Final verdict
Both of these cameras are great solution and offer amazing quality for the price. Xiaomi YI beats SJ4000 in three very important aspects – video colors quality, audio and photography. However SJ4000 offers more accessories, its better suited for beginners and has sharper video.
YI has burst feature which is useful for taking photos of fast moving objects. It also offers fish-eye correction and videos on 60 fps in full high definition. SJ4000 does have an LCD which is a huge advantage and makes it much easier to use and navigate through. It starts itself much faster and is a true example of an action camera. When it comes to price, even though it appears that YI is cheaper, it does not come with any accessories. You have to buy everything separately, which means another 50-60$ in gear, depending on what you need and if you want original gear or cheaper ones. SJ4000 comes action-packed with lots of accessories and mounts which is one more advantage.
Which one is better?
In my personal opinion, the question here is not which one is better in general. The proper question should be : Which one will fulfill my needs better? So first, make sure to think about what is it that you want from your camera. Is it great colors and fantastic photography or sharper video, LCD screen and accessories? Do you want to use this camera in a car occasionally or not? How much are you ready to invest in it?
Since these two cameras are quite different, I would like to give my two cents. Please note this is just my personal opinion.
Xiaomi YI beats SJ4000 in most important aspects. It has better customer support, but it is at the same time annoying to use if you want to take due to the lack of a screen. SJ4000 offers not so colorful video, and bellow the average photography quality. However, it is easier to use, and more suitable for people who never used an action camera before.
For example my father who is 50+ learned two use SJ4000 in few minutes, while he was so frustrated with how YI starts slowly, and he had no idea if he is recording or not. On the other hand my 16 year old cousin had so much fun with YI, and he prefers to run everything through the app. For my hiking trip, I prefer to use SJ4000 as it is easier to use in daylight. So for extreme situation I do not use Xiaomi YI, but for everything else such as recording holidays, family gatherings, etc, I use YI.
I hope this article helped you decide which camera is better. If you haven’t read my reviews of both of these cameras, I highly recommend you to read them if you have the time, I promise that they are very informative and help you determine which one is right for you.
If you would like to learn more about each of these cameras, check my full reviews :
On both of these reviews, you can download sample footage taken with YI and SJ4000.
And finally, do not delve too much. Both of these cameras are amazing for its price. No matter which one you decide to get in the end, I am sure you will capture lots of great photos and videos and other memorable moments.
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I currently have the SJ4000 WIFI and its performed well over the last year, my main gripe has been white balance, on auto it noticeably jumps around a lot (usually too cold IMO), I tend to fix it at daylight which is usually too warm for our skies in Scotland, but with it fixed to one setting its easier to correct the colours in editing software.
I’m now looking for a new action camera that supports 60p for use on a drone and the YI Xiaomi keeps popping up as I research, I appreciate your own opinions based on these two cameras.
You are welcome Russ, appreciate your comment and I hope the comparison helped you.
thanks for the great work.
when i took a look at the pictures u took it seemed that the xiaomi has a bit more fisheye effect. what do u think?
It might be the case, since it has a bit wider field of view if you take a closer look at the images, you will notice.
Hi,
Thanks for the article. I want to get a camera for my drone. I am a beginner though. What would you recommend? Also, durability wise what’s stronger? I imagine I may get some beating by a fall or a tree 🙂
I am an absolute newbie when it comes to quad copters, so I cant be the go-to guy for this. I have seen people using both of these, try browsing through different forums and see experiences of RC hobbyists. Xiaomi YI seams tougher, but not sure if that will make a difference when something falls from 50m. 🙂
If you are a true beginner in flying, better get some practice, that way you wont have to bother breaking anything.
Perhaps commenters here might be able to tell you which one is better for a quadcopter.
Nice review ! I was initially annoyed at it being divided across 15 pages but I really enjoyed it. It was a really good review.
You’ve helped me make up my mind too. 🙂
Thanks Alaba, pages are split because in my opinion it gives more time for reader to search what he wants and also separates content for easier consumption.
Very usefull. Thank you ☺
Which one is better for night action video shooting, eg. night Karting race… I couldn´t find low light comparisson in your post…
Hello Pavle,
Again great post (y).
From what I have been reading on the web, I agree with you that Yi beats SJ4000 on many aspects. I haven’t been able to find many reviews on SJ5000x or SJ5000x Elite.
In your opinion how does Yi perform against SJ5000x and SJ5000x, do they worth the price difference?
I do not have any of those cameras, so I cant comment on that. You can read more about general differences on new SJCAM releases including 5000X and Elite here. I hope to review Elite in the next few weeks.
Hallo
How are you?
Iam a begginer. I should choice one of those many action camera. Iam a traveler in the water. I like xiaomi but yi didn’t have lcd. As a preview,sj cam has lcd screen but yi has better spec. And xiaomi’s picture is difficult to be shown when it is in the water cause it doesn’t have lcd screen.
What do you think?
Thank you
So, you need a decent photo quality and an LCD for action cam?
Perhaps Dazzne P3 or Blackview Hero 1, or upcoming SJ5000X Elite.
Or if you are good with Xiaomi YI, you can get external LCD for it.
I think is good. But the lcd has expensive price. I think i’ll choose sj cam 4000.
Thanks mr
One HUGE advantage I just found out after having to return the 6 SJ4000 I bought for a 360 Video i was planning to make is that the YI can shoot VIDEO in 4:3 which was not a big deal until this new technology for VR Video which MAY OR MAY NOT end up being the next big thing.
Good I just bought it
Great comparison. I couldn’t decide between Yi and M10, finally went with M10. Why? LCD screen. I am professional photographer and I’m used to adjust options of my camera to get most of it…if I can’t adjust exposure and white balance in few clicks, I don’t want to use that device. You pointed out that most people don’t bother with options, but it is evidently they can change image quality significantly. Interesting thing I learned from your review: size of sensor doesn’t make so much difference(for video) in this type of camera: that could also be the reason why is SJ sharper (smaller sensor means bigger depth of field).
The quality of xioami yi is exeptional but i’m gonna have to go with the sj4000. I go on hiking and on the beach i think it would be wiser to buy the sj4000 for beginners like me. It is important for me to have a screen on my cam for navigation. Though xiaomi yi has an app but what if i go to places where there is no wifi. Or what if i go to a place where there is no signal. Thank you so much for the review.
Xiaomi Yi has internal WiFi, like Bluetooth so you’ll have it everywhere.
ok. I have a couple questions about the 2 cameras discussed here. I film my hunts and bowfishing trips with a gopro 3 silver. Most of the time my gopro is stationary and mounted to a pole, tree, tubing, rail, etc. I need a few more pov’s so want a couple more cameras but don’t wanna spend $300 to $400 a pop on gopros. I was thinking about the newer gopro hero and came across your blog about these 2 cams. My current gopro doesn’t have a screen and I use the app if I wanna see what is in the frame so lcd is not a must. I also use the gopro remote to control the cameras when they are mounted on trees in the woods. My question is does either of these cameras have a remote control ability whether by wrist remote or through an app. Also I record at 720p to save room on cards and to record at a faster fps so I can do slow motion post production. the 120fps on the YI is very tempting for this reason. Is the 120fps on the YI actually 120fps because this would be a great benefit when doing slow motion. Have you done any slow motion. using the 120fps setting to see how well it works. thanks for your time.
Both can be controlled via the WiFi app. YI supports Bluetooth remote controller. 120 fps in YI is true.
Hi Pavle, in the specifications said the xiaomi yi don’t support Bluetooth. If support you could fix that. Thank you for your review and time. Help me a lot.
Thanks Fernando, I corrected it.
Hi Pavle!
I’ve been researching and watching reviews on action cameras now and yours are my fave! Thank you for taking the time to create these in-depth reviews! I’m honestly still at a loss. I want to take beautiful photos and I would like to be able to adjust my settings. After much research, I’m considering getting the
Yi+frame mount or SJ5000+
But I’m still at a loss. Would you have any suggestions?
Thanks Pavle! I appreciate your blog!:)
I haven’t really tested 5000+, so can’t tell you my opinion on it.
Have you tried any one of these in underwater ? with a waterproof case on it . which one is better in underwater photography
As said in the review, for photography YI is a better camera.
Check my youtube channel for some under water videos with the sj4000. youtube.com/user/baggacfreaks I do have to say that sound is the only issue I have with the qumox SJ4000. Underwater I do not care because the cases even from better cameras do suck. The fisheye lense is great for wide views, but not for making pictures. If you want a action cam do not by the cheapest ones because their sensors are really bad. SJ4000 for 70 Euros was a good inbetween and for better videos with audio I am currently thinking of buying a real cam aroung 1000 euros which does not have underwater option, but for macros and so on a better quality and 4k to downsize video part and still get full hd video.
Hi,
Do you know if SJ Cam accessories are compatible with the Xiaomi?
Most of them are, but not all. I’d recommend you to read the article about YI acessories, there you can see pretty much everything.