GoPro or "the others"?
 

Just wondering what the community opinion is on whether its worth it to buy a GoPro for 300-500 or get the amazon/china knockoffs?
Wife and I are going to Thailand in May and I wanted a action cam. Not sure if I want to drop GoPro dollars or just browse Amazon for one that's a fraction of the cost.
We will be doing some underwater activities.
The one I've been eyeing is the Safari Cam and for 100 bucks I can get 4k with a billion accessories or GoPro I would have to spend 300+

Thanks

Avoid the knock offs...They are garbage. They actually do not capture 4k video, but rather a bunch of photos that they then play in succession to make it look like a video and it is horrible. Very choppy. You'll be throwing money away with a knock off. Before I went to Africa last year I order 4 different ones at the same time, plus a go pro. Side by side, ran the same 'tests', go pro blew them all away. Don't piss away your money. Invest in a good 4k GoPro and you wont be sorry.

You get what you pay for, and then you have to pay a premium when you want the best. But after the leader establishes a benchmark the followers after a few iterations often can get very close. Look at anything, the Chinese knockoffs on the first round are generally garbage but after a couple generations actually become reasonable, just do your research!

I'd go for a used GoPro, check your ebay or local CL.

If it suits you, Panasonic make great image stabilized 4K video capable cameras today.

+1 for the you get what you pay for

bought one for 80 USD as I’m too cheap for a 400 GoPro used only once a year and knew what I was in for

Depends on how you use it. For me who just wanted something for occasional use I've been very happy with the Akashi Brave.