The Xiaomi Yi 4k Action camera was one of the biggest breakthroughs in quality over price when it came to action camera clones. It is literally a direct GoPro Hero 4,5 and Sony Action Cam rival with very close specs and performance but with a price tag of $199 it really is in a category all by itself.
The current Yi 4k camera is no slouch in the specs department but recently leaked information shows that the Yi 4k+ will have at least twice the processing power for 4k video and some hint at even faster frame rates.
Current Yi 4k Action Camera Specs:
- 4K UHD and 2.5K Video at 30 fps
- 1080p up to 120 fps / 720p up to 240 fps
- 12MP Photos with 30 fps Bust Mode
- Ultra-Wide-Angle Glass Lens
Yi 4k+ Action Camera Rumored Specs:
- 4K UHD at 60 fps (Action Camera First)
- 1080p up to ??? fps / 720p up to ??? fps
- Ultra-Wide-Angle Glass Lens
With that kind of processing power it is not out of the question that 2.7k could reach as high as 120fps and 1080p at 240fps. 720p however will likely be a spec of the past with little support but if they could, the Yi 4+ could really push the envelope here at 480fps which would put it in a class apart. We estimate the pricing will be around $299 to differentiate it from the current Yi 4k action camera. But still well below the GoPro and Sony Action Cam.
YI 4K Action Cam: break bottle slow motion by Sami Luo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOeCUx4ZQDY
The Chinese have proven the world time and time again that their designs can not only go neck and neck with the best the competition has to offer but also dominate like in the case of Drone Maker DJI which owns the innovation space for low cost UAVs. GoPro is in a sales slump and Sony is pricing their product high. The humble Yi camera may turn out to be the leader of the space by the end of 2017 if the other big players do not innovate faster. In an increasingly shrinking sales market for action cameras that is!
Xiaomi Yi 4K vs. GOPRO HERO 4 • 1080p 120fps by Play Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSrG5XlPy8o
There is a lot of camera gear being announced at CES early next year and at CP+ in February so stay tuned we will try to cover the high speed part in all required detail.
Happy New Year to All! -HSC! 
I’m hoping that Yi will keep the 720p setting and work to deliver high-quality/high frame rate video at that resolution. It would be incredibly useful for my work and make the $300 much more palatable considering the number of cameras I need to purchase. I find it incredible that my Casio EX-F1 has withstood the test of time so well (in both features and build quality).
We agree, the 720p setting is still useful for a vast majority of people, however there is a trend to get past it in recent camera releases. Maybe it will maintain it! The EX-F1 was a camera beyond it’s time and Casio was foolish to kill off the line by limiting the resolution and upgrades. That was a camera that brought in a lot of attention.
Killing off 720p is my primary concern as I’ve also noticed that trend. In fact, I’ve canceled plans to purchase many a camera for that very reason. It is exciting to see this niche fill with increasingly competent options, despite the relatively massive pricing gap among manufacturers. My ideal camera has the capabilities of the Phantom Veo 410/710(S) at the price of the FPS1000/Chronos (a guy can dream can’t he?) When I purchased my Casio, I sincerely believed something along those lines would exist by.
You nailed it on the EX-F1. Casio’s initial offering was amazing. I waited months for Casio to release firmware updates and accessories, then years for them to release a successor. It’s incredible/ridiculous that the thread I started over at DPreview researching EX-F1 35mm DOF adapters is still on the first page of google’s search results.
For the first time in years, I will pay attention to CES…
Christian, I dug 10 page deep in Google without seeing the DPreview thread you referred to.
What is very likely is Google is tailoring its search results for you, as you’ve most probably visited that page more than once, it realizes that page is important to you and thus pushes it up in the rankings.
The specs have been released and although this action camera is the first one in its class to perform 4k at 60 fps I am disappointed about the slow motion specs.
The Ambarella chip that has been used for this camera has been discussed a year ago and then it was speculated that 480 fps at full HD would be theoretically possible.
https://www.hispeedcams.com/ambarella-h2-promises-4k-at-120fps/
Now we are stuck with 240 fps at 720p, who is waiting for that in 2017?
Quite disappointing Klaus, we will have an update on the camera soon. It is still the first in 4k 60p but GoPro and Sony will be close behind.
Full Specs Yi 4k+ can be found here: https://www.yitechnology.com/actioncamera/specs/id/11
Color me disappointed. Trying to find a silver lining here… maybe the 4K will revieve a price drop? I admit that seems unlikely as the pricing rumors put the 4K+ at $249.
Looking forward to your update Hispeed. I have one question left for my purchase descision. Will the features on the 4K+ Positively impact my workflow enough to justify the price difference?
I think you should hold off on purchasing the 4k or 4k+ unless you absolutely need to. The response from GoPro and Sony should bring new features to the segment in a few months. The image quality on the 4k+ will be slightly better due to better processing with the new Ambarella chip. Other than 4k 60p there is no reason the regular Yi 4k is not a good option. Pricing for the 4k+ is anywhere from $250 to $349 rumored so nothing firm on that.
Thanks for this very nice informative post, now I can use my camera very easily.