Xiaomi backed camera maker Xiao Yi are hoping to break in to the European market with their range of IP and action cameras.

While walking around IFA I was surprised to see that Xiao Yi had a booth showing their range of action cameras and their IP camera. Xiao Yi are backed by phone maker Xiaomi, but as they are ran independently they are don’t have to follow Xiaomi limited global availability.

During a chat with the Xiao Yi reps at IFA I discovered that the company are currently in the process of finding a European distributor for their products which includes a single Yi IP camera, Yi action camera, and related accessories.

I also discovered that Xiao Yi’s attitude to their product and how it is perceived was a nice surprise. Where as other Chinese manufacturers fall back on the “we are cheaper” mantra to try and explain the benefit of choosing their products, Xiao Yi insisted that this is not how they want to be seen.

Of course Yi cameras are more affordable than the equivalent Go Pro, but the start up feels that their quality, build and component choice is on par (if not better) than rival products.

It’s unclear how much Yi Cameras will cost in Europe once officially launched, but with the popularity of action cameras we can only see a bright future for the new company.

On their stand Xiao Yi also had a 3D printed prototype of a multiple camera mount for creating sphere videos. Go Pro also have a similar product at $4000, the Yi alternative should be much more affordable.