ThiEye T5 Edge Review: New Action Camera with 4K EIS

Last year (is it already 2018!), ThiEye jumped onto the action camera scene with the excellent T5E camera. Fast forward to this new year, and they've released yet another budget 4K camera: The T5 Edge. It's not the same camera - it has a different image sensor, offers Voice Control, and, perhaps most excitingly, supports Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) at not only 1080p but also 4K, 30fps.

Yeah, that's one of my new bass lures for 2018. Expect a review soon.

Specifications

Videos

Resolution 4K 30fps, 2.7K 30fps, 1080P 60 / 30fps, 720P 120 / 60 / 30fps

Distortion Correction Support

Gyro Stabilizer (EIS) Support 4K & 1080P

Auto Low Light Support 1080P 60fps, 720P 120 / 60fps

Loop Recording 2 / 3 / 5min, video auto cyclic covering

Time lapse Video 1 / 3 / 5 / 10 / 30 / 60 second interval

Slow Motion Select the slow motion mode and capture slow motion footage at 720P 120fps

Screen Off Off / 30s / 1min / 2min

Auto Shutdown Off / 1 / 2min

Format MP4

Codec H.264

Photos

Resolution 14M (4320*3240) / 10M (3648*2736) / 8M (3264*2448) / 5M (2592*1944)

Long Exposure Off / 1 / 2 / 5 / 8 / 30 / 60s

Photo Burst Off / 3 P/s / 7 P/2s / 15 P/4s / 30P/8s

Self-Timer Off / 3 / 5 / 10 / 20s

Photo format JPG

Hardware

Waterproof 197 feet(60m) underwater with waterproof case

LCD Display Built-in 2.0 inch Ultra-HD IPS screen

Lens 170° super-wide view, 7G lens

Storage Micro SD / SDHC / SDXC (Support up to 128G, UHS-1 U3 required, sold separately)

Audio Input Microphone

Audio Output Speaker

Connection WiFi (iOS & Android App), Micro USB, HDM

Image Sensor MN34112

Others

Dimension 60 * 42 * 23mm (L x W x D)

Battery 1100mAh, 3.7V

Color Black

WiFi Control Yes

Voice & Remote Control Support

Language English / Simplified Chinese / Traditional Chinese / German / Italian / Spanish / Portuguese / French / Japanese

Performance

I've used the T5 Edge in a variety of settings and it's performed well. The EIS definitely makes the footage more stable. However, the EIS could use some significant refinement - it's not at the level of GitUp or SJCam for now. Hopefully future software updates will fix this, as there was occasional shaking artifact and jello, even with EIS.

The included waterproof case is snug and fits the camera perfectly. The menu is easy to navigate, and playback on the app or the camera itself is a breeze. The included bluetooth remote works quite well, and offers remote control features. To use the Voice Command option, you need to speak into the bluetooth remote, after its synced to the camera. Commands include "Action Start Vieo", "Action Stop Shooting", "Action Photo", "Camera Turn Off." These are only for English-and I doubt the software will pickup heavy accents very well.

There is also several of the usual accessories included with the camera, various mounts and so on.
The image sensor is the same as one of the Eken models, but different from the T5E model.

Sample photos from ThiEye T5 Edge Action Camera (unedited)

Comparison to T5E Action Camera

I really liked the T5E when I reviewed it several months back. However, the T5E doesn't have EIS, and thus I didn't use the 4K as much as I would have liked. The difference in terms of stability between no EIS and EIS on the T5Edge is quite striking - see the video below.

Photo quality and video quality are otherwise fairly similar at 4K, but at 1080p the T5E is definitely ahead in detail. I do prefer the somewhat more saturated colors found on the ThiEye T5 Edge photos and video on stock settings over the T5E at 4K. Battery life and compatibility with the ThiEye Action Camera app are similar, no major hiccups. The Image sensor is also different on the T5 Edge.

Conclusion

ThiEye T5 Edge is an upgrade over the prior T5E, mostly in terms of its EIS feature, although the EIS is far from perfect-in fact, it's quite weak. The different image sensor on the T5 Edge seems to produce more natural, less washed out footage over the T5E, although the difference is slight in 4K. At 1080p, the T5 Edge actually lags behind the T5E. The Voice Control and Bluetooth Remote are also both nice, but not features I'll probably use that often. Overall, this is another interesting action camera from ThiEye, with room to improve on the EIS feature. It's definitely one of the more affordable options for 4K EIS at this time, but I think the ELE Explorer K REXSO actually beats it and is cheaper. Take a look at the review video below and let me know your thoughts: