Rollei Actioncam 400 review

It might be distinctly boxier than some of Rollei’s other action cameras, but the Actioncam 400’s very keen price makes up for it – especially when that includes a comprehensive array of accessories as well as a camera capable of 1080p shooting at 30fps. Despite the entry-level price, the 78g camera is light enough to be unobtrusive when mounting one to a helmet.

The rubbery exterior texture provides plenty of grip, making it ideal for handheld use if you prefer to take it out of its waterproof case, which will let you dive to depths of 40m. There are plenty of other bundled accessories, including a bike mount, a helmet mounting plate, a pair of helmet straps and a pair of adhesive pads. Unfortunately, the quality of these pads left a lot to be desired; after using them to attach the camera to our remote control testing rig, they struggled to keep it secure, even when driving the car at low speeds.

Framing shots is easy thanks to the 2in LCD screen, which shows a live view of the camera’s sensor. The 960×240 resolution is perfectly adequate for a screen of this size, and is bright enough to use outdoors, although images do look rather grainy.

The power and record buttons are conveniently placed on the top of the camera, and the dedicated Wi-Fi button is a welcome addition. The physical buttons are useful for navigating the menus when changing settings, but the Rollei companion app for iOS and Android is much less fiddly. Your handset connects to the camera over Wi-Fi, which can be toggled quickly on and off using the dedicated button. Once paired, the app is quick to acknowledge the camera and all the settings you would expect are available to change.

Live view is available through the app, but it has a disorienting two second delay between what the camera sees and what is shown on-screen. The image is also heavily compressed, with lots of compression artefacts on the live feed. This is disappointing, considering other action cameras are able to provide a much clearer view over Wi-Fi.

Smartphone controls aren’t always practical, especially if you’re wearing gloves or need both your hands free, so it’s great to see a wrist-worn remote control included as well. It has three large buttons with LEDS that let you know when the camera is recording. It maintains a connection at up to a respectable 15m, and recharges over microUSB, much like the Actioncam itself. However, with a rated battery life of around 240 hours, you shouldn’t run out of juice in a hurry. We didn’t have to charge it at all throughout our testing, but the camera itself was a little disappointing, lasting just one hour and 15 minutes when recording in 1080p at 30fps.