9 Best 4K Action Cameras: The Ultimate Guide (2018)

At a price that is far below its competitors, this MGCool camera doesn’t scrimp on quality. Including waterproof housing, a display on the back, and a touch screen, it’s easy to use. Of course, none of that matters if the footage quality is bunk, but here the MGCool delivers surprisingly well. Its video is sharp and has decent dynamic range, great for daylight shots of biking, running, and other physical activities. The camera does some sharpening and color correction and while it’s apparently altered, this makes for high quality footage straight off the card.

It’s no GoPro, but for $50, it’ll more than do the trick for many users. Plus, the audio quality is shockingly good – a feature you rarely see in action cameras. If you want the basics and are OK with 4K at 24fps, this MGCool camera is a very affordable way to get it. That said, it’s best at 1080P 60fps- 4K can come off a bit choppy.

This is a great action camera for most users. While it’s not great for stills, who really uses an action camera to take pictures? This is one mean little machine. Boasting 4K 25FPS and 1080P at 60 FPS, you’ll have all the capturing options you need to get whatever hubbub you want to record.

Built-in Wi-Fi, waterproof, and coming with a wireless remote control mean it’s all ready to go, right out of the box. Plus, you get two batteries. Are there drawbacks? The one problem with this camera that may affect users is that it uses strange filetypes that require conversion in post. Ergo, be prepared to spend some time learning how to manage the files if this sounds like the camera for you.

Bumping up the price a bit, the YI 4k Action Camera provides a viable alternative to the GoPro dynasty. It has virtually all the same features as the GoPro Hero 5 but at half the price. Reviewing footage of the two side by side shows that the clarity and color is a tiny bit inferior on the Yi, but for most users, this just won’t matter. Check out this video of the Yi vs. the GoPro Hero 4 Black to see what I mean.

The YI isn’t as good as a GoPro if you don’t have a post-production solution, especially if you’re going to rely on apps and mobile videos to share your videos; these options simply aren’t as fleshed out and developed as in the GoPro world. That said, if you are able to move files to your computer and know how to handle them, this is basically a slightly worse GoPro Hero 5 at half price.

If you don’t want to own the most mainstream camera, yet still want something powerful and interesting, the TomTom Bandit is a very compelling choice. Right off the bat, this isn’t truly a 4K camera. It only shoots 15 FPS for 4K so you’ll either need to speed up the footage or accept a timelapse kind of vibe. That drawback out of the way, this camera has so many unique features it may have you remembering that almost no one watches anything in 4K (yet). One other issue with the camera, it does not have a built-in LCD, so you’ll have to use your phone.

It is praised by users for its awesome app which makes highlight reels, but the true awesomeness of the Bandit are its unique data collection features and durability. This is very much a camera you can throw. And while it’s thrown (or on your head, preferably), this camera uniquely tracks stats like speed, g-force, altitude, and more. While it’s not the end all be all in terms of specifications, for those looking for a trip off the beaten path and don’t need 4K movies, the Bandit is a great, affordable way to go.

If you can’t afford the GoPro Hero 6 Black, it’s older brother is a great way to go. It’s bar-none, the second best action camera you can get. It has excellent quality video, and superb pictures (including the ability to shoot RAW-esque photos), and even audio that’s decent (some people say it’s better than Hero 6 Black’s audio). If your budget is somewhat limited, the GoPro Hero 5 is a great alternative to the 6.

The GoPro Hero 5 Black is a great way to go if you want a simple experience and don’t want to worry about processing footage; the GoPro ecosystem is the most developed of any action camera. If you need waterproof housing out of the box and want an LCD screen on the back, then these are two other features that justify the price tag.

For those who can’t shell out for the GoPro Hero 6 Black, this camera is the best, easiest, and therefore probably the most fun alternative.

For $49.99, the Campark ACT74 records decent video at a fraction of the price of a GoPro or even of most GoPro alternatives. The Campark ACT74 has solid battery life, a variety of features, and even an app. The only aspect where this camera doesn’t deliver is that the image quality is poor. Still, for people looking for the basics or for a simple dash-cam, this may be the right camera for you.

The Soocoo Sports camera is a great camera overall if you’re a beginner or simply don’t need anything better than decent. Like most cameras of this class, nighttime shooting is for naught. One other issue particular to this camera is low battery life.

Still, there are some perks: it shoots natively at the filmic 24 FPS. Most cameras tend to go to 25 FPS; this bothers some filmmakers. It boasts an easy to use menu, two inch live image LCD screen, excellent stabilization, and 20 megapixel stills. The biggest standout is the LCD screen. If that’s what you’re after at this price point, this may be the camera for you.

The RX100 V isn’t truly an action camera, but it belongs on the list for anyone wondering, “Just how slow can slow-mo get?” While there are highly expensive cameras that shoot faster, one simply can’t find anything faster than this in terms of FPS under $5,000. For anyone who is saying, “Why do I need 4K? I want extreme slow motion!” this is the answer to your prayers. The RX100 V shoots 960 frames per second. That’s 40x slower than real life slow motion.

The RX100 V also shoots 4K and 24 FPS stills to boot; unlike some cameras it will also do both at once; You can take pictures while recording video.

For those who are not price sensitive and are interested in the slow-mo aspect of action camera filmmaking, this camera makes the list for its amazing specs. A four second 960 FPS clip watched in real time takes almost three minutes. Now that’s crazy.

This top of the line GoPro delivers on every single level. Not only is the footage quality, the best in its class, it has advanced video stabilization, out-of-the-box waterproofing, and ample footage types including 4K at 60FPS and 1080P at 240 frames per second. The footage speaks for itself:

It would be an understatement to say that GoPro has drastically upgraded the quality of its footage, though it has. The dynamic range is by far better than any other action camera out there. Blue skies and clear ground – that’s film quality footage. The clarity is stunning.

One of the best features of this camera is its integration with one’s smartphone. The GoPro Hero 6 Black automatically syncs one’s footage into your smart phone. It also has voice control and is in general, easier to use than ever.

If you need high quality footage and want the easiest action camera to use, look no further.