Club Benefits
A few years ago, I put an action camera on my cat — the Insta360 GO 3 — to see what he saw as he roamed around our yard. Since then, Insta360 has come out with a newer version of its thumb-sized camera, so I wanted to see how it would perform.
The Insta360 GO 3S has an upgraded 4K camera, as well as a wide-angle lens so you can capture more of your surroundings. But what I really like about the camera — especially if you're going to send it out in the wild — is that it has Apple FindMy built in, so that if it somehow fell off my cat's collar, I'd be able to find it more easily.
When I first did this experiment, I put the Insta360 on what was then our younger cat, who was then about six or seven. Since then, we've adopted a younger cat, who's about a year and a half old, so he's a bit more inclined to run around.
Well guess what? Regardless of age, cats spend a lot of their time just sitting and looking at stuff, so much of the footage I captured was less than what you would call cinematic.
Another thing to bear in mind is that, although the Insta360 Go 3S can take 4K video, its battery is still pretty small. If you set the camera to continuously record, you'll end up with less than half an hour of footage.
When I set the camera to 2.7k/30 fps, I ended up with roughly 34 minutes of video; I then set the resolution to 1080p/30 fps, and was able to eke out nearly 37 minutes. The latter figure is close to the advertised runtime of 38 minutes; the older Go 3 can last a little longer, up to 45 minutes.
Probably the best video I (or he) took was when he was playing around with a small aluminum foil ball. He discovered early on that he could pick up the ball with his mouth and carry it to a spot where he could more easily bat it with his paws.
Of course, this is all dependent on your cat's willingness to wear the camera. The Go 3S comes with what the company calls an "Easy clip," which you can hook onto a traditional collar. My cat didn't mind it hooked to his collar too much, but he was often so active that he would remove the collar. The camera pod itself weighs a scant 3.4 ounces, so it's pretty unobtrusive.
So, for the second go-around, I used the Insta360 Pet Harness, which comes in both small and medium sizes. It has two mounting points for the camera, one above and behind the shoulders, and one below the chin.
There was some initial resistance when I first put the harness on the cat, but he stopped fussing pretty quickly.
Apart from capturing your pet's exploits, the Insta360 GO 3S is a pretty capable action camera. When attached to its action pod, it has a flip-up touchscreen, and it has other niceties like a six-axis gyroscope for motion stabilization.
In our Insta360 GO3S review, my colleague Peter Wolinski gave it a 4.5-star rating, and even named it one of the best action cams if you're looking for a small, compact device, and don't need a high-end camera for cinema-like experiences. As much as my cat is a diva, he doesn't need the star treatment, so a lower-res video is just fine for him.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok. Finally, you can visit our dedicated Tom's Guide Savings Squad hub for expert help on getting the best products for less.
More from Tom's Guide
