EKEN H9R 4k Action Camera Review After Months Of Actual Usage!

Today I will be doing a review of the EKEN H9 R Action Camera. This is an extremely affordable action cam which I bought for just under $35.

So a little back story. I wanted to go on a trip with my family and wanted an action camera that I can take underwater and I didn’t want anything expensive since I will be using the camera in places of… you know.. High action! As such, I just wanted something that I can knock around and not have to worry about breaking it. So after searching for a budget action camera I ended up getting the Eken H9R.

And I’ll tell you right now there are things that the camera does well and there are things it just sucks at.

I have been using the camera quite often for several months now. So you can believe me when I say I can give you an honest hands on review!

So what do you get right out of the box.

So you get the camera itself. Then you get the case. Which is actually great! I used it underwater many times and I have gone down 15 meters with it and it does what it’s supposed to do. I wanted to go down to 30 meters just to see if it would leak but there was a great white shark at that depth so I decided to give it a miss.

Then you get the mounts with the orange locking things. Which are great too. And several mounting options so that you can stick it anywhere you want. Even on your toilet seat. Seriously you can.

One battery and a branded charger and a branded micro usb charging cable. I have to say the charger and the charging cable are of great quality and was actually impressed with them… considering how cheap this whole package is.

The looks and form factors

This camera takes the form factor of common go pro cameras. Because of this you can use a lot of accessories from other cameras which use this form. And there are lots of them! This is actually a big plus because it allows you to use things like casing from other cameras. Here let me show you this case which is actually from another camera. See? It fits perfectly!

Functions

How the H9 R function is simple enough and to be honest it’s kind of like a lot of other cameras out on the market. The front button turns on the camera. Once you turn it on it goes into default mode of taking video. I’ll talk about video quality later.

And you also use it to switch through the modes.

The first mode is photo mode which to be honest… sucks

Then you get to the burst mode which lets you take 3 consecutives shots. And you will get three awful photos instead of just one bad one.

Then there’s a timer mode where you will have to wait a bit before you get your bad photo.

Finally you get your settings mode. I don’t think I’ll get too deep into it because it’s a bit boring to be honest. But maybe I’ll see later if the video doesn’t get too long I might go into it a bit. The setting works like most other cameras on the market though...

Long press and what do you know... The camera turns off! What a big surprise there!

Battery

The battery lasts for around 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes of consecutive shooting. So let’s say one hour to be safe. I am actually quite happy with this.

But what I was really impressed with was when I went shopping online for a second battery. I kid you not guys the batteries are selling for like $3 each. If you don’t believe me do a search for PG1050 . It really is that cheap guys!

And what’s more... The battery that came in the box is rated 1050 milli amp. But the two additional ones that I bought for dirt cheap came at 1350 milli amp. So that’s quite awesome.

I recommend you also get the dock charger because charging the battery does take a while and it will make your life a lot easier. I think I bought the dock charger for just around 5 or 6 bucks as well. This camera really does take the concept of budget to the next level.

Video

So the most important thing in my opinion when you buy a camera is how good the footage is! Thankfully I can honestly say the video quality from the H9 R is better than I expected from cameras of this price! I mean it’s no high end quality to be sure. But it’s not bad. I gotta tell you though. There is no stabilization of any kind! Some sales page will claim that there is some electronic or digital stabilization but trust me. There aren't any. Still I maintain that the quality is not bad although not stellar. Actually just see for yourself. You can do 4K at and all that good stuff but I always do my recording at 1080 p.

Watch the youtube VDO for example footages.

Photos

When it comes to photos. It sucks. I don’t know what else to say guys. It just sucks so bad. If you want to buy this camera for taking some photos. Don’t! Just run away! I don’t know why it’s so bad. I tried it in low light, bright light, no light, too much light. I tried it standing. I tried taking photos with it upside down and lying down and everything. Nothing works. It’s just bad.

So if you want a  still image. Take a video and do screen captures to get photos. Seriously. That’s what I do. The photos are just terrible.

The Remote

The H 9 R does come with a remote controller which straps to your wrist. I think this is a nifty little gimmick that works pretty well. It’s been a while since I had it set up so I forget if it’s bluetooth or if it works through some sort of radio. Doesn’t matter. It works and that’s all you need to know! You press the gray button and it starts and stops the video recording. You press the red button and you take bad photographs. Don’t press it because the photos are really bad guys. Maybe that’s why they made the button red, so that you know that you’re not supposed to press it.

By the way, the remote is not water resistant. Just so you know. 

The App

There is an app that you can use with the camera. It works quite alright I guess. So what happens is the camera will essentially become a wifi router or hub or whatever you want to call it. Essentially your phone will connect to it via wifi. Once connected you can see the camera’s viewfinder through the app and you can control it from the app too. You know the deal. I use it sometimes.

What I don’t like about the app is that when you connect to the app your phone is no longer connected to the internet. And that doesn’t work for me because I would rather have my chat apps and my Spotify running. I always listen to podcasts or music when I go riding my bicycle or jogging or even swimming so having my phone connected to the net is important for me. There is a way to make the whole connection thing work with the phone connected to the internet through 4G or 5G or even 3G and the camera connected through wifi but to be honest the procedure is too much of a bother and I am just too lazy. But if you don’t need to be connected to the net all the time then the app does work great.

Conclusion

So there you have it guys. All in all I do like this action camera! It’s just so inexpensive that I don’t have to worry about breaking it or losing it. And the video quality is quite alright. Batteries are cheap and accessories are cheap too. It’s like a little camera that can. As long as you don’t take photos with it, you shouldn’t be disappointed! Just keep in mind you only paid like $30 for it!

Oh by the way. Don’t forget that the flimsy frame that comes in the box isn’t water resistant. So don’t put it in that frame and go underwater with the camera. For some reason other youtube videos keep saying it. I don’t know why. I think it’s really obvious but yeah since everybody keeps saying it I figure people do make that mistake often. So don't do it!

You can also use this to do live streaming apparently. But I didn’t use that feature so I won’t talk about it. But the feature is there.