SJCAM SJ5000x vs SJ X1000 vs SJ5000x Elite Limited editions – difference?

As SJCAM recently started to “print” tons of new limited edition models and release them in very short time period, plenty of customers were confused and overwhelmed with so many “new-old” action cameras.

After receiving few emails from few of the readers, I decided to finally overcome my procrastination and put everything on a paper. Well not exactly a paper, but lets call it the “virtual pergament”.

In this table-rich post, I will  try to explain to you what is the difference between newly launched SJCAM SJ1000x, WiFi, SJ5000x and SJCAM5000x Elite, and once for all clear out all the confusion, that producer caused with launching this many cameras in short time-span.

Why are they launching Limited Edition cameras?

Probably the most reasonable question of all, is : why the heck are these guys launching these cameras in limited quantity? Are they insane?

While there are many theories among members on different forum communities, there are two sensible theories. Other theories include alien abduction and a Big Bang story, so lets not go that far 😛

First theory says : SJCAM wants to reach out to more potential customers by reducing the prices slightly and expanding their product line. Also because of their recent problems with marketing partner, they finally want to let people know who is an official manufacturer and owner of SJCAM brand. Additionally in the quiet winter season that is arriving, they still want people to talk about their company and cameras.

Second theory, the evil one, SJCAM had some problems recently with their SJ4000+ and SJ5000 series, which did not sell quite well. So now they are repacking the remaining hardware in order to sell some more cameras and increase volume of their sales.

No matter which theory you believe in, one thing is sure – customers are confused.

I bet that one of these questions (if not all of them) bother you, that is why you are here after all, right?

1. What is the difference between the X1000,SJ4000,SJ4000+ and SJ5000x?
2. Are those limited edition cameras better then the one I bought already?
3. Should I hurry up and upgrade?
4. Which one is better to buy?

Do not worry, allow me to brake it down to you, one step at a time. Lets begin.

What is the difference between SJ X1000 vs SJ5000x vs SJ5000x Elite?

Now, lets go through differences between these new Limited Edition models. The best way to show you what is different is in a table. For best experience, it would be good if you can preview these tables on your desktop, as they will appear side by side.

[go_pricing id=”sj5000vssj_560bd257822ea”]

SJCAM SJ x1000

The first product released from the limited edition series is SJ X1000. It sounded to me as if that they waned to honor their first, SJ1000 camera with this. So at first I thought it has to be something with that camera. Well, I was wrong. X1000 has nothing to do with SJ1000, instead this camera resembles more to SJ4000.

SJ4000 vs SJ X1000

There is no change when it comes to chipset, both cameras use Novatek 96655. Sensor is the same 3.5 megapixels, Aptina AR0330. Battery is also the same. So what is the difference between SJ4000 WiFi and SJx1000?

Allow me to present it in a table. Its much easier, and then I will clarify it a bit more.

[go_pricing id=”sj4000_sjx1000″]

First visible difference is a 2 inch LCD screen at the back, which replaces old 1.5″ and gives better view while you record. One more thing is that this kind of LCD will drain a battery slightly faster, since the battery remained the same – 900mah.

Camera menu is multilingual and supports 20 languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Korean, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Turkish and Vietnamese. Its crazy how many different languages are there. I do not remember seeing a product with this many available options for non-English speaking people. Compared to SJ4000 it has 3 more options.

Should you upgrade from SJ4000 to SJ x1000?

You would have to be crazy to buy x1000 if you already have SJ4000 WiFi or non WiFI, as differences are nearly non-existent. Unless you are some sort of a action camera collector, I really do not see a point in upgrading from SJ4000 to SJ1000x. Obviously manufacturer added a display and a lens hoping to sell more of the SJ4000 WiFi cameras under different name. Oops.

However, if you prefer slightly larger display, which certainly gives better view while recording  and do not have an action camera yet, SJCAM SJX1000 is pretty good for beginners.

|Buy SJ x1000 now|

SJCAM SJ5000x

SJ5000x, is actually a repack of  SJ4000+ model with a larger screen for the same price. Sounds familiar? Of course it does.

5000x, is a pure repack of SJ4000+, but brings some features that make it better buy.

I am under impression that they repacked SJ4000 Plus, due to the poor reviews it got, and are now trying to sell it as a Limited Edition with a larger LCD screen, under 5000 series name.

Nothing impressive to be honest, but still better deal then with disappointing SJ4000 Plus standard.

SJCAM SJ5000X vs SJ4000+

Even though differences are not huge, there are some that are quite significant. Please understand that here I am comparing SJ4000+ non Gyro edition. (difference between Gyro and Standard)

[go_pricing id=”sj4000plus_sj5000x”]

First huge improvement : SJ5000x has Gyro Electronic stabilization, which should stabilize video. This was huge problem with SJ4000+, and if you watched my review about it, you probably remember me whining about lack of stabilization. SJ4000+ Gyro version has this stabilization, but first few batches of SJ4000+ do not have any sort of stabilization.

Besides different lens and an LCD screen, and Gyro stabilization, the only “innovation” is different user interface, which reminds me of GitUp Git 1 in a way, though its not the same.

Should you upgrade from SJ4000 Plus to SJ5000x?

So considering same price SJ5000x now has, it is certainly a better deal then the SJ4000+, however if you bought that one already, I do not think its worth upgrading, unless you can get a refund and buy this one. If you are tinkering about 4000 plus and 5000x, I think its ob

|Buy SJ5000x now|

SJCAM5000x Elite

At the time of writing this article, Elite version of SJCAM SJ5000x is due to be released in late October, early September. From the information I managed to get, this version of the camera will finally introduce Sony Sensors inside SJCAM products, which is quite a big news.

The announced 5000x Elite, will have a 12 megapixels Sony Sensor. It is yet unknown if it will bring some more improvements and novelties. After asking some questions to one of the SJCAM representatives I managed to find out that the sensor will be IMX078CQK, which is a 12 megapixel sensor.

Update 11/15/2015

Elite version of SJ5000x has been released. Standard SJ5000x was a limited edition and will not be produced anymore. Even though originally announced as 16 megapixels still image camera, it has only 12 mp. Also it is the first SJCAM camera to have 4K video.

However, manufacturer explained that 4k video is not really a 4K, its just upscaled 2k. Besides Sony Sensor, 4K interpolated video at 24 fps Elite version offers a built in Gyro sensor which stabilizes video much smoother. Additionally there is an option to switch between wide and narrow field of view.

I plan to review SJ5000x Elite in the upcoming weeks, so make sure to check back or bookmark the website for more information on Elite model.

You can buy Elite on

• eBay

Update 5/19/2016 : You can read the full SJCAM 5000X Elite Review on this link.

Summary

As you can see, even though it sounded exciting, new Limited Edition cameras are nothing impressive for people who already bought some of their previous models. They certainly give more value for them money, especially 5000x compared to SJ4000+, so if you are indecisive which one to get, limited edition models seam to bring more bang for the buck.

However, according to the specifications, SJ5000x Elite is the real deal, as it offers big improvements in video and photo quality.

If you have any questions or you managed to find something that is not written here, feel free to leave a comment below. Even if you just want to say “Hi” 🙂