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.