Tehkron Cage pro Hero 3 cage (1 of 9)

The Tehkron Cage pro showed up this morning. I forgot I had preordered this thing after seeing it on twitter a few months ago. For those of you not familiar with the Tehkron Cage pro, it’s basically a hero 3 cage that allows you to power and charge your hero 3 with standard Canon LP-E6 batteries. This, in theory should provide you with up to 5 hours of run time (as stated on the box).

Tehkron Cage pro Hero 3 cage (8 of 9)

The Tehkron Cage pro is actually a good idea on paper. It gives you the ability to use a pretty common battery (Canon LP-E6) to increase the run time of your hero 3 and provides protection from major impact just like any other cage on the market. However, unlike “any other cage on the market” the entire front of the unit, as well as the battery section is made out of weak feeling plastic. One drop on something solid and the only thing that’ll be providing protection is the gopro’s actual case.

The cage is also huge, as in larger then a 5d mark III body. The Hero 3 was designed to be a tiny, portable, mount anywhere camera, but with this cage attached you might as well have a DSLR for the amount of physical girth this thing adds. The sad thing is, this could have been much smaller if it were executed properly.

Tehkron Cage pro Hero 3 cage (2 of 9)

Flip it over and you’ll see the electronics board that adapts the exposed Canon LP-E6 battery to the Gopro hero 3. No plate, no covering, just bare electronics out in the open. If you look close you can even see the gobs of hot glue which are the only things securing the hero 3 power cable and battery cable to the board.

Tehkron Cage pro Hero 3 cage (6 of 9)

That same power cable makes it a pain to actually get the hero 3 into the cage. Every time you try to insert the camera the cable gets in the way and jams things up.

Tehkron Cage pro Hero 3 cage (5 of 9)

Even if you manage to get the cable out of the way, the large USB plug sticking out of the side gets in the way. The hero 3 barely fits in the Tehkron Cage pro without the usb. Attach the cable and you basically have to jam it in. On top of that the USB cable covers up the HDMI port and prevents you from using the USB port for audio which makes you wonder what you actually need all the mounting points for.

Tehkron Cage pro Hero 3 cage (7 of 9)

The mounting system is also a big disappointment. Instead of a nice solid bolt going through the mounting bracket on the hero 3’s case, you get this plastic little nub with a philips head screw at the end. This flimsy piece of plastic is supposed to secure the hero 3 in place, thankfully jamming it in past the USB cable does most of the actual securing of the unit.

Tehkron Cage pro Hero 3 cage (9 of 9)

This whale of a cage pictured above next to a standard hero 3 combat cage is poorly executed. They’ve taken a great idea, marked it up to $180, and delivered at best a crappy prototype. Sure it sounds nice to be able to power the hero 3 from Canon LP-E6 batteries and it would be great to have 5 hours of battery life, but this thing only hints and solving the problem.

You need to actually be able to remove and install the hero 3 into a cage and you need a cage to mount stuff. If you can’t use a monitor or microphone with the hero 3  in this unit, what exactly do you need the cage for? You can plug a USB battery pack into your hero 3 for a lot less than $180 and end up with the same results.

In my opinion, unless you have a very compelling reason to buy the Tehkron Cage pro, get a regular cage or use a USB power pack. This thing is just not worth the money.

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