The XTU S7 Pro is a hard camera to review without constantly circling back to its price. At the roughly $110 street price I've seen it selling for, my first impression was genuinely positive: 4K video, a solid battery, dual displays, image stabilization, and a build quality that doesn't scream "budget." XTU rates the camera for 4K recording at up to 50fps, built around a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor, with a 2.29-inch rear touchscreen and a 1.4-inch front display for framing selfies or checking settings without picking the camera up. For a hundred bucks, that's a lot of hardware, but there are a few catches worth knowing before you buy.

What XTU gets right

Video quality is the strongest part of the package. I'm not going to pretend this competes with a flagship GoPro, but for the price, it punches well above its weight. Alongside the 4K/50fps ceiling, XTU includes its Super EIS 5.0 stabilization and 360-degree horizon correction, a 152-degree ultra-wide field of view, and native vertical recording for anyone shooting directly for TikTok, Reels, or Shorts. The stabilization in particular held up better than I expected during handheld walking and biking shots, smoothing out most of the bounce without the warping artifacts you sometimes get from cheaper electronic stabilization systems.

The hardware itself doesn't feel like a disposable $100 gadget. The chassis feels dense and well-assembled rather than hollow, the battery has performed reliably in my testing, and the overall footprint is compact enough to fit the mounting and carrying expectations you'd have for an action camera. The replaceable 1,800mAh battery is rated by XTU for up to 200 minutes of continuous recording at 1080p/30fps — I wouldn't expect that figure to hold at 4K or higher frame rates, since power draw scales with resolution and stabilization processing, but battery life hasn't been a real complaint in day-to-day use. For casual recording — mounting it on a dashboard, vlogging, documenting a trip, general everyday capture — there's a lot to like here.

You'll need to budget for a microSD card

The first annoyance: no microSD card is included in the box, so there's no storage ready to go out of the gate. This isn't unusual for the category, but it does mean the advertised price isn't your total cost to get the camera actually recording. XTU recommends a U3-rated card or faster, with support for capacities up to 512GB. If you're buying at $110 and don't already have a compatible card sitting in a drawer, budget for that separately — U3 cards fast enough for stable 4K recording aren't the cheapest microSD cards on the market, so this can add a real amount to the total. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing going in.

The bigger issue: it isn't waterproof out of the box

This is my biggest complaint by a wide margin. Look at the activities action cameras are typically marketed around — mountain biking, surfing, skiing, diving, riding ATVs through mud, getting rained on. XTU's own marketing for its action camera lineup leans into exactly that kind of imagery: surfing, mountain cycling, skydiving, skiing, general outdoor adventure. Yet the bare S7 Pro camera body is not waterproof. XTU says so plainly in its own FAQ — you need the optional waterproof housing for underwater use or heavy rain exposure. That housing isn't nothing; XTU rates it for depths down to roughly 30 meters (about 98 feet), which is legitimate protection. But it's sold separately, as an added purchase on top of the camera itself.

That's a strange decision for something marketed as an action camera. If I'm mounting a camera to a helmet or a handlebar, I want to not have to think twice the moment it starts drizzling or gets splashed by a puddle. A dedicated housing for actual submersion, like diving, makes sense as an accessory. Having zero water resistance on the bare unit changes where I'd actually feel comfortable using it day to day.

It runs hot while charging

The other thing that stood out: while charging, I measured the exterior temperature climbing to around 107°F after a relatively short charging session. That's not dangerously hot, and I didn't run into any charging failures or shutdowns during testing, but it's warm enough that I'd be deliberate about where I leave it charging. XTU advertises PD fast charging, with the 1,800mAh battery reaching around 80% in roughly 46 minutes — fast charging inherently generates more heat than a slow trickle charge, which likely explains the temperature climb, but it's still something buyers should know before leaving it charging somewhere without airflow, like under a blanket or buried in a bag.

Who this camera actually makes sense for

The price is what saves the S7 Pro. If this were a $300 camera, I'd have a much harder time recommending it — at that price point, I'd expect real environmental protection built into the camera itself, not locked behind an extra accessory purchase. At $110, the calculus is different.

If you want an inexpensive action-style camera for relatively clean, dry, low-risk use — mounting it for a drive, everyday content, casual outdoor activity where you're not expecting mud or a soaking — the S7 Pro is a genuinely strong value. You're getting good video quality, solid stabilization, dual screens, a replaceable battery, and capable hardware without spending flagship money. But if your plans involve surfing, diving, muddy trail riding, or anything where the camera is likely to get properly wet or dirty, budget for the waterproof housing from day one, or look at a camera with protection built in natively.

Bottom line

No included microSD card is a minor annoyance. No waterproofing on the bare camera is a real design shortfall. Charging temperatures around 107°F are worth monitoring but not alarming. At $110, I'm willing to forgive a lot of that, because the video quality, battery life, and build quality all outperform what I'd expect at this price. Just go in with clear eyes about what you're buying: for clean, dry, everyday use, the XTU S7 Pro is an excellent value. For genuinely rough or wet conditions, the low sticker price quickly requires extra accessories to match what "action camera" usually implies.