Tag Archives: bodycam

Gadgets, Product Reviews

Kltcriter Bodycam and Flashlight

I was asked to review 1080p wearable flashlight and body camera, one of the first questions I asked was who made it. I was told the brand name was Kltcriter. I made sure it wasn’t a typo and yes, that’s the brand name. So I’m not going to attempt to pronounce it.

The bodycam is very compact, about the size of a Zippo lighter (I wonder if Gen Z and Millennials even know that as a reference point?) or a typical USB phone wall charger. It has a “U” shape design allowing the unit itself to clip over fabric or straps less then 5mm wide and secure itself. The unit can not bend much beyond that gap but it is secure enough to clip securely on a t-shirt collar, pocket, or backpack strap.

The unit has all of its functioning parts facing forward including 4 LED emitters, camera lens, and buttons. A 1/2″ long silicone rubber strip on the side of the unit protects the USB and Micro-SD card ports from the elements. The manufacturer states that the unit is IP65 rated (waterproof to rain and light water jets)

Testing the LED flashlight, I measured 176 lumens which is pretty close to the 200 lumens claimed by Kltcriter. Tapping the flashlight button switches the flashlight from high, medium, low, and off/on. Keeping the flashlight button pressed activates the red battery charge indicator and a blue flashing light under the white unit face. This “warning” mode is intended to function as a signal though it is not very bright and is dimmer than the main flashlight LEDs on low.

Fully charged, the specs state that the flashlight will run for approximately 3hrs with the LEDs on high, 2hrs with both the flashlight and the camera on, and 5.5hrs with only the camera. The unit starts recording with a tap of the camera button which also activates the blue “warning” light, which flashes while the camera is recording. A tap on the camera button will pause the unit with a steady blue indication light. A long press turns off the camera.

The camera does output 1080p AVI files but the footage looks like 480p spy cameras I’ve tested. The footage is grainy and low resolution and performs poorly at night or low light. The footage is timestamped. To set the time and other settings, the user to manually edit a Configuration TXT file loaded into the SD card upon automatic format by the camera. This control scheme is common with spy cameras and body cameras without a display screen.

At the time of this writing the Kltcriter bodycam is not yet being sold on Amazon or other US online retailers. This unit is a pre-production sample and I hope somebody in their marketing department informs them of the awkward pronunciation in English.

POSTSCRIPT
It appears they changed the brand name to KSADBOSSBO after I gave them so much crap about Kltcriter. Though their new brand name just looks like somebody in the office mashed their keyboard randomly. Purchase this on Amazon through this Affiliate link https://amzn.to/3Tei34H

Gadgets, Product Reviews

AEGIS 300 Body Cam

My Geko Gear sent me their new Aegis 300 Body Cam to test and review. This is a professional grade body camera with password and encrypted footage and a rugged splash-proof body. It is an upgrade from the Aegis 200 (which I reviewed a few months ago) featuring such improvements as 1552p resolution, a removable/swappable battery pack, GPS, wifi, and electronic image stabilization (EIS).

On the last feature, the results were somewhat disappointing. The footage I got out of the camera were still shaky. In fact, not really any better than without the EIS.

Is the Aegis 300 worth the $50-$80 premium in price from the Aegis 200? If the EIS had significantly improved the footage quality, that would be an unequivocal yes but lacking that, I’m somewhat on the fence. It’s external battery packs are an improvement but they are proprietary and replacement packs are not yet available through MyGekoGear website.

Despite that, with essentially all-day battery life and recording capability, this camera (which is about the size of an old-school Nokia flip-phone) makes for a rugged alternative to most action cams.

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MyGekoGear: https://shop.mygekogear.com/collections/body-cameras/products/aegis-300

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Product Reviews

Aegis200 Bodycam

My Geko Gear (yes, that’s the company name) sent me their most popular security bodycam to review. Unlike my previous bodycam reviews, this unit is professional grade equipment. It’s rugged and waterproof (to rain and sweat); just don’t make my mistake and shoot it with a high-pressure water hose. 

I misread the IP65 rating and got moisture jetted into the unit which fogged it up. I had to wait a day while I dried it out before I could film my conclusion video. You can see some residual fogging in the nigh-time video samples. 

Overall it has excellent image resolution for a camera in the bodycam category. It won’t compete with the current crop of GoPro, Osmo or current generation smart-phones in terms of video quality but it is as good or better than bodycams and dashcams in the +$200-$400 category. My Geko Gear also makes dashcams from which, I presume, their bodycams base their technology. 

While my personal use for a pro-grade bodycam is limited (I don’t work in Security or Property Management), I will likely use this as on the gun range where it’s +13 hours of battery life is perfect for a down-range target camera.