Thumbs Up action camera review

I was in Primark and saw an action camera for around €40. Since I can’t really afford a GoPro, I decided to give this action camera a go.

I’ve always admired the running photos I see on social media and the race videos made by The Ginger Runner (check him out on Youtube if you haven’t yet!). So I’d love to have a GoPro, but not sure how much I’d actually use it, plus I’m not that experienced with video editing. So buying an actual GoPro seemed like quite a big investment, that I currently can’t afford anyway. That’s why I bought the Thumbs Up action camera at Primark. By the way, I’ve actually seen airlines offering the same type of camera in their online/ in-flight stores for roughly double the amount.

It comes with all sorts of mounts and a 8GB mini SD card. Only none of the mounts are really suitable for running, they are more for putting it on your cycling helmet or on your bike itself.

So, I took it out for a run. Let me put it this way, the images are ok, when you’re not moving too much. Which is a bit strange for an action camera. It has no image stabilisation of any kind. The images are never a very good quality, even if you put it on the highest setting and don’t move it too much. So I made a video with me walking with it: Video. I also have a video with me running with it, but that’s just one big blur.

Conclusion: this thing is not good for runners. It might be ok to use if you put it on your bike. You could also upload it to Youtube which can also help a bit with image stabilisation, so those two combined might make for a decent video of your bike ride with a cheap action camera, but otherwise it’s not a very useful camera.