The complete guide
Buying A Kids Waterproof Camera: Cases, Depth Ratings And What To Expect
Children go where cameras should not
Ask a child where the fun is and the answers are wet. The swimming complex on a Saturday. The condo pool. The water play area at the mall. The beach at Sentosa. A puddle after rain.
Those are the places you least want your phone to be. So the moments your child would most like to film are the ones that never get filmed, or get filmed by a nervous adult holding a phone at arm's length.
A kids waterproof camera is a low-stakes way round that. It belongs to the child, it goes in the water, and if it gets knocked about, nobody's contacts and banking apps are at stake.
The case does the waterproofing
Start with the most important point. This camera goes under water inside its waterproof case.
The camera is a small block: 6 x 5.8 x 2.5 cm and 50 g. The waterproof case closes around it and seals. The maker rates the pair to a depth of up to about 30 m. No time limit is stated.
Thirty metres is far more than a child needs. A training pool is a metre or two deep. Snorkelling happens at the surface. Read the rating as a generous margin, not as an invitation.
What matters in real life is the seal. One hair or a few grains of sand across it can let water in. So closing the case is an adult's job, every time. Look at the seal, wipe it if needed, close the case and check it has shut all the way round. Before the first swim, dunk the empty case with a square of tissue inside. Dry tissue means you have it right.
Out of the case, treat the camera as not waterproof at all.
What it records
This is an underwater camera for kids, which means the recording side is kept simple.
Video is 1080p at 30 frames per second. Photos are 5MP. The sensor is a CMOS type, and the picture has a 16:9 shape, the same as a television. There is a 1.77 inch screen on the back for framing and for a quick replay.
The maker adds a list of extras: 4x digital zoom, burst shooting, time-lapse photo, face recognition, 40 photo frames and 7 colour video modes. Some of these will get used once and forgotten. Burst shooting is the handy one, because it catches the middle of a jump.
Now for the honest part. This is a toy first and a camera second. In bright daylight the clips are clear and fun to watch. Under water, in a dim hall or at dusk, they get murky. The maker's details are mixed on image stabilisation, so do not count on it to smooth out a bumpy ride. And sound inside a sealed case is muffled at most.
Children do not mind any of this. They mind whether they can film their own cannonball. They can.
Bikes, scooters and helmets
The second trick is the mounting kit. A bicycle mount, a helmet mount and two fastening straps come in the box.
Clamped to the handlebars, the camera films the park connector from a child's point of view. On a helmet it sees what they see. The maker mentions skating, cycling and skateboarding.
A few sensible rules apply. An adult fits the mounts. An adult checks them before each ride, because a mount that works loose drops the camera on the path. The mounts hold a camera and do nothing else. And filming is a reason to set up before riding, not to fiddle with buttons while moving.
The fittings are small. If there are very young siblings in the home, store the mounts and straps out of reach.
Battery and storage
The battery is built in, a 3.7V rechargeable cell. The maker gives about 1.5 hours of recording per charge. When about 5 minutes of power are left, the camera turns itself off.
Ninety minutes sounds short, and for one continuous recording it would be. Children film in bursts, though. Thirty seconds here, a minute there. Used that way, a charge covers a morning at the pool.
Charging is by the USB cable in the box. No wall charger is listed, so plug into a computer or a USB adaptor you already own. The maker does not give a charging time, so top it up the night before.
For storage, the maker's box list names an 8GB micro SD card. That is fine for short clips. Long 1080p videos eat space, so empty the card onto a computer after each big outing. The maker does not state the largest card the camera accepts.
Transfers go over USB to a computer. The maker notes that an Apple Mac needs an adapter.
Who it suits
The maker's age range is 4 to 12 years.
For a child of 4 or 5, this is very much a camera used alongside an adult. You seal the case, you start the recording, and they wave it about in the shallow end. The lanyard needs watching and should come off for swimming.
From about 6 to 10, children can run it themselves once the case is closed. This is the age for a kids action camera: scooters, bikes, swimming lessons, holidays. Parents hunting for a camera for a 6 year old who will not sit still tend to like this style.
At 11 and 12, some children will want better footage than a toy gives. If your child already edits videos, a step up may be wiser.
It also suits families who travel. A kids camera for holidays that can go in the hotel pool and on the snorkelling trip, without anyone worrying about it, is a useful thing to pack.
Setting it up on day one
Do the first run at home, not at the poolside with an impatient child in goggles.
Charge the camera fully. Check that the micro SD card is in its slot, then record a ten second clip in the living room and play it back, so you know the card is working. Next, practise with the case. Open it, seat the camera, close it again, and try the tissue test in the kitchen sink.
Then show your child how it works with the case shut: how to start a clip, how to stop it, and how to take a photo. Leave the frames, colour modes and time-lapse for a rainy afternoon. A child who knows the basics will come back with footage. One who was shown every menu will come back with forty accidental photos of the changing room floor.
If you plan to use the bike mount, fit it the evening before and take a slow test ride on a quiet stretch of the park connector to see where the camera is pointing.
Looking after it in the tropics
Heat, humidity, chlorine and salt are all part of life here, and each one has a simple answer.
After the pool or the sea, rinse the closed case under the tap. Dry it with a towel before you open it, so drips do not land on the camera.
Fog is common. A case sealed in a cold, air-conditioned room and then carried into 32 degree heat can mist up inside. Seal it in a dry room, keep it shaded, and if it fogs, open it out of the sun, wipe and reseal.
Do not leave it on a car dashboard or by the poolside in full sun. Small batteries dislike heat.
Look at the seal every few weeks. If it looks flattened, cracked or gritty, stop using the case in water.
One note before the first outing
Recording other people is covered by Singapore law, including the PDPA, and by HDB, Town Council or condominium rules for shared corridors.
Delivery and returns
Most orders arrive in 7 to 12 working days by tracked courier, sent from overseas warehouses. Delivery is free across Singapore on orders of $150 or more and $20 under that. If the camera is for a trip, order at least three weeks ahead to be comfortable.
Returns are accepted within 14 days of delivery in resaleable condition, with all the mounts, straps and the case included.
The short version
This is a small kids video camera that records 1080p at 30fps and 5MP photos. It goes inside a waterproof case that the maker rates to about 30 m. It comes with a bicycle mount, a helmet mount, two straps, a lanyard, a micro SD card and a USB cable. The camera weighs 50 g, runs for about 1.5 hours of recording, and is meant for ages 4 to 12.
It is a toy first. The footage is modest and the screen is tiny. What you are buying is a camera your child can take into the water and onto the bike.
An adult seals the case and fits the mounts. After that, hand it over.