SJCAM SJ9 Strike Review
SJCAM SJ9 Strike is a great sports cam by SJCAM, a new action camera capable of 4K resolution with 60fps, more battery time, and a lot of new better specs! SJCAM is one of the biggest producers in the action camera market with some of the most successful models especially on sites such as Amazon, in this blog, we review the SJCAM SJ9 Strike a powerful high-end sports cam.
The new SJCAM SJ9 Strike offers 4k video quality and 12MP pictures. The image quality, focus, and detail is of high quality. It comes with a multitude of accessories so you can use it to get better footage. One of the main features of the SJCAM SJ9 Strike is the ability to go underwater without a waterproof case which only newer action cameras are starting to incorporate.
But before we talk about its features, what comes in the box of the SJCAM SJ9 Strike? Inside the box, we can find the SJCAM SJ9 Strike sports cam with a battery, a fixed clip, a tilt clip, a mounting accessory, type-C data cable, a cleaning cloth, and a manual.
In this blog post, your gonna find out everything you need to know about this new action camera from SJCAM and its new features and some comparisons from previous models, such as the SJCAM SJ8 Pro. Has it improved? Is the video quality better, what are the specs, better audio?
Pros
≫ 4K Resolution up to 60fps
≫ Doesn’t need a case for underwater
≫ Comes with a touchscreen
≫ Wi-Fi connection
≫ Good battery
≫ MicroSD Card up to 128GB
Cons
≫ Stabilization not the best
≫ No Bluetooth connection
Design
The SJCAM SJ9 Strike has an elegant modern design, it is well built with good quality plastics and it has a black color. Its design is similar to its predecessors such as the SJCAM SJ8, a great new feature on the SJ9 Strike is the ability to go underwater without a waterproof case, it can go underwater up to 10m (33 feet).
The dimensions of the SJCAM SJ9 Strike are 62.5 x 41 x 28.8 mm ( 2.5 x 1.6 x 1.1 in) and a weight of 85 grams. All the adjustments and controls will be made from the rear touch screen a 2-inch (5 cm) LCD touch screen.
On the front, we can see the lens of the sports cam, as for its buttons, there are only 3, two on top, to start and stop recording or to take a picture and another in its front part, through which we will turn on and off the camera, the rest of the menus and settings we can change with the 2″ rear touch screen, which really gives this camera a great simple design.
Technical Specifications
It uses a Sony sensor that allows it to record 4K 60fps and 12MP photos it uses an Ambarella H22 chipset, the SJ9 Strike uses a 170° FOV super wide-angle lens with an opening of F1.8. For stabilization, the SJ9 Strike uses an advanced EIS 6-axis stabilization up to 4k 30fps.
The SJ9 Strike also comes with a Wi-Fi connection with the SJCAM smartphone app to control the camera through your phone or enjoy hands-free control of your camera via simple voice commands. Another way to use the action camera is with the remote control which comes included with the camera.
In the back we can find the IPS LCD 2″ screen of 320 x 240px resolution, the SJ9 Strike uses a touchscreen so you can easily change your settings and playback your videos.
The SJ9 Strike comes with an SD card, if you prefer to use another or a better MicroSD card so you will need to format it. Micro SD card must be U3 or higher with 8-128GB capacity. If “SD card error” appears, format your SD card as FAT32 on your computer.
≫ Video resolution: 4K (3840 x 2160)
≫ Image quality: 12MP (5152 x 3864 )
≫ Battery: 1300 mAh
≫ Frame rate: 30FPS/ 60FPS/ 120FPS/ 240FPS
≫ 6-axis advanced EIS stabilization
≫ SD Card up to 128GB
≫ Codec h.265
≫ Can shoot in .RAW format
≫ Underwater up to 10m
≫ 40m Underwater with housing
≫ FOV: 170º wide angle
≫ Chipset: Ambarella H22
≫ Sensor: SONY IMX377
Battery
The SJCAM SJ9 Strike uses a 1300mAh battery which is quite good. The battery can last up to 130 minutes recording 1080p Full HD video, with the WiFi and screen turned off. In the case of capturing 4K 60fps video, battery life will drop.
The battery is situated on the bottom of the SJCAM, where there is a cover that gives access to the battery. The SJCAM SJ9 Strike comes with 1 battery, but you can get another one so you can change them quickly and keep recording whenever the first one runs out.
Stabilization
The SJCAM SJ9 Strike uses advanced Electronic Image Stabilization, built-in 6-axis Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) which will keep the footage stable and smooth while shooting sports and action scenes.
The (EIS) stabilization can go up to resolutions from 720p HD to 4K video, being the first models of cheap sports cameras that can stabilize 4K video.
Even though the stabilization does a decent job at keeping your footage stable I recommend checking out a gimbal which will massively improve the stabilization, another great option is GoPro’s new action camera the Hero 9 (Click here for review), the best action camera yet and amazing stabilization.
Photography
As for the photography, the SJCAM SJ9 Strike can take pictures up to 12MP with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 4:3. The pictures are of good quality with natural colors, not as good as GoPro’s pictures but overall pretty good.
- 12MP (4000 x 3000 4:3)
- 10MP (3648 x 2736 4:3)
- 8MP (3840 x 2160 16:9)
- 8MP (3264 x 2448 4:3)
- 5MP (2595 x 1944 4:3)
- 3MP (2048 x 1536 4:3)
- 2MP (1920 x 1080 16:9)
Like most action cameras the SJCAM SJ9 Strike lets us change multiple settings such as the possibility to change the ISO, shutter speed, the exposure time, white balance, and a lot more, with patience we can work interesting images.
The SJ9 Strike has different modes to take pictures: Time-lapse, timer, long exposition, Wide, Linear, and Narrow Lenses, and more. The SJ9 Strike shoots with JPG by default but you have the option of shooting in RAW format to get a lot more detail in post-production.
For more action shots the SJ9 Strike has the ability to take Burst pictures capable of shooting: 30/10, 30/6, 30/3, 25/1, 10/3, 10/1, 5/1, 3/1 Intervals, thanks to this mode you can capture the perfect moment.
Video
The SJCAM SJ9 Strike is capable of recording up to 4K resolution with 60 frames per second, and it’s able to record as long as 120 minutes. The videos captured with this action camera are stored in .mov format under the H.264 (common codec for most cameras) or H.265 (new codec that allows greater video compression).
We also have settings for video recording and we can switch between the different resolution and framerate options, we also have shutter speed control, ISO, sharpness, exposure compensation, color profile, and other adjustments that affect the sound or stabilization.
The video quality is pretty good for its price, the quality is a bit inferior to a GoPro but it gets decent results, the colors are good, contrast pretty balanced, and the details pretty clear, if there is a big brightness difference your whites or blacks might be blown out.
Audio:
The audio of the SJCAM SJ9 Strike is similar to other SJCAM sports cams. The mic on the SJ9 Strike is inside the battery cover which can obstruct the sound input. The audio is not the best and will not sound great with the wind but it’s pretty decent.
The video resolutions of the SJCAM SJ9 Strike are the following:
- 4K a 60fps/ 30fps/ 24fps
- 2K a 60fps/ 30fps/ 24fps
- 1080P HD a 120fps/ 60fps/30fps/ 24fps
- 720P HD a 240fps/ 120fps/60fps/30fps/ 24fps
Features
Like its predecessor, the SJ9 Strike has multiple features to improve your videos and stand out. This model does have a few new features and improved some from the last SJCAM.
Dashboard mode, this mode allows continuous recording and allows the action camera to be used as a dash camera while driving. The SJCAM SJ9 Strike has the ability to record in slow-motion up to 10%.
Like most action cameras the SJ9 Strike has the option of Time Lapse with Photos or Videos. A time-lapse allows us to be able to represent a situation in a much shorter period of time than real-time.
Thanks to the app and the built-in Wi-Fi, GoPro can Live Stream in 1080p to social media such as Instagram or Facebook and show all of the action to your friends live!
Webcam Mode is another feature from SJCAM has given us this year, the Hero 9 is able to work as a pc webcam which they couldn’t do before.
With RAW format you are able to edit your pictures in Post-Production, you are also able to use Presets to improve your pictures fast, you can learn more about Presets and Lightroom presets by clicking here!
Should you buy it?
The SJCAM SJ9 Strike is one the best action camera from SJCAM and a pretty good action camera overall, the SJ9 Strike offers high resolution and a bit better quality than the SJCAM SJ8 on its pictures and videos. It can record up to real 4K and 60fps with decent stabilization up to 4K 30fps.
The SJCAM SJ9 Strike also has multiple ways of control to enjoy hands-free control such as via remote control, or through the SJCAM app on your phone. Furthermore, you can edit and share your videos and pictures easily through the SJCAM app.
It’s compatible with most GoPro accessories except for a few due to its bigger size such as the external microphone. The batteries on the SJ9 Strike are also pretty good, it uses a 1300mAh which can last up to 130min.
The camera can also go underwater pretty deep up to 10m (33ft) without a waterproof case 40m (130ft) with a case in case you need to go deeper underwater such as going diving.
The SJCAM SJ9 Strike doesn’t produce the best quality of image or the best stabilization out there but it does produce great results for its value and it’s a great GoPro alternative to get if the is what you are looking for. If you are looking for the best sports cameras in 2021 click here.
Review Breakdown
Video support up to 4K up to 60fps with 6-axis EIS stabilization and pictures up to 12MP. 1300 mah battery which can last about 130 minutes.
