I had a lot of spying equipment when I was a kid. I had these sunglasses that contained a small camera in the bridge between the lenses. It could record video, and it even had a retractable microphone to record voice. For sending secret spy messages, I had a pen that could write in invisible ink and required a secondary pen that would reveal the text.
They were just toys, but they made you feel like a special undercover agent that had a mission to spy on people, although everyone knew that the toy sunglasses had a camera in them and the invisible ink was able to be read by holding it up to the light, but that didn’t matter so much to a kid.
In the real world, these toys became real-life tools for television and police work. We see it all the time on TV or YouTube where people are walking around recording others while they unknowingly say or do ridiculous things.
The interesting thing is that spy equipment is easier to get hold of than you may believe. It’s available on Amazon and can be shipped right to your front door.
Imagine being in a business meeting and you are stunned at what is going on. Without video proof, no one will believe you. You can’t record video on your phone, and you need something more concealed than a pocket camera. That’s where Conbrov thinks they can help.
Like my toys of old, Conbrov took their starlight camera and fused it with an everyday pen, allowing you to appear business-ready while secretly recording everything in the room.
I’ve never felt the need to spy on someone, but with my pen at the ready, I felt like James Bond infiltrating and recording everything happening in a business meeting. The tool by my side is just a pen, at least that is what I tell others in the room.
Welcome to my review of the Conbrov Camera Pen
Design
Just as a spy needs to maintain his cover, the Conbrov camera pen needs to be able to pass close inspection. Therefore, despite its primary function, the camera pen is indeed a normal everyday pen.
With a twist of the lower silver tip of the pen, a ballpoint writing tip smoothly protrudes from the pen’s body. The pen’s ballpoint tip rolls out a dark black ink that writes just as you would expect it to.
Unfortunately, the black ink cartridge is not replaceable. I find this to be quite an irritation as once the black ink either dries or runs out, the pen instantly loses its appearances. I would have much preferred that the pen had a replaceable cartridge.
As this is more than your average pen, there is a significant weight to it when held in the hand. It takes a minute for your hand to adapt to the weight, but I do find that the weight provides better penmanship.
The pen’s weight is also well distributed with the center of mass being close to the center of the pen.
In spite of having an internal battery and internal circuitry, the pen’s body shape is relatively close to a premium-type pen. In fact, when placed side-by-side with a high-end pen, without knowing that this one has a camera, I don’t believe many could tell them apart.
Its shape and weight give it a premium and high-end look and feel that users will quite enjoy. Combine that with the glossy black and shiny silver finish, and you have an acceptable pen.
The pocket clip on the pen houses two IR LEDs that allow the pen’s camera to see in the dark. Just above the clip is the Conbrov starlight camera. If you know the camera is there, it will catch your eye. Otherwise, it hides in plain sight.
On the back of the pen is a small hole that contains a subtle LED. This LED will glow certain colors to give you a heads-up on what the pen is doing. If the LED is lit up with a blue light, it means it’s recording. When the pen is charging, it glows yellow.
As for the top of the pen, there is a pressable silver cap that covers some important components. When the cap is in place, pressing on it will turn on the camera and start the recording. With your fingernails, you can remove the cap to access the micro USB charging port and the micro SD card slot.
Functionality
Beginning with using the pen as an actual pen, Conbrov did a great job at allowing this pen to keep up appearances. The ballpoint tip writes smoothly and neatly. I think I could even see myself using this as an actual pen for actual work.
The weight and size are a little more than I am used to. However, I would expect others who enjoy a premium pen to become fond of this one.
Included in the box is a 16GB micro SD card to get you started on your spying adventures. With most recordings being quite small and stored in an .MP4 format, 16GB should be more than enough for normal use. The camera even has the ability to write over old footage if the SD card fills up while recording.
To start your recording, you press and hold the top silver cap for two seconds and then a second or two later the camera will start recording. Other than the previously mentioned LED, there are no audio cues indicating that the camera has begun recording.
The camera will record continuously until the battery dies, the SD card fills up (and roll over footage is disabled), or you stop the recording by pressing the top silver cap again for two seconds.
Conbrov is using their starlight camera lens which was the same lens used in their dash camera that I recently reviewed. This lens records in 1080p, 720p, or a VGA format depending on your choice. You choose these settings by using the included executable file on the SD card.
When I attached the pen to my shirt and walked around, it recorded quite well. Outdoors and indoors with bright light, the pen has a clear and visible picture that I was quite pleased with.
Up close objects are far more recognizable than distant ones, and if held steady, the pen could even record text on a computer screen or a handwritten note. When the pen starts to move about, the video gets blurry.
Here is a video of me walking outside with the pen attached to my shirt then transitioning it from my shirt to holding it in my hand, steady and upright. I find the video recording to be of good quality.
One of my favorite features of this pen is that it can record in the dark. When the camera detects that you are in a dark room, it turns on the IR LEDs. The light from these is invisible to the human eye but is visible to the camera. They light up the room like a flashlight to the camera, and you can make out every object.
Unlike the daytime recordings, the peripheral vision on the nighttime mode is decreased. In a totally dark room, the camera can see what is in front of it well but has little to no chance of seeing peripheral objects. Fortunately, the camera can see about 10 to 15 feet in front of it when in a dark room.
To show you the darkness recording ability, this is my basement during a weekday evening with no lights or moonlight sneaking into the room. It is so dark that I cannot even see the wall on the opposite side of the room.
The pen has an internal microphone that records both near and far voices quite well. When the pen was attached to my shirt, my voice was loud and overwhelming while those standing far away were quieter but still audible. The microphone is quite impressive and will easily pick up everyone’s voice in a room.
Finally, battery life on the camera is average. Being that the battery is small, as it’s inside the pen, the camera will only last about three hours on daytime recording, while nighttime recording will give you half of that.
My Final Thoughts
As much fun as it is to now have a spy pen that I can use to actually spy on people and record their actions and words without them knowing, I don’t see myself using this often, if at all.
Only a niche market with a specific use is going to need a pen such as this one. Even though it’s not for everyone, those that do buy one will be pleased with the camera’s quality, and it’s spying capabilities.
With that said, the video recordings while using the spy pen were superb, the microphone recorded a clean and clear voice, and its functional pen makes this more than a toy or a neat product to own.
It’s like my childhood toy that recorded people but meant for actual use and performs a whole lot better than that toy ever did. However, this is not priced at a toy-rate and instead has a high-asking $69.98 price attached to it, considering that once the ink runs out, you have a nice paperweight for this cost.
Disclaimer: Check with local law and business handbooks before recording people and/or business confidential material.
Buy it now:
Buy it from the Official Conbrov website.
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© 2018 Justin Vendette