Blackview Hero 2 Pro review – Low cost sports camera

The Blackview Hero 2 Pro is a low cost sports camera that looks exactly like the GoPro camera, but it is a lot cheaper. The Blackview Hero 2 Pro RF camera is priced at $100. Is it worth the price, read the review.

Hero 2 Pro Unboxing
The camera is small but the box packing is quite big, that’s because it comes with a lot of accessories. Inside the box you will find the Hero 2 Pro camera, waterproof case, bandages, battery (1050 mAh capacity), wire rope, ribbon, 3M adhesive tape, USB cable, different types of bases / switch support, helmet base, bicycle stand, clip, wiper, fixed base and adapter. Apart from this you also get the wireless RF remote control (2.4GHz) that comes with built in battery.

Design
The Hero 2 Pro as mentioned looks exactly like the GoPro camera. Body is made of plastic with white and black color combination. The black sides have got textures that look good and helps get a good grip. Build quality is good. There is power button on the front, OK button the top along with LED indicator, UP/Down Navigation buttons on the right side with mic and on the left side you will find the micro USB port, micro HDMI port and micro SD card slot (64GB max).

There are speaker vents at the bottom along with a battery compartment. Device weight with battery is 66 grams. On the rear side there are two LED indicators and a 2 inch LCD screen with 960 x 240 pixels resolution.  The LCD screen quality is not that great, viewing angles are no good and it’s not a touch screen. However it is good enough know what is being recorded.

The remote control also comes with a 1.5 inch screen, again with the same no so great LCD screen.

Usage
Press power button once to switch on the camera, it takes about 5 seconds before you can start shooting. You can then use the top button on the right side for menu options and bottom button to navigate through the options, to confirm press the OK button.

Long press the top button on the right side to switch between video mode, camera mode and view mode. To shoot images or videos just press the OK button. You can also use the RF remote control to monitor and control the Hero 2 Pro camera.

Performance
It is a small fixed focus camera (with wide angle lens) that does a pretty impressive job. In video mode it can shoot 1296p @ 30fps, 1080p @ 45fps, 1080p @30fps, 1080p HDR @ 30fps, 720p @60fps and 720p @30fps. There is also an option to shoot video in HDR mode. H.264 and MP4 video codec are supported. In camera mode you can shoot max 16MP photos, burst mode (3 pics) is also supported.

The Blackview Hero 2 Pro is using the Ambarella A7LA50 chipset and OV 4689 image sensor. There is built in mic and speaker. The water proof case gives the ability to shoot under water for up to 30 meters.

For best results use a class 10 micro SD card. Do check the sample images and video shot using the Hero 2 Pro sport camera.

Battery
The 1050 mAh removable battery can be fully charged in less than 1 and a half hour. The camera can be used continuously for almost 2 to 3 hours.

Verdict
There are sport cameras available specially the GoPro that is a pricey, but if you are looking for a cheaper alternative the Blackview Hero 2 Pro is a very good option with a price tag of under $100. What about the quality? Well check the samples listed below.

BlackView Hero 2 Pro is priced at $99.99.

BlackView Official site.

Image Gallery

Sample Images

Video review