Product introduction
With the rising popularity of GoPro camera clones, merged another contender offering a lower-cost product with more balanced specs compared to other Chinese manufacturers. The SOOCOO S33W Sports DV Camera is sold at a very reasonable price, about $80-90 retail price excluding shipping cost.
Moving quickly into technical details, The S33W has built-in WiFi mobile support with the reception range up to 10M. All Operating of the camera functions through a mobile app available in Google / Apple repositories.
The S33W is equipped 1.5 inches 1080P Full HD back screen for viewing objects. A very needed feature, especially for diving, including taking stills photos. As for sensor quality, it also should have a better performance with more improved color production compared to the SJCAM SJ4000 model previously reviewed.
Product Review will be focusing on the followings:
- Product Introduction.
- Product Features & Specifications.
- Package.
- Unpacking.
- Items included in the package.
- Design & Quality.
- Operation & Performance.
- Videos: Unboxing, Showing the Camera WiFi Function.
- Final Words.
Main Features:
- Brand: SOOCOO.
- Model: S33W.
- NTK96655 solution.
- WiFi Function – The user can operate the camera via Android or for iOS Devices.
- 150 degrees wide-angle view, better lens quality.
- Anti-shake function, you can take a clear video while doing sports.
- 1.5″ screen with 1080P FULL HD high-quality resolution.
- Water-resistant casing: up to 30 meters underwater.
- Support storage cards up to 32GB maximum.(not included).
- Multiple video recording formats: 1080P, 720P, WVGA.
- Recording format: MOV.
- 900 mAh Detachable battery.
- Accessories included in the package Perfect for vehicle data recording, photo-shooting, outdoor sports, home security, deep-water probing, etc.,
SOOCOO S33W Sport DV Camera
Product Package
Unpacking
The S33W Camera comes in a water restive plastic case with all accessories including a camera arranged perfectly.
List of Items in Package:
- 1 x S33W Sport DV Camera.
- 1 x 8GB SD Card (Included).
- 1 x Waterproof cover
- 2 x Brackets
- 1 x Back clip
- 1 x Fixing holder
- 3 x Mount adapters
- 1 x Adapter
- 2 x Helmet adapters
- 1 x Band
- 3 x Cable ties
- 1 x Steel wire
- 1 x Data cable (82cm)
- 1 x Data/Charging Cable (82cm).
- 1 x Chinese / English user manual.
- 1 x Cleaning cloth.
S33W Camera Accessories
The S33W Camera waterproof Case
Design & Quality:
Design and general quality from the first impression are High. Back Navigation keys are very compatible, easily pressed, and organized well. The front of the camera has a modern design with blue power led light that turns on when the camera is powered ON. Similar to other cameras and products I have tested before this camera also has a thin rubber coating layer for dirt and stretch protection. The only thing I would replace is the screws. In my opinion, black coated screws could give it a nice black color unified touch instead of using none coated silver ones.
SOOCOO S33W Waterproof Case
Good quality with upper leverage for closing the back cover tightly. The Push Buttons were easy to press without a need to use excessive force.
Operation:
Front View:
- Buttons: Power ON/OFF.
- LED Power Status Indicator (Blue Light).
TOP View:
- Upper Button Functions: Menu Selection, Starting Recording Task, Stills photography Shot mode.
- LED light Charging Status Indicator (Turns yellow in charging mode and turns off when the battery is fully charged).
- Back View: Menu, Up/Down, Back.
Right View:
- Right Side: WiFi Button.
- WiFi Connection LED light indicator (Turns Blue Color when WiFi connection is established).
Work Operation Methods:
Mobile Mode – Connecting the Camera to with Mobile Phone is done by the following steps:
- First, you need an available WiFi Network.
- Installing SOOCOO App available to download from Google Play Store.
- Pressing the WiFi button located on the left of the camera for Device discovery (Note: As shown in photos above).
- Running the App clicking the “+” sign for Scanning/Discovering camera.
- The camera should be identified As: “SOOCOO188XXXXXXXX“
- Entering default password: 12345678
- Once connecting is established camera back screen will turn blue with a display message showing: WiFi Connected.. along with Camera MAC Address.
Operating Camera (Outdoors):
When operating the camera user will need to use an available WiFi network or alternative a portable access point Mini Hub unit. Normally the simplest solution is just turning the mobile phone 3G/4G connection on and enabling the Access Point mode feature.
Battery
One thing I didn’t like about the product is after getting the battery out of the camera it was quite hard inserting it back again by forcing it along with the battery housing cover. The manufacturer designed the battery housing dimensions very, very tight. That being said, in general, there isn’t a real need to open it unless the battery is dead or has problems, still, I thought this issue it’s worth mentioning.
App UI (User Interface)
SOOCOO Android App is very user-friendly and easy to handle. Software currently only supports two languages: Chinese and English. In mobile mode the app itself lets you view through the camera and use nice features like Video recording, Taking photo snapshots (Stills mode). Very nice options especially needed using the camera as the front camera. Just a quick note, the WiFi mode normally consumes more “battery juice” therefore more frequent charging is needed. Buying a USB car charger unit that hooks to a lighter plug would be very helpful and highly recommended.
SOOCOO App
Watching & Controlling Camera Through The App
Additional Impressions:
- 1.5 Inch Back Screen: Good Quality, No issues/problems found.
- Battery Operating Time: In continuous WiFi mode usage approximately 1 Hr+.
- Stills Photography: The results were satisfactory ( Samples Link: Click Here ).
- WiFi Mode: I didn’t see any noticeable delays or freezes when I watched the camera through my relative old ZOPO 810 (MTK 6589) Quad-core Mobile Phone.
Camera Modes (Connecting Unit to P.C):
- Mass Storage – Accessing Camera Internal Storage Space (Accessing External micro SD Card).
- PC Camera – Tested and found to work in Microsoft Windows 7 OS.
- Video – Normal camera operation mode.
Sensor performance ( Tested in Different Light Conditions ).
- Low light Conditions (Night): Produced pretty good video even in almost complete darkness (Street Lights).
- Optimal Light Conditions (Sunny day): Video quality high maintaining picture sharpens with minimum noise.
Final Words:
Very good Camera in terms of features including price. From my few tests the S33WS performed well in daylight including low light conditions.