drift ghost 4k module lcd touch screen factory

The Drift LCD Touch Screen module enables you to view video"s & photo"s directly on the Ghost 4K instead of via the Drift Life App or on another device.

The Drift Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera is very sturdily made, pretty easy to use and supported by a range of accessories, but it takes more than a handlebar mount to make a good action cam for cycling. The lack of image stabilisation is the main killer, but little about the design lends itself to bicycle use.

The Ghost XL"s shape, the positioning of its logos, and the orientation of its tiny LCD screen all imply you"re expected to attach this on the side of something. The side of a motorcycle or motorsport helmet, for instance... big, secure things where a 150-odd-gram box will go practically unnoticed by the wearer. The big, secure mounting system will also be at home with high speeds and forces.

Combine this camera with the vibration-damping effects of a rider, 200kg of motorcycle and 100mm+ of suspension, and the Ghost XL might well produce reliably decent pictures. Bolt it to a 10kg road bike with the chunky, rigid but rather cheap looking metal bar mount, however, and it works poorly.

Drift also does a vented helmet mount (£24.99) which, with its four straps and huge foam-backed baseplate, feels as overkill as the rest of this gear for cycling.

Drift also does stick-on mounts (£16.99 and gently curved to suit a full face helmet), and a waterproof jack for an external microphone. This screws in and seals with an o-ring, and works well.

The Ghost XL doesn"t sense its orientation – you have to remember to physically twist the lens, though that does mean you can set any angle along its 300 degrees of movement. The live screen won"t remind you where it"s pointing either, as there isn"t one.

The tiny LCD screen displays basic information (mode, resolution and battery life being the main things), but bar-mounted it"s lying on its side and too small to read while riding anyway. What is useful is the colour coding of the backlight; green means you"re on video mode, for instance, while purple is timelapse.

The screen colours are bright and visible in daylight, so it"s easy to see what the camera is up to. The inclusion of a cyan light (photoburst) as well as green (video) is irritating, though, as they can be confused.

The middle button scrolls through the settings for tweakage, and while it works if you"re patient, it"s easier to do via the Drift Life app on your phone. This also gives you a live view and lets you operate the camera remotely via wifi, though at that point you could just use your phone"s camera instead...

This thing has further features, but the manual is not entirely helpful. To use Dash Cam mode, for example, it says to "connect it to a power supply" so it can be triggered by the ignition. You can just switch it on manually. It also says you can select Event Detection to automatically store crash footage, but it doesn"t say how that works (turns out there"s an accelerometer in there, which I found out by looking through the FAQs on Drift"s site).

Dave tested the Kitvision Venture 4K in 2019 and it"s now available for far less than the original £149.99 – Argos is selling it for £79.99, and it"s about £55 on Amazon – but whether it"s improved with age is another matter. Dave gave it 2/10.

In truth, even if things didn"t move that fast in the world of cameras, the Drift XL would struggle – it"s very similar to the Drift Stealth 2 HD that George tested in 2015. That"s seven years ago.

The two cams" maximum resolutions are the same, the absence of stabilisation is the same, and the modes are the same. In fact, the Stealth 2 had a much larger screen and was lighter. George loved it back when the GoPro Hero 4 ruled the roost, image stabilisation hadn"t appeared, and the iPhone 6 was as good as it got.

This is a big, sturdy camera with big, sturdy mounts and some potentially useful features for cars and motorcycles. Despite the (big, sturdy) addition of bar and helmet mounts for bicycles, though, little about the Ghost XL makes it particularly good for cycling.

With our Drift Life App you"re only a tap away from editing, sharing and even live streaming your adventures. Our new auto-editing feature takes the effort out of creating your own movies.

Dave tested the Kitvision Venture 4K in 2019 and it"s now available for far less than the original £149.99 – Argos is doing it for £79.99, and it"s about £55 on Amazon – but has it improved with age? Dave gave it 2/10.