Firefly 8SE Review (2020) | Firefly's 8S Action Camera Improved

Firefly 8SE Review

The Firefly 8SE is the improved Firefly 8S a GoPro alternative and pretty impressive for its price. Firefly is a successful action camera brand that most people don’t know about, this model, the Firefly 8SE is one of the most sold action cameras, in this review we discover why it’s so popular. It offers 4K quality and 16MP pictures.

The definition, focus, and detail is good quality. It comes with a multitude of accessories so you can use it to get better footage.

The Firefly 8SE is a GoPro alternative from the brand of Firefly with an affordable price and decent video quality. The Firefly 8SE lets you take photos up to 16MP 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 Firefly 8SE is waterproof and comes with a battery. The protective case is waterproof and impact-resistant, which makes it possible to shoot videos underwater up to 20m. It also comes with a rechargeable 1200 mAh battery 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 Firefly 8SE? First of all the Firefly 8SE camera, an official Firefly extern microphone, a lens cap, “J” connector, long connector, short connectors, a screw, bicycle anchor, 360-degree anchor, adhesives 3M, a metal strap, a cleaning suede and a manual.

Firefly 8SE also comes with a 128GB SD Card and a foldable backpack which is a very nice touch from Firefly 8SE which most action cameras don’t come with.

Firefly 8SE

Pros

4K Camera quality
Voice control
WiFi and Bluetooth
Gyro 4K stabilizer
External microphone
MicroSD card support up to 128GB

Cons

Battery life could be better
Needs case to go underwater
Doesn’t fit some GoPro accessories

Design

The Firefly 8SE is well built with good quality plastics and it has a black color with some orange next to the lens. It feels pretty durable and with the waterproof housing, it can go underwater up to 20m (65feet). All attachments are sturdy and the waterproof case is made of high-quality plastic which makes its waterproof level up to 65 feet and protects the camera from damage in normal use.

On the front, we can see the lens, two LEDs. 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.

The dimensions of it are 5.90 x 2.10 x 4.10 cm and its weight is 80g.

Specs

It uses a Sony IMX117 12MPx sensor with the Ambarella A12S75 chipset. It can record 4K 30fps and 16MP photos using a 90° and 170º wide-angle lens. It uses six-axis Gyro Estabilización de vídeo. Firefly 8SE, puede producir imagen de vídeo sin perder ángulo de visión muy estable..

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.

Battery

The Firefly 8SE uses a 1200mAh 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 100 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 Firefly 8SE comes with a battery so you can change them quickly and keep recording whenever the first one runs out.

Stabilization

The Firefly 8s uses six-axe Gyro Estabilización de vídeo: Firefly 8S, puede producir imagen de vídeo sin perder ángulo de visión muy estable., which is impressive to gets rid of the horrible jerky jumping most action cameras have.

The sensors use a cross-border image compensation algorithm to compensate for the change and shooting of glass and stable images when the camera moves or shakes.

The (Gyro axis) 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 Firefly 8SE can take pictures up to.

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 8SE 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.

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 100 minutes. The videos captured with this action camera are stored in.MP4 format under the H.264 codec

The Firefly 8s can record in native 4K Ultra HD which is amazing for a low-budget action camera, it uses a 170° super-wide-angle or 90º version lens to provide video and 16MP photos even in low light.

The Firefly 8SE 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 Firefly 8SE are the following:

4K a 30fps
2.7K a 60fps
1080P FHD a 120fps /60fps/30fps
720P HD a 240fps/120fps/60fps/30fps )

Should you buy it?

This 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.

The Firefly can also have multiple ways of control to enjoying a hands-free control of your camera via simple voice commands. Or conveniently control it remotely. Moreover, you can edit and share your special-effect pics with Firefly Cam App on your Android or iOS devices 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 100min.
The negative thing is, it doesn’t have a touch screen which is becoming more popular every day with an action camera and it doesn’t do well in low-light. The camera can also go underwater very deep up to 20m (60ft) 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!