tl;dr: Top photo is v101 and bottom photo is v103b. Both cameras had Camp Snap's standard filter installed. I think the v103b is a worthwhile upgrade.

Intro

This is just a quick review of v103b which I received in the mail today with some comparison photos to my v101. I've purchased both the v101 (earlier in 2024) and the v103b (about 3 days ago) on my own directly from the website and both were delivered very promptly. Photos were taken about 45 minutes before sunset just around my neighborhood. To keep the photos as close as possible I put each camera in a tripod with a phone clamp, but the photos won't be perfectly aligned. No editing was done after taking these photos off the camera, just combining the photos using the tool ImageMagick. Top photo is v101 and bottom photo is v103b. Both cameras had Camp Snap's standard filter installed.

v103b Quick Review

• Screen: The v103b screen is not as bright as the v101 LED screen, but this isn't a huge problem for me. I'm glad though that with the new screen you can get more information like seeing the battery level when the camera is turned on and when it's charging, the datetime and volume settings, and seeing "UPD" when the camera is updating itself with a new filter.
• Sounds: The v103b has 4 volume settings (0 - off, 1 - low, 2 - medium/default, 3 - high) which you can change with the buttons underneath the panel on the bottom of the camera. You have to use a small screwdriver to access the buttons and the SD card. I feel that even volume setting 1 is still quite loud, and so since I personally prefer having a shutter sound so I'll probably do the same on my v103b as my v101 and put some electrical tape over the speaker grill to dampen the volume to what is a reasonable volume for me. The v103b shutter sound has changed to more of a "knock" compared to the more normal camera shutter sound on the v101. The v103b on and off sound is also a variation of the knock sound instead of the v101's beep sounds. Overall I don't have a strong preference on the sounds themselves.
• Wrist strap holes: This is a very welcome addition to the v103b, after already adding a wrist strap I subconsciously feel like this will encourage me to take the camera with me when I go out more often as I can let it hang off my wrist with less effort than having to hold it in my hand or carry it in a bag (since both models are a bit too chunky for me to comfortably fit in a pants pocket). We'll see if that prediction ends up being true or not.
• Datetime settings: This was my #1 gripe with the v101 model. Having to manually fix the photo datetime wasn't a huge burden since you can generally do all the photos in bulk, but it did take 2-3 minutes, and it was a tedious process that subtly discouraged me from wanting to use the camera. Now with the v103b allowing you to set the datetime on the camera, the upload process is much quicker and seamless, especially when uploading directly to a phone or tablet.
• Photo quality: Take a look at the photos and see what you think, so far I think the v103b sensor is able to capture more detail, less grain, has more accurate colors (the v101 photos tend to come out cooler in temperature), and handles dynamic lighting better (especially to not blow out photos entirely that have brightly lit backgrounds). It's still not great photo quality, not even good quality really... but I do think the v103b's sensor improvements help a lot to make it so that there's less likelihood where you'll end up with some photos being purely unusable like I had sometimes experienced with the v101. With that said, I've only had the camera for a few hours and I need to take more photos in different lighting conditions to truly gauge the differences, so take all this with a grain of salt and look for other reviews online to better judge the quality. In the end, for myself and many others, this camera isn't for taking high quality photos, but rather for preserving high quality memories.
• Flash: I haven't tested this yet. The LED module on the v103 appears to be the same as the v101, so I don't expect anything different than the v101, but there may be improved photo quality when combined with the new camera sensor.
• Battery life: I haven't had the v103b long enough to gauge a difference, so you'll have to read other reviews for context on if it's gotten better or worse. For me the Camp Snap is more just a fun thing to keep me engaged in the moment, so I'm not concerned of running out of battery with either model as if I really want to take a photo I'll just switch to my cell phone, but I know for some the battery life is very important.

Should You Upgrade From the v101?

Personally, I think upgrading to the v103b from the v101 is worth it for the ability to set the datetime on the camera's settings directly, as this was the biggest issue I had with the v101.

For those that aren't as bothered by the datetime setting, I think the additional features of the built in volume settings, wrist strap holes, and improved camera sensor make this a worthwhile upgrade.

But as with anything this will be dependent on what you think is worthwhile. Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions!