VIDEO. The Garmin VIRB XE takes good video, at a quality like nearly all action camcorders. Pictures were sharp though not as much as the better models, which means you can see much but not all details and subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations, the video was good: quite viewable but not as bright or clear as the better models. At 30 frames per second (fps), progressive-scan (p). It has an above-normal frame-rate mode 1280x960 at 100p fps. It also has a super-high frame-rate mode, 848x480 at 240p fps.
AUDIO. It captures fair audio in mono.
PHOTO QUALITY. In photo mode it captures at best 12-megapixel stills with good quality.
LENS. The lens has a fixed-focal length; it has no zoom capability. The lens also has a very wide-angle (14mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZER. Shooting in well-lit scenes, this model did a good job of minimizing the effects of camcorder shake.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. It failed our repeated-drop test. It survived being dunked in 3 feet of water for 30 minutes. It has a built-in GPS tagging feature. It has a wireless communication feature. It can be controlled by a smartphone or tablet PC. This model is about average in size and average in weight among all action camcorders.
