Drift Stealth 2 HD Action Camera

The Drift Stealth 2 HD Action Camera brings together good quality recording and easy use in a small package. It has several key features such as the ability to be used in any position and I particularly like the colour coded LEDs to help distinguish which mode you are in. More mounting options out of the box for road cyclists would be good though.

Normally, using an action cam on my helmet makes me feel a little like a Teletubby, with this thing sticking up from my head looking like I'm trying to find a television signal on the go.

The Stealth 2 HD doesn't do this so much though, partly because of its small size but also because it isn't too bulbous in shape. At 80 x 42 x 27mm, it's much smaller than some other cameras in this category. It's also light, at 97g, so it doesn't feel like you're adding a huge bulk to your helmet. Its low profile also means you hardly notice when it's on, and you barely notice it when turning your head.

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Fitting it is simple, as it comes with three brackets: one flat bottom adhesive base, one curved bottom and a helmet strap. Although it was possible to use the adhesive bases on my heavily vented helmet, I preferred to zip tie the helmet strap base on, so I had the option to take it off and re-use it.

You can get a specific mount for a vented helmet, as well as a handlebar mount (and a number of other accessories), but neither are included in the package – they have to be bought separately. Having them in the package with the camera would be nice.

Fitting the camera into the brackets is simple: screw a base onto the bottom of the camera and then slide into place. It's easy to do without looking at what you're doing, and simple to tell when you have attached or detached it properly.

The camera has several different settings: filming (1080p, 960p, 720p), single shot photograph, multi shot photographs (time lapse) and burst photography. It means the camera has a nice variety of uses on and off the bike.

The results are crisp and clear. The videos are recorded straight to .mp4, making them easily usable by almost any player; the images are saved as .jpgs, which again are easy to open in most viewers. Plugging in the camera via micro USB makes it appear as a hard drive, and it's simple to export the videos from the camera.

The camera is easy to operate, with three rubberised buttons on the side of the unit. These are on/off/start/stop recording, mode and select. I found them easy to locate while riding, and even with full-fingered gloves.

It's clear to see which mode the camera is in because of a well-thought-out colour coding system on the screen and LED at the front. It means no missed film, or filming rather than taking a photo.

I think my favourite aspect of the camera is the 300-degree lens rotation, which means it can be used in a variety of positions and angles, with a white arrow clearly showing which way is 'up' in the recording. It genuinely gives it a far better range of uses compared with most other cameras I have used, where this kind of work needs to be done through relatively complex menus or even in post production.

Getting media from the camera is relatively simple through either the phone app or by connecting directly to the computer. Both are simple to use, either by connecting to the camera's wifi network on a phone, or a micro USB cable. The only issue I had was that the screw-on cover covering the Micro Flash card slot and USB connection slots was quite fiddly to get back on fully, requiring some jiggling.

The camera itself doesn't come with a memory card, but can take external cards up to 32GB. I found that recording at 1080p, I would fill a 4gb card in about an hour. The battery life would allow me to record at this level for around 1.5 hours, which is fine. I don't think I'd want to record for longer than this, and I can't imagine I or anybody else would want to watch my footage for that long!

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With an RRP of £149.99, the Stealth HD represents really good value for money, when you consider that the GoPro Hero 4 is £329.99 and the equivalent Sony Action Cam £249.99. And at the time of writing it's actually reduced to £99.

Overall, I was very impressed by this little camera. It is less Teletubby-esque than most others I've used and has several neat features. Some more road cycling-specific accessories would be nice in the box, and the rear panel could be easier to install, but this is really just nitpicking at what is a great value and strong performing action cam.

Verdict

A great value and strong performing action cam