(MGCOOL Explorer Pro 2 Action Camera courtesy of GearBest.com)

Contents:

Pros
Cons
Observations
Conclusion
Specs
Features

MGCOOL Explorer Pro 2 inside included waterproof housing
 Pros:
  • Nice color rendition
  • High resolution: 4K 25fps
  • Two-inch color touch screen display
  • Removable battery; this is good because:
    • The device isn’t “bricked” when the battery no longer holds a charge.
    • You can insert another battery if you want to continue using the camera.
  • You can record while charging; this is good because you can use the camera in loop recording mode for dash cam or security camera applications.
  • Smartphone app
    • WiFi phone upload and remote control capabilities
    • No direct upload to social media
  • Many shooting modes including time lapse videos and burst photos
  • Micro HDMI out port which allows for viewing videos and photos on a TV
  • A speaker
  • Nice mounting options included
    • Waterproof housing with GoPro compatible bracket. This is an additional purchase for some cameras.
    • GoPro compatible bicycle mount; This is an additional purchase for some cameras
    • Tripod mounting bracket (top or bottom mount)
    • Spring clip adapter
What’s included
Cons:
  • The firmware has bugs:
    • camera freezes, mostly on startup; really long power button press will restart it
    • WiFi SSID has typo “Explorer Por 2”
    • Camera forgets the indicator LED on/off setting
    • On occasion, the touch screen input stops working (buttons still work) until after cycling power.
    • Slow motion setting offers a 1080p 60fps choice, but isn’t actually implemented.
  • The touch screen user-interface design could be improved:
    • The bottom row is a hodgepodge statuses mixed with controls. Nothing is aligned or evenly spaced.
      • play control
      • microphone status
      • photo or video resolution and rate setting status
      • quick mode control (brings up function icons)
      • settings control
    • The fast forward, reverse and pause controls that appear during video playback don’t seem to function.
    • Some screens are just plain ugly: e.g. WIFIinformation
    • After selecting the Slow Motion icon from the quick mode menu, the status and controls don’t re-appear on the display. This works differently from the other shooting functions.
    • Some screens require or request pushing a physical button to exit, instead of having a touchscreen method.
      • WiFi requires pushing the up button to exit.
      • Settings requests pushing the shutter button to exit.
    • To clarify settings, I think that:
      • the Time Lapse function icon should be labeled Photo Self-timer
      • the Time Lapse setting should be called Photo Self-timer
      • the Continuous Lapse setting should be called Looping Self-timer and should be a checkbox.
      • Loop recording setting should be called Video Looping.
      • When setting Contrast, Exposure… a more touch screen-friendly method should be available, instead of setting the check mark in a list of numbers.
  • Mounting accessories:
    • The only way to use the included GoPro compatible mounting accessories is with the waterproof housing, which is overkill and bulky for many activities. If MGCOOL included a tripod screw to 2-arm GoPro adapter, you could attach the included bracket to the bicycle mount.
    • The 90° GoPro adapter cannot be tightened onto the bicycle adapter. It just flops over.
  • Audio quality is not very impressive or ambitious:
    • Channels: 1 (mono)
    • Bit rate: 16kbps
    • Sample rate: 8kHz
Observations:
  • The camera gets very warm (while the battery’s charge is quickly dissipating).
  • The front has a matte, rubber-like, grippy feel; the other sides are hard and textured.
  • The EXIF data stored with photos isn’t what it should be:
    • Camera: Qlippie
    • Model: Q1
    • Title: This photo is taken by AllWinner’s v3-sdv
Conclusion:

This is a very versatile camera, with many different shooting modes. Once I overcame the barrier of the cryptic and confusing user interface, it became more useable to me.

I like the color rendering, and the sharpness is good enough. I like the time lapse and slow motion recording. The slow frame rate of the 4K recording seems to smooth things out.

I like the aesthetics, and build quality is seems good enough. The included accessories were a plus.

For it’s price, I would recommend it. But make sure that you can accept it’s limitations.

Specs:
  • Lens: 17.5mm diameter , 170° field of view, 6 glass elements, Sharkeye barrel distortion correction, 28.2mm focal length, f/2.6 fixed aperture
  • Sensor: Sony IMX179 5.7mm diagonal type 1/3.2 CMOS 8.08M effective pixels
  • Image processor: Pega S350 SoC
  • Display: 2 inch diagonal, 320 x 240 pixels, touch screen
  • Video format: MP4 H.264 compression
  • Video resolutions:
    • 720P: 1280 x 720 120fps, 60fps, 30fps
    • 1080P: 1920×1080 60fps, 30fps
    • 2.7K: 2688 x 1520 30fps,
    • 4K: 3840 x 2160 25fps
  • Still Image format: JPEG
  • Still Image resolutions 16, 8 (native), 5, and 2 megapixels
  •  Audio:
    • Channels: 1 (mono)
    • Bit rate: 16kbps
    • Sample rate: 8kHz
  • Storage: 64gb maximum microSD card (not included)
  • Connectivity:
    • Wi-Fi
    • video out: micro HDMI port
    • data, charge: micro USB port
  • Waterproof: IP68 with included waterproof case, to 30m
  • Battery
    • type: Li-ion removable
    • capacity (mAh): 1050mAh
    • maximum shooting time: 100 minutes
    • standby time: 4 hours
    • charging time: 2 hours
  • Weight: 55 g
  • Size (L x W x H): 5.9 x 4.1 x 2.9 cm / 2.32 x 1.61 x 1.14 inches
Sample 8K photo for pixel peepers
Features:
  • iOS and Android mobile app for preview, control, and download
  • Special shooting modes:
    • Looping (auto dash cam)
    • Time lapse
    • Self-timer
    • Slow motion
    • Light trail
  • Included accessories:
    • Waterproof Case
    • Camera Bracket
    • Spring-loaded Clip
    • USB Cable
    • Bicycle Stand
    • 2 Helmet Bases
    • GoPro-type 90 Adapter
    • User Manual
  • Features found in pricier cameras that the MGCOOL DOES NOT HAVE:
    • Waterproof without additional housing
    • Image stabilization
    • Better than 8 megapixel native photo resolution
    • Remote control
    • Front LCD display