Review: Looxcie camera lets you capture hands-free video

Post by Emily Price:

Even the smallest camcorders can be bulky when it comes to holding them in front of you to shoot a video or putting them on a tripod near you while an event is going on. One company, Looxcie, has created an alternative to the traditional camcorder, a small wearable video camera you control with your smartphone. We recently got a chance to try one out, and we think the compact device brings something a little different to the video marketplace.

A wearable camcorder?
The Looxcie is designed like a bluetooth headset. In fact, the camcorder can actually be used as a bluetooth headset along with your phone, when you're not recording video. The camera is mounted on an earpiece so that it is positioned beside your eye, pointing outward. For me, the front of the camcorder didn't stick out further than my face; that could vary depending on the location of your ears and the size of your face. The concept is that what you see, the camera also sees, since it is located beside your eyes at eye level.

Taking control

One of the most interesting things about the Looxcie is how you control it. Looxcie is paired with your mobile phone via bluetooth, just as you might pair a traditional bluetooth headset. While the camcorder can be controlled on the device itself, you can also control it with your smartphone. The free Android or iPhone app for the camcorder lets you see what the camcorder sees on your phone, start and stop recording, adjust the camcorder's settings, and email video clips to others.

Using the application takes a little bit of time to get used to. Since the Looxcie is beside your eyes, it can be difficult to record video, check out that video on your smartphone, and not capture video of your smartphone recording video. Using it takes a little practice, but for most of the situations where you would probably use the camcorder, you more than likely won't be staring at your phone in the first place and will be merely using it to start and stop recording clips.

A camcorder replacement?
While the Looxcie records video, the video is optimized for sharing on the go (480 x 320 resolution and 15 frames per second, ideal for uploading to sites like Twitter and Facebook) or 480p and 30 frames per second at its highest quality. The video isn't exactly something you're going to want to showcase on your 1080p, high-definition television, but it's exactly what you want when you're trying to email a clip to a friend quickly.

The Looxcie could work really well in situations where you want to record what's going on, don't need high-res video, and need to keep your hands free to do something else. For instance, it's useful if you wanted to record a video of a bike ride you're on or recreate the experience of being in the crowd at a concert or rally. Videos recorded on the camcorder are already the perfect size to share quickly on the web and through email, and doing that is very simple with the integrated iPhone and Android apps.

Looxcie can record up to 5 hours of video at its standard resolution. Once the camcorder reaches that 5-hour threshold, it will automatically begin recording over itself — so if you're headed out for a long shoot, you may want to make plans to offload some of the video from the camcorder at some point in order to make sure you maintain enough space to hold the rest of your footage.

The Looxcie bluetooth camcorder is listed at most retailers for $199.

What do you think about the Looxcie? Can you think of any situations where the camcorder might come in handy?