Adam Hochfelder is disturbed with the HTC Re Camera

[adamhochfelder]

Hi everyone
I recently purchased the HTC Re camera (at a low price of 60$ from eBay), and I was very excited to own my very first action-oriented camera.
The package arrived yesterday, the camera is brand new, but there is a big problem - it doesn't to connect to android phone (Xperia Z3 Compact which is Running Android 5.1.1).
I turn on the camera and I believe that it is working correctly, as I can clearly hear it shooting some images and videos with (because it is a standalone camera). I have plugged in the cable and was able to extract my images from the SD card. Now, I downloaded the official camera app from the Google Play Store and when I try to connect to it - it just doesn't want to. It says that there may be an error, that I should close the app and try to reset phone's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections and reset the camera (don't know how to do that). There is also a compatibility mode on the app which goes one step further, but in the end issues me Troubleshooting error code 16. I asked the developers for help, but they don't seem to read my troubles.

Regards
Adam Hochfelder

 

[mhinc]

Hi everyone
I recently purchased the HTC Re camera (at a low price of 60$ from eBay), and I was very excited to own my very first action-oriented camera.
The package arrived yesterday, the camera is brand new, but there is a big problem - it doesn't to connect to android phone (Xperia Z3 Compact which is Running Android 5.1.1).
I turn on the camera and I believe that it is working correctly, as I can clearly hear it shooting some images and videos with (because it is a standalone camera). I have plugged in the cable and was able to extract my images from the SD card. Now, I downloaded the official camera app from the Google Play Store and when I try to connect to it - it just doesn't want to. It says that there may be an error, that I should close the app and try to reset phone's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections and reset the camera (don't know how to do that). There is also a compatibility mode on the app which goes one step further, but in the end issues me Troubleshooting error code 16. I asked the developers for help, but they don't seem to read my troubles.

Regards
Adam Hochfelder

Well first off, according to their website it is compatible with your device. well at least your OS, and after checking specs on your phone it does indeed support Bluetooth® 4.0.
Android devices running Android 4.3 or above with Wi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth 4.x (BLE equipped)

So not sure what's happening. Only thing I can think of is you have another BT device running while you are trying to connect to the camera, do you ?

 

[adamhochfelder]

Well first off, according to their website it is compatible with your device. well at least your OS, and after checking specs on your phone it does indeed support Bluetooth® 4.0.
Android devices running Android 4.3 or above with Wi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth 4.x (BLE equipped)

So not sure what's happening. Only thing I can think of is you have another BT device running while you are trying to connect to the camera, do you ?

Yes, I know that my phone is compatible, I know the specs of the cam before I bought it. I already knew the minimum requirements, and I believe that any phone produced from 2014 (maybe 2013) onward should be capable of opening the app properly and controlling the camera as intended.

To answer your question, I have tried to connect to my camera outside my house, where I do not have another bluetooth device running in the background. Still nothing.

Adam

 

[mhinc]

Yes, I know that my phone is compatible, I know the specs of the cam before I bought it. I already knew the minimum requirements, and I believe that any phone produced from 2014 (maybe 2013) onward should be capable of opening the app properly and controlling the camera as intended.

To answer your question, I have tried to connect to my camera outside my house, where I do not have another bluetooth device running in the background. Still nothing.

Adam

Then I don't know what to tell you, keep on HTC for support

 

[adamhochfelder]

I took my camera with me yesterday to work, and here is the funny thing...
A colleague of mine has an HTC Desire Eye, and he was able to connect with the camera with no problem. Downloaded the app and connected just like that. I know that these products are from the same brand, maybe his phone has something that mine hasn't.
Right after that happened (even in the same time), I tried connecting my phone, but without effort - the problem explained above occurred again.

*Also worth knowing, his phone''s Android version is also 5.1.1.

 

[mhinc]

I took my camera with me yesterday to work, and here is the funny thing...
A colleague of mine has an HTC Desire Eye, and he was able to connect with the camera with no problem. Downloaded the app and connected just like that. I know that these products are from the same brand, maybe his phone has something that mine hasn't.
Right after that happened (even in the same time), I tried connecting my phone, but without effort - the problem explained above occurred again.

*Also worth knowing, his phone''s Android version is also 5.1.1.

I would go back go and be all over HTC at this point. You bought their product. Your phone meets their specs, You have proven it works on another device which happens to be HTC and you have proven your BT is fine as it connects to other devices.
Time for HTC to open a ticket and take some responsibility. The only thing left I could suggest is a factory reset to see if there is something interfering that could possibly cause this?
With my S6 I can't connect to my Mother in Laws BlueTooth BOSE speaker on Marshmallow, but she can on her S6 still on Lollipop.
So many variables. But either way if you do a factory reset they have nothing more for you to troubleshoot and should be able to take ownership

 

[adamhochfelder]

I would go back go and be all over HTC at this point. You bought their product. Your phone meets their specs, You have proven it works on another device which happens to be HTC and you have proven your BT is fine as it connects to other devices.
Time for HTC to open a ticket and take some responsibility. The only thing left I could suggest is a factory reset to see if there is something interfering that could possibly cause this?
With my S6 I can't connect to my Mother in Laws BlueTooth BOSE speaker on Marshmallow, but she can on her S6 still on Lollipop.
So many variables. But either way if you do a factory reset they have nothing more for you to troubleshoot and should be able to take ownership

HTC haven't responded to my question on the Google Play Store 2 days now. However, I took the camera to work again and took my colleague's phone for a drive. I got to play around the settings of the camera for a short time, I've set it up to 16 Mp high quality images (it was initially at 8), and while roaming around the settings I noticed that there is a off setting (like completely off, not just sleeping) and a firmware update setting. I said to myself, what the heck...
I downloaded a newer 8mb firmware, the only one that it was found via the update manager from the Re app. Then I uploaded it to the Re camera and restarted the camera (not factory reset).
Here is the catch! It now works on my phone! There I was all down and without hope, when a simple firmware update resolved my issue. Thank God my friend had an HTC phone. Who knows how much time I would have spent to solve this problem.
Now, having it fully functional at my home I can confirm that the update can solve a problem like this. In the new firmware there is a live YouTube option, something that the previous firmware lacked.

So, watch out people --> if you have any problems with this camera, and there is no tech support, try to update it to the latest firmware at first, maybe that will help!

Thanks to mhinc at this point, for he was the only one bouncing back my ideas. Cheers mate!

Regards
Adam Hochfelder

 

[adamhochfelder]

Just one more thing to note, before I leave this topic be...

The camera works fine, tested it in all conditions, the app is pretty good, the image quality is good, the video is good etc. But I have another "smaller" issue, and maybe somebody else noticed it.

After connecting the phone to the Re camera, the phone uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections (for communication between devices of course). The thing is, after I disconnect the camera, close the app and try to connect to my home network automatically (or any other remembered network for that manner), it doesn't want to.
Let me clarify! I can connect manually, if I go to the menu and choose my desired network myself, but this only happens the first time after I have been connected and disconnected to the camera. The second (and afterwards -third, forth) time it is all good.

It is not a deal-breaker by any means, and it is not a huge problem, it just sets me back one step...

Has anybody else had that problem?

Regards

 

[yohanwu]

hei, can you turn off your RE while charging?

 

[adamhochfelder]

Don't know, haven't tried that specific scenario before. I have charged the Re camera twice now, but once without the app... so I didn't knew that there was a complete "off" button there. Dunno, try and connect the camera to your phone via the app, and from the settings there (the blue gear icon on the upper right) go to Advanced Settings, and then go to Power Off Re Camera Completely...

Try that, I will also try it the next time I will charge it!

Cheers!