gopro lcd touch screen instructions made in china

If you asked me what I thought about action cameras many years back I might have scoffed and told you they’re just a fad. However, the GoPro HERO3+ I was gifted back in 2013 completely changed my mind.

Personally, I feel that if your budget allows it, going for a GoPro has many advantages. The GoPro doesn’t necessarily have the best capture quality or best technical specs, but they’ve developed their own ecosystem that makes doing everything a breeze.

The GoPro camera’s user interface is top-notch, the iOS/Android app is great and there’s no shortage of great support and custom accessories. They’re a bit like the iPhone of action cameras.

But there are people who would disagree with me. New Chinese brands like DJI are producing action cameras with features on par with the most expensive GoPros, and in some aspects superior. Many ‘GoPro’ accessories are also compatible with these cameras nowadays, so there’s more competition than ever before.

Although you probably haven’t heard of its predecessor, the Akaso V50X is the upgraded V50. In specs, however, it is much more comparable to the older V50 Pro than the V50. Like the V50 Pro it features a 2-inch IPS touchscreen, adjustable viewing angle, WiFi, and gyroscope.

Compared to the V50, the touchscreen is definitely the most welcome new addition, bringing it closer to GoPros which have featured them since the relatively old HERO5 model.

On the flipside, the TRAWO’s 2-inch IPS retina display isn’t touchscreen, which makes controlling the camera a little troublesome. It’s true that 90% of the time you’re only looking to hit the record button, but the other 10% of time there’s no touchscreen to navigate the awkward menus.

The 4K+’s younger brother, the Yi 4K, can often be picked up for less than $100. With 4K @ 30fps recording, the ability to capture 12MP raw stills with EIS and a nice scratch-resistant, gorilla glass 2.2-inch touchscreen display, the Yi 4K is a very solid action camera.

Like most budget action cameras on the market there is no shortage of bundled accessories. Put it in the waterproof housing and suddenly you have an underwater camera. The included wrist-strap remote is quite basic but does the trick for taking photo and capturing video without having to touch the camera itself.

You might think the software might be a problem coming from a relatively unknown brand like Dragon Touch. However, I found it to be surprisingly usable, which shouldn’t be too surprising since Dragon Touch are primarily a tablet producing company.

The Dragon Touch Vision 3 is currently my recommendation for the best under $50 entry-level action camera available today. If you want an external mic and EIS, take a look at the Dragon Touch Vision 4

Ever since the release of the GoPro HERO5 (released in 2016), GoPros are waterproof out of the box (typically up to 10m). You don’t have to worry about extra casing when you go to swim at the pool, surf around the beach or go kayaking on the river.

However, the vast majority of non-GoPro action cameras are not waterproof out of the box. You need to put them in plastic casing which is usually included in the box. This is not only a bit of a hassle, but using external housing will also slightly reduce audio quality since it adds an extra layer between the sound and mic.

The Dragon Touch Vision 5 is waterproof up to 40m without casing. It’s therefore a great budget friendly GoPro alternative for those who don’t want to deal with external casing.

With a design similar to the GoPro HERO session, The Polaroid Cube is a very cute action cam that makes a fantastic and affordable gift. It’s very simple to operate and a great way to get a newbie into the world of shooting action videos.

While marginally more expensive than the Dragon Touch 4K Vision 3, this list wouldn’t be complete without the Campark ACT74 Action Camera which was once the best selling budget action camera for almost 2 years running.

It was released back in December 2016 so it is slightly older, but has an incredibly solid track record. Its 2-inch HD screen was a unique selling point before, but that’s already become a standard feature across cheap action cameras.

In terms of features and video quality, it is almost identical to the Dragon Touch 4K Vision 3. Yet it costs a little more and doesn’t come with a remote control so I wouldn’t consider it the best ultra-budget action camera today.

With stellar Amazon reviews and a lot of praise across the website, the Campark ACT74 might seem like a great choice. However, it’s outdated by today’s standards and the Dragon Touch Vision 3 is a better ultra-budget choice (especially as it includes a remote).

You can build a working GoPro Hero 6 and 8 from spare parts, and it can actually be cheaper than buying the whole camera. If you want a naked GoPro, this is way more convenient as you won’t have to spend time taking the camera apart.

AliExpress seems to be main place you can get GoPro spare parts from. I bought two hero 6 main boards and 3 camera sensor modules from there, all working as expected. Shipping to the UK took about 2 weeks, so it’s not too bad.

You might want to put it in a case, like the BetaFPV GoPro Lite case for the Hero 6. These cases also come with BEC board which makes powering them straightforward.

It’s useful having the back touch screen, you can use it to change camera settings, check if the main board and lens module are working correctly, and you need the screen to get the WiFi password to use the phone APP.

You can get a spare touch screen from tearing down a GoPro, or you can get it as spare part. The touch screen and buttons can be reused for your other Naked GoPro’s:

If you’ve never owned a decased GoPro before, maybe you should tear one down first, then you’d have the screen and buttons. But of course you can just bought the spare parts, it’s up to you.