitely recommend the Elephone Explorer Pro.

Notes

1. The image sensor, image processor and other internal hardware mentioned in this review are based on Elephone’s statements.  The camera was not disassembled to verify components.
2. The camera was delivered to and tested in the US.  I don’t know if cameras delivered to other countries will perform the same.
3. The camera was tested with firmware version 20160408 V1.0.
4. I used a 64GB Samsung Evo microSDXC memory card, class UHS-1.  Elephone makes no recommendation about the speed class but you should always use a good quality, name brand memory card with a speed class of 10 or faster.  Off brand or lower speed memory cards are likely to cause problems.
5. The WiFi and app were tested using a Samsung Galaxy S4 Android smartphone and an Apple iPad Mini 2.  Other mobile devices might perform differently.
6. The HDMI output was tested on a Panasonic 42-inch 1080p LCD HDTV.  HDMI output might look different on your TV.
7. Photo and video files were downloaded to a Toshiba laptop with Windows 7 operating system.  Viewing videos and photos to assess quality was done using a Samsung 22-inch 1080p LED monitor/TV.    Photos and videos might look different on your monitor.
8. Videos were played back through my home theater system to evaluate audio quality.  Audio might sound different on your system.
9. Elephone makes no mention of any computer hardware or software requirements to play back videos recorded by the camera.  You’ll need the right software to play back 2.5K and 4K video recordings, at least on a Windows 7 machine.  I installed the Media Player Classic – Home Cinema (MPC-HC) program on my computer in order to view them.
10. Because the camera was tested in the southern US I couldn’t check its performance in cold weather.  I also didn’t have the opportunity to verify that the waterproof enclosure is good to a depth of 30m (about 98ft) or to check the Diving Mode underwater fill-in light feature.  (It’s not an actual light on the camera, just an adjustment of settings.)
11. Note for US consumers: There’s no indication on the Elephone website or in the User Manual that the camera complies with US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements for WiFi operation, though the outer box does carry the FCC logo.  The camera itself lacks the required FCC labeling.

UPDATE – January 15, 2017

After publishing this review I found out there was a later version of firmware available.  I found nothing about it on the Elephone website so I e-mailed their customer service to ask about it.  Here is their reply:

“We have no new firmware, different batch have different firmware. they are not compatible.”

In other words, you’re stuck with the firmware you’ve got (except very early cameras like mine did have one update early on).  Therefore I can’t recommend Elephone Explorer Pro cameras that have firmware versions other than the one I reviewed because I don’t know how they actually perform.  In my review you should disregard the entire section about updating the firmware unless you have an original version and haven’t installed the early update.  My review camera was tested with firmware version 20160408 V1.0 and that is the only version I can recommend.