I Bought Two Action Cameras for YouTube and Barely Used Either One

I have now bought two action cameras with some version of the same optimistic thought: I could use this for YouTube.

Then I barely used them.

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The first was a Vemont 1080p action camera that I bought in 2021. The later one was an AKASO Brave 4, bought in 2025.

My short version: this is not a story about two terrible cameras. It is a story about buying equipment for the person I imagined I was going to be, then not using it enough to justify much of an opinion about performance.

The Vemont came first

I bought the Vemont because I was interested in making video. It was inexpensive enough to make the idea easy to try.

But owning a camera does not create a filming habit. I barely used it.

Then I bought the AKASO Brave 4

A few years later, I bought the Brave 4. Same broad idea: more video possibilities, another piece of gear that could be useful for YouTube.

And again, I did not use it nearly enough.

The lesson was not really about cameras

I have had better luck with creator gear that fit something I was already doing. My TONOR microphone got used for narration, meetings and teaching. My UBeesize tripod was useful enough that I bought the same one again after the first broke.

The action cameras were different. I bought the possibility before I had the habit.

Would I tell someone not to buy either camera?

No. I did not use either one enough to make a fair product-quality judgment.

What I would say is that a camera only becomes useful when you actually have a reason to reach for it. In my case, the equipment arrived before the routine did.