Cycle Cameras / Helmet Cams (GoPro, Drift, Veho, Contour, Fly6, Fly12, SJCAM, Apeman, 1080p, etc.)

But with a smart phone you'll end up with no battery life, no storage, and if there is any rain your phone may die, and if it gets knocked a lot it may break.

A phone costs more than a dedicated camera, which will be showerproof, have it's own storage, have a lens with a wide field of view to catch all the action, have a larger lens so it works in dimmer light... the list goes on.

I took the Veho Muvi and Drift HD out to Swinley today (didn't end up going to bath... hate long drives solo and the increased fuel cost by being solo made me go to Swinley instead).

I know which one is the better... by a country mile. It's the Drift HD.

I'll show photos of what you get in the box a little later, and will see if I can work out video editing in the next day or so to upload a video or two.

A summary would say: The performance of both cameras was much alike, so the differentiators are not video capture but mounts, ease of use, ruggedness (dust and water resistance), battery, etc.

The Drift HD wins.

The Drift HD has (and the Veho Muvi doesn't):
1) removable batteries (in use 1 battery lasted about 2 hours 10 minutes, and the box came with 2 batteries giving over 4 hours of use).
2) a rotatable lens so that however you mount it the horizon will be horizontal
3) water resistance
4) a shape that lends itself to helmet and bike mounted use
5) a mount that was immediately usable on the bike without buying a dedicated one (though this involved using the goggle mount and velcro and strapping it to the side of the head tube)

I also preferred the controls, and found the menu more intuitive (they both have pretty much the same menu but Veho Muvi went and made it complex by making 7 buttons control it rather than 4).

I also preferred the quick release system on the Drift HD. Veho had a nice addition of a little plug to ensure it couldn't release itself by accident, but Drift HD just got it right first time and didn't need a safety plug.

Both cameras recorded in 1080p QuickTime format. Which I've found easy enough to open and edit in OpenShot.

Due to the shape of the Veho Muvi, it looks more than a little daft helmet mounted. Actually, it looks really daft. If you're thinking about the Veho Muvi, unless you're getting a dedicated handlerbar mount (in which case the form factor suddenly makes some sense)... don't bother.

I had a real sense that these are two cameras that were created for different purposes. Namely, that the Veho Muvi has better mounts for fixing to flat surfaces and controlling the exact shot. I could easily imagine that behind a motorbike windscreen, in a car, mounted to the side of a rally car, or with the optional waterproof case being stuck to skis and snowboards.

The Drift HD on the other hand felt like something that was designed to be outdoors first and foremost. It likes a little water and dust with ease, and it's easy to control with gloves on (bigger, more tactile buttons). I could easily imagine the Drift HD being at home on bikes of all types, as well as all winter sports, and down at the beach (if you're into parasailing and the like there is a fully waterproof optional case too). The Drift HD just felt far more at home outdoors being bashed around.

And a last point... the Drift HD FOV (field of view) is 170'... meaning that it can see 85' to either side... meaning you get a really big picture of what's happening around you when you playback the video.

The Veho Muvi actually did pretty well there too, with 160' FOV, but again trumped by the Drift.

Price comparison:

Veho Muvi is £150 from Action Cameras and you will almost definitely want to purchase the optional mount for "poles" at £24.95... so you're looking at £175, but don't use it in the rain!

If you want to use it in the rain, then you will need to purchase the bundle that contains the waterproof case, which is £200, and with the pole mount that means you're spending £225.

The Drift HD is £230. It's already water resistant (various sites say it's submersible to 1m, which is good enough for heavy rain)... so you won't need a waterproof case just to use it on the bike without worrying about the weather. Strictly speaking there wasn't a need for a handlebar mount either as I managed to secure the Drift HD quite fine using the goggle mount and velcro around both headtube and stem... but if you want a fair price comparison we should throw it in, it's £17 for the dedicated handlebar mount. This brings the Drift HD in at £247, bike ready.

Veho Muvi (bike ready): £225.
Drift HD (bike ready): £247.

With so little in the price difference, the advantages of the Drift HD bury the Veho Muvi.

The only thing that neither camera could do was to make me a cup of tea and bring me biscuits.