BR5 Body Worn Camera Internal Memory Wearable Body Cam

Built like a tank, good image quality, easy to operate
170 at time of review

Ohh this has got a bit of heft to it, you really feel how solid it is in the hand when you first take it out of the box, gives the impression that it could withstand a bomb blast (let’s hope I never have to test that!).

Overall the design of this is pretty simple, and once set up (more on that below) it’s very simple to operate, big video button on the front, smaller stills image below, function button on the side so easy access with the thumb while looking down on the small readout display on the top, showing recording state, battery level, time remaining etc, all quite basic, but it’s all you need really.

One initial bit of annoyance though for me is that this is Windows only, you need a PC to activate it, or so I thought, but actually if you just download the “Eyescam Pro” app (iOS & Android) you can connect to it directly via WiFi and away you go, no need for a computer. Also I’m not a fan of the charging / docking solution, it’s a separate unit that you drop the camera into, which connects to the integrated charging pins on the camera, which would be OK but when I say drop in, I mean you have to apply a considerable amount of force to insert it, then an equal if not more amount of force to remove I thought maybe I’d put it in back to front or something at first, but no maybe mine is a bit faulty, but it feels overly tight to me to the point that I feel I’m going to break the dock!

Anyway, what is good about this beyond the ease of use and the build quality is the video itself, it’s very clear, I’ve used a couple of cheap body cams before and frankly they were pants, this on the other hand is pretty good quality although saying that, there doesn’t appear to be any inbuilt image stabilisation, so every footstep is recorded, but this isn’t for social media, it’s to capture good clear video (and good audio too I should mention) or stills as a record of events and it does it very well. In low light the video is quite noisy, there’s a lot of grain and I had it on the highest settings possible (outside or in good light it’s much better, but still a little smeary at times). In an almost pitch black room I switched over to infra-red and it picked up everything, none of which I could see with me naked eye, so viewing the mobile app I could navigate around a pitch black environment, impressive!

You can also set the camera to record covertly without voice prompts etc, although no missing that large camera on your chest!

The weirdest bit of all (BRIFIELD TAKE NOTE!), is that when I first reviewed what was on the device (expecting to only find my own test recordings) I discovered it already contained 6 videos with the sounds of conveyor belts and hydraulics! I’m not saying someone at the warehouse switched it on, on purpose, but that’s certainly what it sounds like, as it’s date and time stamped from 6 months ago whilst the device is small it’s in a large box, and it sits quite exposed against the top of the box, so a reasonable amount of pressure (say another heavy package) applied to this box would be enough to activate the video recording!

All in all this is a fantastic bit of kit, in reality it should have lost a star due to the desktop software being Windows only, that would have been a reason for me NOT purchasing this, no matter how good the device is, so the manufacturer should really look at that plus redesigning the box, so it’s better protected and not activated while being transported!

Hope my review was helpful