The X170 is brought to us by Drift Innovations, which gives it the "designed in UK" quality badge of honour. The camera is not HD but is rich in features and cheaper then the HD helmet cams so this could be seen to make up for the drop in quality. The Drift X170, as it has become known, promises to bring a high value-for-money helmet camera package within reach of all extreme sports enthusiasts. Lets see how it delivers on that promise.
The Good:
The Drift x170 has a built in 1.5" screen which sets it apart from other helmet cams on the market because this allows you to watch your videos back straight after filming them which is always great fun. By watching the videos you can also know which videos aren't worth taking up space on your memory card, these can easily be cleared from memory using the simple menu settings.
The other huge benefit of the screen on the X170 is that it lets you see exactly what you'll be filming when aligning the camera onto your bike, helmet or wherever else you can think of. This is a nice change from competing products where it is a hit-and-hope game.
The 170degrees wide angle lens on the Drift X170 gives a fantastic panoramic view of the sports. This means that you're not only only filming the track or road ahead of you but you'll also pick up all the surrounding areas, and we know that seeing the world move past you really gives a perspective of how fast you're travelling and makes the video more interesting to watch.
This lens can also be rotated through 300degrees so however you mount the camera, just twist the lens to the upright position and you will always have an upright image.
The wireless remote control which comes with the camera lets you start and stop the video or activate still photos from up to 5 meters away from the camera itself. The X170 Remote is really useful as it frees you up to mount the camera wherever you like and then have easy access to controlling it by using the remote. It is useful to know that it works on a radio frequency so it doesn't require line-of-sight to operate and will work through solid materials.
The customisable menu settings allow you to adjust just about every setting to the way you want it. When it comes out the box it will have the recommended settings but for those of you who like to play around to get the perfect shot in each situations, you can adjust everything from the exposure, to the frame rate, to the screen settings, and much more.
Above we noted that the video is not HD, but it is filming at a resolution of 720 x 480 which is close to DVD quality. At this price point, this is actually quite impressive.
/span>
Along with the camera and the remote you'll also find an array of mounting options in the box which includes; a handlebar mount, a goggle mount, a helmet mount, a head strap, universal clip, and two industrial-strength adhesive pads. Another big plus for the Drift X170 is that the camera has a regular camera thread on it; for some reason non of the other helmet cameras came with this. It means that you can use any other mounts that you may already have or want to have to mount the X170 camera anywhere.
A recently added feature to the new X170 cameras is the ability for you to set the camera in photo sequence mode. In this mode you will be able to push the start/ record button once for the camera to begin taking a series of still photos at 5Mp, each one three seconds apart. This is a great feature if you would like to get a photo from your own point of view; push the button once and you'll end up with a great number of stills. In amongst all of these you'll be sure to find one or two brilliant photos that you wouldn't have been able to get any other way.
For those motorsports enthusiasts looking to use this as an on-board camera or for in-car filming, you would be pleased to know that there is an optional extra 12V power adapter so you can power the camera directly from the 12V supply in your car.
The Not so Good:
The X170 is larger in size then other helmet cams at 133(l) x 33(b) x 51(w)mm. For having the screen on the camera itself this is a necessity.
With high definition fast becoming the standard, it is a shortfall for the Drift X170 to not be filming in HD.
The Action Cameras Bottom Line:
A year ago you were paying over R10,000 for a helmet camera system which had all these features, today this is available for a lot cheaper with the Drift X170. When measuring up the pros and cons to gain an overall perspective on what the X170 is delivering it is clear to us that it has lived up to its promise of being one of the best value for money helmet camera packages, if not the best available today.
