EKEN H5s Plus
EKEN just announced a new camera: the EKEN H5s plus. It’s easy recognisable by the skull graphic around the lens. It seems the camera is a love child of EKEN H6s, which offers EIS in 4K, and EKEN H5s, which was the first EKEN to offer a touchscreen. It also seems that with the release of this camera the EKEN H5s is not offered anymore while H6s is still available.
EKEN H5s plus – 2″ touchscreen
Image Sensor:
EKEN H5s plus features a 12 MP Sony IMX078 sensor, same sensor also used in EKEN H5s.
Chipset:
The new plus version also uses the same sensor as in H6s and H5s, an Ambarella A12 chip. Thats’s the same processor used in Xiaomi Mijia or Firefly 8S.
Frame Rates:
The available resolutions are:
- 4K – 30fps
- 2,7K – max. 60fps
- 1080p – max. 100 fps
- 720p – max. 200 fps
Image Stabilization (EIS)
Now here are the big news compared to the other versions: Earlier I criticised that you can’t turn off EIS on EKEN cameras as it’s not always beneficial to use electronic image stabilisation. Great to see that with EKEN H5s plus you have the option to switch on / off EIS!
EIS is available in 4K 30fps, 2,7K 30fps and 1080p 60fps on EKEN H5s plus. (H6s is limited to 4K 25fps and H5s to 2.7K 30fps max.)
Video Time-Lapse
EKEN H5s plus, same as later EKEN cameras such as V8s and H6s, offers video time-lapse. That means you get a video clip from your time-lapse recording. EKEN H9 series only offers photo time-lapse, so only individually photos are taken which you have to combine into a video on a computer afterwards.
Photo resolution:
Photo output is the same resolution as the sensor offers in effective pixels: 12 MP in .jpg format.
That’s a huge advantage compared to the famous EKEN H9, which only had a 4 MP sensor, so the 12 MP photo selection is upscaled!
Lens:
EKEN H5s plus has a 170° FOV lens.
EKEN H5s Plus
Connectivity & Ports:
Wifi is built in to connect with the EZ iCAM app (Android & iOS).
It also offers a HDMI port for digital video output as well as a micro USB port.
Microphone input via USB & A/V out via USB are not available.
Remote Control:
Usually EKEN models feature an “R” in their name when the remote is included, nevertheless the controller is included with EKEN H5s plus.
The remote is splash proof and has a working distance of 8m / 26ft.
Storage:
32 and 64GB microSD cards are supported, U3 (90 MB/s) cards are required and according to the manual FAT 32 and exFAT formatted cards can be used.
These are the card requirements and recommended cards according to the manual:
from EKEN V8s manual
Display:
EKEN H5s plus offers a 2″ touchscreen and compared to the “non-plus version” additionally a screen on the front to check the settings.
Battery:
Like the other EKEN models, H5s plus features a 1050 mAh battery. Charging time is 3 hrs and recording time in 4K is stated with 50mins.
Attention! Earlier H9 models were compatible with SJCAM SJ4000 & SJ5000 batteries. The new EKEN batteries with the rounded corners are NOT compatible with SJCAM SJ4000 or SJ5000 series batteries!
Also note that while charging you can’t record a video or take photos, so you can’t use EKEN H5s plus as a dash camera. You can only do so if you remove the battery.
EKEN old battery vs new rounded battery – newer cameras also have rounded slots!
The new rounded batteries are available at Banggood for 4.99 USD.
Accessories:
Like all newer EKEN packages, EKEN H5s plus comes with a great set of accessories including a 2nd battery and mini tripod.
EKEN H5s – included Accessories
Retailer / Price
- Banggood: 109.99 USD – (confirmed by EKEN)
- Gearbest: n/a
- Geekbuying: n/a
- Aliexpress: n/a USD (Seller: ATPowers – confirmed by EKEN)
- Amazon (Official EKEN Store):
Body, Buttons and Ports
EKEN H5s Plus – Body, Buttons and Ports
Functions & Settings
Modes
Scrolling through the menu now got easier with the new touchscreen on the back. Swipe right to switch between video and photo mode. Swipe left for additional modes like Time-Lapse, Burst, Playback or Settings. Swipe up to get to the additional settings (e.g. resolution, frame-rate,…) for respective mode you are in.
EKEN H5s Plus – Touchscreen Menu
Settings
Press the mode button to get to the settings menu.To select the desired option, press the select / Shutter button. But there’s more, you can access the settings available for each mode by swiping up on the touchscreen. E.g. when in video mode swipe up to change the settings for resolution or while in time-lapse mode swipe up to change the interval.
EKEN H5s Plus – Settings:
Video resolution – Time-lapse video resolution – Time-lapse photo interval
Video Resolution:
- 4K – 30fps (EIS = electronic image stabilisation: on)
- 4K – 30fps
- 2,7K – 60fps
- 2,7K – 30fps (EIS)
- 1080p – 100fps
- 1080p – 60fps (EIS)
- 720p – 200fps
Great to see options with and without EIS, with EKEN V8s you were forced to use EIS.
Photo Resolution:
The only option is 12 MP (= sensor size).
Video Interval:
There are two selections available 1 min. and 5 min. This interval will come to action when selecting loop recording.
Looping Video:
The camera will record short clips and overwrite the earliest clip when the microSD card is full.
Time Stamp:
You’ve got the option to show date or date & time in your recordings.
Exposure:
You can select: +-2.0/+-1.7/+-1.3/+-1.0/+-0.7/+-0.3/0 to correct the exposure of your camera manually.
Burst Photo:
In burst mode you get the same options compared to EKEN H6s: 3 photos in 1s / 7 photos in 2 s / 15 photos in 4s / 24 photos 8s.
Time Lapse:
A new feature available for newer EKEN cameras like EKEN H5s plus, V8s or H6s, but not the H9 series.
TL Photo Interval:
You can set an interval for the camera when it takes pictures:
3s/5s/10s/30s/60s
This is a photo time-lapse mode, so the EKEN will take individual pictures but not generate a video clip out of it, which you have to do manually.
TL Photo:
You have to switch it on to take time-lapses.
TL Video Resolution:
You can select either 4K 30fps or 2.7K 30fps for your time-lapse video.
TL Video Interval:
The selection is broader compared to photo time-lapse mode: 0.5s/1s/2s/3s/4s/5s/10s/15s/20s/30s/60s
This is a video time-lapse mode, where the output is a combined video file.
TL Video:
You have to switch it on to take a time-lapse video, even when selecting time-lapse mode in the main menu.
Power Frequency:
You can select 50Hz, 60Hz or Auto.
I guess it controls the shutter to avoid flickering as the frequency in lighting is different in several countries. Europe uses 50Hz light frequency, whereas in the US it’s 60Hz.
Language:
There’s a huge variety of languages you can set your menu, even more than for previous cameras:
English, Traditional Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Czech, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Hungarian, Slovakian and Greece.
Remote Control:
You got the option to switch on/off to allow EKEN H6s the use of the remote controller, which is included.
Date & Time:
Be sure to enter when using the time stamp option.
Sound Indicator:
You have several options to control when your camera should beep and the volume.
Screen Saver:
A nice option which shuts off the display to save battery:
off, 1 min, 3 min or 5 min.
Power Saver:
Same for the camera itself. You can select and the cam will turn off automatically when in standby:
off, 1 min, 3 min or 5 min.
Format:
To format your SD card.
Reset:
To get your camera back to factory settings.
Version:
Your camera’s firmware version is displayed.
App (Ez iCam)
EKEN H5s plus uses Ez ICam App (same as EKEN H9 & H8 series cameras) available for Android and iOS.
How to connect:
- You have to switch on the camera’s wifi (press the wifi button) and then look on your phone for network iCam-H5s Plus followed by a series of numbers.
- the standard password is 1234567890
- Open up the EZ iCam App and select your camera – then the live view is show.
Ez iCam App is compatible with iPhone 6/6S/7, iPad Mini & Air with iOS 10 or later or any Android 4x quad core device with Android 4.4 or later.
Comparison
Here’s a comparison list of the currently available EKEN cameras. According to the specs EKEN H5s Plus is the new flagship and best EKEN camera.
| Model | EKEN H5s Plus | EKEN H6s | EKEN V50 Pro | EKEN H7 black | EKEN H7s | EKEN H8/H8R/H8s | EKEN H9R Plus | EKEN H9/H9R/H9s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 EKEN H5s Plus |  EKEN H6s |  EKEN Alphawise V50 Pro |  EKEN H7 black |  EKEN H7s |  EKEN H8s |  EKEN H9R Plus |  EKEN H9s | |
| Remark | skull design | also branded "Alfawise EKEN" | out of production | (to be confirmed) | ||||
| Sensor | 12,4 MP Sony IMX 078 | 14 MP Panasonic 34110 | 13 MP Sony IMX 258 | 12,4 MP Sony IMX078 | 14 MP Panasonic 34112 | 12,4 MP Sony IMX078 | 14 MP Panasonic 34112 | 4 MP Omnivision OV4689 |
| Processor | Ambarella A12S75 | Ambarella A12S75 | Ambarella A12S75 | Ambarella A12S75 | Sunplus 6350 | Ambarella A12S75 | Ambarella A12 | Sunplus 6350 chip |
| Lens / FOV | 170° | 170° | 170° | 170° | 170° | 170° | 170° | 170° |
| 4K Resolution max. framerate | 30fps native (real 4K) | 30fps native (real 4K) | 30fps native (real 4K) | 30fps native (real 4K) | 30fps native (real 4K) | 30fps interpolated (not real 4K) | 30fps interpolated (not real 4K) | 25fps interpolated (not real 4K) |
| 2,7K Resolution max. frame rate | 60fps | 30fps | 30fps | 60fps | 30fps | 30fps | 30fps | 30fps |
| 1080p Resolution max. frame rate | 100fps | 60fps | 60fps | 100fps | 60fps | 60fps | 60fps | 60fps |
| 720p Resolution max. frame rate | 200fps | - | 60fps | 200fps | 120fps | 120fps | 120fps | 120fps |
| Image Stabilization | yes up to 4K 30fps | yes up to 4K 25fps | no | yes up to 4K 25fps | no | no | no | no |
| Photo Resolution (native - unscaled) | 12 MP | 14 MP | 13 MP | 12 MP 16 MP interpolated | 14 MP | 12 MP | 14 MP | 4 MP |
| Display | 2" touchscreen | 2" live view | 2" live view | 2" live view | 2" touchscreen | 2" live view | 2" touchscreen | 2" live view |
| Front Display | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| Facebook Live | no | no | no | no | no | only H8s | no | only H9s |
| Battery | 1050 mAh | 1050 mAh | 1050 mAh | 1050 mAh | 1050 mAh | 1050 mAh | 1050 mAh | 1050 mAh |
| WiFi | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Remote Control | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | only H8R & H8s | yes | only H9R & H9s |
| Ports | micro USB, micro HDMI | micro USB, micro HDMI | micro USB, micro HDMI | micro USB, micro HDMI | micro USB, micro HDMI | micro USB, micro HDMI | micro USB, micro HDMI | micro USB, micro HDMI |
| A/V out via USB | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Mic in via USB | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Dimension (mm) | 59.3 x 21.4 x 41.1 | 59.3 x 21.4 x 41.1 | 59.3 x 21.4 x 41.1 | 59.3 x 21.4 x 41.1 | 59.3 x 21.4 x 41.1 | 59.3 x 21.4 x 41.1 | ? | 59.3 x 24.6 x 41.1 |
| Mounts & Case | included | included | included | included | included | included | included | included |
| Aliexpress (ATPowers) confirmed retailer | $ 88.77 | $ 74.99 | $ 45.98 | - | - | - | $ 64.11 | EKEN H9:$ 36.99 EKEN H9R:$ 44.99 |
| Banggood | $ 122.99 | $ 91.99 | $ 71.99 | $ 101.99 | - | $ 75.99 | $ 91.99 | H9: $ 49.99 H9R: $ 44.99 |
| Gearbest: | $ 133.15 | $ 87.99 | $ 56.99 | - | - | - | - | H9R: $ 46.99 |
| Amazon US (official EKEN store) |  |  | - | - | - |  |  | EKEN H9R: |
Retailer / Price
- Banggood: 109.99 USD – (confirmed by EKEN)
- Gearbest: n/a – (confirmed by EKEN)
- Geekbuying: n/a
- Aliexpress: n/a USD (Seller: ATPowers – confirmed by EKEN)
- Amazon (Official EKEN Store):
