One fairly big annoyance with the Yi camera is that until you shell out on some accessories, you have to take special care of the naked lens. The GoPro Hero can be thrown in any bag/backpack without concern. The Yi camera's exposed glass made me nervous about putting it pretty much anywhere, including a few times when I set it down the wrong way with the lens directly on the table. I ended up carrying it in my hand for the most part, which soon gets frustrating. Another minor gripe is that the battery/port covers are very losable. The GoPro Hero's all-built-in design also makes it a bit chunkier (and limits you to one battery charge per outing), but you'll come back with as much camera as you went out with. A plus for the Yi is that you can swap the batteries, but you'll need to buy more. If you can find 'em.
What you really want to know is, though, is this thing any good? The
answer is, "It's not bad." In fact,
in some of my tests, it definitely gave the GoPro Hero a run for its money. I took both cameras out and shot several things side by side. This includes time-lapse videos, standard photos and, of course, regular video. In photo mode, the Yi has more pronounced colors and sometimes details are sharper. This, unsurprisingly, translates up into time-lapse videos, too -- which are, of course, just a series of photos. The examples below are shot with the Yi cam set to five-megapixel mode to be more comparable to the GoPro (which only shoots five-megapixel photos).
in some of my tests, it definitely gave the GoPro Hero a run for its money. I took both cameras out and shot several things side by side. This includes time-lapse videos, standard photos and, of course, regular video. In photo mode, the Yi has more pronounced colors and sometimes details are sharper. This, unsurprisingly, translates up into time-lapse videos, too -- which are, of course, just a series of photos. The examples below are shot with the Yi cam set to five-megapixel mode to be more comparable to the GoPro (which only shoots five-megapixel photos).
