Review on 📹 YOLOLIV YoloBox: The Ultimate Portable Live Stream Studio Equipment with Encoder, Switcher, Recorder, Monitor, and 4G - North America's Top Choice by Mike Sevenfourgd

YoloBox helped! Man I love YoloBox. My review will be very positive because I broadcast weddings for a living. This way I know which hardware replaces Yolobox in my workflow and how it makes my work easier. So, before I tell you why I like it and how I use it, let me point out three downsides first. YoloBox is a first generation product. This means that some bugs may appear in the software from time to time. The YoloBox team does an excellent job with software updates and comes regularly to fix bugs and desired features. The team is great and I don't see the "first generation" product as a disadvantage.2. Hardware - The only hardware complaint I have is the screen's low brightness outdoors. I'd say it's around 400-500 nits (but that's just a guess). This means that if you're streaming outdoors like I am, you'll need a bright monitor. I use a feelworld 2200 nit monitor and it works great.3. learning curve. I see the user rating is low and have read many reviews here. I was skeptical at first because of the reviews. But I'm a techie and decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did because Yolobox is helping me and replacing my laptop. but the learning curve is steep. There aren't many videos on how to use the yolobox. When you stream for the first time, it's very different than streaming from your phone. So if this is you, you might get frustrated if you ever have to use your own RTMP server because Facebook's direct integration doesn't work. Good. Now that the cons are out of the way, let's talk about the pros.1. YoloBox replaces my laptop, wifi hotspot, and software I usually need to use to stream. Normally I would have to set up my cameras, set up WiFi, set up an encoder, set up an access point and set everything up to work with my laptop. I would have to do this for every event and that is if I had to be at the event two hours early just to make sure the streaming software and hardware are hooked up and getting a good handshake. Now I arrive about an hour earlier to set up the cameras, connect to the yolobox and go live. It saved me time which is money and I appreciate it.2. The program is easy to use. It's just plug and play. Connect the HDMI from the camera and add the pre-recorded video from the SD card. Then click Go Live. It's easy once you set up the software. Just press a button.3. The YoloBox is about 2.5 cm thick, has a battery life of three hours and feels good in the hand. It is not fragile and looks like something made to be used. It's so small that I can put it on top of my camcorder and use it as a main camera to switch to other camera angles on the yolobox during a live broadcast.4. Now think about the last sentence for a moment. When I shoot a wedding, I use three angles: the main angle on a video tripod with wheels, a static camera on a large tripod, also on wheels (but not usually movable), and a walking camera on a gymnastic apparatus. From my main camera, the YoloBox allows me to see ALL angles during a live broadcast. This means I can switch as needed so my audience can have the best experience. If someone moves in front of my main camera, I can switch to my sports camera without missing a picture. In this way, the yolobox enables the director to watch with live transmission, switching and recording at the same time. which brings me to my next point.5. Yolobox can record streams to SD card while streaming and switching! That's cool. Have you ever had a client who wanted an immediate turnaround? Well this entry is excellent to give them. It will look and sound just as good, if not a little better, than the live stream itself. So what's not to love? Not much, really. If I have to do a final cut for a client, I can always use my camera footage. But for instant work, SD recording couldn't be better. So who is it for? It depends on. If you need to live stream regularly from multiple cameras AND are familiar with live streaming software and protocols, then this is for you. know what RTMP means, then you will find it difficult to get started with the YoloBox. It's true that YoloBox is one-touch streaming from YouTube, Facebook, and more, but you need to know how live streaming works if you ever need to troubleshoot why your live stream isn't working. Here's a BIG clue: it's usually not the YoloBox hardware. Problems are usually discovered when policies are updated by the CDNs themselves. Oh yes, the last term "CDN” is an industry term. This stands for Content Delivery Network. If you didn't know this, it means you may need to learn more about live streaming to make your YoloBox experience easier. Here's an example of the troubleshooting I did when I first got my YoloBox (and why a technical background can help in this case). I bought a YoloBox and wanted to stream with it. After testing, I found that using my phone's Wi-Fi hotspot doesn't provide the bandwidth I need at a location (e.g. a beach or church). So I went to Tmobile and ordered a SIM card for my tablet. I asked a reseller to make sure I had an unlimited tablet data plan. only $25 a month and I'm happy on the go. I was streaming two weddings and another small event and then I realized something was wrong with my broadcast. It was starting to look choppy. The frame rate dropped and the data rate was choppy. After the wedding I started troubleshooting (good thing I filmed that day with the camera). It would be easy to blame YoloBox for the problem, and for a while I did. But then I decided to give Tmobile a call. When I spoke to business support, I discovered an issue. It wasn't Yolobox at all. It was an internet plan. Even though I had an "unlimited" internet plan, the plan only included 5GB of HIGH SPEED video streaming (per SIM card, streaming to YouTube is the same as watching YouTube). If I really wanted unlimited video streaming, it would come at an additional cost. Turns out I had used up all of my included data and Tmobile strangled me on my wedding day. So hopefully that helps. I find the yolobox to be a great addition to my gear and I hope you do too.