165
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #202,646 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Awesome concept, excellent potential, BAD implementation!
As a gadget nut, I ordered this the day it became available on Amazon and had it shipped next day (ok, so an impatient gadget nut). The concept is awesome - capture and share those expected or unexpected moments in life as I see them, how I see them. The videos you see on youtube were promising and I was in need of a new bluetooth headset, so I bought it.
First thing that I noticed was how nicely everything was packaged. I took the Looxcie out of the box and set it to charge via the wall outlet adapter - Don't want to run out of batteries on my day out! I love the design of this thing, looks so slick! After it was fully charged, pairing to my Android phone is a breeze. With the Looxcie software downloaded, it was time to put this thing on my ear and see what it can do!
...And that's where things started going downhill! First of all, the Looxcie does NOT fit on my ear correctly. I tried all 3 sizes of ear buds and on both ears (in case I had a deformity in one ear of which I wasn't aware) and with my glasses on and off. I read the instructions and my Looxcie did look bent as shown in their images anfter several attempts. Perhaps its the weight of the camera boom, but the Looxcie just droops down such that the camera is not eye level (aiming more at my jaw line). I would have to walk around with my head tilted up in order for the camera boom to be level with the ground. I had my wife try it as well, maybe its the size and shape of my head and she experienced the same issues, no matter how we shaped the flexible ear-piece.
After much fiddling to the point where my outer-ear was a bit sore, I managed to get the Looxcie on at an acceptable viewing angle. Any quick head jolts and I risk having the camera boom shift slightly downward again. Now comes the other fitment issue - Being that the Looxcie was on my right ear, anything that was happening to my left would not be picked up. If I held my hand out in front of me, the camera eye would not see it until my hand was about to cross my nose. They really should have included some sort of curvature to the camera boom to contour to the face because as of now when it is at eye level, it points to the right (on my right ear).
I love the fact that I can use my phone's screen as a viewfinder! Going into it, I knew the Looxcie's recording specs and frame rate so my expectations were low but the resulting videos I took were even worse than expected. I tried several activities from driving, to walking to just standing and panning my head back and forth. The video I get from the Looxcie is very choppy, I would say even worse than the 15fps they claim. I was walking through the mall in one video clip. I turned to look at a dog that was there and turned my head back (more than a 1 second look) and in the captured video, I don't even see the dog because of the choppiness of the video (although I can clearly hear myself talking about it).
The other thing is battery life - the Looxcie is rated for 4 hours but after a full charge and playing with the unit, I would say its more like 2-3 hours of video use tops. This should definitely be improved.
I do have to say that I like the ability of reviewing and editing video clips on my phone, then e-mailing or posting to Youtube, Facebook, etc without having to be at a PC. That is a key feature of this device!
I would have to say my expectations have not been met with the Looxcie. The concept and idea is there, but due to the lacking design, ergonomics and quality of video I am fairly disappointed. The price-point is good if they can deliver a quality product that will actually fit, stay on my ear(aimed properly) and take video where I don't miss any of the action (true 30 fps PLEASE!). I honestly wouldn't mind the low-resolution of the video if the frame rate was there and I could record for an actual 4-5 hours as claimed.
Once these issues are resolved, perhaps they can look into adding features such as retaining the last 10-30 seconds of video before the record or instant-clip button was pressed. :D
Likes:
-Concept of sharing the every-day
-Visually pleasing design
-Mobile editing/emailing of video thru an Android phone
Dislikes
-Device Fitment/Aiming of camera boom
-Recorded video quality lower than expected
-Battery life
September 2010 · Electronics · verified purchase