VIEVU² Professional Wearable HD Video Camera

The camera itself may be pretty good, but I had problems with being able to stream the camera to both my phone and my laptop. The product's description on the manufacturer's website states that it connects via 802.11 wireless and it has an app for your phone. What it doesn't say is that you can't use it to stream video to your computer. You can connect the camera to your computer via USB, which is how you update the firmware and set a wireless password, but you can't actually stream video to the computer from the camera. That was a major let down, but I thought that maybe the phone app would suffice. Then when I tried the app, I had issues with the phone losing the wireless signal being put out by the camera or the app just freezing if I got more than about 3 feet away from the camera with my phone (a Galaxy S4). I thought it might be my phone, so I tried my wife's phone (also an S4) and my buddy's Galaxy S3 and had the same issue with all three. So either their app doesn't like Samsung phones or the range of the camera's wireless network is the worst I have ever seen. They would have done better to use a Bluetooth connection instead, but even that has issues because you will get significantly more lag due to the Bluetooth protocol. They also could have allowed the camera to connect to an external wireless network (using an established infrastructure network like most people have at home) instead of creating its own network and trying to get the user's phone to connect to the camera. Finally, they need an app for the computer to allow customers to choose what device they want to stream video to. I don't know of any departments that don't have a computer terminal in the patrol car, so if all of my above suggestions were implemented, the computer in the car could create a wireless connection that the camera can connect to (and it can be boosted using external antennas and range boosters or amplifiers if needed) and then all the footage would be on the computer instead of a cell phone that is easily broken and usually has limited space. The only other problem I had was that the battery life was extremely short. The longest I was able to stream video was about an hour before it died. Even during that hour, the camera was constantly losing connection with my phone or the video feed on the phone would freeze and I would have to restart the app. The camera does have great resolution but lacks the clarity of my Galaxy S4's camera because it doesn't auto-focus very well. I also didn't like the power switch. It was too stiff and difficult to turn on and off at times. Everything considered, I gave this two stars because, for the size of it, it is a great idea but I don't think the engineers and the QA team have completely fleshed out all the bugs in either the app or the camera, not sure which. They need to make some software and hardware changes to boost the wireless signal, change it to a Bluetooth device, or allow it to connect to an established wireless network. Giving it more battery life and the ability to focus better would also help. I ended up returning this mainly due to the limited range and problems with the app. I was thoroughly disappointed in the limitations of this unit. The only things this camera has going for it is the small size and the ability to easily stop and start recording by sliding the rubber cover up and down in front of the lens.

The Wi-Fi link to the I-Phone is weak. I could not even keep the link to my phone when the camera was on a trailer hitch I was trying to back up to less than 15 feet away. The clip on mount slides off too easily and the camera falls away. It is NOT waterproof, only water resistant, so you splash it but not immerse it. The rubber boot covering the I/O port broke after two opens and closes. Image quality is good but not GO_PRO level. The "new" camera I received and paid for direct from VIEVU had video clips of the former owner, a police officer, and his wife in their kitchen having breakfast, complete with the audio of their discussion and decision to return the camera for a refund.

The body Cam worked great except for the fact that it would not hold a charge for more than 3 traffic stops.

Video quality not as great as anticipated. Low light shooting is very grainy, and FPS is not very fast as with the Hero or GoPro cameras. But durability is great, and fast deployability is great. Careful not to stretch the clip, it will NOT spring back as I had found after clipping it over a zipper on my jacket.

I purchased the Vievu2 in August, 2014. It was lightly used through late 2016. The video quality is excellent as is the unit’s construction. I found the recording time rather limited, and the software lacking in that many of the Vievu2’s advanced features could not be accessed via PC. As of the date of this review, it has stopped working. Presumably, the lithium battery (which can only be replaced by the factory for a $125.00 fee) has failed. Given this failure, I cannot recommend that anyone purchase a Vievu2, my now very expensive paperweight.

Battery life should be better especially for something created by and for LEOs. Video quality is awesome during the day with low light recording be average. Finally, more options to secure the camera to one's person should exist.

While this camera is sharp and sturdy, it has a very short battery life and this is frustrating. Should have went with GoPro.

I'm going to preface this with I got this as a review unit. I reviewed it elsewhere as part of my job, I'm just supplying a bit of information as I have played with the Android version of the software and am doing another review when the iOS software is available. ********* below section outdated now that the app is available The iOS app is not available yet. I have been told by the people who gave me the unit that it's in the hands of Apple. If you've ever submitted an app to them for review you know how long this can take. While the company (vievu) shouldn't have gone live with this claiming iOS support, the camera is not useless without an iOS app as the other review tends to indicate. Without any app whatsoever you can record video by flipping the lens open and closed, transfer it off to a computer, watch it on the computer. What you can't do without an app or a computer involved is delete video to make space, transfer the video to your phone, or see a remote preview of what your camera is seeing. So if you're on iOS, this is not useless, this is less than fully functional and as soon as the app gets approved it'll be in the app store. If you have to have an app-connected camera, go to the app store, search for Vievu, and if it's not there don't buy this today. ************* skip above now that iOS software now out Full disclosure: review unit, I reviewed it elsewhere, I'm not plugging that review, nor am I affiliated with Vievu (although they sent me one,) once the iOS app is available I'm going to see about removing this review. Were I able to give it 3.5 stars it would be right there with the current state of the software. This might go up or down depending on future software and firmware releases. As a note, review still up because the app doesn't show in iTunes searches. Go to the Vievu website and locate the download link. It directs you into the right place, but it never shows when I search (most likely because it just got released this week)