Crosstour CT8500 Review
The Crosstour CT8500 is a GoPro alternative and very impressive for its price. Crosstour is a successful action camera brand that most people don’t know about, this model, the Crosstour CT8500 is a new medium-end action camera, in this review, we discover what’s great about it and becoming very popular, we recommend taking a look at its better version the Crosstour CT9700 (Read Review Here). It offers 4K quality and 20MP pictures.
The definition, focus, and detail is good quality and comes with an anti-shake and lens distortion correction, the LDC can eliminate the fisheye effect produced by the wide-angle lens. It comes with a multitude of accessories so you can use it to get better footage.
The Crosstour CT8500 is a GoPro alternative from the brand of Crosstour with an affordable price and decent video quality. The Crosstour CT8500 lets you take photos up to 20MP with 4K recording, and allows you to use other cool features as well as record underwater with the case and use the many accessories it comes with.
The Crosstour CT8500 is waterproof and comes with 2 batteries. The protective case is waterproof and impact-resistant, which makes it possible to shoot videos underwater up to 40m. It also comes with 2 rechargeable 1050mAh batteries to never let you miss a wonderful time and an external charger.
But before we talk about its features, what comes in the box of the Crosstour CT8500? First of all, we get the Crosstour CT8500 and 2 rechargeable batteries, USB battery charger, a remote control, the waterproof case, a dust cover, a USB Cable, and many accessories.
Crosstour CT8500 doesn’t come with an SD card so you will have to get one, this model supports up to 64GB SD Card. It has multiple ways of connection, you can control the camera on the phone or iPad via Wi-Fi, you can easily share your wonderful moments on the TV with the HDMI and download your precious memories to the computer via the USB cable.
Pros
- Camera quality is pretty good
- Comes with many accessories
- Remote control
- Touchscreen and remote
- Good battery time
- Affordable price
Cons
- No touchscreen
- Lower battery than its better model
- Doesn’t come with an SD Card
Design
The Crosstour CT8500 is well built with good quality plastics and it has a black color, similar to most Crosstour action cameras. It feels pretty durable and with the waterproof housing, it can go underwater up to 40m (130feet). All attachments are sturdy and the waterproof case is made of high-quality plastic which makes its waterproof level up to 130 feet and protects the camera from damage in normal use.
On the front, we can see the lens and the power on-off button. On the upper side, there is the start recording button similar to most cameras, on the left side, there is the microSD compartment slot and the settings button and on the right side, there is the Micro-USB cable and the mini HDMI cable and two buttons to control a few settings, most of them can be changed with the touchscreen.
The dimensions of it are 2.4 x 1.6 x 1 inches and its weight is 1.35 pounds (600g).
Specs
It uses a Sony IMX377 sensor with the Hisilcon Hi3559 chipset. It can record 4K 30fps and 20MP photos using a 170° super wide-angle lens with an opening of F1.8. It uses an advanced gyro stabilization function (EIS) that supports 4K gyro anti-shake.
It also comes with a smartphone app and Wifi and enjoys hands-free control of your camera via simple voice commands or conveniently controls your action camera 4K remotely.
In the back we can find the IPS LCD 2 ″ screen of 320 x 240px resolution, the screen is pretty good but it’s not a touch screen. Here we can also find two other extra LEDs, which will mark the power of the camera and whether or not it is recording video.
The CT8500 has a time-lapse recording that will give the camera the ability to watch long videos in a short period of time, it also comes with loop recording, which is a continuous recording mode that allows the action camera to be used as a dash camera while driving.
Format the Micro SD card (not included) in the camera before using it. Micro SD card must be U3 or higher with 8-128G capacity. If “SD card error” appears, format your SD card as FAT32 on your computer.
Battery
The Crosstour CT8500 uses a 1350mAh 3.7V battery which is quite good, not having a touch screen or front LCD panel, it will save us battery. The battery can last up to 120 minutes recording 1080p Full HD video, with the WiFi and screen turned off. In the case of capturing 4K video, battery life will drop dramatically.
The battery is situated at the bottom, where there is a cover that gives access to the battery. The Crosstour CT8500 comes with 2 batteries so you can change them quickly and keep recording whenever the first one runs out.
Stabilization
The Crosstour CT8500 uses Electronic Image Stabilization, built-in Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) advanced anti-vibration can keep the footage stable and smooth while shooting sports.
The EIS (Electric Image Stabilization) feature gives you a favor to keep the action camera recording stable and smooth while enjoying sports in all resolutions, including 4K resolution.
The (EIS) stabilization can go up to resolutions from 1080p FHD to 4K video, being the first models of cheap sports cameras that can stabilize 4K video.
Photography
As for the photography, the Crosstour CT8500 can take pictures up to.
- 20MP (4928×3264)
- 16MP (4928×3264)
- 14MP (4320×3240)
- 10MP (3648×2736)
- 8MP (3264×2448)
- 5MP (2592×1944)
- 2MP (1600×1200)
The quality is good and also taking into account that we have the possibility to change the ISO and the exposure time with some other settings, with patience we can work interesting images.
The CT8500 also has the option of Time Lapse in Photo mode and other picture features, something I greatly appreciate and the possibility of putting the resolutions of the pictures in 4:3 or 16:9 format.
The Crosstour CT8500 also has a ”underwater mode” which makes the photos and videos look more vivid and better looking. You also have an anti-shake and lens distortion correction, so the camera can eliminate the fisheye effect produced by the wide-angle lens.
A downside to this camera is that it is not capable of taking pictures in RAW format.
Video
It’s capable to record up to 4K full HD to 30 frames per second, and it’s able to record for 120 minutes. The videos captured with this action camera are stored in.MP4 format under the H.264 or H.265 codec
The Crosstour CT8500 can record in native 4K Ultra HD which is amazing for a low-budget action camera, it uses a 170° super wide-angle lens to provide video and 20MP photos even in low light.
The Crosstour CT8500 also comes with some video features to get better footage, for example, single shooting, to photo burst, to time-lapse, to self-timer, to slow motion, to aqua mode, to long exposure, to distortion correction.
The video resolutions of the Crosstour CT8500 are the following:
- 4K a 30fps
- 2.7K a 30fps
- 1080P FHD a 60fps/30fps
- 720P HD a 120fps/60fps/30fps )
Should you buy it?
The Crosstour CT8500 action camera is one of the best medium-budget action cameras, with great quality on its pictures and videos. It can record up to real 4K and 30fps which is amazing for a medium-budget camera along with many other great features.
I recommend checking out its better version, the Crosstour CT9700 (Read Review Here). It has a bit of better specs and higher quality for a bit higher price.
The Crosstour can also have multiple ways of control to enjoying a hands-free control of your camera via the remote control that comes with it. Moreover, you can edit and share your videos and pictures on the “DV KING 4K” app with built-in Wi-Fi instantly.
It’s compatible with most accessories like all of the GoPro accessories. It uses pretty cheaply but decent quality batteries which can last up to 120min.
The negative thing is, it doesn’t do well in low-light like most action cameras so it isn’t a surprise. The camera can also go underwater very deep up to 40m (130ft) with the waterproof case.
I definitely recommend getting this camera if you’re looking for a good quality-value action camera. Being a medium-budget action camera don’t expect to have GoPro quality or high-end brand quality. If you wanna check some other action cameras, medium and high-end click here!
Review Breakdown
Video support up to 4K. It can last about 120 minutes and is waterproof up to 40 meters, with many more modes.
