Better known for its Android smartphones, HTC is announcing today the début if its first action camera. Dubbed Re, this small piece of shiny plastic wants to carve a piece of the market from GoPro and the likes.
Although HTC wants us to believe the Re is not for extreme sports and more suited to everyday life, its feature list puts it in ‘action’ territory. It can shoot 1080p videos at 30 frames per second or 720p at 120 fps for slow motion. The lens is an ultra-wide 146 degree, fixed focus seating in front of a 16-megapixel sensor. Its housing lets it shoot at up to one meter under water for 30 minutes.
The battery will last for around 1 hour and 40 minutes of 1080p video. The Re camera will come with a 8Gb sd card but supports up to 128Gb ones. It should be available later this month in the US in three colours: blue, orange, white and teal.
The minimalist design is not without its quirks. The Re camera looks more like a periscope that a video device. And that’s maybe the only reason you could want to buy one because at $199 it is too close to a GoPro Hero 3 or even your smartphone. I can see this used for travelers in search of a very discreet camera to take videos and photos in places where even a small point-and-shoot would attract unwanted attention.
