3 stars
Price: $179.99
www.firebox.com
Looxcie ‘s LX2 is a
small camcorder that can shoot video clips at 640x480 resolution, save them on
preset 2GB flash memory. It does not sound so impressive in price, but LX2 has
a few smart tricks.
LX2 has preset
Bluetooth, so you can use camera together with iPhone or Android’s headset, and
use LooxcieCam and LooxcieMoments apps as an object-finder to make sure that
the camera is pointing at the right direction. The apps also allow you to
review the footage, save clips to phone, and upload them to Facebook, YouTube,
and other websites. The third app, LooxcieLive, which has been launched in beta
version, makes LX2 become a direct transfer device, so your friends and family
can see what the camera is shooting in real time.
You can also use LX2 as
a Bluetooth headset to call and receive phone call. It has a specialized button
to answer and end the call, and allow dialing by voice on a compatible headset
when you double tap it.
In the box, you will
find many earbuds and earloops. The earloop can be reversed, so can put on
camera at either ear. We see that it is quite compact, but in extreme sports, a
vibration can make it be fallen off. In these circumstances, there are many
custom accessories to put on camera on bicycle, helmet, and other things,
together with many lens adaptors having wide and far vision.
You can use LX2 without
smartphone although this is carried out in a much limited way. Use Looxcie
desktop software for Windows and OS X, you can change shooting mode from
individual videos to continual repeat. It acts rather similarly to timeshift
buffer mode of PVR, saving 90 mins of the newest footage (at 480p) as long as
there is battery left (about 2 hours). This mode means that you can tap Instant
Clip button to save the newest 30 seconds of the footage such as a seperated
video clip. If you keep pressing the button, the clip will be uploaded to a
defined website via smartphone’s data connection.
We do not know why
Looxcie cannot combine the two apps into one, but you can use Moments. It
allows you to share Instant Clips and download them directly to your phone. In
addition, you can also view all video buffer of camera and select the part you
want to save as new video, and then share it.
There is very few other
camcorders that can help you share such action, and none weighs 23g. It is a pity
that video quality is a shortcoming. Compared to more expensive wearable
camcorders such as GoPro HD Hero, LX2’s VGA resolution is very low. Though
clips are sharp, they lack details. Colors are exact, but bad dynamic range
means camera cannot cope in clear light condition, but makes the sky faded, or
exposes weakly all other things.
If HD Hero is
unaffordable for you, you need to share video after shooting, and image quality
is not important, Looxcie’s LX2 is quite suitable for you. However, if you have
iPhone and Android mobile device, it is likely that its camera will shoot video
better than LX2, and smartphone still allows you to uload footage to Facebook
or YouTube easily. You just need a way to put it on your body for hands-free
work.
Summary
Verdict. LX2 is an easy-to-use wearable camcorder, but
what a pity that video quality is unsurprising.
Wearable
camcorder. 4G flash memory,
0.3MP sensor, USB interface, 83x16x21mm, 23g, one-year RTB warranty.
