A Cheap 4K Action Camera for Under $40? XDV V3 4K Review

OPERATION, MENUS AND SETTINGS

The XDV has five modes – Video, Photo, Slow-Motion, Playback and Settings.  Here are screen shots of each (two for Playback):

The Settings menu is broken into four sections – Video, Photo, General and Basic.  Here are screenshots of each (two for General plus the Settings start screen):

In Photo mode the XDV has some typical settings including burst (Drama Shot), shutter delay (Timed) and photo time lapse (Auto).  In Video mode it has video time lapse but lacks motion detection.

White Balance works in either mode but there’s no setting for color or ISO, though the camera adjusts ISO automatically.  At the XDV’s price you wouldn’t expect it to have gyro stabilization or even anti-shake and they are indeed absent.

The menu language can be set to English, Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese, Indonesian, Swedish and Thai.  The app menus are always in English.

You can’t delete individual video and photo files using the camera. You can only delete all files and only by formatting the memory card.  Of course you can connect the camera to your computer (or use a card reader) and delete individual files that way.  You can also delete individual files using the Android app (but just before publishing the Android app stopped working).

When connecting the camera to a computer via USB (at least on my Windows 7 computer) it automatically turns on and gives you a choice of transferring files, using it as a web cam or charging the battery.  Transferring files worked smoothly and the computer also had no problem recognizing it as a webcam.

On the other hand the HDMI-out didn’t work when I connected the camera to my TV.

The XDV has three LED lights.  They indicate the camera’s status depending on which ones are on and whether they’re flashing or steady.  Here’s the rundown:

• Flashing red light – battery charging via AC or DC adapter or USB power bank
• Steady red light – connected to an adapter or power bank but without the battery installed or connected with the battery but fully charged
• Flashing blue light – recording video
• Steady blue light – camera on
• Flashing amber light – WiFi on but not connected
• Steady amber light – connected to a mobile device via WiFi

Because there’s no manufacturer’s website, firmware updates will never be available, i.e., your XDV camera will never get any better than what you have in hand.