SJCAM SJ20 Review: Exciting but ultimately disappointing

Amateur Photographer verdict

The SJCAM SJ20’s dual dedicated day-time and night-time cameras made it an exciting option but in practice, the results were disappointing.

Pros

Lots of accessories available
External battery included to increase battery life
Front screen will prove useful to creators

Cons

Image and video quality of night lens is disappointing
No vertical video option when shooting with night lens
Somewhat impractical design

Chinese manufacturer SJCAM flagship action camera made a splash when it was released in January 2024 due to its dedicated day-time and night-time cameras and relatively low price tag when compared to other action cameras like the GoPros, which are priced around $250-400/£250-400 and the Insta360 GO 3, which is $400/£400. But how does this budget action camera do? We find out.

SJCAM SJ20 at a glance:

$229 / £179
Pocket sized
Dedicated lenses for day and night
2.29″ primary touch screen with 1.3″ front screen
Takes 20MP images
Up to 4K video up to 30fps
Supports MicroSD cards
SJCAM site link

SJCAM SJ20 front view — Credit: Isabella Ruffatti.

SJCAM SJ20 Features

The SJCAM SJ20’s camera can capture 20MP images and up to 4K video at 30fps (60fps only available at lower resolutions when shooting with the day-time camera). It comes with 6-axis gyroscope video stabilisation. The camera’s day-time camera has a maximum f/2 aperture while the night-time camera has a wider f/1.3 aperture. Each has its own sensor rather than being an interchangeable lens module.

Pro kit includes rechargeable battery grip which is said to provide 8hrs 4K video recording. We were unable to test this as we only received the basic kit which comes with a smaller external battery.

SJCAM SJ20 screen — The SJ20’s screen. Credit: Isabella Ruffatti.

The basic kit does come with quite a lot of accessories, though, including a 16ft waterproof protective frame and several different mounts.

The SJCAM SJ20 has several shooting video and photography modes including Video lapse, Slow rec, Burst mode, and Live Broadcast. Vertical video can be enabled, but it’s not available when shooting with the night-time camera. There is an app available for iOS and Android, which can be used for remote shooting.

SJCAM SJ20 Build and handling

At the front, the SJCAM SJ20 features both cameras accompanied with a front selfie screen. A larger touchscreen is located at the back. At the top, you can find the camera’s on button that is also the shutter and the M button, which is used to switch between cameras and screens.

SJCAM SJ20 side view — The SJ20 with the external battery removed and the hatch at the side of the camera open. Credit: Isabella Ruffatti.

A microphone is located on one side of the camera, with a hatch that covers the SD slot and USB-C port located on the other. A removable external battery can be attached at the bottom, but it’s worth noting that once it is, you won’t be able to open the hatch to access the memory card or charge the camera and the battery needs to be removed to do so.

The SJCAM SJ20 may be pocket-sized but it feels weighty in hand. On one occasion, it tore through my coat pocket. Admittedly, the coat in question was an old and not particularly thick trench coat that was not made of quality material but it’s worth keeping in mind.

SJCAM SJ20 underwater case — The SJ20’s 16ft waterproof protective frame. Credit: Isabella Ruffatti.

SJCAM SJ20 Performance and image quality

Video can be shaky and is not particularly sharp. While the day-time lens did provide okay results overall, the night-time camera was even shakier and footage was so blurry it was unusable at times. This is disappointing, especially since this is among the features that makes this camera unique and compelling.

Despite being brighter, photos and videos taken with the night-time lens weren’t exactly better, with the day-time camera taking darker but sharper night-time photos and videos.

The audio captured by the camera’s microphone isn’t particularly clean, sometimes muted and at times jarring – with weird pop popping up at the end of clips.

Image quality is not particularly sharp either though the day-time stills camera did reasonably well in bright light. However, there was at least a little overexposure in many of my photos and videos, with overblown whites relentlessly showing up in my night-time photos and videos as well, particularly around artificial lights.

Sample image taken with SJCAM SJ20 day-time camera on a bright day. Credit: Isabella Ruffatti.

The digital zoom bore horrendous results, even when used at the lower end of its 8x range. A photo of a friendly neighbourhood fox that was scarily close to me taken with the night camera with a degree of zoom was rendered painting-like. You can still sort of see it’s a fox in the photo, but it lacks detail.

To the camera’s credit, battery life was okay and despite feeling warm after using it for long periods of time, the camera did not overheat.

Photo taken with the SJCAM SJ20 using digital zoom — Photo taken with the SJ20’s night-time camera. Credit: Isabella Ruffatti.

As someone who creates content for my personal social media around my ice skating journey and regularly finds myself conveniently spinning or jumping outside the frame when filming myself with my smartphone, I found the front screen very useful.

It’s too bad it’s not a touch screen like the back screen though, as this means you need to set up your camera beforehand before switching over to the front screen.

Though I found the camera mostly easy to use, I did initially find it tricky to switch back to the back screen. Through a quick Google search I found that you use the M button to do so.

In retrospect it makes sense, it’s the switching button between modes, between the night and day cameras as well as between front and back screens, right? However, in practice, it’s not super practical to say the least.

SJCAM SJ20 Value for money

Along with its dedicated day-time and night-time cameras, its budget status was another of the SJCAM SJ20’s selling points. However, in the US for example, the price difference between the SJCAM SJ20 and older GoPros is only around $20.

For around $20 more you can get the GoPro Hero10 Black, which offers similar features to the SJCAM SJ20 plus 5.3K video at 60fps and 4K video at 120fps.

In the UK, though, at £179 it is cheaper than the GoPro Hero10 Black by a slightly more significant amount – around £70. Whether it is more ‘affordable’ will probably depend on where you buy the camera, which is worth considering.

SJCAM SJ20 Verdict

The day-time stills camera is where the SJCAM SJ20 excels the most, but if you’re looking for an action camera with amazing night-time capabilities, this camera is sadly not it.

While it was enjoyable to use and might be an acceptable budget option for some beginners, comparing it to GoPro cameras as ‘better’ in terms of price and capabilities is probably a stretch.