As more consumers seek to record leisure, travel and sports activities, demand in the action camera market is growing, but some products showed gaps between advertised or labeled performance and actual performance in use, indicating a need for improvement.
The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) stated accordingly on the 25th, announcing the results of testing and evaluating the quality and safety of action cameras from six major brands — GoPro, DJI, Insta360, YouPro, National Geographic and AceOne.
According to the survey, products from YouPro (Premium 2), National Geographic (Action Cam Pro) and AceOne (X-Pro3 Dual) measured 18 to 32 degrees narrower in actual shooting angle than the maximum field of view advertised. In addition, products from DJI (Osmo Action 5 Pro), Insta360 (Ace Pro 2), YouPro, National Geographic and AceOne did not provide guidance on how to set the maximum field of view and were advised to improve their labeling and advertising.
Differences also appeared in waterproof performance. Among GoPro, DJI, Insta360 and National Geographic products that promoted waterproof capabilities, the National Geographic model had an issue where the power shut off at a depth of 10 meters, not the advertised 12 meters.
There were also limits in video recording stability. Some products from GoPro (Hero 13 Black) and Insta360 had no issues at 4K/30fps, but when recording at the highest resolution (5.3K or 8K/30fps), an overheating protection warning appeared after a certain period and recording stopped. However, these limitations were not specified in the manuals or on the official websites, leading to recommendations for improvement.
Of the four models marketed with in-car dashcam functionality, three experienced errors where recording stopped or the power shut off in extreme cold (-20℃) or high heat (70℃).
All products met the standards in safety categories such as battery safety, hazardous substances and temperature rise. However, products from YouPro, National Geographic and AceOne omitted some required labeling items such as the manufacturing date and were assessed as needing labeling improvements.
For image quality (six items including color reproduction and resolution) and electronic image stabilization (EIS), products from GoPro, DJI and Insta360 were relatively superior. Battery runtime differed by up to 1.7 times among products, and charging time differed by up to 2.8 times. The National Geographic model could record the longest at 2 hours 49 minutes, while AceOne was the shortest at 1 hour 41 minutes. After full discharge, DJI had the shortest charging time at 54 minutes, and National Geographic had the longest at 2 hours 33 minutes.