HTC unveils RE, the latest GoPro challenger

The Taiwanese manufacturer has unveiled the RE, an innovative little waterproof action cam with an unconventional design. Due to go on sale later this month, the RE is positioned as an original alternative to the GoPro.

With its unusual shape, the RE presents a brand new, more comfortable way of holding an action cam. The trigger button is pressed once to take a photograph, or pressed and held to start recording video.

The RE is waterproof on its own (30 minutes at up to one meter), without requiring a special case. Equipped with a 16MP optical sensor and a 146° wide-angle lens, the device can film 1080p HD video at 30fps and is also capable of shooting in slow motion or time lapse mode.

A dedicated app (soon to be available for Android and iOS) will allow users to upload data from the RE to a smartphone or to the cloud over Bluetooth or WiFi. In the future, the app should also allow users to stream their videos directly to YouTube.

The RE will go on sale later this month at a suggested retail price of $199.99 in the US, or €229 in Europe.

Notwithstanding its innovative design, the RE shares a number of features with the Sony Action Cam, the Full HD camcorder that is waterproof (up to 60 meters), shockproof and dustproof. Equipped with a Zeiss lens developed specifically for the purpose, Sony's model is one of the rare mini camcorders that is capable of competing with the GoPro.

The latest iteration of the GoPro, the Hero3+, is capable of filming at a resolution of up to 4K (4,096X2160 pixels) and in ultra wide angle mode.