AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles review – Can you see more with it in the dark?

REVIEW – I’m fortunate to live in a wooded rural area and often capture images of wildlife with my trailcams. Trailcams are great for letting you know what animals visited your property, but you find this out after the fact. I’ve often wanted a way to see what’s lurking in the woods or my yard at night in real time. But I’m human and can’t see in the dark. That changed when I was offered the chance to try the AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles. Was I able to see Sasquatch in my woods? Let’s find out.

What is it?

The AKASO Seemor 200 is a pair of night vision goggles that uses AI (because doesn’t everything now?) to let you see your surroundings in color when you’re in total darkness.

What’s included?

The AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles can be purchased in the ‘standalone’ version shown here and also in a bundled version that includes an external battery charger. 

• AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles
• Zippered travel case with removable strap
• 2 Replaceable 3250mAh Batteries
• Lens cloth
• USB-C charging cable
• User manual

Tech specs

Design and features

Out of the box, the AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles look pretty cool, with a secret agent vibe. The top of the goggles has a threaded socket and a cold shoe that can be used for accessories that aren’t included. The threaded socket would be great for putting the goggles on some sort of a mount. I’m not sure what I’d use the cold shoe for though. The camera already has a built-in microphone…

You’ll also notice that there are six buttons on top that control power, various modes, and image/video capture.

On the bottom of the device, you’ll find the battery compartment, USB charging port, and a microSD card slot. There’s also another threaded socket for a tripod.

According to the AKASO site, the two 3250mAh batteries included in the package can extend the total operating time of the Seemor 200 night vision camera to up to 8 hours. In full-color mode without infrared and the screen off, the longest recording time on a full charge is about 4 hours. When infrared is enabled, the recording time is about 2 hours.

There is a metal loop on each side of the goggles that is used as an attachment point for the included neck strap.

I have to be completely honest and admit that I thought I was supposed to look through the two protruding lenses. For a while, I thought the camera they sent me was DOA because I couldn’t see the menu or anything through the lenses. Yes, sometimes I can be a moron 😉 But I’m used to regular binoculars, so cut me a break.

You look out of the other end of the camera. DOH!

The Seemor 200 night vision goggles have a rubber flange around the display that is shaped to fit your forehead and nose. I couldn’t put these goggles that close to my eyes because the menu and live view image were blurry when I did. That’s just me and my eyes, though. It’s possible that others won’t have this issue.

Navigating the menu settings is done using the buttons on top of the goggles. 

Time to test!

Since it wasn’t dark out, my first test of the AKASO Seemor 200 goggles was done during daylight on a bright sunny day. When I first tried the goggles, the image was totally blurry. I had to adjust the focus by turning the left lens until I could get it as clear as possible. It’s a bit fiddly during the day time and really tough to focus at night. 

Here’s a daytime picture straight out of the camera with no editing. You can click it to see the full image. The quality is fine for what you’d use these goggles for. But of course, you probably won’t be using them during the day, so let’s check out how well they work at night.

This first picture (above) was taken with my phone and is what I could see with my eyes at around 9:30 pm. The light in the foreground is coming from the windows inside my house.

Here’s what the AKASO goggles allowed me to see. It’s pretty grainy and not that clear, but the fact that it’s in color is pretty cool. The Seemor uses AI-ISP technology to interpret ultra low light into a color image. It’s pretty impressive because you can see different shades of green in the trees and bushes.

Zoom feature. The camera can zoom up to 16x but again, I found the image to be very grainy and blurry. I tried focusing by turning the left lens, but that was as good as I could get it. Note that it did get the colors right. Jeanne was wearing a grey t-shirt and blue jeans.

Once you zoom in a few times, the image becomes completely unrecognizable. The issue is with the focus which you have to adjust frequently.

Here’s an IR night vision image, which is a little better as far as clarity.

Comparing color night vision to IR night vision. The subjects are pots of dried (aka dead) flowers.

Here are some pics in IR mode. I find the IR mode has better focus. 

I wish I could have captured some wildlife, but I’m not sure I would have been able to “find” them using these goggles with the zoom feature. When you start zooming, it is incredibly difficult to keep the image stable because every slight movement will blur the image before you can figure out what you’re actually looking at and then snap a picture. Even the act of pressing the shutter button can cause the image to blur.

I do think that putting the camera on a tripod would make the image/video quality a lot better and would make focusing easier as well.

See it action

This video gives you an idea of the capability of the AKASO color night vision camera. If you watch this clip, you’ll soon realize that this camera was a disappointment… at least for the main feature.

AKASO app

The AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles has a companion app you can install on your phone or tablet in order to remotely view what the camera sees and capture photos or images remotely. Unfortunately, I was never able to get the live view to work through the app or even see the images stored on the goggles through the app. The only function that worked through the app for me was updating the firmware.

To remove the images and video from the goggles, I just pulled out the microSD card from the camera and copied the files using a card reader with my MacBook.

What I like about the AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles

• Color night vision at this price point is impressive
• IR vision is better
• Comes with two batteries and a storage case
• Ability to take photos and video with sound

What needs to be improved?

• The color image quality is grainy and not impressive
• Focusing is very challenging, especially in the dark
• App needs work

Final thoughts

I was really looking forward to reviewing the AKASO Seemor 200 night vision goggles because we get a lot of wildlife around my property (turkey, deer, coyotes, bobcats, skunks, and more). However, I was disappointed in the image and video quality. The color night vision is cool, but in action, it’s just a novelty. Maybe firmware updates will improve things and if so, I’ll be happy to revisit this review with an update. But as it is now, I can’t recommend purchasing this device.

Update 10/12/24

Although I posted this review today, I actually finished it a few weeks ago. I was very disappointed in the performance of the camera but wanted to make sure that I hadn’t missed something, so I watched a few other reviews on YouTube. Several of them were positive reviews, so I decided I would give the camera another shot and tried again that night. Only this time, the color feature didn’t work at all. The black and white IR feature still worked, but the color feature didn’t. I contacted AKASO to let them know and sent them an example video of what I was seeing. They thought it was a defective unit and sent me a second one. 

I received the replacement camera a couple of days ago and shot a new video which is attached above in the See it in action section. The performance of the new camera is identical to the first camera (before the color feature completely failed). I don’t feel like this camera is ready for prime time.

Price: $239.99 ($249.99 for bundle with external battery charger)
Where to buy: AKASO and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by AKASO. AKASO did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.