The Prime Day deals are here, and yesterday I was actually pretty shocked at some of the deals — for better or worse. I'll start with the better! There are some surprisingly good deals on the best action cameras (rivalling Black Friday prices), including $200 off the GoPro MAX2 at Amazon — one of my favorite 360 cameras. Meanwhile, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 — a YouTuber's staple — is currently over $120 off at Amazon. Both are quick and easy ways to upgrade your content for social or YouTube.

There are some deals to be wary of, though. The GoPro Hero13 Black is seemingly reduced from $429 to $349 at Amazon, which is seemingly a good discount. No! Bad deal!!!! $349 is where it sits most of the year anyway, if not lower. The price just got jacked up to $429 for a couple of weeks to catch you out!

I'm Pete, senior reviews editor here at Tom's Guide, and I've tested every major action and 360 camera launched for the last few years. I track prices all year, so I've rounded up here which deals are actually good, to help you avoid the scams.

Without further ado, here are all my favorite Prime Day action camera deals.

Quick list

• GoPro LIT Hero: was $269 now $179 @ Amazon
• DJI Osmo Action 4: was $299 now $179 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X3: was $299 now $229 @ Amazon
• DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: was $339 now $288 @ Amazon
• GoPro MAX2: was $499 now $299 @ Amazon
• DJI Osmo 360: was $467 now $257 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X4 Air: was $439 now $324 @ Amazon
• DJI Osmo Pocket 3: was $499 now $378 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X5: was $549 now $434 @ Amazon

DJI deals

GoPro deals

Insta360 deals

U.K. deals

We're tracking all the best Prime Day deals

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.

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If you're wondering what the GoPro Mission 1 Pro and its siblings (the Mission 1 and Mission 1 ILC) are, there's both a simple answer and a complicated one.

The simple answer is that these action cameras are designed entirely with pros and hardcore creators in mind. When I say pros, I mean literal professional video producers: whether that's action sports filmmakers shooting The North Face's next YouTube documentary up in some Himalayan death zone; jobbing videographers filming anything from weddings to commercial client work; or even full-scale Hollywood movie producers.

When I say hardcore creators, I mean experienced content creators producing high-end stuff for YouTube. GoPro designed this camera not for beginners shooting TikToks, but to instead capture content creators further down their experience pipeline, when they start to get really serious. In both respects, the Mission 1 family is designed to be a portable alternative — perhaps replacement — to traditional full-sized mirrorless cameras and/or cine gear.

The complicated answer is, well... complicated. GoPro's struggles and share price are no secret, and in my opinion, it needed to innovate and pitch away from chasing mass consumer market share — it hasn't got much hope there globally, due to DJI cornering the market with its low prices. That's one for another article, though.

So, how is the Mission 1 Pro camera? And who should buy it? Find out in my full GoPro Mission 1 Pro review.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Specs

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Price & availability

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro’s only real con is its price. At $699 / £599, it’s eye-wateringly expensive. You can shrink that to $599 / £509 with a GoPro subscription, while the lower-spec Mission 1 costs $599 / £529 (or $499 / £439 with a GoPro sub). Still not particularly appealing to general consumers.

There’s also the $699 / £599 Mission 1 Pro ILS, ($599 / £509 with a GoPro sub) which has a mirrorless interchangeable lens mount to fit manual focus M43 lenses. This makes it unique in the market and worth the spend if you want to do some creative filmmaking with your GoPro and M43 lenses.

But let me just return to that “not particularly appealing to general customers” bit. See, as I mentioned up top, the M1/M1 Pro aren’t really intended to be. The GoPro Hero13 Black is still on sale, and GoPro has confirmed to me that the Hero line isn’t dead. Those are for general consumers and casual creators.

Like I said, the M1 Pro is designed to be a professional alternative to a mirrorless and/or cine camera. Instead of trying to cram an A7S III or FX3 into a tight space, GoPro wants you to use the M1 Pro instead. And it's spec'd to give the kind of person who would own one of those other cameras what they need. In that light, to its target audience, the M1 Pro is actually an affordable alternative to extremely expensive pro gear.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Design & controls

At a casual glance, the Mission 1 Pro looks very much like a Hero13 Black with a large lens hood. But put ’em side by side and these are very different cameras. For starters, the M1 Pro is enormous (for an action camera). The Hero line weren’t the sveltest flagship action cameras on the market anyway — in recent years, DJI’s Osmo Action line has always been a little leaner — but the M1 Pro is an unashamed chonk. Measuring 3.15 x 2.05 x 1.74 inches and weighing over 7 ounces, this is not the best option if you’re looking for something to mount on a chin or helmet. Mainly, the size is to accommodate the new 1-inch sensor, so it figures.

The larger design has resulted in a bigger screen, which has implications for controlling the camera, as I’ll discuss below. GoPro still hasn’t managed to remove the screen bezel though. The DJI Osmo Action 6’s smaller bezels look much nicer. Still, the M1 Pro’s rear screen is an OLED (finally, GoPro!), which is not only much crisper and nicer to look at, but brighter and easier to use in direct sunlight than the Hero 13 Black’s LCD. The OA6 also features an OLED.

Mounting

Making a return are GoPro’s trademark built-in mounting fingers, which remove the need for an adapter when mounting the camera to accessories with fork fingers — this being the vast majority of third-party accessories.

There’s also a magnetic quick release system, which is super handy for swapping accessories quickly, and is now de rigueur on flagship action cameras from GoPro, DJI and Insta360.

Controls

The Mission 1 Pro is the first GoPro I’ve ever tried that I didn’t dislike using. Partly, this is down to the increased screen size, finally giving the menu system the space it deserves. Secondly, there’s the menu system itself, which has been refined over the Hero 13 Black and GoPro MAX 2.

There’s still a highly detailed pull-down menu, but the touchscreen hosts (customizable) controls during live view, which have been spaced out, making them easy to hit. It’s not a revolution of GoPro’s historically cluttered menu, but a well-implemented evolution. It makes the camera so much easier to use than any GoPro before, even in tricky conditions and wearing gloves.

The Q/Power and Record buttons are now super chunky, too, and give very assured feedback when pressed. Again, I love to see it — operating an action camera in the heat of the moment, wearing thick mountaineering or motorcycling gloves, is easier said than done. This is another small quality of life feature that makes a big difference to the camera’s daily user-friendliness.

Connectivity

The Mission 1 Pro’s connectivity features are fairly run-of-the-mill. There’s the usual USB-C port, positioned annoyingly behind the battery door. That means your battery could fall out if you want to run a USB accessory. The door is also liable to getting jammed by longer fork mount screws, if you’re using one that happens to thread from the battery hatch side.

GoPro announced the M1 Pro alongside its own wireless microphone system, which will offer wireless connectivity to the camera. Obviously, this is an attempt to rival DJI’s camera/microphone ecosystem, and its versatility for content creators.

Unlike the Osmo Action 5 Pro and 6, there’s no built-in storage, which is a bit of a letdown. The OA6’s 107GB of built in storage gives much needed headroom when recording, and also allows faster transfer speeds — important when offloading 8K footage. However, if GoPro had added internal storage, the camera would've become even larger, so on balance, I don't mind seeing it left out.

The GoPro has a MicroSD slot, though, of course.

Waterproofing

In order to challenge DJI’s dominance over waterproofing, GoPro has managed to waterproof the M1 and M1 Pro down to 66 feet (20m) — one foot more than the OA6. This is a big step up over the Hero13 Black, which only manages 33 feet (10m).

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Stabilization

Unsurprisingly, the M1 Pro runs GoPro’s HyperSmooth stabilization system. No bad thing — it’s great. For a while, GoPro’s stabilization was unassailable by rivals. That’s no longer true, but it’s a level playing field now and GoPro isn’t on the back foot.

The M1 Pro’s HyperSmooth works perfectly. In most footage, even jerky walking videos, bumps are ironed out completely. It occasionally had issues with high frequency juddering, as in the motorcycle footage above, where one set of yellow painted lines on the road caused camera shake. But issues like that are rare and, for the most part, HyperSmooth does the job.

In the footage above, I was holding the camera without any accessories and crouching while walking. It was a very shaky affair, but the M1 Pro stabilized things extremely well, especially given this was shot at the widest field of view.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Video

The Mission 1 Pro’s video looks, well, like classic GoPro footage: professional. 4K looks gorgeous out of camera. Blues and greens in particular are lovely and vivid, in both the standard and vivid color profiles. There’s an expected level of barrel distortion from the lens, but corners remain fairly sharp even at the wide and super-wide fields of view.

Dynamic range has been dramatically increased over the Hero13 Black, too, thanks to the new larger sensor and GP3 processor. GoPro claims 14 stops. It's noticeable when editing, with plenty of details in shadows and fairly good control over bright highlights (there were still a few blown highlights in the footage below, though). As action cameras go, this sensor is delivering the best imaging on the market right now.

If you’re shooting at 4K, there’s really not a whole lot of difference between the M1 Pro and the Hero13 Black, which also shoots lovely-looking footage. What separates the M1 Pro and marks it as a professional tool is its super versatile roster of features.

The M1 Pro shoots at up to 8K/60fps, giving it an edge over the 8K/30fps top-end of the DJI Osmo Action 6. Shooting in 8K allows for extra flexibility when editing, letting users crop into frame while maintaining a decent resolution, and allowing for oversampled 4K. The M1 Pro’s higher 60fps rate allows for smoother 8K than on the 30fps-capped OA6. That means you can still benefit from shooting first and cropping to 4K later, without sacrificing frame rate. Important in a professional action camera.

The M1 Pro shoots open gate (where it uses the entire uncropped sensor and resolution) at up to 8K/30fps in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Open gate means you can shoot first, frame later in the different aspect ratios you'll need for different platforms. The same recording can be cropped to 16:9 for YouTube and 9:16 for social with less risk of having to crop out important elements. Crucially, the M1 Pro’s open gate isn’t 8K/30fps locked. If you want to shoot 4:3 in 4K/60fps to reduce the file sizes, you’re still getting open gate — the camera is recording with the entire sensor then binning pixels down to 4K for extra sharp 4K out of camera.

GoPro has given slow motion some attention, too. At 4K the M1 Pro can shoot at 240fps, while at 1080p it’ll shoot at 480fps. You’ll only get a few seconds of recording at those frame rates, though, so slow motion is there for judicious use.

But the pro features keep coming! There’s live metering, meaning real-time on-screen readouts for WB, EV, ISO and shutter; 10-bit color; high bit rate capture up to 240Mbps (or 300Mbps via Labs); HLG HDR recording and GP-Log2 with an included LUT bank for grades; and timecode sync for lining up clips to separately recorded audio in post.

And, of course, there’s GoPro Labs compatibility. Labs is an open-source, online bank of custom firmware that can be loaded onto the M1 Pro to accommodate bespoke professional requirements. Need motion detection recording for wildlife camera traps, or to run a custom settings menu? Labs is the answer.

Low light

The M1 Pro features a 1-inch sensor, which is larger than any other action camera on the market (including the OA6) and comparable to bigger cameras like the DJI Osmo Pocket 4. A larger sensor usually means cleaner low-light footage thanks to bigger light-sensitive photosites (which translate to pixels in a digital image). To help further, the M1 Pro also features GoPro's latest GP3 image processor, for increased dynamic range and more efficient noise processing.

The result is fairly clean low light footage. As you can see in the still above and the video below, there's a noticeable loss of sharpness thanks to the GP3's noise suppression smoothing out any grain. But the processor has done a good job at the noise reduction, with very clean shadows. As action cameras go, I'd say this is as good as it gets in low light.

Remember, a 1-inch sensor isn’t gonna give an APS-C or full frame mirrorless camera a run for its money, but the M1 Pro’s low light footage is still as clean as it comes for action cameras. And remember too that this camera is designed to replace a larger traditional body where other factors are more important (like space or waterproofing) to filmmakers — the M1 Pro's low light performance is designed to make a more palatable trade off in those situations versus a typical action camera like the Hero13 Black or Osmo Action 6.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Audio

Listening back to motorcycling footage shot on the M1 Pro for the first time, I was seriously impressed. As action cameras go, the four-mic array and wind reduction system in this camera are the best in the biz.

Motorcycling is a serious challenge for microphones, thanks to the wind buffeting and loud engine noises. The clip above was shot using the camera’s automatic wind reduction mode, which tailors the noise reduction so you’re getting the best balance of sound quality and noise cancellation (which can make audio sound compressed). The wind is audible, but not too distracting, and the bike’s engine noise has been well- preserved.

The only camera I’ve tested with better sound is the Insta360 X5 360 camera. But the M1 Pro’s mics beat other standard action cams pretty confidently.

In an attempt to play DJI at its own game, GoPro is also releasing a wireless microphone system that’ll hook up to the M1 Pro seamlessly, like DJI’s mics do with its cameras. Again, it's a direct attack on the upper-end of the content creator market. I’ve yet to test these, so I can’t comment on performance yet, but it's good to see GoPro building out an ecosystem for ease of use — that's a big selling point for full-time creators.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: App

I’m a big fan of GoPro’s Quik app. These days, it’s reliable (even in the beta version I tested), polished, and easy to use. Hooking up your phone and M1 Pro is super simple, and there are no regular Wi-Fi connectivity bugs as is always the case with DJI gear and their companion Mimo app.

Quik offers quick offloading of files to mobile, plus some basic editing features, including trimming, exposure editing, and applying basic filters or effects. Great for cutting together a few clips for a quick social video.

I really like the GPS/accelerometer-based stickers, such as the speedometer and G-counter. But I love the maps tracker, which lets you show the route of your footage in a box — so cool, especially for motovlogging videos. There’s also an altitude widget, which will be fun for any mountaineering content creators.

It’s a shame GoPro has canned the desktop version of Quik, but any pros using the M1 Pro will be editing in other software anyway, while using Quik for snappy social videos or client previews.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Battery life & thermals

GoPro has redeveloped its Enduro battery for the M1 Pro, resulting in the Enduro 2. And combined with the more efficient GP3 processor, Enduro 2 works wonders. The M1 Pro has the best battery life in the market, by a decent margin, too. In my standardized testing at 4K/60p, indoors, the M1 Pro achieved 133 mins. That’s a full 13 minutes longer than the Osmo Action 6.

I run my tests at 4K/60fps, as this is the resolution/frame rate most users will want to shoot action footage at, and what most cameras these days are capable of.

Importantly, the M1 Pro suffered no overheating whatsoever in that test, which was thoroughly impressive (especially as I tested the camera during a heatwave here in the U.K., where indoor temperatures were exceedingly high). The OA6 overheated twice during the same test, although in much cooler ambient conditions. GoPro's data in the table below shows overheating at 4K/30fps after 188 minutes, so at common resolutions/frame rate you have to push this camera very hard to get it to stop.

The M1 Pro is backwards compatible with the original Enduro battery, so any existing GoPro shooters can use their existing power cells. The new Enduro 2 is compatible with the Hero13 Black, but not older cameras (and not the MAX 2). Of course, the Enduro 2 will perform better than the Enduro 1 in the Hero13 Black, but the older processor means the gains won't match the M1 Pro's life.

Likewise, the Enduro 1 won’t last as long as the Enduro 2 when fitted in the M1 Pro, but you'll still see a battery life gain thanks to the new camera's efficient GP3 processor. To test this, I ran my standardized test at 4K/60fps with the M1 Pro and an Enduro 1 battery from my Hero13 Black. It managed 116 minutes — a whole 36 minutes longer than the same battery lasted in the Hero13 Black during the same test. The M1 Pro + Enduro 1 didn't overheat at all either, while the Hero13 Black + Enduro 1 overheated after 54 minutes. Really excellent progress!

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: Verdict

I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the M1 Pro. It’s a demonstration of exactly what GoPro needed to do right now — push the boat a bit! The M1 Pro's core video and audio performance is excellent, but crucially, this is a camera that gives professionals a level of versatility otherwise unseen in the action camera market. The camera is designed to be a replacement for pro gear where situations demand for a small, high-powered camera with rugged credentials.

It’s pricey, sure, but if you’re a professional, it’s worth the spend to add a versatile little camera to your kit — and besides, it's cheaper than adding a second mirrorless or cine cam.

Well done, GoPro.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro review: M1 models compared

It’s a cliché for good reason, but the best camera is the one you have on you. The GoPro Mission 1 Pro launches in a couple of days, and this $599 action camera on steroids intends to shake things up. Now, as much as it’s a video-first camera in my opinion, I’m eager to see how it handles photography against the camera that’s always on me: the iPhone 17 Pro.

That’s why over this past weekend, I captured the same set of photos with both the GoPro Mission 1 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro to see which delivers the better results. Action cameras have never won me over with their still-shot performance, but the Mission 1 Pro’s 50MP 1-inch sensor isn't ordinary.

In order to make this photo shootout as fair as possible, I’m going to compare its shots against the 48MP ultrawide camera of the iPhone 17 Pro — simply because it's the lens that best matches the GoPro's sweeping perspective. However, the iPhone 17 Pro’s ultrawide shooter has a 120-degree field of view, which is narrower than the GoPro's native 159-degree view. Despite this, the iPhone 17 Pro holds an inherent utility advantage thanks to its triple-camera setup.

After pixel-peeping the results side-by-side on a monitor, I've broken down exactly how they differ — and which one I'd trust for photography.

Backyard tree

My go-to shot for testing just about everything is this tree in my backyard, simply because of the contrast in the scene. Right away, I’m drawn to the GoPro Mission 1 Pro’s superior dynamic range — mainly due to how it boosts the shadows to balance out the exposure across the entire shot. In comparison, those same shadow areas look underexposed on the iPhone 17 Pro.

Upon closer inspection, neither one has the sharp details to win over my attention, but the iPhone 17 Pro’s 24MP sample still manages to have better definition.

Winner: GoPro Mission 1 Pro

Luxury EV

Under direct sunlight, the GoPro’s expansive field of view captures much more of the sky with the Cadillac Optiq framed in the center. This round is tougher to judge because both devices do an excellent job capturing the EV’s finer details, from the texture of the front grille to the branding on the Continental tires.

While the iPhone 17 Pro skews a bit warmer with its color temperature, the Mission 1 Pro’s dynamic range wins out by doing a better job of boosting the shadows under the car, around the wheel wells, and the branches of the trees in the background.

Winner: GoPro Mission 1 Pro

Indoor brewery

Inside a brewery, you would think the larger 1-inch sensor of the Mission 1 Pro would outclass its competitor, but I’m shocked by the results. The GoPro’s shot is noticeably softer and lacks definition compared to the phone.

The iPhone 17 Pro easily gains my vote thanks to its stronger contrast and superior clarity. I’m particularly impressed by how the overhead Edison lights and the graphic wall to the right both remain in sharp focus.

Winner: iPhone 17 Pro

Alternate Ending

Again, I can’t stress enough the huge disparity between these two brewery shots. The iPhone 17 Pro delivers a moodier image that perfectly captures the atmosphere, specifically because it mitigates the strong light sources before they can overpower the frame. As a result, the yellow Alternate Ending sign is properly exposed, and the textures of the wooden siding are much sharper.

The Mission 1 Pro tries to balance the exposure throughout the entire shot, but the details on the building look incredibly soft, and it completely overexposes the highlights.

Winner: iPhone 17 Pro

Selfie

While the ultrawide camera would probably be the last lens I’d use for a selfie on the iPhone 17 Pro, it still does a better job than the Mission 1 Pro. That’s because when I zoom in on my face and shirt, the iPhone captures far more detail and definition.

I’ll give the Mission 1 Pro credit for once again delivering better dynamic range—safeguarding the exposure in the shadowed tree branches overhead—but it ultimately falters when it comes to rendering sharp facial features.

Winner: iPhone 17 Pro

Cloudy New York

You might have trouble telling it was a cloudy day in the iPhone 17 Pro's shot because of the exposure boost it receives, but this is a prime example of Apple’s image processing working in the background to brighten the scene. Sure, the sky ends up overexposed as a result, but the brighter tone of the surrounding buildings does a much better job of grabbing my attention.

In comparison, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro’s image looks flat due to the lack of any meaningful exposure boost. Even though it's technically more representative of reality, its subdued look and softer details don't make it nearly as impressive.

Winner: iPhone 17 Pro

Nighttime backyard tree

Finally, I’m back to the tree in my backyard—but this time at night under almost pitch-black conditions. Neither shot is something I’d be proud to put in a picture frame, seeing as they’re both severely underexposed due to the lack of ambient light.

Between them, however, I’m giving the nod to the GoPro Mission 1 Pro mainly because it's a tiny bit better exposed. The green grass is more noticeable in the GoPro’s shot, whereas it's completely blacked out with the iPhone 17 Pro.

Winner: GoPro Mission 1 Pro

Bottom line

When it comes to handling challenging, high-contrast scenes, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro's superior dynamic range consistently pulls excellent detail out of harsh shadows — even beating the iPhone 17 Pro in broad daylight. However, its still photography leaves a bit to be desired, as it clearly lacks the crisp definition and fine detail that I crave.

That’s why the iPhone 17 Pro remains my go-to for everyday photography, especially since it's the camera that's always on me. Not only does Apple’s flagship offer a far more versatile triple-camera setup, but it’s clear that a massive amount of computational work goes into its image processing—resulting in better contrast, truer color balance, and superior detail capture.

Needless to say, I’d lean on my iPhone 17 Pro way more than the Mission 1 Pro when it comes to stills — but video is a totally different beast. Based on my time with the new GoPro so far, its video quality is already putting some of the best camera phones on the market to shame.

Looking ahead, I’m most excited about the Mission 1 Pro ILS when it drops later this fall. Featuring an interchangeable Micro Four Thirds mount, it has the potential to truly be the one camera that can do everything.

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GoPro just revealed pricing for its new Mission 1 action cameras and micro four thirds camera makers should be scared.

If you haven't seen the new Mission 1 lineup, GoPro describes the series as lightweight cinema cameras. They feature 50MP 1-inch sensors, a new processor, making them faster than even some of the best camera phones and a good number of point-and-shoots.

Of course, being GoPro, these cameras are video forward capable of filming up to 8K resolution footage. And it comes with a reasonable price tag.

• Mission 1 - $599.99
• Mission 1 Pro - $699.99
• Mission 1 Pro ILS - $699.99

All three cameras come with $100 off discounts for existing GoPro subscribers and purchase through GoPro.com

The Mission 1 Pro is heralded as the flagship model in the new lineup, while the Mission 1 Pro ILS features a micro four thirds mount that can be used to attached different lens to achieve a cinematic look much like dedicated cinema cameras that cost thousands of dollars.

There's added versatility in these pocket cinema cameras because of the myriad of accessories that GoPro has designed with them, like a body cage where users can attach different accessories such as cold shoe mounts or a Wireless Mic kit.

The Mission 1, Mission 1 Pro, Mission, and the Mission 1 Pro Grip Edition are all available for pre-order starting today. Those cameras will start arriving on May 28, 2026.

The other two creator editions and the ILS model won't be available until Q3 of 2026, which would pin it somewhere between July and September this summer.

A good argument to move on from your point-and-shoot

In early April, my colleague John Velasco got a chance to check out the Mission 1 cameras and came away quite impressed. At the time, he suggested that the Mission 1 would be competitive if it was priced around $500, which GoPro pretty much hits.

Even the high-end Pro and ILS models, make for compelling alternatives for traditional point-and-shoot cameras. This level of utility has neve been achieved by an action camera, which certainly would make buyers think harder about their next purchase. Not only do they record at 8K resolution, but they also offer insane 960 fps slow motion. For vloggers, it's an attractive pocketable camera that GoPro says will offer outstanding stabilization and low light performance.

"After seeing the GoPro Mission1 Pro ILS in particular, I’m convinced I could ditch my micro four thirds camera altogether. In fact, the Mission1 makes a compelling argument that the traditional point-and-shoot is finally obsolete," Velasco wrote.

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In case you missed it, on February 26th GoPro suffered a major blow in its legal fight with Insta360 — two titans of the action camera world. American manufacturer GoPro was the complainant in a patent infringement investigation against Chinese manufacturer Insta360 via the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Just in case you fancied some rather heavy reading, it's investigation No. 337-TA-1400.

As part of its complaint, GoPro asserted that Insta360 infringed on its patented technical design (or utility patents) in five areas, falling under stabilization, horizon levelling, distortion correction and aspect ratio conversion. These complaints threatened Insta360's wider lineup of cameras.

GoPro also alleged that Insta360 infringed the design patent (the general design and styling) of the Hero lineup of cameras. This design claim related only to Insta360's Ace lineup of cameras.

According to Insta360's press release and the ITC's final decision document (which I've read), the ITC's final public determination is that on all five utility patent claims, Insta360 either: didn't infringe GoPro's patent; there was no valid patent in place; or both. According to Insta360's representative, the Commission even reversed a previous judgment by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that the brand had infringed GoPro's patent relating to distortion.

I've read the ITC's public final determination, although it's currently under seal and not yet publicly available online at the time of writing.

A small win for GoPro

There is a small win for GoPro, though. The ITC also ruled a violation of GoPro's D'435 design patent — essentially saying that Insta360 copied design (or styling) elements of GoPro's Hero cameras.

According to the ITC final report, the Commission has determined that an LEO (Limited Exclusion Order) be enacted, which restricts the import by Insta360 of certain products that infringe the patent.

However, while this patent infringement was upheld, this claim is in regard to older Insta360 Ace Pro / Ace models, not the brand's wider lineup of cameras. The infringement was not upheld for any of Insta360's current products on sale, as newer updated models (presumably the Ace Pro 2) were not deemed to have infringed GoPro's patent.

That's why I've been contacted by Insta360's representatives boisterously celebrating their victory, despite the small win for GoPro.

GoPro released its own press release celebrating this mini victory, although it remained tight-lipped about the other five counts that weren't upheld. I've reached out to GoPro's representatives for further comment on the other rulings, but have yet to hear back.

The stakes were high

Now, the ins and outs of this legal kerfuffle are pretty dry, but for Insta360 the stakes were actually pretty high. Firstly, if the technical patent claims had been upheld, Insta360 may have faced a lot more trouble and been hit very hard financially. Any such decision would likely have affected more of the cameras in its current line up, as they share many core utility systems, such as stabilization.

If Insta360's primary money-spinners — 360-degree cameras like the Insta360 X5, with which the company has the market cornered — were affected, that would've been really quite serious for the Chinese manufacturer.

This could've been a huge deal reputation-wise, too. When it comes to international trade, tensions are rather high between the U.S. and other nations at the moment — tariffs et al — and especially so with Chinese manufacturers. The third manufacturer in today's three-way action camera rivalry, China's DJI, is currently facing an increasingly pessimistic battle against the U.S. government over drones. What's more, since the application of tariffs in recent years, DJI has actually pulled official support and first party sales of all its new products in the States.

In other words, it's a sketchy time to be a Chinese camera manufacturer selling in the U.S. right now. The last thing Insta360 needed was to arouse any undue public (or even governmental) attention by being seen to have ripped off GoPro.

What this means for the industry (and you)

What this means for the industry and you is that competition in the action camera market is still going to be fierce, and that's a good thing. If Insta360 had lost this battle, it might've restricted the choice available to American consumers. Insta360's Ace Pro 2 camera is a moderate (although not serious) threat to the GoPro Hero13 Black, and offers some notable benefits such as higher resolution recording, a more-user-friendly app and better thermal performance.

Insta360's small action cameras, though, like the Insta360 Go 3S and Insta360 Go Ultra, are major rivals to GoPro's small cameras, the GoPro Hero and GoPro LIT Hero. Having tested them all personally, believe me, the GoPros don't compete with Insta360's products on much except price.

Importantly, because Insta360's X-line of 360 cameras aren't affected, you can still buy the undisputed king of 360 cams, the X5. The GoPro MAX2 is good, but it's clinging to the coat tails of the X5. You still have the choice to buy the best, if you want.

If Insta360 had been forced to withdraw those products — and with DJI in the position it currently is — consumers would be left with the choice between DJI products that come with no official support or first-party aftercare, or frankly inferior GoPro cameras.

It's about innovation

As someone who covers this industry day in, day out, though, there's a more subtle but important issue at play here: innovation.

"Insta360’s technology is built on true innovation... True innovators compete by building better tools," Insta360 rather venomously said today in response to the ruling. "The future of this industry should be shaped by better products, not legal tactics that protect market share at the expense of consumers."

In its own press release, Nicholas Woodman, GoPro's founder and CEO retaliated, "Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at GoPro. When competitors imitate instead of innovate, we have no choice but to take action to ensure creators everywhere benefit from products built on original ideas, not imitation."

In my opinion, Insta360 is right here. In reality, GoPro hasn't been a major innovator in this industry for years, even when it comes to its core Hero action cameras. It's been happy to sit back and modestly update the same formula for release after release, resting on its laurels and reputation as the first ever action camera brand (indeed, many people wrongly use "GoPro" as a synonym for "action camera").

Meanwhile, DJI and Insta360 have pushed the market forward. The latest DJI Osmo Action 6 is better than GoPro's Hero13 Black in virtually every way: resolution; battery life; sensor size and low light performance; connectivity; waterproofing; you name it.

Insta360, on the other hand, is constantly leading the market with its 360 cameras, giving us exciting new products and leaving both GoPro and DJI playing eternal catch up.

If Insta360 had lost this legal battle, the innovation it brings to the U.S. market may have vanished. In conjunction with DJI's current U.S. woes, that would stall progression in the industry, stopping exciting new products reaching consumers — that's you!

More from Tom's Guide

• DJI’s first 360 drone might be landing soon according to new pricing and design leaks — here’s what we know so far
• Sony WF-1000XM6 vs Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro: Which flagship earbuds are better?
• Is the Galaxy S26 Edge dead? Samsung exec says 'we're assessing the right time for a follow-up'

The GoPro LIT Hero is a modest update to 2024’s GoPro Hero — the smallest member of the legendary action camera manufacturer’s current lineup. The original Hero was a likeable little camera. It packed 4K/30fps video and strong battery life into a very compact (not to mention cheap) package.

I awarded the original Hero 3.5 stars. That effectively means “good, but not recommended outright,” and it didn’t make our roundup of the best action cameras. Other tiny action cameras like the Insta360 Go 3S and DJI Osmo Nano did things better, with more intuitive controls and 4K/60fps.

As I mentioned above, the LIT Hero is only a small update to the original formula. The new model, as its name suggests, features a built-in light, and has received a resolution boost to 4K/60fps. So is that enough for this to be considered among the best action cameras? Find out more in my full GoPro LIT Hero review.

GoPro LIT Hero review: Specs

GoPro LIT Hero review: Price & availability

The GoPro LIT Hero costs $269 / £239 at Amazon — a huge price jump from the original Hero, which launched at $199 / £199. At the time of writing, you can find an original Hero for well under the $199 MSRP, though.

GoPro’s justification for the hike is doubtless that the new camera has 4K/60fps (up from 4K/30fps in the OG) and a built-in light. More features cost more money, so a price jump is fair. But $70 feels a little steep. One of the things that I really loved about the original Hero was how affordable it was — it made it a likeable camera despite the flaws. I can’t say the same about the LIT.

Nevertheless, the LIT Hero is still cheaper than all of its competitors’ tiny cameras. The Insta360 Go 3S costs a whopping $379, but is a better product in almost every way. The DJI Osmo Nano costs $299 and also offers many more features, but isn’t officially supported in the U.S. by DJI itself (which should only be a problem if the camera breaks) due to the manufacturer's ongoing feud with the U.S. government.

GoPro LIT Hero review: Design

The GoPro LIT Hero looks exactly the same as the original Hero, except for the frontal LED light, which I’ll cover in the low-light video section below (spoiler: it’s bright). It features the same overarching design, with the vertical stripes, and, like any GoPro, is built extremely well. Sure it costs too much, but at least it doesn’t feel cheap.

At 2.2 x 1.9 x 1.1 inches, it’s almost exactly the same size as its predecessor. That makes it one of the easiest action cameras to mount. I’ve had no issues putting it anywhere, from handlebars to helmet chin or backpack strap mounts. In fact, at only 3.2 ounces, it’s an ideal choice for mounting to helmets as it doesn’t weigh them down.

Both rivals — the Osmo Nano and Go 3S — have modular thumb cameras which need to be removed from pods to be considered truly tiny. That limits battery life, as their pods host larger batteries. By contrast, the LIT Hero is an entirely small package, so it doesn’t force you to sacrifice the main battery for increased mountability.

Mounting

On the topic of mounting, the LIT Hero features a magnetic latch for quick release mounts, plus GoPro’s usual built-in fingers and 1/4-inch thread, which I love — it means you can mount the LIT to pretty much any third part accessory without needing a proprietary quick release adapter (as you will with the Osmo Nano and Go 3S).

Waterproofing & ruggedness

The LIT Hero is fairly rugged. I’ve dropped it a few times and it barely has a scratch on it. You can also replace the lens cover if it gets damaged enough to affect image quality. Like the OG Hero, the LIT is waterproof only down to 16 feet / 5 meters, so this isn’t one to take diving. The Osmo Nano and Go 3S are both waterproof to 33 feet / 10 meters, but only their cameras (the screen pods are each only IPX4-rated / splashproof), so you’ll be sacrificing battery life and controls for the extra depth.

If you want a camera to take in water, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and Osmo Action 6 have the rest of the market beat, with waterproofing down to 65 feet / 20 meters — no external dive case required.

Connectivity

The LIT Hero features a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, a microSD slot for storage, and wireless connectivity for pairing to the GoPro Quik app. The latter is essential, as it’s where stabilization is applied to video. But the app is also where you’ll update the camera, access better camera controls, and edit files — all very important, too.

Nothing really out of the ordinary here, although it’s worth mentioning that the Osmo Nano has internal storage and a microSD slot, making it the most versatile option for file management. The Go 3S has only internal storage, and you’ll have to step up to the much pricier Insta360 Go Ultra ($449) for a microSD slot (but no internal storage).

The LIT Hero can’t connect to external microphones, but I’ll discuss this later in the audio section.

GoPro LIT Hero review: Display & controls

The GoPro LIT Hero features the same 1.76-inch LCD touchscreen as its predecessor. It’s fairly low-res and too small to be of much practical use, particularly when wearing gloves. This makes navigating the camera a frustrating experience, especially versus the slick, wide screen of the Osmo Nano and the huge flip-up vlogging screen of the Go 3S. Unfortunately, all of the camera control is done via the screen, making this a pretty big issue.

While we’re on flip-up screens: the Go 3S’ is perfect for vlogging, allowing you to see yourself while you shoot. The Osmo Nano’s screen pod also works in either forward or backward orientation (in relation to the lens), so it can also be used for vlogging. The LIT Hero has no facility for shooting to camera without using the Quik app — not ideal, as you don’t want to be looking at your smartphone while shooting to camera. If you’re vlogging to camera, the LIT isn’t for you.

Like the OG Hero, the LIT’s menu system is exceptionally amateur-feeling in comparison to rivals, and offers very little meaningful control of the camera — selectable resolutions are very limited, there are only four modes, and you have virtually no control over camera settings within those modes. GoPro was clearly going for a stripped-back feel but went too far — the lack of control just makes the LIT Hero feel cumbersome and limiting. I just don’t get how GoPro has made something so small and simple feel so unwieldy. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

GoPro LIT Hero review: Stabilization

The GoPro LIT Hero doesn’t feature in-camera stabilization. Instead, footage is smoothed out in the GoPro Quik app when transferred to your smartphone. Alternatively, you can offload unstabilized files from the SD and stabilize the footage in video editing software (many apps have a stabilization feature).

It’s a pain to constantly route footage via your smartphone, especially as 4K/60fps footage is all broken down into 5-6-minute clips. However, I rarely just upload untrimmed or unedited footage anyway, so it’d always be going through the app and getting stabilized.

You’ll have no issues with the app’s stabilization, either. It’s very good. As you can see in the motorcycle footage above, the app has smoothed out any jumpiness while maintaining the lean angles on the bike.

It’s also ideal for walking or slower paced footage, which is the kind of thing the camera is primarily designed for. As you can see in the walking video above, the Quik app did a great job at mostly smoothing out my footsteps, so it feels natural but not jumpy.

GoPro LIT Hero review: Video performance

Just like the OG Hero, you mustn’t expect any bells and whistles with the GoPro LIT Hero — a fact that kinda stings given the $70 increase. There are only four modes (three video, one photo), and you can’t change resolution or frame rate in any but one of the video modes. Sure, you can change the export resolution in the Quik app, but what if you want to shoot smaller 2.7K files in camera for quicker handling in the app? You can’t.

The LIT features the same 1/2.8-inch sensor as the OG model, and the resulting 4K image looks okay, with plenty of detail and respectable sharpness in the center. But sharpness drops off at the edges due to distortion from the ultra-wide lens (which is common with action cameras).

Even after corrections in the Quik app, there’s also noticeable vignetting in image corners, which looks rather ugly, clashing with the brighter center of the image. When viewing footage as you shoot, you’ll notice the lens guard intrudes into the image corners of uncorrected files, too. The intrusions disappear when the camera crops footage to stabilize it, but regardless, these aren’t the finest optics ever fitted to an action camera.

The camera only records on auto white balance and auto exposure — there’s no manual control — and it did a respectable job on the bright sunny day in the footage above. Colors look natural and faithful to the cold, sunny day, while the exposure is adequately balanced, even during the shift in lighting at around 12 seconds in.

60fps is obviously a very welcome update from the OG Hero’s 30fps cap, allowing for smoother action footage. There are three modes to choose from: Video, which shoots 1080P/30fps or 4K/30fps; 4:3 Video, which shoots 4K/30fps only; and Sport POV, which shoots in 4K/60fps only. I’ve no idea what makes this view particularly “sporty” — it’s just a 16:9 crop into the 4:3 image, shot at a 165-degree field of view.

Other than that, there isn’t much to talk about video-wise. It’s basic and it’s passable. If I were to score the Lit Hero’s video, it’d get a C+. I’d rather shoot on the LIT than on budget cameras like the Akaso Brave 8 ($289) or Akaso Brave 8 Lite ($199), although mainly for the audio and app, not for the video — its 4K isn’t really much better than that of budget brands, which is a poor showing given this is a $269 GoPro.

Low light

But of course, the LIT Hero has a trump card: it’s LIT. There’s a frontal LED with three brightness settings, and boy is it bright. You’ll have no problem lighting scenes, as long as you’re not trying to film a wide open space. The built-in LED will also save you buying an external light accessory, so it’s definitely handy to have.

That’s not to say the light is… pleasant. It’ll brighten the image, but it’s a frontal light, so it flattens any subject in front of it. Think about how photos look when shot using a frontal camera flash — subjects’ faces look flat and washed out, with eyes like startled deer. The LIT’s light makes footage look like something out of the Blair Witch Project, which is admittedly kinda fun. It’ll also blind anyone in front of the camera, so it won’t be much use for vlogging.

Without the LED, you can eke out a little bit of low light performance by dropping the frame rate from 60fps to 30fps, which exposes the image more. Still, low light footage looks as lumpy as I’d expect from a 1/2.8-inch sensor, although less noisy in the shadows than I’d anticipated. For low light, though, I’d still recommend a camera with a bigger sensor, like the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro ($349) or DJI Osmo Action 6 ($369).

GoPro LIT Hero review: Audio performance

The GoPro LIT Hero’s internal audio surprised me… for the better. Motorcycling footage is an extremely tough challenge for microphones, with lots of wind buffeting. Many action cameras feature wind reduction noise cancellation modes to help with this. Unsurprisingly, the LIT Hero features no such modes, but its dual mics do alright on their own!

In the footage above, shot with the camera on the front of a motorcycle with no wind guard or fairings in front of it, wind buffeting is present but not awful, and you can hear the sound of the engine fairly clearly. I’ve certainly heard a lot worse — the Akaso Brave 8 and Brave 8 Lite, to be specific.

In slower-paced situations, like vlogging, the mic will have absolutely no issues, as you can hear in the low light footage above, where I’m talking to the camera.

Unfortunately, like the OG Hero, the LIT doesn’t support external microphones. If you use a mic, you’ll need to record audio separately and then sync up in post. With no timecode on the LIT, that won’t be as easy as with professional cameras like the Hero13 Black.

GoPro LIT Hero review: App

The GoPro Quik app is vital to the operation of the GoPro LIT Hero, at least if you don’t have access to or knowledge of video editing software. This is because the app is where stabilization is applied to video, so without it your footage will be a shaky mess. As I alluded to above, you can of course stabilize footage in third party video editing applications, if you know how.

Thankfully, GoPro’s app is really good. It’s easy to use, offers lots of control and editing features, and is as slick as you’d expect a companion app from a major manufacturer to be.

The app is by far the easiest way to control the LIT Hero, given the small/unresponsive screen and limited in-camera menu. Hooking up to the app is quick (or should I say, Quik) and easy, giving me no headaches in testing.

The app is also where you can quickly edit footage once offloaded from the camera, and there are some basic editing tools for pulling your videos into usable shape to then upload to social media. Quik is on par with the DJI Mimo app, although the Insta360 app offers more bells and whistles in the features and editing departments, and is the gold-standard for straight-to-social action camera footage.

GoPro LIT Hero review: Battery life & overheating

Battery life was one of the OG Hero’s strongest points, and it’s the same story with the GoPro LIT Hero. In my standardized indoor battery tests, I shoot in 4K at either 30fps or 60fps (if the camera supports it) until the battery dies. This also tests overheating, as I run the test indoors.

The OG Hero achieved 103 minutes at 4K/30fps, which was really impressive given the relatively small battery. Amazingly, using the same 1,255mAh battery, the LIT achieved exactly the same figure at 4K/60fps — very impressive given the higher frame rate, and not something I was expecting. That’s longer than the GoPro Hero13 Black ($399) at 4K/60fps, when I put that through the same test. I tested the LIT without its LED on, so you can expect the battery to deplete quicker when using that.

Annoyingly, the battery is fixed in situ, so there's no way of swapping out batteries. That means when it dies, you have downtime.

Just like the OG Hero, the LIT also manages thermals very well and didn’t overheat once, recording continuously for 103 minutes. That’s better than our top-rated action camera, the much pricier DJI Osmo Action 6.

GoPro LIT Hero review: Verdict

There’s no doubt the GoPro LIT Hero is an improvement over its predecessor. It upgrades 4K recording from 30 to 60 fps and adds an LED, while maintaining the original model’s excellent battery life (even at 60fps) and versatility.

Still, make no mistake, this is a no frills camera, but at a very frilly price this time around. One of the redeeming features of the Hero was its price, and unfortunately, I don’t believe the LIT justifies such a steep increase. You can buy an older professional action camera like the DJI Osmo Action 4 for around the same money (at the time of writing), and the fantastic Osmo Action 5 Pro drops within the same ballpark at sales events. $269 makes no sense, and feels like GoPro is charging purely for its name.

Nevertheless, this is a good little action camera. Our 3.5-star rating means a product is decent, but we wouldn’t recommend it outright (that’s why our 4-star rating comes with a ‘TG Recommended’ badge). The LIT is a very handy little action camera, but if it does fit your bill, just make sure to buy it on sale.

A series of leaks discovered by NewCamera has revealed a metric ton of information about a new version of DJI's popular mini vlogging camera, the Osmo Pocket 4.

The current DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is an excellent little camera, and save a couple of small flaws, would have received a full 5 stars in our review. NewCamera's leaks appear to show significant improvements over the three-year-old device.

They spotted a video on Instagram that was allegedly filmed inside a DJI-authorized store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That video has since been deleted, but was saved and can be seen here:

At first glance, the purported Osmo Pocket 4 looks very similar to the Pocket 3. However, we can see what appears to be a zoom button and a Nintendo Switch 2-esque "C" button above the record button and thumbstick.

The gimbal appears to be longer and has a new grip. The biggest change looks to be a built-in LED light on top of the camera, which looks like it'll be perfect for shooting in low light or at night.

Additionally, the person in the video appears to be shooting in "Super Photo" mode at 33MP.

Osmo Pocket 4 Specs

There are some specs for the Pocket 4, and largely it appears to be very similar to the Pocket 3 with some upgrades, and a potential leap in price.

Some minor updates include a brighter, rotatable OLED display, a larger battery, the LED light (which may be optional) and potentially 6K recording at 30 fps.

It's possible the camera and the LED light will be more expensive than the Pocket 3 thanks to component price increases and President Trump's tariffs.

However, as of this writing, the U.S. Supreme Court just struck down Trump's tariffs in a major ruling. However, it will take some time to unwind the taxes, and the ruling left open the door for the administration to pursue other avenues to impose import levies. Additionally, as the New York Times reports, the president is steadfast in his belief that he can just impose tariffs as is his wont.

Asked directly if he planned to work with Congress to impose the kinds of sweeping tariffs he prefers, Trump said he had no intention of doing so. “I don’t have to,” he said. “I have the right to do tariffs.”'

With that in mind, pricing for the Pocket 4 is up in the air and could change drastically between now and launch.

Will it release in the US?

In December 2025, DJI drones were officially banned from sale in the United States. It not only hit drones but also any drone that used foreign-made parts, including batteries, imaging sensors and batteries.

Pocket 4 isn't a drone, but it might get more scrutiny from the FCC. However, the ban only affects newer devices that didn't receive approval before December. The Pocket 4 has popped up in FCC regulatory listings, suggesting that it may have squeaked in before that deadline.

Still, the FCC has relaxed a little with its NSD FCC Covered List Waiver 0126 that could allow foreign-made drones and components to be sold in the US after "rigorous cyber and hardware assessments."

Meanwhile, you can still purchase older DJI products that were approved pre-ban.

More from Tom's Guide

• The rumored DJI Avata 360’s price has been leaked online — and it might be surprisingly affordable compared to Insta360’s Antigravity A1
• Sorry GoPro, the DJI Osmo Action 6 just won the action camera war
• I’ve been testing the DJI Neo 2 and it improves on its predecessor in every way — this is the best budget drone you can buy

When it made the DJI Osmo Action 6, Chinese tech giant DJI was presumably faced with somewhat of a tricky challenge: how to improve on the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro (OA5 Pro), already the best action camera on the market.

Doing too much with the Osmo Action 6 (OA6) risked spoiling the formula. So DJI could’ve just pulled a GoPro: tweak the core performance very slightly (if at all), add an interchangeable lens mount, and voilà.

But DJI went at least a bit further. Following on the Hero13 Black’s coat-tails, the OA6 has indeed been given an interchangeable lens mount. And while the OA6’s headline figures are much the same as the older model’s, there’s also a major upgrade under the hood: the Osmo Action line has finally pushed beyond 4K, with a shiny new 8K/30p maximum resolution.

Otherwise, things are little-changed: 65-foot waterproofing; beautiful build quality; OLED displays front and back; plus 50GB internal storage. Is that a bad thing? Nope. The OA5 Pro wasn’t broken, so there was no way in hell it needed fixing.

For the complete breakdown, read my full DJI Osmo Action 6 review.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Specs

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Price & availability

The DJI Osmo Action 6 starts at $369 / £319 for the Essential Combo, which gives you just the camera and a battery. The Standard Combo costs $379 / £329 and is the one I’d recommend for newcomers, as it bundles a spare battery and basic accessories. At an extra $10 / £10, it’s a no brainer.

Once again, DJI’s pricing is extremely competitive, undercutting the GoPro Hero13 Black’s $399 launch price (although the price has since risen to $429 at Amazon, as I write this in early 2026).

$369 is only a $20 increase over the OA5 Pro’s $349 launch price, so not a major hike. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the OA6’s launch price is actually £10 cheaper than the OA5 Pro, which cost £329 at launch — very welcome, as it’s rare to see a price drop these days.

Availability

With DJI these days, though, it isn’t the price that’s the problem — it’s the availability. In the U.S. anyway. In case you missed it, DJI is feuding with the U.S. government over drones and was already pretty annoyed about tariffs. Until further notice, the company has pulled official support from the U.S. market.

That means you can’t buy the OA6 directly from DJI, although it’s available from third party retailers like Amazon. Importantly, it means there’s no official aftercare and you can’t buy a DJI care plan. In the U.S. (but nowhere else), if your device breaks, DJI ain’t gonna fix it.

It’s a risk you’ll have to weigh up. I’ve owned many DJI products and, aside from some pre-production samples (which we expect to be imperfect), not one has broken.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Design

Measuring 2.86 x 1.85 x 1.3 inches and weighing 5.2 ounces, the DJI Osmo Action 6 is slightly larger than the OA5 Pro (2.77 x 1.74 x 1.29 inches, 5.15 ounces), and now only a fraction smaller than the Hero13 Black (2.8 x 2 x 1.32 inches, 5.4 ounces). There’s not a lot in it though, so none will be markedly more mountable than the others.

I usually prefer the squatter design of the Osmo Action line versus the GoPro Hero13 Black — when helmet chin mounting, the lower height gives you more room to angle the camera upwards and also prevents it intruding into my field of view. Unfortunately, though, the OA6 is almost the same height as the Hero13 Black.

Still, I had no major problem mounting the OA6 on my chin mount, and it didn’t weigh my helmet down either. The OA6 was also able to fit into a tight gap on my handlebars, where larger 360 cameras like the GoPro MAX2 ($499) can't fit.

Build quality is phenomenal. The exterior is finished in a rugged metal, which feels great. All the buttons click nicely with decent positive feedback (important when wearing gloves) and the hatches click firmly shut. The screens are also beautiful, but I’ll get onto those a little later.

A new design feature is, of course, the interchangeable lens mount. But I’ll cover that more in the video section below.

Weatherproofing

Waterproofing has stayed the same as the OA5 Pro at 65 feet / 20 meters without any case needed. This was already class-leading, so DJI didn’t need to build on it. The Hero13 Black offers only 33 feet / 10 meters while the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 ($399) manages 39 feet / 12 meters. If you’re a snorkeler or diver, the Osmo Action line is still the one for you.

DJI seems very proud of the OA6’s cold temperature performance, marketing the camera with images of it smashing through ice and being used while skiing. In reality, the -20°C minimum operating temperature is the same as the OA5 Pro, because they use the same battery. Again, this is still best in class, as the GoPro Enduro battery is only rated down to -10°C.

Mounting

Like all its competitors, the Osmo Action 6 features magnetic mounting. It utilizes the same quick release mount found on all recent DJI cameras. I’ve used the exact same quick release adapter on my DJI Osmo 360 ($549), DJI Osmo Nano ($299), OA5 and now the OA6.

This is awesome if you already own DJI gear, saving you money on accessories. And it’s a solid reason to buy the cheaper Essential Combo if you already own an OA5 Pro or DJI Osmo 360 — they all use the same mounts and batteries.

Sadly, there are still no GoPro-style built-in fingers, so you need to use an adapter for finger-mount accessories.

Connectivity

The Osmo Action 6 hooks up to your smartphone wirelessly via the DJI Mimo App for camera control, updating and basic editing.

There’s a USB-C port for wired hookup of accessories or a microphone (but you’ll need DJI’s USB-C to 3.5mm audio adapter). The USB-C port has its own hatch, so no exposing the battery when using accessories (seriously, GoPro, why is that still a thing?).

The Osmo Action 6 features a MicroSD slot that accepts up to 1TB cards, but there’s also 50GB of internal storage — up from the OA5 Pro’s 47GB. This is so useful. I ran out of space on a 64GB card during testing and was able to switch to internal and keep shooting.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Controls

The Osmo Action 6’s on-board controls are minimal, which is normal for action cameras. One record and one power button, and that’s it. But they work, and that’s not something to take lightly…

See, every GoPro I’ve owned has decided on its own terms when to turn on — sometimes the power button works, sometimes it doesn’t; sometimes the button needs a long press, sometimes a short press. And that’s without adding thick gloves into the equation. It’s infuriating. By contrast, DJI’s buttons just work, always, gloves or not.

Most camera control is done via screens. The OA6 features the same 2.5-inch rear and 1.4-inch front OLED displays, and they’re beautiful. The rear in particular is bright and wide, with plenty of space to navigate menus, and is highly responsive. In comparison, remove “wide,” “plenty of space to navigate menus” and “highly responsive”... and you have yourself a GoPro screen.

DJI’s menu system is also excellent. It’s intuitively laid out, allowing quick navigation around the camera, and offers a high level of in-depth control. It’s miles ahead of the dated GoPro menu.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Stabilization

The Osmo Action 6 features the same RockSteady 3.0 stabilization system as its predecessor, which is great. There’s a new, larger sensor, which should give the OA6 more space to crop into frame and better stabilize footage. Honestly, though, I can’t tell the difference between the OA5 Pro and OA6 stabilization. In fact, stabilization is so good on all flagships these days, including the Hero13 Black and Insta360 Ace Pro 2, that you’ll get beautifully stable footage from any of them.

As you can see in the video above, the OA6 weathered the bumpy ground supremely and footage stayed very smooth. And in the higher octane clip below, again, it’s a super smooth performance.

The Osmo Action 6 also features a HorizonSteady mode for keeping the horizon level in footage that leans heavily — motorcycling or skiing, for instance — I personally like showing lean angles, but it’s nice to have a horizon level mode there if you want it.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Focusing

Making a return is DJI’s subject tracking mode. Place a subject within the central tracking box and the camera will detect and lock onto it reliably and tenaciously. It only works with humans but it’s still extremely useful for ensuring fast-moving subjects stay in focus. Importantly, this mode is limited to 2.7K resolution.

There’s also Portrait mode, which tracks faces in frame but is intended more for vlogging, with adjustments to soften skin tones. This mode is limited to 4K/30fps.

A major upgrade in the focusing realm comes with the new macro lens accessory. With this lens fitted, you can manually shift the minimum focusing distance to focus on close up subjects in the foreground. It’s really cool and gives you more control than previous OA cameras.

The OA6 sports a variable aperture system. You can choose between fixed focus at f/2 or f/4, which is especially handy for fixing your focal plane for a wider depth of field when using the macro lens.

With the standard lens fitted, you can also shift the automatic variable aperture at the wide end from f/2-f/4 to f/2.8-f/4, in increments of 0.2 (so f/2, f/2.2, f/2.4, f/2.6, f/2.8). All of these ranges end at f/4 on the narrow end.

Truthfully, I haven’t had much use for the different variable aperture bands. The difference between f/2 and f/2.8 is pretty difficult to discern in most action camera footage, where footage is moving fast, FoVs are very wide and subjects are often at infinity, so I prefer to keep it at f/2-f/4 to give myself the best low-light performance if needed. But hey, if you need the camera to operate at maximum f/2.8 to get that slightly deeper focal plane versus f/2, you can.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Video performance

One of the major upgrades the OA6 sports over the rest of the lineup is 8K/30fps shooting, possible thanks to a new 1/1.1-inch sensor (up from the 1/1.3-inch sensor in the OA5 Pro). Beware: manufacturers love to bandy about +4K maximum resolutions, but for many people, they’re of little use given YouTube still tops out at 4K.

However, any +4K resolution is beneficial for a couple of reasons. More res gives you room to crop into frame and maintain at least 4K resolution, for extra flexibility with framing. It also allows you to export oversampled 4K footage for super sharp results. Both will be of use to those who edit their footage, especially pros.

The Hero13 Black tops out at 5.7K/30fps, and the Ace Pro 2 also tops out at 8K/30fps. The OA5 Pro, meanwhile, was capped at 4K/60fps. Annoyingly, on the OA6, there’s no selectable resolution between 4K/60fps and 8K/30fps. So, you can’t shoot 6K/60fps, for example, if you wanted to strike a balance between higher resolution and a faster frame rate.

4K can be shot at up to 120fps for high-res slow motion footage (240fps is also available at 1080p). 4K footage looks excellent — lovely and sharp. Colors are natural-feeling, although there are now some color filters to apply grades to footage in camera, something DJI has been way behind on. There are 6 to choose from, including vibrant profiles, a skin tone profile, and a few cinematic/nostalgic profiles, too. As with other DJI cameras there’s D-Log M for wide dynamic range capture to preserve highlights in challenging lighting — primarily useful for pros editing in post.

Obviously, there are the new lenses. GoPro introduced a similar interchangeable lens mount on the Hero12 Black and Hero13 Black. DJI needed to catch up. I tested the Ultra Wide and Macro lenses, and they’re a lot of fun. The Ultra Wide in particular looks gorgeous, allowing you to capture huge panoramic footage. You can see it in action above, and for comparison the Ultra Wide setting on the standard lens below.

The Macro lens is also a lot of fun, allowing you to get creative with close-up scenes. There’s no anamorphic lens, as on the rival GoPro, but I’m hoping to see the lineup expand that way soon. Nevertheless, interchangeable lenses put more creativity in video shooters’ hands, so I’m a fan.

Low light

Low-light performance is fairly respectable. A 1/1.1-inch sensor won’t ever blow the world away with ultra clean low light footage, but as action cameras go, the OA6 does a decent job. You’ll want to use SuperNight mode, which is now available in up to 4K/60fps (night modes are often locked to 30fps, as on the Osmo Action 5 Pro), which demonstrates DJI’s faith in the sensor.

The videos in this section show examples of nighttime footage shot at 4K/30fps and 4K/60fps. I think it looks pretty good. The footage doesn’t quite do justice to how dark it was while filming because the camera has brightened up the sky significantly at both 30fps and 60fps.

4K/30fps isn’t the cleanest, with noise affecting image sharpness, but it isn’t ruinous and you can still see what’s going on. At 60fps, sharpness has suffered quite a bit, as the camera has bumped ISO as much as it could to brighten things up, so that’s to be expected.

The camera's inner lens likes to flare a fair bit with bright light sources, which is particularly noticeable at night. It's only really intrusive with super bright lights, which isn't uncommon, and I’m actually a fan of the sunstar flares from medium-bright light sources.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Audio performance

The DJI Osmo Action 6’s internal audio quality is very strong. As you can hear in the motorcycle footage above, shot on the camera’s ‘high’ wind reduction, there’s some but not too much wind buffeting and the bike engine still sounds clear. With wind reduction on ‘normal’ in the clip below, it’s still not too bad. In windless scenarios, though, turning off the reduction will give you the best quality audio.

As with all DJI cameras nowadays, you can hook up DJI mics wirelessly via OsmoAudio. This uses Bluetooth, which compresses and degrades audio quality severely, so it’s fine for vlogging and lower-octane pursuits. For any footage where wind or very loud noises are going to occur, you can connect a wired mic using DJI’s USB-C to 3.5mm audio adapter.

Happily, the Osmo Action 6 also records with timecode, so you can also just record audio separately and sync up via timecode in post.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: App

The Osmo Action 6 pairs with the DJI Mimo app, of which I’m a big fan. It’s come on leaps and bounds since the Osmo Action 4, and now offers comprehensive control over the camera in real time as you shoot.

It also lets you update the camera and gives you some basic tools to edit your footage — although Insta360’s app, with its straight-to-social approach, offers a wider array of editing features (including some rather gimmicky ones).

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Battery life & overheating

The Osmo Action 6 uses the same 1,950mAh battery as the OA5 Pro and Osmo 360, which I’m very pleased about. Firstly, I own about 15 of the things, and secondly, it’s a solid power cell. DJI claims up to 240 minutes, although that figure isn’t particularly helpful given it’s based on 1080p recording.

In my standardized indoor stress testing at 4K/60fps, with the screen set to auto-shut off after a minute, the Osmo Action 6 lasted 120 minutes in total. It overheated after 62 minutes and then again after 40 minutes, which is a fair amount of time.

In the same test, the OA5 Pro lasted 112 minutes in total and overheated after 43 minutes. The Hero13 Black lasted 80 minutes in total, overheating after 54. The Ace Pro 2 lasted 76 minutes without overheating. Remember, though, mine was a stress test, so overheating isn’t something you’ll have to worry about outside and/or while moving.

At its maximum 8K/30fps resolution and frame rate, the OA6 overheated after 65 minutes and lasted for 93 minutes, which is longer than anything from GoPro or Insta360 shooting at 4K — go figure.

DJI Osmo Action 6 review: Verdict

As I said at the outset, the DJI Osmo Action 6 was building on an already excellent formula. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro was a fantastic camera, which held the top spot on our best action cameras guide since not long after its launch. The Osmo Action 6 is a worthy successor, maintaining everything that I loved about its predecessor, but building on it in important ways.

Core video performance, stabilization and internal audio are fantastic; battery life and waterproofing are best in class. And now there are some fun features for creators to experiment with, namely color filters and the interchangeable lenses. Pros, meanwhile, will relish the addition of higher than 4K res.

The DJI Osmo Action 6 is the ultimate all rounder. Whether you’re a pro, a content creator or just a casual shooter, there really isn’t a better action camera out there.

I used to love testing the best action cameras — it gave me an excuse to get outside, whether that was skiing, biking, or some sort of activity out in nature. Once, I even mounted five action cameras to my head at once and went skiing to see which was the best.

However, after a weekend skiing and sledding with the Oakley Meta Vanguard, I might start using the smart glasses exclusively to record my outdoor activities. That being said, I still have some reservations about what they can and can't do.

Here's four reasons why I liked using the Oakley Vanguards — and why they're some of the best smart glasses — and two ways they still fall short against the likes of GoPro.

Four things I liked

It's one less piece of gear I need to bring

Remember when I said I once wore five action cams at once? Here's what it looked like. Now, I don't recommend anyone do this themselves, but even one camera adds some bulk.

By combining sunglasses and a camera, I no longer have to bring a pair of goggles as well as an action camera. While GoPros aren't exactly large, I like that it's one less thing I have to think about. And, because the camera isn't protruding at the top of my helmet, I don't have to worry about knocking it against low-hanging objects.

Still, if you like to go fast and it's very cold out, you may prefer the added insulation of goggles. When I took the Vanguards skiing on a 25º F day and sped down the mountain, my forehead started to get numb.

It's easier to stop and start recording

The best GoPros have voice commands to let you start and stop recording video, but I've rarely used the feature when skiing because when I'm wearing a helmet, I can't always hear when my GoPro has started. Instead, I usually just reach up with my bare hand (not ideal in Vermont in February) to start and stop recording.

I can also use voice commands to start and stop recording on the Vanguards, but because their speakers are right next to my ears — and a small light in the upper right gives me a visual cue — I know when they're recording.

One feature I particularly like is that the glasses will automatically cut out the end part of the video where I say "Hey Meta, stop recording."

It made an awesome highlight video

Here's a neat trick. When it's paired with one of the best Garmin watches, the Vanguards can create a highlight video of your activity, replete with an overlay of your stats from your Garmin watch.

At first, I wasn't sure if it would work for skiing — even though I connected everything properly, when I started my skiing activity on my Garmin Fenix, the Vanguards warned me that auto capture was only available for supported activities like running. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the glasses did put together a neat little highlight reel of my day.

You can use them for more than just taking videos

Back in the day, I had a pair of Oakley Recon One smart goggles, which were awesome: They had a small display which not only tracked your runs, but also showed you in real time your speed, as well as the time. And, you could also use them to control your music and read notifications.

The Vanguards to a lot of that, too. While they can't tell you your speed, it was super helpful to simply ask Meta the time, so I knew if I could squeeze one more run in before having to pick up my kid from ski school.

The glasses' open-ear speakers are also ideal for those who like to listen to music; I've never understood how some skiers and boarders could wear earbuds, and completely block out everything around them. It's a bit dangerous considering all of the other people on the mountain. However, the open-ear design of the Vanguards means that you can still hear what's going on around you,

Two things I didn't like about the Oakley Meta Vanguard

Clips are limited in length

You can record longer clips on the Vanguards than you can on Meta's other smart glasses — up to 5 minutes in length, which is a good amount of time. And, if you want to record using the Vanguards' 3K setting, you're limited to just three minutes.

By comparison, if you're using a dedicated action camera, your clip length can be measured in hours, rather than minutes. It's not so much an issue with East Coast ski resorts, but you're on a longer ski run out west or wherever mountains are much taller, you may find that the recording will cut off partway through.

You can't change the aspect ratio — and you have to watch what you wear

The Vanguard's portrait-oriented camera is great for the TikTok generation and sharing on social media, but it can't capture sweeping vistas the same way an action camera's landscape view can. As a result, the videos I took were far less immersive. Is that a problem if you're merely adding it to your Insta reel? Probably not, but it doesn't feel as epic.

One other issue I ran into: My ski helmet has a small visor in the front which blocked about an eighth of the Vanguard's view. As a result, all of my videos and photos while skiing had a grayish-black bar at the top, which marred all of the footage I took. You can see it in the clips above.

Bottom line

If you're into casually taking videos and photos while out and about, the Oakley Meta Vanguards are great. Not only do they record quality clips, but they're also handy for other things, too — even if it's as simple as knowing the time. It also let me keep my phone in my pocket, and spared my fingers from frostbite every time I wanted to snap a photo.

That said, a GoPro is going to offer you far more in terms of video quality and versatility, so if you're looking to capture some epic turns, then it's the way to go. But if your needs aren't as demanding (and you're willing to plunk drop $500) then the Vanguards are pretty fun.

More from Tom's Guide

• I just tried the Meta Ray-Ban Display — and it feels like the future
• 7 settings to change first on your Ray Ban Meta glasses
• I just tried Ray-Ban Meta's latest AI updates

With only two days to go until the big day itself, many Black Friday deals have already gone live, including on action cameras. I'm Pete, a senior editor here at Tom's Guide, responsible for all our cameras coverage. I track prices of the best action cameras and best 360 cameras throughout the year.

Black Friday is usually the best time of the year to pick up a new action camera, and this year is no exception. I'm seeing all three major brands slashing prices, with an especially concerted effort from GoPro this year — it has cut prices on virtually its entire range, including the very latest GoPro MAX2, launched only a few weeks back, now $100 off at GoPro with a 12M GoPro Premium subscription included.

My favorite deal, though, is still the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Essential Combo, currently just $259 at Amazon — that's the cheapest price ever for my top rated action camera.

I review every single action camera from the major manufacturers, so each entry on this list has been past me personally. Some I'm currently testing right now, and I even own (or have owned) most of them!

I'll be tracking all the prices throughout the sales event. I've included my analysis for each entry to help you decide whether to buy right away, or keep an eye to see if prices drop further as we get reach Friday itself.

Quick links

• Check out Amazon's Black Friday deals now!
• GoPro Hero (2024): was $219 now $179 @ Amazon
• GoPro LIT Hero (+12M GoPro Sub): was $269 now $229 @ GoPro
• DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Essential Combo: was $339 now $259 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X4: was $429 now $299 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero12 Black (+12M GoPro Sub): was $369 now $299 @ GoPro
• GoPro Hero13 Black (+12M GoPro Sub): was $429 now $319 @ GoPro
• GoPro Hero13 Black Extended bundle (+12M GoPro Sub): was $499 now $349 @ GoPro
• DJI Osmo 360: was $549 now $347 @ Amazon
• GoPro MAX2 (+12M GoPro Sub): was $499 now $449 @ GoPro
• Insta360 X5: was $549 now $464 @ Amazon

Black Friday GoPro deals

Black Friday DJI deals

Black Friday Insta360 deals

Black Friday action camera deals: Accessories

Black Friday U.K. action camera deals

Shop today's best Black Friday deals

• Amazon: 50% off Ring, Ninja, Under Armour and more
• REI: half-off Arc'teryx, Patagonia and more
• Walmart: holiday gifts from $15
• Dell: monitors from $69, laptops from $249
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• Best Buy: laptops from $149
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Finally, GoPro has re-entered the 360 camera game. It’s been quite a while now since the launch of the original GoPro MAX, and I was starting to think GoPro had backed out of the 360 arena completely.

Since the launch of the Insta360 X4 in 2024, the original MAX has been completely outdated, only shooting 360 footage at a mere 5.6K resolution. The X4, meanwhile, alongside its successors the Insta360 X5, Insta360 X4 and the rival DJI Osmo 360 all shoot 360 footage in 8K. That’s the resolution you realistically need if you want to reframe your 360 footage in 16:9 at 4K with a usable field of view.

Well, GoPro wasn’t done after all. The MAX2 is the storied action camera manufacturer’s answer to 8K rivals, with “true” 8K/30p (more on the “true” part later) and some very interesting features aimed squarely at hardcore video producers.

Can the GoPro compete with the best 360 cameras on the market? Find out in my full GoPro MAX2 review.

GoPro MAX2 review: Specs

GoPro MAX2 review: Price & availability

The GoPro MAX2 starts at $499 at Amazon U.S. and GoPro, while in the U.K. it starts at £449 at Amazon U.K. and GoPro. In the U.S. at least, this is the cheapest of the three current-gen flagship 8K 360 cameras (this, the X5 and the Osmo 360)

The Insta360 X5 starts at $549, although the older X4 starts at $429 and the latest X4 Air starts at $399 (although you can’t buy it yet as I write this). In the U.K., where DJI isn’t feuding with the government, the Osmo 360 costs $409 (undercutting Insta360 and GoPro) and is the best value option.

GoPro MAX2 review: Design & controls

The MAX2 looks very similar to the original MAX, and that’s no bad thing. At 2.5 x 2.7 x 1.9 inches, it’s a squat little camera, and very similar to the Osmo 360 in size. It’s a lot less cumbersome than the lanky X5. This has a big impact when mounting in certain places, like helmet chin guards, where a squat camera won’t get in your face. Thanks to its narrower footprint, I find the skinny X5 much easier to mount in busy or compact places, though, such as handlebars.

At 6.8 ounces, the MAX2 is slightly lighter than the 7-ounce X5 but slightly heavier than the 6.4-ounce Osmo 360. There’s very little in it, though, and the MAX2 is still much more cumbersome to mount on a helmet than one of the best action cameras like the compact DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro or GoPro Hero13 Black.

Mounting

The MAX2 features four mounting systems. There’s GoPro’s usual finger mounts, giving access to virtually every third-party accessory out there. There’s a built-in ⅜-inch thread for attaching directly to selfie sticks. There’s a proprietary clip-in quick-release system for rapidly switching between different accessories, and the base is magnetic for sticking to ferrous objects.

These give you a wide array of mounting options and lots of flexibility. That said, the magnet in the MAX2’s base is probably the weakest I’ve tested and won’t defy gravity, so you can’t attach it to the side of a metal pole, for instance.

Waterproofing

The MAX2 is waterproof down to 5 meters or 16 feet, which is very poor versus its rivals. The X5 and Osmo 360 are both waterproof down to 15 meters / 49 feet, while the X4 is rated down to 10 meters / 33 feet. If you want to shoot proper underwater footage, the X5 and Osmo 360 are the obvious choices. If you only plan on shooting above the waterline or just below it, the MAX2 is fine.

Lenses

360 camera lenses are susceptible to damage. Given how large and round they have to be to shoot 180 degrees each, they are hard to protect. Instead of using quality-sapping protective lens covers, manufacturers now fit replaceable lenses.

The MAX2’s lenses are by far the easiest to replace of all three flagships. The X5s need a kit. The Osmo 360’s lenses can only be replaced by sending off your unit to DJI (not possible in the U.S., where the camera isn’t officially supported). The MAX2’s lenses are effectively lens guards made of optical-quality glass. They’re screw on, screw off, so you can replace them in seconds on location.

Display

I really dislike the MAX2’s display. It’s bright and reasonably sharp, but simply far too small. That makes it very difficult to use with gloves on, and I often found myself pressing the wrong thing. The larger screens of Insta360 cameras are much, much better.

It’s also far too small for properly checking footage on-camera, as you can’t see what’s going on. Admittedly, you can’t actually adjust the field of view during playback anyway, so the camera is useless for 360 playback to begin with. If you want to check what you’ve shot, you must get out your phone and use a low-res preview. Awful.

Controls & menu

The MAX2’s controls are very simple, with only two physical buttons. Save turning it on/off and starting recording, everything is done via the touchscreen. The menu system is identical to other recent GoPro cameras, like the Hero13 Black. It’s fine, offering all the control you need over the camera, but DJI’s and Insta360’s menus are more user-friendly and offer a higher level of control.

Connectivity

The MAX2 features a MicroSD port but no internal storage, so you’re reliant only on the card slot. This is normal for GoPro and Insta360 cameras, but DJI has begun including generous internal storage on all its cameras, including the Osmo 360 — very handy if you fill or corrupt a card.

The MAX2 has a USB-C port for charging and accessory hookup, although unlike the X5, you can’t hook up wired microphones or RX units.

GoPro MAX2 review: Stabilization

It wouldn’t be a GoPro without HyperSmooth stabilization. And as always, it works extremely well. As you can see in the motorcycle footage below, the bumps and jitters of the ride have been completely ironed out, and the footage looks super smooth.

You don’t get any in-camera control over stabilization in 360-degree mode, unlike the Osmo 360 and X5, but 360 footage would always go through software for editing anyway, and you can adjust stabilization in GoPro’s Quik app.

You can control stabilization in single lens mode, where you can disable horizon lock while keeping general stabilization turned on (this can also be done for 360 footage in the app). This maintains natural tilting in video that, well, naturally tilts — like motorcycle footage. On other cameras like the X5, you can’t disable horizon lock without disabling stabilization.

GoPro MAX2 review: Video performance

The GoPro MAX2 shoots “true” 8K 360-degree footage at 24 or 30fps, or 5.6K 360 footage at up to 60fps. There’s also a 4K/90fps 360 mode for slow motion. Depending on what field of view (FoV) you want your final footage to be, 8K means up to 4K resolution when reframing to 16:9 for YouTube or 9:16 for shorts/reels. That’s the same as the X5 and Osmo 360.

But what is “true” 8K? On an 8K 360 camera, two sensors with a combined resolution of 8K each record with a 180-degree FoV. These are “stitched” together in-camera to form a 360-degree FoV. After stitching, the Insta360 X5 and Osmo 360 output 360-degree files that are a lower resolution than 8K. That’s because some pixels are lost where the images overlap and are stitched — this is made up for by upscaling the final image back up to 8K. The MAX2 shoots higher than 8K actual resolution, and the resulting file after stitching is therefore full (“true”) 8K with no upscaling.

The difference is negligible to the naked eye, but the extra resolution gives you, well, more resolution to play with. And that’s never a bad thing. Remember, when you reframe to 16:9 you have to crop the 360 image substantially, losing resolution, so the more you have to play with from the outset, the better.

Footage looks fantastic. Stitching lines are virtually non-existent and I’m a big fan of GoPro’s Natural color profile, which doesn’t look overly saturated, unlike the X5. This will be a boon to pros.

Another boon to pros will be the 10-bit color and Log recording options, as well as 120 Mbps bit rates in-camera, or up to 300 Mbps in-camera running custom GoPro Labs firmware (more on this later). All give more flexibility with editing in post.

Naturally, as a 360 camera, you get the inherent benefit of ‘shoot first, frame later’. You simply press record and then decide on the subject later. And you essentially have multiple camera angles at your disposal as you can flit between different points of view, as you can see in the footage at the top of this section.

You get access to a range of awesome FX, including invisible selfie stick and tiny planet effects, as you can see in the cathedral footage above.

Low light performance

Low light performance is poor compared to the Osmo 360 and especially the X5, although that’s not surprising. The MAX2 uses two 1/2.3-inch sensors versus the larger 1/1.1 and 1/1.28 sensors on the Osmo 360 and X5, respectively. Larger sensors with an equivalent resolution will produce cleaner (less noisy) images in low light thanks to larger, more light-sensitive photosites.

You can adjust the MAX2’s maximum sensitivity up to ISO6400 to help brighten the picture. However, the MAX2 lacks the bespoke low-light modes you’d find on the X5 and Osmo 360 to handle noise processing. If you’re shooting a lot at night, opt for an X5.

Single lens

The MAX2 can shoot in single lens mode at 4K/60p, and again the footage looks excellent — it’s just typical GoPro: beautifully stabilized, clean footage. Here, you have more control over stabilization and horizon lock in camera, as well as control over specific mic channels (which I’ll cover a bit later).

You can’t swap between lenses in real time during recording as you can on the Osmo 360, though, so no flicking between points of view.

GoPro Labs

One of this camera’s most important features is the compatibility with GoPro Labs, which essentially allows you to install custom firmware tailored to your needs. This is primarily aimed at professionals with a very specific use case who need their GoPro to do certain things — and it’ll be yet another boon for them. Labs has a GitHub bank of firmware that you can choose from to customize the MAX2. Developers can also make their own custom firmware using Open GoPro.

For example, you can use GoPro Labs to increase the maximum bit depth capture to 300 Mbps if you need the most data capture possible. You can use Labs firmware to trigger the camera to record based on GPS speed or accelerometer data, or even to use the camera’s sensor (which is always on, even when the camera is off) as a motion detection device for installing in a wildlife camera trap.

GoPro MAX2 review: Audio

Internal audio is a mixed bag. There’s no doubt in my mind — the MAX2’s wind reduction algorithm pales in comparison to both the X5 and Osmo 360. You can hear how much wind buffeting remains in the reframed 360 motorcycle footage throughout this piece.

However, wind reduction algorithms do often make footage sound unrealistic, especially the X5’s. The MAX2 is mostly aimed at serious video shooters and pros, who would likely rather hook up an external mic like the Rode Wireless Pro and capture truer audio — even if it’s a pain to sync up in post — than capture unrealistic sound due to intrusive wind reduction. That's if they even need wind reduction in the first place. That said, for high-octane content creators (especially motovloggers), the X5’s stronger wind reduction is well worth the extra spend.

With wind out of the equation, the MAX2's internal mics sound really clean. In the cathedral footage above (video section), you can hear how well the microphones have picked up the low-level hubbub of tourists and visitors, and the crying baby at the end.

The camera has some very interesting audio features to boot, including 360-degree sound, so you can isolate sound coming from certain angles to match your video footage. In single lens mode, you can also choose which microphone you want to use, and it makes a big difference. The single lens footage in this section and the video section above was shot with wind reduction on and using the rear mic (the one not facing the wind) — it sounds much cleaner than the 360-degree footage, where I wasn’t able to control microphone direction.

External mics

As I mentioned earlier, you can’t hook up wired mics or RX units to the MAX2. That means you’re reliant on wireless microphones like connecting directly to the camera via Bluetooth, which impacts audio quality. Of course, you can simply record audio using a high-quality microphone separately and sync up in post.

The MAX2 can timecode footage. However, its timecoding synchronization is done via the GoPro Quik app, which can communicate with multiple GoPro cameras but is unable to sync with non-GoPro devices. I’ve seen people online using custom Labs firmware to hook up timecode sync hardware, like a Tentacle, which will talk to all devices, including mics, although I can’t vouch for how easy this is.

You can, however, set the MAX2 to timecode based on local time — the same can also be done on high-end mics like the Rode Wireless Pro, at least putting you in the right ballpark when you get to post. You can also use the Quik app to timecode sync the MAX2 with a MediaMod-compatible GoPro, which can subsequently be plugged into an external timecode recorder. Cumbersome, but possible.

GoPro MAX2 review: App & software

I see a fair amount of online discourse knocking GoPro’s Quik app. If you’re comparing it to Insta360’s app and Studio desktop software, it isn’t as feature-packed, especially regarding 360-degree editing. Insta360’s app is more user-friendly, too, and is designed to facilitate a rapid workflow from device to social media. If you’re a content creator or casual user, I’d recommend Insta360’s app (and the X5).

However, Quik has definitely improved in recent years, and I had no issue editing 360 footage, setting keyframes, applying FX, and trimming clips.

Naturally, if you’re a hardcore video creator or professional, you won’t want to use the app for much more than previewing and quick edits to show clients. For in-depth editing, you’ll want to use desktop software. Unfortunately, GoPro canned its Quik desktop app late in 2024, so you’ll need to use third-party software like Adobe Premiere Pro or After Effects, for which GoPro has released MAX2 360 editing plug-ins.

GoPro MAX2 review: Battery life & overheating

The MAX2 ships with a cold-weather Enduro battery, which should prevent the standard Enduro’s known functionality issues in lower temps. That said, if you want to use a normal Enduro from your Hero13 Black, you can.

In my testing, the MAX2 with the cold-weather Enduro, the MAX2 lasted for 73 minutes at 8K/30p, which is equivalent to the X5. It’s a way short of the Osmo 360’s phenomenal battery life, though — that camera lasted 112 minutes in the same test.

In my standardized indoor 4K/60p single-lens test, the MAX2 lasted 90 minutes exactly! Not a second longer. (It’s almost like GoPro designed it that way, huh.) This is slightly longer than the X5’s 87 minutes but less than the Osmo 360, which again lasted 112 minutes in the same test.

The indoor test is also an overheating stress test. The MAX2 didn’t overheat at all at 4K/60p indoors, which is great to see, although neither the X5 nor Osmo 360 did either.

GoPro MAX2 review: Verdict

The MAX2 was worth the wait (here’s hoping GoPro doesn’t keep us waiting another 6 years for the MAX3). Make no mistake, this camera is not the best option for most people. Versus competition, its screen is fiddly, its menu a little restrictive, its app a little less polished, and its wind reduction pretty weak.

For most people — casual users and content creators — the Insta360 X5 is a much better proposition. And that’s kinda expected: the X series is Insta360’s flagship line, into which it has poured the lion’s share of its attention and development for the last few years. The X5 is much more user-friendly, especially in the app department, and has been built from the ground up with a straight-to-social media workflow in mind.

Where the GoPro MAX2 has been specifically designed (and succeeds) to excel, though, is its usability for pros. True 8K, Log, 10-bit color, a strong range of audio controls, and of course, Labs firmware. If you’re a professional or hardcore content creator — especially one already invested in GoPro gear — and you want to build high-quality 360 footage into your productions, the MAX2 is easily the best camera for the job.

At last! A rival suitor has finally arrived. The small action cameras market has, from time immemorial, been bequeathed to Insta360 Go’s line. Now, long overdue, a fearless champion steps into the fray to tourney for the coveted title. What, then, does our rival champion look like? Step forward, DJI Osmo Nano!

Oh. It’s… it’s hideous.

OK, well nevermind. Verily, ‘tis what our brave (if malformed) champion hath inside that matters. And those features are indeed more comely. 4K moving tapestries at 60 frameths per second! A lightweight thumb camera to sit atop thine bascinet, clip to thine hunting dog’s collar, or strap to thine heir’s infant head! And it’ll cost you fewer groats than an Insta360 Go Ultra, too. Much fewer.

I’ll stop messing around now, primarily because there’s no way I can weave 10-bit color and D-Log M into this already laborious medieval metaphor. But hey, it has those as well. And more. Quite a bit more.

Could this be the new best small action camera around? Read my full DJI Osmo Nano review to find out.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Specs

DJI Osmo Nano review: Price & availability

The DJI Osmo Nano is available in two guises based on internal storage. The 64GB version costs $299 at Amazon, while the 128GB version costs $329 at Amazon. In the U.K., that’s £239 and £259 respectively.

$299 massively undercuts the Nano’s only real rival, the Insta360 Go Ultra ($449), which retails for $449. Both offer 4K/60p and a ‘mount anywhere’ approach. While the Go Ultra has the upper hand regarding microphones, battery life and general overall form factor, the Osmo Nano has better stabilization, more pro features and its thumb camera in isolation has a more usable form factor. Overall, the Osmo Nano comes out on top in my book, especially given the cost saving.

U.S. availability

DJI’s ongoing battle with the U.S. government means that, as with all recent DJI products, the Osmo Nano is not officially sold in the States (meaning not sold via DJI’s store). However, third party retailers are already stocking it — like Amazon.

This means you can't purchase a DJI Care package for the Nano. So, if yours gets broken, you may not be able to have it fixed without serious cost implications. This is less of an issue with the Osmo Nano — which uses screw-on lens covers — than on other cameras with fragile lenses like the DJI Osmo 360 ($549). But worth bearing in mind.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Design & controls

The Osmo Nano’s overall form factor is a little odd, to say the least. Similar to the Insta360 Go line, the Nano takes a modular approach by combining a tiny thumb camera with a second unit, which hosts a screen, ports and a second (bigger) battery — on the Nano this is called a “Vision Dock” while the Insta360 Go Ultra uses an “Action Pod.”

Insta360’s form factor makes sense — the tiny camera sits inside the Action Pod, and the whole unit resembles a typical action camera. The Nano, however, sits awkwardly on top of its Vision Dock, which itself sits awkwardly on top of a quick release mount if you want to, y’know, put it on anything.

The result is an overly tall and far from prepossessing combined unit, which not only looks silly when mounted, but can make the whole unit difficult to mount in the first place. In its entirety, it’s too tall and lanky to be mounted on a helmet chin mount, for instance, whereas the Go Ultra inside its Action Pod has no issues (it’s effectively a normally-proportioned action camera, after all).

While the Nano’s overall form factor is gangly when combined with its Vision Dock, the tiny oblong Nano camera itself is more usable than the Go Ultra’s square one. Its stout oblong shape makes the Nano much easier to mount, suffers from less drag and has a lower center of gravity — this makes it more stable on cap peaks and stops it getting flung off its magnetic mounts as easily as the Go Ultra.

The Vision Dock weighs 2.5 ounces (72g) — over an ounce lighter than the Go Ultra’s 3.8 ounce Action Pod. Really, though, what matters is the weight of the thumb camera, as that’s the only thing being mounted in delicate places like cap peaks. The Osmo Nano thumb camera weighs 1.8 ounces or 52g, the same as the Go Ultra’s (give or take a half a gram or so). So nothing in it.

Display

The Osmo Nano’s display is a 1.96-inch touchscreen, which is bright, responsive and (just about) big enough for ease-of-use when navigating menus (more on that later). It’d be a misnomer to call it a rear screen, firstly because it’s… under the Nano camera. But also because it can be used facing forward or backward. Rotate the Vision Dock 180-degrees so the display is front-facing and you have a selfie screen!

I still prefer the flip-up display of the Go Ultra. If you want to switch from ‘behind the camera’ to selfie-style vlogging shots, on the Go Ultra you need simply flip up the display and turn the camera — doable without minimal interruption to recording. On the Osmo Nano, you’ll need to unclip the Vision Pod, rotate it 180-degrees, clip it back in and then flip your camera around. It’s messy and will almost certainly require cuts in post-production.

All that said, the Nano’s Vision Dock is fantastic to use as a remote screen/control when detached from the camera (they communicate wirelessly with one another). It’s tiny, so it can just sit in your palm or pocket as you shoot. You can do this with the Go Ultra’s Action Pod, too, but it’s a lot larger and more annoying to carry/pocket.

Controls

The Nano’s onboard buttons are very scant. There are two record buttons which also serve as power buttons — a little confusing when you first pick up the camera.

All control is realistically meant to happen via the screen, which is a little too small for the chubby-fingered like myself. The Go Ultra’s display is much more spacious, making menus and sub-menus much easier to navigate.

DJI’s menu system is comprehensive, sensibly laid out and will be familiar to anyone that’s used a recent DJI device.

My only major gripe with the control system is the status light on the Nano camera. There’s only one, and it’s on the front. That means if you’re shooting anything but selfie-style footage, then you’ll have no idea whether the Nano camera (when off the Vision Dock) is recording or not. I was having to crane my head over the camera to look down and see the status light. An awful UX.

Mounting

The Osmo Nano uses both magnetic and clip mounting. The bottom of both the Nano camera and Vision Dock features a clip bracket for attaching to quick release mounts. This is the same system as used by the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro ($349) and Osmo 360, so your existing DJI accessories will work for the Nano! Awesome in its own right, but especially when compared to the Go Ultra, which also uses a proprietary mount, but one that is not backwards-compatible with other Insta360 products.

The magnetic system is very handy for attaching to metal objects or the supplied neck pendant, although many of the interesting mounts, such as the cap peak and headband, actually use the quick release clip — this is much more secure during intense movement, so I prefer it. This is again a benefit of the shorter, oblong Nano camera profile versus the square Go Ultra — the squat profile allows space to use the quick release clip rather than having to rely on a magnet.

Waterproofing

The Osmo Nano camera is waterproof down to 33 feet / 10 meters, while the Vision Dock is IPX4 splashproof — both matching the Go Ultra’s waterproofing. If you want to shoot the odd clip underwater, the Nano camera is fine, just disconnect it from the Vision Dock first.

If you want to film underwater regularly, I’d recommend the Osmo Action 5 Pro, which has a 65-foot waterproof rating and a bigger battery than the Nano camera alone so you can record for longer.

Connectivity & storage

The Osmo Nano features a USB-C port for charging and wired data transfer, as well as Bluetooth and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi for wireless connectivity and data transfer.

Inside the Vision Dock you’ll find a MicroSD card slot (up to 1TB cards supported), but there’s also internal storage — a major win over rivals. The Insta360 Go 3S ($399) only has internal storage, while the Go Ultra only has SD storage. Having both on the Nano gives you that extra peace of mind should you fill a card.

Annoyingly, you can’t record directly to the SD card. You have to record to the internal memory and then transfer files to the SD via an on-screen button. This takes absolutely ages for larger file dumps (100GB took over 20 minutes) and is very frustrating. For this reason, I would recommend the 128GB model so you can space out transfers to SD. That said, still make sure you offload regularly in small batches to minimize downtime.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Stabilization

DJI’s RockSteady stabilization is often hit or miss — on some cameras, like the Osmo Action 5 Pro, it’s great. On others, like the Osmo 360, it’s not as impressive.

On the Nano, it’s very strong. This camera is designed primarily for family-friendly pursuits, and it does a fine job of stabilizing lower-octane walking footage. The easiest type of walking footage to stabilize is with the camera strapped to a cap peak, where there’s less motion. However, the Osmo Nano also does a great job of stabilizing footage with the camera strapped to a magnetic neck pendant, which tends to be more jerky, as in the video above.

It does an excellent job of stabilizing (as much as possible) more active footage, such as when strapped to my dog’s collar, as you can see above.

When shooting high-octane footage, like the motorcycling clip in the Audio section below, the bumps in the road and lean angles have been smoothed out nicely too.

The Nano’s stabilization is comparable with the Go Ultra’s. That is to say, both are excellent.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Video quality

The DJI Osmo Nano shoots 4K at up to 60fps. The only other tiny action camera to do so is the Go Ultra, as the Go 3S and GoPro Hero ($199) top out at 4K/30fps. This makes the Osmo Nano and Go Ultra much better for fast-paced content such as motovlogging, skiing etc, as 60fps will smooth out motion and cause less motion blur than 30fps.

Footage looks beautiful and sharp. As always, DJI doesn’t offer multiple color profiles, but the base profile looks excellent — lifelike yet vivid. Interestingly, in the DJI Mimo app, you can apply quick color grades to your footage, so if you do want a stylized look, it’s possible without needing to fire up DaVinci Resolve.

Importantly, the Osmo Nano features some advanced color features that will likely make it the more appealing option for pros when compared to Insta360 cameras — a common theme in all DJI gear. There’s 8-bit or 10-bit color, the latter capturing a wider color gamut for greater flexibility in post. There’s also D-Log M for wide dynamic range capture (up to 13.5 stops).

The Osmo Nano also takes 35MP stills, as you can see above. Again, they look nice and sharp, but this isn't a photography camera. The lenses are designed to be tough and replaceable rather than the pinnacle of optical sharpness — hence the lens flares.

Low light

The Osmo Nano uses a 1/1.3-inch sensor, which is slightly smaller than the Go Ultra’s 1/1.28-inch sensor, theoretically putting the Osmo Nano on the backfoot for low-light performance.

However, the Osmo Nano's low light footage is fairly clean in dim light. As you can see in the video above, I used the Nano to film some 'Groom's Eye View' footage at my wedding on the dimly lit dance floor and I think it looks great (I had to remove the audio for copyright reasons). Yes: I tested this camera at my own wedding — that right there is commitment to the cause!

In super low light, though, footage looks pretty grainy, but it isn't too bad. The Go Ultra's footage in similar conditions is slightly better, but there really isn't much in it.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Audio quality

The DJI Osmo Nano features two internal microphones, both of which are fairly competent in low-volume environments. You can hear in the footage below how well the camera picked up the gentle sound of the stream and my dog drinking.

Of course, it’s possible to hook up DJI wireless microphones such as the DJI Mic Mini ($59) and DJI Mic 3 ($99) for much clearer sound, especially if you’re recording vocals. Wireless connection uses OsmoAudio, which ostensibly uses Bluetooth. Performance is subsequently on par with Bluetooth — that is to say, not very good — so I wouldn’t recommend this for loud environments.

With no wired microphone interface, you’ll need to rely on internal mics for loud environments, such as motovlogging. The Nano’s built-in Wind Reduction algorithm is pretty good, mostly reducing destructive wind noise in the video clip above. It has, however, cut the noise of the engine, too. The Go Ultra’s internal wind reduction system is much better.

With no wired microphone interface, the best way to record audio in very loud situations such as motorcycling is to record separately with a decent microphone using 32-bit float recording and sync up audio and video in post.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Smartphone app

DJI has made big progress with its Mimo smartphone app, and it’s now an excellent tool for quickly offloading and editing video files. It gives you lots of control over editing, with trimming, exposure, filters and some basic effects. There’s also a remote control function for live viewing as you record.

It’s still not quite as feature-packed and user-friendly as the Insta360 app, but there’s really not a lot in it anymore.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Battery life & thermal performance

The Osmo Nano features a 500mAh battery with a 1,300mAh battery in the Vision Dock. In my standard indoor stress test at 4K/60p, the Nano achieved 102 minutes overall. The Go Ultra achieved 110 minutes. This figures, given the Osmo Nano’s slightly smaller total battery capacity, and it’s still a great show from the Nano.

Thermal performance isn’t great, though, with the camera overheating every 24 to 26 minutes. The Go Ultra, meanwhile, shot all 110 minutes without overheating.

That said, while this is a family-friendly camera, it’s still designed to be used outside and while moving. In real world usage along those lines, overheating shouldn’t be an issue. This is especially true when moving quickly during running, skiing, cycling, motorcycling etc.

DJI Osmo Nano review: Verdict

The DJI Osmo Nano isn’t perfect. Its form factor is a little weird, its storage system is frustrating and its low-light performance isn’t the best.

However, the Osmo Nano sits among a new generation of tiny 4K/60p-capable action cameras — devices that are capable not only of capturing family-friendly content at 30fps, but serious, perhaps even professional content at 4K/60p too. Delivering that in packages as small as the Osmo Nano and Insta360 Go Ultra is no mean feat, and always comes with some level of compromise, at least with today’s technology.

With that in mind, among this new generation, the Nano is the best all-rounder and the best value for money by far. Much, much cheaper than the Insta360 Go Ultra, the Nano boasts equally good stabilization and video, a more versatile thumb camera and better mounting options, not to mention professional features like D-Log M and 10-bit color. While the microphones and battery life can’t quite compete with the Go Ultra, they certainly aren’t far off, nor are they bad by any means.

If you need a versatile, ‘mount anywhere’ action camera for a wide array of content, right now the Osmo Nano is the best combination of performance and value for money. Looks like we have a new champion.

The Insta360 Go Ultra is the latest and most powerful iteration of Insta360’s Go Lineup of tiny thumb-sized(ish) cameras that can be mounted anywhere.

It keeps up the versatile, family-friendly tradition of the Go line while building in more performance and features than ever. 4K video is now available at 60fps, there’s a larger sensor, beefed up internal mics, astounding battery life and much-needed expandable storage.

All this makes the Go Ultra a hybrid camera like no others in the lineup before it. Low- or high-octane content, this camera can do both. It’s equally as home while fastened to your kid’s head as it is strapped to the handlebars of your motorcycle. The Ultra is here to prove that the Go line can be more than just toys, with the firepower to compete with the best action cameras around.

It isn’t all perfect, though. A major redesign of the core camera results in bulkier dimensions, but the elephant in the room is undoubtedly the price: this thing costs more than Insta360’s flagship pro camera. What’s more, DJI has finally launched a competitor at a much lower price, making the Go Ultra’s issues hard to ignore, and arguably poor value for money.

For the complete breakdown, read my full Insta360 Go Ultra review.

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Specs

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Price & availability

The Insta360 Go Ultra is available in black or white and costs $449 from Amazon, while in the U.K. it costs £389. It’s more expensive than the Insta360 Go 3S, which launched at $399.

The Go 3S is listed as “temporarily out of stock” on Insta360’s web store, although you can still find it at Amazon at the time of writing. Insta360 has confirmed to me directly that it will keep selling the Go 3S, meaning the brand now offers two product tiers.

Anyway, the Go Ultra’s $449 list price is ‘spit your drink’ ridiculous, especially for a 4K/60p action camera. Insta360 always charges premium prices for its cameras, so this isn’t surprising, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a wild price. For context, $449 is higher than its own flagship action camera, the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 ($399), not to mention our favorite action camera, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro ($349). The justification for this is the Go Ultra’s modularity and versatility, which set it apart from traditional action cameras.

That doesn’t, however, set it apart from its chief rival, the DJI Osmo Nano ($299), which despite some minor shortcomings of its own is virtually as good as the Ultra, yet costs just $299 — a saving very much worth making.

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Design & controls

The Go Ultra is a moderate shake-up from the last two iterations of the Go: the Insta360 Go 3 and Go 3S. The core concept is still the same, though: a small thumb camera with a larger “Action Pod,” adding extra battery life and a display.

And as is usually the case with Insta360 products, build quality is fabulous. No complaints there.

Action Pod

The Ultra’s Action Pod measures 2.8 x 1.9 x 1.3 inches, so it’s fractionally larger than the Go 3S’ Pod, although more or less the same size and shape. The Action Pod now includes a front grip, which looks great but is mostly for show. Let’s be real: this thing is almost always going to be on some kind of mount, grip or selfie stick.

The Action Pod features a magnetic clip mounting system similar to previous models. It’s a new design, though, and older accessories aren’t compatible. It’s also proprietary, although Insta360 sells a clip mount that features universal mounting fingers to suit a wide variety of third party accessories and mounts.

Core camera

The thumb camera has changed rather radically. Gone is the oblong profile used since the line’s inception. The Ultra’s camera is now square-shaped, measuring 1.8 x 1.8 x 0.7 inches, so taller than the Go 3S’ camera (1 x 2.1 x 0.9 inches), but neither as wide nor as deep.

It’s heavier, though. Indeed, the fattening of the Go cameras has been going on for a while now. The original Go was marketed as the “20-gram steady cam” (that’s 0.7 ounces). By the Go 3S, curb weight had increased to 39 grams (1.38 ounces). The Go Ultra’s camera weighs 52.5 grams (1.85 ounces).

That doesn’t sound like much, but Go cameras are all about being mounted in novel places, like the peak of a cap or a dog’s collar. In such places, believe me, you can feel the Go Ultra’s extra weight.

When I mounted it on a cap peak (Insta360’s cap, no less, as you can see in the photo above), it pulled the hat down. The square design is also a little more cumbersome than the oblong shape of previous iterations, and also makes it tricky to know at a glance what orientation you’re filming in.

Mounting

Making a return is the thumb camera’s magnetic fastening system, which allows you to mount the camera by magnets alone — great for clipping it to a shirt with the supplied necklace mount hidden behind. It’s fairly sturdy but far from infallible, as you can see in the dog footage below: a spirited gander was enough to detach the camera and send it flying.

Versus rivals

All things considered, the Go Ultra remains the most versatile action cam around. GoPro's tiny cam, the GoPro Hero (2024) is very affordable at $179 but has no modularity, so while small, you’re stuck with only a single form factor — and at 2.2 x 1.87 x 1.15 inches and 3 ounces, that form factor is still larger and heavier than the Go Ultra’s thumb camera.

The Osmo Nano’s thumb camera measures 2.2 x 1.1 x 1.1 inches and weighs 1.83 ounces, so it’s of similar proportions to the Go Ultra. But while I prefer the oblong thumb cam, the Osmo Nano’s overall form factor is rather odd — the camera sits atop (rather than inside) a display pod and the resulting abomination is lanky, cumbersome and ugly. The Go Ultra and its Action Pod are the most sensible balance of size and versatility.

Display

The Go Ultra features the same 2.5-inch flip-up screen as its predecessor. It’s bright, spacious and perfect for vlogging. The GoPro Hero, by contrast, has no front-facing screen, meaning you can’t see yourself while shooting to camera.

The Osmo Nano’s display can be used for vlogging, but thanks to its odd design, to flick to and from selfie-style shooting you have to unclip the camera from the screen, spin either round 180-degrees and reclip the camera in place. It’s a terrible UX, especially when compared to the simple flip-up display of the Go Ultra.

Controls

The Go Ultra’s Action Pod has standard action camera physical controls, but all in-depth control of the camera is done using the menu system via the rear display. The Go Ultra gets Insta360’s latest menu system which was revamped for the X5. It’s great: a little more complicated than previous iterations which were very simplistic, but that means increased control.

And besides, the large display is big enough so that the menu doesn’t feel cramped — something that can’t be said for either the GoPro Hero or Osmo Nano.

Waterproofing

Thanks to the nature of its modular design, the Go series is difficult to waterproof and has never been a recommendable underwater camera. Like the Go 3 S, the Go Ultra’s core camera is waterproof to 33 feet – the same as a GoPro Hero13 Black ($399) — but without the Action Pod (splashproof only) you’re obviously losing battery life and a display. You’ll want an Osmo Action 5 Pro for underwater filming.

Connectivity & storage

The Go Ultra has a USB-C port for charging and data transfer, although the best way to offload files is wirelessly via 2.4GHz connection to the Insta360 smartphone app. The Go Ultra also features Bluetooth, meaning you can hook up wireless external microphones — something missing from previous iterations of Go cameras and a most welcome addition indeed.

Another very pleasing change from previous models is the move away from internal storage to MicroSD storage up to 2TB. The Osmo Nano, like its bigger siblings the Osmo Action 5 Pro and DJI Osmo 360 ($549), features both. This gives an extra storage buffer, and is a feature Insta360 really should be implementing.

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Stabilization

The Go Ultra’s stabilization is excellent. The Go lineup has always been about family-friendly content creation, and therefore the stabilization is geared towards things like walking, cycling, vlogging and the like. These are no issues for the Go Ultra.

Indeed, in the footage where I strapped the camera to my dog (see the Video performance section below), the Go Ultra did a fantastic job of keeping things relatively stable — and I say “relatively” because the camera was dangling from a dog’s neck, which is an inherently chaotic place to be.

This is the Ultra camera, though, and indeed the stabilization is more than capable of keeping up with high-octane pursuits like motovlogging, skiing etc. As you can see in the motorcycling footage above, the bumps in the road and torque of the bike has been mostly handled very well, and the video looks smooth and professional.

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Video performance

The Go Ultra shoots 4K/60p video, which looks excellent. As usual with Insta360 cameras, video looks fantastic straight out of camera, with sharp 4K image quality and bold colors. You can also use a range of filters in camera, or select from even more color filters in the app later on.

There’s no option for log recording as with the Osmo Nano, although there is a high dynamic range (HDR) mode for increased dynamic range out of camera. This is only available up to 4K/30p. For pros and/or those grading their own footage, the Nano will be a better shout.

Returning from previous Go models is face detection, which works very well, detecting and tracking people and faces in frame — a boon for vlogging.

There’s also a loop recording mode for using the camera as a dash cam as well as a pre-recording mode and quick capture, the latter of which is great for shooting spur of the moment clips — I used this a lot in testing to start filming when the sun came out or I found myself somewhere scenic.

I was very impressed by the Go Ultra’s low light performance in testing. The Ultra features a larger 1/1.28-inch sensor versus the Go 3S’ 1/2.3-inch sensor and the Osmo Nano’s 1/1.3-inch sensor.

What’s more, the Go Ultra uses the 5nm processing chip from the Insta360 X5 ($549) and Ace Pro 2, versus the 14nm chip in the Go 3S, resulting in better image processing. The result is surprisingly clean footage in low light, as you can see in the dog footage above.

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Audio performance

The Go Ultra benefits from the same wind reduction algorithms as its bigger sibling, the Insta360 X5, and they’re very good. As you can hear below, Wind Reduction results in decent quality audio at speed with massively reduced wind buffeting while the sound of the engine and exhaust has been maintained.

As with the X5, the strong Wind Reduction mode also compresses the audio a fair bit, resulting in a less-than-natural sound to the motorcycle, but it’s still better than no reduction at all. The footage below was shot in the Strong reduction mode, but there's also a Weak mode which results in a slightly more natural sound at the expense of some wind noise.

The audio performance makes this camera suitable for loud content such as motovlogging. Although there isn’t much in it, the Osmo Nano’s wind reduction is not quite as capable, so if sound is paramount the Go Ultra is the better tool. Both cameras also feature Bluetooth mic hookup, but Bluetooth is no good for challenging audio dynamic ranges (i.e. very loud motorcycling content) — the best solution in those scenarios is a wired microphone, which neither camera supports.

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Smartphone app

As always, Insta360’s app is fantastic. Connecting to the app is quick and easy, and it provides plenty of control over shooting and editing. The app can be used for remote shooting, easy control over the camera’s settings and, of course, is the vessel by which to apply firmware updates.

The Insta360 app is most useful for editing, though, giving you access to all the basic editing features most casual users will need, including trimming, exposure control and basic effects. For more detailed editing, I would advise using the Insta360 Studio desktop app, as this will give you high levels of fine control, but for most casual use the app is just fine. Oh, and it’s free!

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Battery life & thermal performance

The Go Ultra puts in an extremely impressive performance for both battery life and thermals. In my standard indoor 4K/60p test, the Go Ultra lasted 110 minutes, which is impressive.

The Go 3S could shoot 4K for 120 minutes, but at half the frame rate as it topped out at 4K/30p. At 4K/30p, the Go Ultra (camera and Action Pod) lasted 144 minutes, which is again very impressive.

Even more impressive was the thermal performance. The Go Ultra shot the entire 110-minute and 144-minute stints indoors (and in hot weather) with no overheating at all.

In the same test (although also at 4K/30p, its maximum resolution), the GoPro Hero shot for 103 minutes without overheating. At 4K/60p, the Osmo Nano achieved 102 minutes, although consistently overheated after 24 minutes of filming — this won’t be an issue when filming outside/on the move, though.

Insta360 Go Ultra review: Verdict

There’s a slight identity crisis taking place here. For low octane content, mounting a camera to your baby’s head, do you really need 60fps? Wind reduction? An “Ultra” camera? $449!?

The answer to that is no. And that figures. The Go Ultra is supposed to do all that, and then some. It’s supposed to be family-friendly on one hand but grown up when it needs to be — strapped to a ski helmet, motorcycle handlebars or the quarter panel of a sports car. It’s supposed to be a proper action camera when needed.

And it is! 60fps, impressive audio performance, a user-friendly app, incredibly good battery life and all without sacrifice to the ‘mount anywhere’ ethos of the Go line. There’s no doubt about it: the Insta360 Go Ultra is the most feature-packed small action camera around for family-friendly content creation and vlogging. If that’s what you want and you’re willing to part with $449, go ahead and have some fun!

However, there’s a pretty big caveat in the form of another pretty tiny camera: The DJI Osmo Nano. Admittedly, the Osmo Nano has its drawbacks and isn’t quite as capable as the Go Ultra, but it also costs $150 less. $150! As great as the Go Ultra is, it simply isn’t good value for money, which is why it misses out on top marks from me.

The DJI Osmo 360 is the Chinese camera giant’s first foray into 360-degree video imaging. For the last couple of years, Insta360 (DJI’s chief rival in this arena) has held unchallenged supremacy over this niche in the camera market, making the best 360 cameras you can buy.

2024’s Insta360 X4 and its successor the X5 have, until now, been the only cameras capable of shooting 8K/30p 360 footage — and therefore the only devices allowing 4K resolution when footage is reframed to a 16:9 aspect ratio for viewing.

The Osmo 360, however, is aimed at disrupting that status quo with some Insta360-beating specs: 8K/50p recording, 1/1.1-inch square sensors, and a staggering 110 minutes of battery life at 8K/30p.

So does the DJI Osmo 360 do enough to take Insta360’s crown? Not quite. It’s a fantastic camera and a brilliant first attempt, but has a couple of flaws that keep it on the back foot (just). Find out more in my full DJI Osmo 360 review.

DJI Osmo 360 review: Specs

DJI Osmo 360 review: Price & availability

The DJI Osmo 360 starts at $549 / £409 for the base bundle, which includes the camera, a battery, a pouch and a rubber lens protector. You can easily spend a lot more on the bundles, though. I would recommend picking up the $699 Adventure Combo with its spare batteries and charging case.

$549 is the same price as the Insta360 X5 — interesting, as DJI usually undercuts Insta360, at least in its action camera lineup. Indeed, in the U.K. and Europe, the Osmo 360 is more competitively priced, demonstrating that this is a U.S. tariff issue. To be fair, while I feel the X5 is (just about) the better camera, I think the Osmo 360’s specifications justify equal pricing anyway. But let’s be real: at $549, both cameras are overpriced.

Likewise, at the time of writing the Osmo 360 is still unavailable via the U.S. DJI store, again due to tariffs. However, it’s readily available from Amazon U.S. and other major retailers.

DJI Osmo 360 review: Design & controls

The Osmo 360 is surprisingly compact given its powerful features, measuring 2.4 x 1.4 x 3.1 inches / 61 x 36 x 81mm. According to DJI, this is partly thanks to the use of square 1/1.1-inch sensors that have allowed the height to be reduced. As such, it’s a squat little thing, especially compared to the lanky X5.

It’s fairly lightweight, too — at 6.4 ounces / 183g, it weighs around half an ounce less than the X5. It’s still a little bulky for chin mounting, but I’d be much happier mounting the Osmo 360 on a helmet or in a tricky position than the X5, whose long profile makes it generally more awkward.

Waterproofing

The DJI Osmo 360 is waterproof down to 10 meters / 32.8 feet, which is less than the Insta360 X5’s 15 meters / 49 feet. Again a little surprising as DJI is typically market leader for waterproofing in the action cameras world.

10 meters should be fine for most people using this camera, though. If you’re doing lots of underwater work, check out the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro ($349) instead.

Internal storage

Just like the Osmo Action 5 Pro, the Osmo 360 comes with internal storage — 105GB of it. This is incredibly useful, especially given how quickly 8K files fill up space. I actually filled a 256GB microSD on my first test runs, and was able to flick over to the internal storage and carry on shooting. You don’t get that on the X5.

Lenses

A sore point for many will be the Osmo 360’s lack of replaceable lenses — at least that you can replace yourself. This is theoretically a big deal, as 360 cameras are often used for motovlogging where the risk of stone chips is ever present. In fact, I had to get a second review unit from DJI for this very reason.

The Insta360 X5 can have its lenses replaced as many times as needed with affordable kits. The Osmo 360 will have to be sent back to DJI for repair. You’ll need to buy an Osmo 360 care plan from DJI for this, which you can’t currently buy in the U.S. because DJI isn’t officially selling the camera there. It’s a mess.

Now, is this really a problem? The incident I described above was the first time I’ve ever had a stone chip in over two years of testing 360 and action cameras. It’s a risk I’d be willing to take.

Display

Unfortunately, the Osmo 360’s stocky stature results in an equally squat rear screen. It’s nice and bright, but nowhere near as easy to use as the X5’s capacious display, nor indeed the Osmo Action 5 Pro’s wide OLED screen. I found it tricky to use even with thin summer motorcycling gloves.

Controls & menu

The physical controls, however, are great. There are only three buttons, but all are easy to locate and press with gloves on, providing plenty of tactile feedback so you know you’ve hit them without looking.

The Osmo 360’s menu will be familiar to anyone who has used recent DJI products, including the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 ($519) and Osmo Action 5 Pro. It’s sensibly laid out and provides a high level of control.

Connectivity

The Osmo 360 features Wi-Fi 6.0 for 90MB/s wireless transfer speeds and USB-C 3.1 for 600MB/s wired transfer speeds, which are both useful for quickly offloading large 8K files. Transferring 8K 360 files to my phone for editing was a quick seamless experience.

The Osmo 360 can also hook up wirelessly via ‘OsmoAudio’ to DJI audio devices, including the DJI Mic 2 ($349) and DJI Mic Mini ($59), potentially making the Osmo 360 a strong choice for creators already invested in DJI gear. I’ll touch on this more in the audio section, though, as it’ll depend on the kind of content you’re shooting — OsmoAudio is far from perfect.

DJI Osmo 360 review: Stabilization

The DJI Osmo 360 uses the brand’s RockSteady stabilization system, which has been a little hit or miss in the past — at least in DJI’s non-gimbal cameras.

On the DJI Osmo Action 4 it was a little disappointing, whereas on the Osmo Action 5 Pro, it worked much better thanks to the larger sensor real estate (more space for the electronic stabilization to line up frames).

RockSteady 3.0 is a bit of a miss on the Osmo 360, unfortunately. It isn’t terrible, and for slower-paced content, it’s more than up to the task. But as you can see in the higher-octane 360 motorcycle clips below, it gets a little shaky at times. The Insta360 X5’s footage, by comparison, is buttery smooth.

DJI Osmo 360 review: Video

The Osmo 360 excels in the video department. Naturally, 360 footage is what matters the most. The Osmo 360’s 8K 360-degree recording allows up to 4K exports when reframed in 16:9. The footage directly below was exported as 1080p, though, and still looks great (you can also see 4K footage throughout this and the next section).

The actual resolution you’ll be left with depends on the FoV you choose in post. Wider angles mean more resolution retained. Crop into the frame with a linear FoV, for example, and you’ll lose resolution and slip under 4K.

Exported footage looks fantastic for the most part. Stitching is handled well with no obtrusive stitch marks even at super wide angles. Obviously, you get the inherent benefits of a 360 camera, so in the example footage above I’ve been able to change fields of view and camera angles as I please in post, as if I had a camera operator while shooting. And in the footage below you can see the Invisible Selfie Stick and Asteroid mode (DJI's equivalent of Insta360's 'Tiny Planet').

When I say “for the most part” I mean that some of my footage (like the 360 footage in the audio section below) is shot using lens guards, which degrade image quality. Again, it’d be nice to have the option to replace lenses myself and therefore have the peace of mind to shoot without lens guards.

While the Insta360 X5 tops out at 8K/30p, the Osmo 360 tops out at 8K/50p, which is weird. 50p is the 50Hz PAL standard and isn’t ideal in 60Hz NTSC countries — nor is it ideal for people shooting for YouTube using the 30p/60p online standard. I have a feeling this was simply as far as DJI could push the Osmo 360 right now given battery and/or overheating constraints. But the brand wanted this camera out asap in light of Insta360’s foray into 360 drones with the Antigravity A1, so just rolled with 50p.

But hey, 50p is great if you’re shooting video for… European television?

As with other Osmo products, the Osmo 360 shoots D-Log M for wide dynamic range capture, and 10-bit color, for extra grading flexibility in post — a boon for people using the camera professionally.

Single lens

The Osmo 360 also shoots in single lens mode at 4K or 5K at up to 60fps, allowing you to use the device like a one of the best action cameras.

There’s also a Boost mode, which bumps 4K maximum frame rates up to 120fps for slow motion footage. Boost mode also widens the single lens FoV to a mammoth 170-degrees, as you can see in the footage above. This is awesome for immersive scenes, especially if you want 4K at higher than 50fps (in 360 mode, 4K exports will be limited to 50p due to the 8K/50p maximum 360 resolution/frame rate).

In either single lens mode you can switch between lenses while recording, giving you the ability to flick between two angles in camera. Very handy.

As with the Insta360 X5, there’s also an invisible selfie stick single lens mode. This roughly replicates the invisible selfie stick style of footage without using the entirety of both sensors in full 360-degrees, giving you access to that style of footage but at 60fps. It isn’t as good as the full 360 version, but it’ll work in a pinch if you need 60fps.

Low light

The Osmo 360 uses a 1/1.1-inch sensor, which is bigger than both the 1/1.28-inch in the Insta360 X5 and the 1/2-inch sensor in the X4.

Larger sensors theoretically deliver a cleaner image in low light versus smaller sensors. I shot the footage above in very low light using the Osmo 360’s SuperNight mode and I think it looks, well, okay.

The image has been brightened substantially, but has obviously lost a significant amount of sharpness due to higher noise and the smoothing effects of noise reduction. I was much more impressed with the low light performance of the X5, which produced a much sharper image in low light.

DJI Osmo 360 review: Audio

Audio is my primary sticking point with the DJI Osmo 360 and is the chief place the camera loses out to the Insta360 X5. High octane outdoors 360 footage means speed, which means wind noise. And wind noise ruins footage. As such, action and 360 cameras often come with wind reduction noise cancelation algorithms. The X5’s are top notch.

The Osmo 360’s four internal mics and wind reduction algos are okay but not great. They do a fairly decent job of canceling wind noise, but the soundscape is wide and echoey, with noticeable distortion of high frequencies in the footage above. It’s a little disappointing.

You can pair the Osmo 360 to a DJI audio device, such as a DJI Mic 2, but that pairing takes place over OsmoAudio. DJI has been conservative about telling me what this actually is, which fuels my suspicions that it uses Bluetooth, and Bluetooth is bad for audio quality.

As you can hear in the OsmoAudio footage above, shot using the Mic 2, it’s terrible. You could solve this by hooking up a decent mic via wire. But to add insult to injury, unlike the X5, the Osmo 360 has no interface for wired microphone connections — even to its own mics. Big win for the X5.

Of course, you can always record audio with a standalone mic and align everything in post, but it would be nice to see the DJI having the extra flexibility of the X5.

DJI Osmo 360 review: App & software

DJI has made big strides with the DJI Mimo app — this was an absolute necessity for launching an X5 competitor. Editing 360 footage involves lots of manipulation of angles, FoVs and effects. The Insta360 smartphone app makes this a doddle and now so does the Mimo app, which used to be pretty crappy.

I found editing my 360 footage easy and intuitive on the Mimo app, although the Insta360 app offers more in the way of fun effects and filters, making it the better choice if you’re shooting for social media. It also offers a handy detection and tracking feature, which makes light work of reframing if you need to follow a subject, as you can see in the screen capture above.

Professional users will want to edit footage on DJI’s Mimo desktop application. I tested the camera while in the process of moving house with no access to my desktop editing machine. I’ll update this review with an appraisal of the Mimo desktop application when I can.

DJI Osmo 360 review: Battery & overheating

According to DJI, the Osmo 360 can shoot for 110 minutes on a single charge at 8K/30p, which is frankly astounding. I actually achieved 112 minutes, including using the device and altering settings between recording. Ramp up to 8K/50p and that battery life drops off significantly to the 30 minute mark. But I mean, who is shooting at 50p?

The Osmo 360 uses the same 1,950mAh battery as the Osmo Action 5 Pro — literally the same one, so Action 5 Pro users can use their existing batteries — where it’s also good for 112 minutes at 4K/60p. How DJI managed the same longevity when doubling the sensors and resolution is beyond me. However it did it, it did it. What an achievement.

Indoors at 4K/60p in single lens mode, the Osmo 360 lasted for (surprise, surprise) 112 minutes, without any overheating.

The camera features rapid charging, and I was able to charge from 0% to 25% in just over five minutes. It can also charge wirelessly via a magnetic charging grip, which I was unable to test as DJI didn’t supply me with one.

DJI Osmo 360 review: Verdict

The DJI Osmo 360 is a fantastic 360 camera. It doesn’t quite pip the Insta360 X5 — which I awarded 5 stars — due to the Osmo 360’s weaker internal audio, lack of support for wired external microphones and non-user-replaceable lenses.

However, there are still plenty of reasons to buy the Osmo 360, especially in non-U.S. markets where it’s cheaper than the X5. If battery life is paramount, there’s no contest — the Osmo 360’s performance here is nothing short of amazing. If you need higher than 30fps 360 footage and/or you’re shooting content for professional purposes, the Osmo 360 is a stellar choice thanks to its 50fps frame rate, D-Log and 10-bit color.

Being able to use the same batteries as my Osmo Action 5 Pro has already made my life easier when shooting content, and of course there’s the easy hookup to my DJI mics. So if like me you’re already invested in the DJI ecosystem, the Osmo 360 will be a no-brainer.

It isn’t perfect, but as first entries into a new market go… what a start.

I test every 360 and action camera out there — good, bad and ugly. (Well, they’re all rather ugly to be fair.) For a long time now, Insta360 has made the best 360 cameras you can buy, totally dominating that side of the market.

The closest competitors from GoPro and Ricoh top out at 5.7K or 4K maximum resolution. That means when you reframe the footage in 16:9 for YouTube or 9:16 for social, you can only hit 2.7K or 1080P resolution exports, although it’ll be even lower if cropping into frame. Meanwhile, Insta360’s last two cameras (the Insta360 X4 and X5) top out at 8K/30p, for up to 4K exports.

The Insta360 X5 is a simply outstanding camera, following on from an only-slightly-less-outstanding predecessor. And for a few months, nothing else could come close: the X5 experienced its honeymoon phase.

Then Insta360’s greatest rival, DJI, decided it had had enough. It wasn’t going to accept Insta360 dominating any market. And so the DJI Osmo 360 was born — a 360-degree camera with 8K/50p maximum res, some powerful specs and a big old appetite for devouring any preconceived notion of who’s boss.

On paper, the Osmo 360 has the power to topple the X5. I’ve been testing it for about three weeks now ahead of publishing my in-depth review. DJI's action camera does a lot of things right, but it has one crucial flaw that would stop me buying it. And importantly, this flaw is a biggie for the Osmo 360’s target market, too.

It all comes down to audio.

If your audio is terrible, viewers might not come back

Putting aside things like resolution and battery life — which are important, of course — a major element of 360 cameras is their internal audio. These things are designed to be used in large part by motovloggers, for whom sound is paramount.

Motovlogging is an extreme test for, well, just about any microphone. Above 50MPH on a bike or the outside of a car, wind noise is deafening. Most car drivers don't realize this until they get onto a motorcycle for the first time. Wind buffeting will completely obscure engine and exhaust noise in videos — two elements many motovlog viewers want to hear.

The quality of internal mics, wind guards and wind noise reduction algorithms are very, very important to the target market. You can post great-looking video, but if your audio is terrible, viewers might not come back.

The Osmo 360’s internal mics and wind reduction (a type of software noise cancelation) don’t hold up as well against the Insta360 X5’s. The X5 features a physical wind guard and, well, simply better noise cancelation algos. Listen for yourself. below is footage shot on the DJI Osmo 360 with wind reduction at its highest.

Wind noise has certainly been reduced well, although some scratchy wind and road noises are still audible — I don't know about you, but these really hurt my ears when I listened back, especially through headphones.

The engine noise of the bike is audible, although the higher frequencies have clipped, resulting in distortion — despite me dialing in negative gain. There's also a general hollow, echoey sound profile.

It's fine, but it doesn't sound particularly pleasant. Compare that to the Insta360 X5 footage below, also in its highest wind reduction mode.

The X5 has done a much better job at isolating engine and exhaust notes, without distorting the higher frequencies as much, although these have clipped in a couple of places.

Wind and road noise is still audible, but isn't overly distracting. In general, the X5 has done a better job at isolating the sound of the upper engine and exhaust tones using a high pass filter. Admittedly, this sounds a little unnatural, but is still preferable in my eyes (or ears, I should say) — if I'm watching a moto-themed channel, I want to hear engine and exhaust noise!

The X5 has done a much better job at the general sound profile. It's less hollow and echoey than the Osmo 360, with the deeper notes of the exhaust still audible.

For a more natural sound, though, you can lower the X5's wind reduction, as in the video above. This generates less isolation and brings the sound more in line with the Osmo 360 in terms of wind and road noise, although I'd say the X5 fairs slightly worse here.

The X5 still comes out on top, though, as exhaust sounds haven't been clipped and distorted, and the sound profile is wider with those deeper notes maintained.

There’s a clear winner here for me, and it’s the Insta360 X5.

But what about wireless mics?

So why does this matter? Can't you just hook up an external microphone to the Osmo 360?

Good question, and ostensibly this is where the DJI Osmo 360 has a leg up. It hooks up wirelessly and seamlessly with the DJI Mic 2, which is one of the best microphones for content creation. With its noise cancelation and 32-bit float recording, it’s a great mic for motovlogging content.

But that's only if you’re hooked up via a wired connection... which isn't possible with the Osmo 360 due to the camera having no wired audio interface at all.

The DJI Mic 2 can only hook up to the Osmo 360 wirelessly via OsmoAudio. DJI was tight lipped about what OsmoAudio actually is when I asked, but my informed opinion is that it’s basically just Bluetooth.

Recording audio over Bluetooth is not great with 50mph-plus winds added into the equation — even with cancelation algos switched on. You can hear some footage using OsmoAudio below, which is ruined by distortion.

I’ve asked DJI about whether OsmoAudio is to blame here, and will update this if not, but I have the same issue with the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro when paired with the DJI Mic 2. Bluetooth just kinda sucks for this type of recording.

I'm not hating

This is not to hate on any of the DJI products named above. Being able to hook up DJI gear so easily using OsmoAudio/Bluetooth is still fantastic for slower-paced content like general vlogging.

My point is that to get the benefit of an external mic, you’d have to hook one up via wire to begin with. Insta360 offers USB-C adapters for the X5, although there's no wired interface for the Osmo 360 to connect to external microphones — a major blow.

But again, all this is a little redundant when it comes to 360 cameras, as wired mics aren’t ideal for use with them anyway, even when you can hook one up.

Firstly, you have to strap an RX or TX (if wiring it straight into the camera) to the side of the camera. You need a cold shoe to do that, and the whole assembly becomes bulky, so you’re left with wires and mics intruding into your 360 frame. I’m also not comfortable with rigging up an expensive external mic when the camera is located 2.5 meters in the air on a selfie stick at 60MPH.

All this means that external mics are much less relevant (let alone usable) for 360 cameras as for action cameras. It’s an internal mic arena, and the Insta360 X5’s mics are so good that, for me at least, it’s a done deal.

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DJI has just launched the Osmo 360, which is a 360-degree action camera to compete with the vaunted Insta360 X5 — the best 360 camera you can buy.

Released globally today (31st July 2025), although with a U.S. release date pending due to tariffs, the DJI Osmo 360 costs £409 / €479 / AU$759 from DJI and official DJI retailers. With no specified launch date in the U.S., the manufacturer has not announced USD pricing yet either.

"The Osmo 360 will launch globally on Thursday, July 31, at 8AM ET, but it will not be available for sale immediately in the U.S. market through official DJI channels," a DJI spokesperson confirmed to me today. "We currently do not have an estimated timeline for when it will be available, but we will keep you posted when we do."

The DJI Osmo 360 boasts an 8K/50p maximum resolution from its two 1/1.1-inch square HDR sensors, recording in full 360-degree. That means up to 4K/50p output when reframed in 16:9. The Insta360 X5 shoots at a maximum 8K/30p, for a maximum 16:9 resolution of 4K/30p, and has two smaller 1/1.28-inch sensors — that means the Osmo 360 with its larger sensors could be a better performer in low light.

"[The] Osmo 360’s industry-first square HDR image sensor maintains the same 360° image field as a traditional 1-inch rectangular sensor, while eliminating the unused area of traditional rectangular sensors," says DJI. "This results in 25% more sensor utilization, as well as outstanding image quality and lower power consumption, all in an ultra-compact, lightweight camera body."

The Osmo 360 features 13.5 stops of dynamic range and a wide f/1.9 maximum aperture, which will further benefit low-light performance.

Naturally, the DJI Osmo 360 also shoots in single-lens mode at up to 4K/120p or 5K/60p, and it feature's DJI's usual RockSteady stabilization, which works extremely well in the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, although with the new sensors, it remains to be seen whether this system will be as effective — I'm currently testing the Osmo 360, so stay locked to Tom's Guide for my upcoming full review, where I'll cover this.

Unlike the Insta360 X5, the DJI Osmo 360 has 105GB of internal storage — similar to the Osmo Action 5 Pro, which also has internal storage. This is super handy if you've run out of space on your MicroSD card (a very real possibility when shooting at 8K/50p).

Mega battery life

DJI claims the Osmo 360 will shoot for 100 minutes at 8K/30p, and I can confirm the battery claim to be true — and even a little conservative — from my testing so far, where I achieved around 110 minutes at 8K/30p. By contrast, the Insta360 X5 managed 52 minutes at 8K/30p in my tests.

Interestingly, the Osmo 360 uses the same 1,950mAh battery as the Osmo Action 5 Pro, which means users of that camera can share batteries across devices. As with OsmoAudio, it's another handy ecosystem feature that makes it easy to flick between DJI devices.

The DJI ecosystem expands, yet again

The DJI Osmo 360 features wireless hookup to DJI microphones, including the DJI Mic 2 and DJI Mic Mini, via OsmoAudio, as we've seen on other DJI products like the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and DJI Osmo Pocket 3.

This is very important. I've been testing the Osmo 360 for around a week now ahead of my upcoming review, and I can already confirm that the internal mics on the Osmo 360 are nowhere near as good as the fantastic mics on the X5, so you'll want to be hooking up an external mic if you can.

However, it's another calculated move from DJI to expand its product ecosystem. DJI is consistently releasing products that work with its existing devices — in wireless hookup, but also with physical hardware, such as batteries (more on that below). Its products are pitched at enthusiasts and professionals, where this matters hugely.

Being able to take the same packs of batteries for two or three devices, and use a single set of wireless mics for everything streamlines workflow, and is a big reason to buy DJI products of Insta360, where each product uses its own battery/mount etc.

Analysis: A wolf in... wolf's clothing

The Osmo 360 is another blow struck in the ongoing tussle between DJI and its rival, Insta360. The two rival Chinese imaging firms have been vying for supremacy in the action cameras arena for some time now. Insta360, though, has long been the dominant name in 360-degree cameras and technology, while DJI has been the market leader in drones.

Earlier this week, Insta360 announced it was launching a drone brand, Antigravity, which would use the Insta360's 360 cameras to take aerial content creation into a new realm of immersion and ease of use. Antigravity presented a danger to DJI's grip on the drones market... until now.

The Osmo 360 is a wolf in wolf's clothing. What do I mean by that? Well, while it's dressed like a pretty mean wolf, underneath it's an even meaner one.

On the surface, the Osmo 360 is a potential threat to Insta360's grip on the 360-degree camera market. However, underneath, this camera seriously threatens Insta360's wider dominance on 360-tech in general. Importantly, this is a huge counter to Insta360's launch of a 360 drone brand.

Mark my words, before long, DJI will be putting its 360 cameras in drones, and then Insta360/Antigravity are going to have a major fight on their hands.

How long away that is, I can't say. The Osmo 360 is only the first iteration of DJI's 360 tech, and it needs refining (especially the software side) to compete with Insta360. That said, for a first 360 camera, the Osmo 360 is very, very impressive. And I'm not sure Antigravity has the time it needs to make being first-on-the-scene with 360 drones properly count in the long run.

The Osmo 360 may look like a run on the 360 camera market, but believe me: for DJI, this is all about drones. And if it can take some sales away from Insta360's other cameras too, that's a just a secondary benefit.

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As we proceed through day three, there are now less than two days left of Prime Day deals. And if you haven't already, now is the ideal time to scoop up a new camera.

And I mean that. I track action and 360 camera prices throughout the year and virtually all of the cameras on this list are cheaper now than they were on Black Friday last year, like the GoPro Hero13 Black, now just $329 at GoPro. Most of the cameras here are also at their lowest ever prices, like the latest Insta360 Ace Pro 2, now just $329 at Amazon. That means the deals right now are overwhelmingly better than last November.

That's true for my fellow Brits, too, as I'm seeing brilliant deals in the U.K. My favorite is the DJI Osmo Action 4 which is currently on sale for an outright crazy £166 at Amazon — my top pick of all the deals so far.

Now, I don't mean to rush you, but I advise acting fast if you've not yet bagged yourself an action camera deal, as I expect to see some of these offers wrapping up as we near the end of Amazon's trading event. You might not find prices this good for a while, and with summer here, I've no doubt you'll want to get to creating content while the sun is out!

Read on to see my favorite Prime Day 2025 action camera deals.

Prime Day action camera deals: Quick links

U.S. action camera deals

• See all Amazon Prime Day deals right now!
• GoPro Hero (2024) w/ 12M subscription: was $269 now $199 @ GoPro
• DJI Osmo Action 4: was $299 now $209 @ Amazon
• Insta360 Ace Pro: was $299 now $239 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero12 Black: was $369 now $279 @ Amazon
• Insta360 Go 3S (64GB): was $399 now $319 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero13 Black w/ 12M subscription: was $479 now $329 @ GoPro
• Insta360 Ace Pro 2: was $399 now $329 @ Amazon
• Insta360 Go 3S (128GB): was $329 now $344 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero13 Black Ultra Wide w/ 12M subscription: was $479 now $379 @ GoPro
• Insta360 X4: was $499 now $349 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X5: was $549 now $519 @ Amazon

U.K. action camera deals

• DJI Osmo Action 4: was £279 now £266 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero (2024): was £199 now £169 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero12 Black: was £399 now £243 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero13 Black: was £399 now £286 @ GoPro
• Insta360 Go 3S (128GB): was £369 now £295 @ Amazon
• Insta360 Ace Pro 2: was £389 now £339 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero13 Black Ultra Wide w/ 12M subscription: was £509 now £359 @ GoPro
• Insta360 X4 Premium bundle: was £524 now £437 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X5: was £519 now £493 @ Amazon

Prime Day action camera deals: GoPro

Prime Day action camera deals: DJI

Prime Day action camera deals: Insta360

Prime Day action camera deals: U.K. deals

Prime Day action camera deals: Accessories

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The Pentax WG-1000 is a rugged compact camera that can go with you pretty much anywhere. So I took that literally and took it with me on a weekend away filled with hiking, and threw every situation at it.

I’m a sucker for the best compact cameras. I love the ease of a point-and-shoot camera that I can easily grab to create memories quickly, and the WG-1000 allowed me to do just that. And while I’m a big fan, there are still some minor caveats to note. So here’s what I like and don’t like about the camera.

What I like

The Pentax WG-1000 has an incredibly durable design so that it can go with you on even the most treacherous of adventures. It also has impressive autofocus and is, of course, an easily portable compact camera.

It is super durable

The Pentax WG-1000 is incredibly durable. And that’s exactly what you want from a rugged camera. It is waterproof down to 15 meters for up to an hour, so you can take it with you on your next watersports adventure without worrying about dropping it (unless you're in deeper water).

The plastic-encased body of the camera is shockproof, which is brilliant for me as I am one of the clumsiest people I know. The second the camera was handed to me, I dropped it… Thank goodness it’s shockproof.

It is also dustproof, so if your adventures take you near any beaches, you can rest assured that the sand won’t get in and ruin the internal workings of the camera. You can also add the included silicone jacket for extra protection.

Good autofocus

The LCD screen is not a touch screen, and there’s no manual focus, so I used the camera's autofocus, which works really well. A half-press of the shutter button initiated the autofocus of the camer,a and it gave me perfect results every time.

The focus was especially significant in macro mode, where I could get up close to the flowers. The camera has a minimum focal length of 5cm with the 4.9mm lens, allowing me to capture a lot of detail despite its 16MP sensor.

Portable

The camera is compact, measuring only 4.6 x 2.7 x 2.0 inches, so it can easily be popped in the pocket of your trousers, shoved in a purse, or chucked at the bottom of your hiking bag. Me? I did all three of those things. It went in the back pocket of my jeans when I was walking around town, came with me in my purse when I went out to dinner with friends, and fit nicely in my bag on a hike.

There is a wrist strap that can be attached to the camera for ease of carrying, and a carabiner so the camera can be hooked onto belt buckles or the outside of bags.

What I don’t like

While the camera is easy to use, it has some minor drawbacks that are worth considering. The lack of IBIS means video is shaky at the best of times, and the small, 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor struggles in situations with bright lighting.

No IBIS

Okay, so the body of this camera is pretty tiny, so in-body image stabilization might be a bit of an ask. But on adventures, I often want to record a little snippet of my surroundings. So if it’s pouring with rai,n my phone is going to get pretty ruined.

The WG-1000 would be the perfect way to capture adventurous video clips if I could hold it steady, and on the side of the mountain in high winds, that just isn’t happening.

Washed out in bright lighting

The camera struggles in areas with bright light. I found this to be especially evident when I stood beneath skylights. In these situations, the real-world colors aren’t as bright on camera, and there is more noise in the images.

The bright lighting also made the images appear flat, whereas more shaded images brought out depth. For such a small sensor, the dynamic range is actually great, but you need to be extra mindful of your light source.

I count myself as blessed: as cameras editor here at Tom's Guide, a large part of my job entails testing all of the best action cameras around. And I love action cameras.

One of my absolute favorites is the DJI Osmo Action 4 (OA4), which is currently on sale for $249 at Amazon. This isn't the cheapest we've seen the OA4 go — earlier this year it dropped to just $209. With tariffs now affecting prices of tech, though, there's no guarantee we'll see those prices again.

In the U.K., the Osmo Action 4 is also on sale at Amazon, reduced from £279 to £189, which is a huge discount.

The OA4 currently holds my award of best budget action camera, and is a formidable professional 4K action camera with a variety of extremely powerful features. If you're looking for a tool for content creation this summer — without breaking the bank — look no further.

An oldie, but a (very) goodie

These days, there's a lot of choice in the action camera arena, with plenty of competition between DJI, GoPro and Insta360. The budget options are a little more restricted though.

There are affordable 'latest model' cameras out there, such as the Akaso Brave 8 Lite, and even the GoPro Hero (2024). These cameras have big drawbacks, though, in terms of video performance, features and usability.

Your best bet if looking for an action camera on a budget is to look for an older model. But old does not mean bad. The DJI Osmo Action 4 is technically an "old model", having been succeeded in 2024 by the epic DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro (which holds the top spot on our action cams roundup). But it's still a seriously good camera for even hardcore content creators.

The OA4 packs 4K video at up to 120fps, as well as D-Log recording for increased dynamic range (although you'll need to grade this footage yourself in post). It has extremely good internal microphones, but can also hook up seamlessly to DJI audio devices such as the DJI Mic 2 and DJI Mic Mini — both considered among the best microphones for content creators.

Price analysis

As I mentioned up top, this isn't the cheapest I've seen this camera sell. I'm constantly tracking the prices of cameras, so I've seen how the DJI Osmo Action 4 fluctuates in price.

In last year's Black Friday events, and in sales events earlier this year, I saw the OA4 drop as low as $209 for the Standard Combo. That's $40 cheaper than the current deal price.

If you wanted to wait for a sales event, there is a chance you may be able to shave more money off, however, we're only talking about $40. Those price drops during previous events were also pre-tariffs, so there's no guarantee we'll see them again.

All in all, I still think $249 is a very fair price for such a strong action camera, so this deal still warrants my recommendation.

In the U.K., where the Osmo Action 4 is currently on sale for just £189, it's a total no-brainer. This is a wildly cheap price for such a professional action camera. It's £10 less than the super-budget GoPro Hero (2024), and that camera isn't even in the same league as the DJI.

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The GoPro Hero represents a back-to-basics approach from the legendary, and indeed first, modern action camera manufacturer. This tiny camera is stripped back in every sense that matters, and deliberately so. See, the Hero is intended with a couple of (potentially overlapping) buyers in mind.

The first are no frills and/or budget buyers, who can’t or don’t want to spend large sums on a flagship camera packed with features they won’t use. In this arena, at $199, the Hero is competing against AliExpress specials like the Akaso Brave 8 Lite, but also against the fabulous DJI Osmo Action 4, one of the best action cameras around and often available for little over $200.

The second market are people who want a super compact device for mounting in tricky areas or on helmets. Here, the GoPro is up against the fantastic Insta360 Go 3S, our favorite tiny action camera, albeit a hell of a lot pricier than the Hero.

In both arenas, the GoPro Hero is facing some extremely tough competition. Does it do enough to warrant a recommendation? Find out more in my full GoPro Hero review.

GoPro Hero review: Specs

GoPro Hero review: Price & availability

The GoPro Hero was launched in late 2024 and costs $199 / £199 from Amazon, or from GoPro direct. For a decent new 4K action camera, this is cheap! The sub-$200 region is typically where the ‘no-name’ Amazon brand cameras sit, like the Akaso Brave 8 Lite ($199).

As we’ll see later on, the Hero suffers many of the same compromises as the Brave 8 Lite, including no in-camera stabilization. But make no mistake, if you’re weighing up the two, the premium GoPro is the better camera any day of the week.

However, looming in the background is a specter; a $200(ish), DJI-shaped specter, no less. The DJI Osmo Action 4 is, ostensibly, still retailing at around $270, but I’ve seen it drop as low as $209 around sales events, like Black Friday.

The Osmo Action 4 (OA4) is DJI’s 2023 flagship camera, packing in-camera stabilization, great audio and 4K/60p video. It’s bigger than the Hero, so if size and weight are your primary concern, it might not be the right fit. Otherwise, if you can hold out to an Amazon Prime event or seasonal sale, the OA4 makes it very difficult to justify saving $10 on the Hero.

GoPro Hero review: Design & controls

Key to the GoPro Hero’s design is its diminutive size. It weighs just 3 ounces and measures only 2.2 x 1.87 x 1.15 inches. This makes it an absolute dream to mount. I’ve been using the Hero as a dashcam, as it’s able to fit into small gaps on handlebars or tuck away between a car rear-view mirror and windscreen. It’s also perfect for helmet mounting and never proves cumbersome, nor does it weigh down your face when chin-mounted.

The Hero is noticeably smaller than the Insta360 Go 3S ($399) when using the Go’s Action Pod, which is necessary for attaching to fork mounts. That’s how you’ll be mounting for pretty much all high octane pursuits, making the Hero the better choice for action footage where space is the primary concern.

However, the Go 3S’ party trick is its size without the Action Pod — its thumb camera is truly tiny, so if you want to mount a camera in unconventional space-deprived places, like the inside of a helmet visor, on a cap peak or on your cat’s collar, the Go 3S is the camera for the job.

Build & waterproofing

As a GoPro, the Hero is extremely well built and feels like a premium product. On the base of the camera are flip out fingers, so it can be mounted to universal fork mounts without needing any other accessories. The Insta360 Go 3S requires a magnetic mount adapter to connect to fork mounts.

The Hero features a removable lens guard, which can be replaced if damaged. A similar guard can be found on virtually every action camera, but it's a great feature nonetheless.

The Hero is fairly rugged thanks to weather-sealing, but is only waterproof to 16 feet (5 meters), which is a lot less than the DJI Osmo Action 4 (59 feet) and even the Akaso Brave 8 Lite (33 feet). The Go 3S’ thumb camera is waterproof to 33 feet but its Action Pod is only splash-proof. For any water-based footage, I’d recommend the OA4.

Controls & connectivity

The Hero only has a single rear screen, so it isn’t suitable for vlogging. I found the 1.76-inch LCD display plenty bright enough to be usable on sunny days, but the touch sensitivity is very laggy. In fact, operating the camera using the rear screen is simply tedious.

There are two buttons, one for power and connection, the other for recording. Here too, physical buttons are frequently unresponsive, leading to missed inputs or double inputs as the camera lags then catches up with itself.

Powering on is always a sticking point: I’ll press the power 3 seconds button and nothing happens; wait, then press it again and get nothing; then put it on charge (assuming it’s dead), for it to finally power on with 43% battery. I also have this problem with other GoPro cameras — my Hero12 Black ($399) is particularly bad for it.

In fact, I almost always find GoPros frustrating and unreliable to control versus DJI and Insta360 cameras, and it’s enough to put me off using them entirely when I’m not using one for testing. When I have the choice between brands (which, I’m grateful to say, I always do), I leave GoPro on the shelf. I can’t risk not capturing footage because GoPro can’t make controls that work properly.

For connectivity, there’s a USB-C port and a microSD slot under the side hatch for connectivity, storage and file transfer. You can also transfer files wirelessly via the GoPro Quik app. All par for the course.

GoPro Hero review: Stabilization

GoPros can normally boast buttery smooth footage straight out of camera. Curiously, then, the Hero doesn’t have any in-camera image stabilization — a compromise made to enable its diminutive size.

There’s no way of getting around it: this sucks, and I hate it. Your footage can be stabilized, but it must first be passed through the GoPro Quik app, or stabilized in some other post-production software. This is the same setup as you’ll find on the Akaso Brave 8 Lite, although that camera’s app sucks (unlike Quik), so it’s an even bigger issue. Both the Insta360 Go 3S and DJI OA4 stabilize in-camera, so you can offload files and upload them immediately with no editing required.

Once you’ve stabilized the footage in the Quik app, though, it looks great. In the clip above, I took a Brompton (yes, a Brompton) on some gravel trails, with lots of bumps (especially under the bridge). It was a supremely uncomfortable experience, but the Hero makes it look like I was riding over Daytona Speedway asphalt.

GoPro Hero review: Video performance

Alright — on-paper stats out of the way first: the GoPro Hero tops out at 4K/30p and has no fancy modes as you’ll find on its bigger brother, the GoPro Hero13 Black ($399).

That means no timelapse modes, no night mode, no dashcam or loop recording modes, nada. You can’t even change the resolution in camera — this can be done only at export, so you’re locked into recording at 4K (which isn’t ideal if you want to shoot at a lower res to maximise the amount of footage you can record).

In the Quik app, you can choose to export in 4K/30p, 2.7K/30p or Full HD/30p. 25p is also available for 50Hz PAL recording. 2.7K/60p is available, but only in slow motion mode, and it’ll be exported in 30p to slow it down. Essentially, there’s no 60p standard output, so super-fast-paced action may look choppy. The Osmo Action 4 shoots 4K/60p.

All that aside, 4K footage from the Hero looks really good. As you can see in the video above as I walked through Cardiff Bay, the image is very sharp in the center, and reasonably sharp on the outside edges as wide angle barrel distortion creeps in.

Colors look fantastic. The stabilization footage in the section above is packed full of vivid greens, while the walking footage above is packed with colors, especially bold blues and rich reds. It all looks typically GoPro: nicely saturated and bold without looking artificial.

The optics aren’t perfect. Noticeable in most of the footage are lens flares, although I was often shooting in direct sunlight with the sun in-frame, so I can cut the Hero some slack here.

If you just want to shoot 4K footage, with no frills, you won’t have any complaints about the Hero’s output. You can also shoot in a wide 4:3 mode for a fisheye effect (although the lens guard creeps into frame).

GoPro Hero review: Microphone performance

The GoPro Hero’s internal microphone setup is pretty cruddy. Again, this is another compromise made to facilitate the camera’s diminutive size.

There are two internal microphones, whereas the standard in today’s flagships is three. There’s no wind reduction mode, nor a stereo mode. You can’t hook up a microphone via Bluetooth, nor via the USB-C port (I tried connecting my DJI Mic Mini to no avail). And GoPro offers no microphone adapter for the Hero.

The microphone performs well enough at low speeds. In the footage above of my cycling across a tidal barrage, the Hero’s microphones have done a decent job of cutting out most wind noise, and you can hear the whining and chain of the electric bike I was riding.

In the motorcycle audio clip above, however, recorded using the Hero, you can hear how bad the wind buffeting is at speed. There’s no real depth to the audio either, with the clip sounding tinny and all of the lower frequencies from the motorcycle’s engine and exhaust lost.

If audio is important to your footage, don’t buy the Hero. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro ($349) and the Insta360 X5 ($549) have far better microphones — the X5 in particular is extremely good at cutting wind noise.

GoPro Hero review: App

The GoPro Hero connects to the GoPro Quik app for file transfers, editing and remote control. Quik is a fairly decent application. It’s polished, easy to use, and allows you much easier control of the Hero than the camera’s small, unresponsive rear display. Changing what limited settings you can before you shoot is best done on the app.

The app is of course where you stabilize four footage, but it's also a great place to make basic edits such as trimming, editing exposure, etc. You can also apply some (supposedly) AI-generated effects, which can be quite funny.

I tested this out on a short video of some friends walking past the castle in the town of Hay-on-Wye — aptly, the Quik app applied some medieval-themed music… to four millennials walking past a string of parked cars.

GoPro Hero review: Battery life & overheating

The GoPro Hero is fitted with a 1,255mAh battery, which is pretty puny as action camera batteries go. The Osmo Action 5 Pro, our favorite cam, packs a 1,950mAh, for context.

The battery is also built in, so good luck if you run out of battery mid-shoot —you’re just going to have to wait until it charges up again.

Thankfully, battery life is excellent, as is thermal performance. My standardized stress testing involves running action cameras indoors at 4K/60p until they overheat and/or run out of charge. Obviously, 4K/60p isn’t available on the Hero, so I ran it at its maximum 4K/30p. The Hero managed a huge 1 hour 43 minutes and didn’t overheat at all.

GoPro Hero review: Verdict

So, back to my question from the top of this page: is the GoPro Hero right for you? That depends. It’s a camera of compromise, and whether that trade-off will be acceptable to you rests on what you need.

If budget is your primary concern, the Hero is definitely worth considering. It’s a much better package than most cameras in this price range, like the Akaso Brave 8 and Brave 8 Lite. With great 4K video and strong battery life, if very little else, the Hero is a simple budget tool for the job.

However, if possible, I would highly recommend budgeteers to hold out for the DJI Osmo Action 4 on sale (where it often retails around the $200 mark). 4K/60p video, in-camera stabilization, much better internal audio and a host of professional features make the OA4 a much better long term proposition.

If you need a small camera above all else, the Hero is a great budget alternative to the Insta360 Go 3S. Again, it can’t match the Go 3S in terms of performance, features or sheer versatility, but that’s the sacrifice you’ll need to make to save money.

In short, the Hero isn’t a bad camera. In a few core areas, it’s even impressive. Unfortunately, the GoPro Hero is just too compromised for a flat-out recommendation from me.

The Insta360 X5 is the latest and supposedly greatest flagship 360-degree camera from Chinese action camera manufacturer Insta360. And it's a camera the brand didn't need to make.

See, the X5's predecessor, the Insta360 X4, was already better than every other 360 camera out there. And it wasn't even a close contest. Just like the new model, the X4 offered 8K 360-degree capture. Its closest competitor, the GoPro Max, could only shoot at 5.6K.

That means Insta360 already had the rest of the 360-cam market well and truly beat, and in the most important fight no less. The X4 was a sublime instrument that I awarded 5 stars and top spot on our best 360 cameras roundup. Well, the new model is even better.

So, what are the differences, and is the X5 worth buying over its vaunted predecessor? Find out in my full Insta360 X5 review.

Insta360 X5 review: Price & availability

The Insta360 X5 starts at $549 / £519 for the camera-only bundle. That's $50 more than the Insta360 X4's launch price ($499) and objectively a lot of money. However, 360 cameras are simply expensive, and I feel the X5 offers enough features over its predecessor to warrant the extra cost.

You can pick up a GoPro Max for around $349 or an Insta360 X3 for $299, if you need to save money. However, their 5.6K / 5.7K respective max resolutions give you much less wiggle room with the output resolution of reframed footage — long story short, the GoPro Max and X3 are behind the times and, I'd argue at least, a false economy.

Insta360 X5 review: Design & controls

The Insta360 X5 looks virtually identical to the X4, and by extension the older Insta360 X3. At 4.9 x 1.8 x 1.5 inches, it's marginally bigger than the X4, although at 7.05 ounces, it's also marginally lighter too.

Regardless, it's a big old thing, and not ideal for mounting on helmets or in tight spaces. Trust me: mounting something this large on a bike helmet causes some serious drag above 50mph.

Naturally, the X5 is extremely sturdy and is fully waterproof, now down to 49 feet (15M) versus the 33 feet (10m) of the X4. As you can always expect from an Insta360 product, it's extremely well made and feels premium (as it should, given the price).

The rear display is unchanged from the prior model, but that's no bad thing. It's large, vivid and bright enough that I had no issues using it on blazing sunny days.

The X5 features a microSD slot within the battery compartment, and a USB-C port for charging and hooking up accessories. You won't be able to use certain accessories from the X4 if, like me, you already own that camera. The USB-C microphone adapter and batteries, for example, are not inter-compatible.

Controls & menu

The controls are laid out as per the two prior models, with the Q and power buttons along the side, while the recording and menu buttons sit on the rear below the screen. They're all easy to get to, even with motorcycle gloves on.

The menu system has been tweaked, though, and is now more complex. One of the things I have always loved about the X4 (and other Insta360 products) is the simplicity of the menu system, which has historically been easy to use one-handed, gloved, and distracted. It isn't awful now, but it took me a little time to readjust.

New features

Two important new features on this iteration are an integrated mesh wind guard over the microphone to help reduce wind buffeting, and fully replaceable lenses. I'll discuss the wind guard a little later on in the microphone section, but suffice to say it works exceptionally well.

The removable lenses are also a very big deal. Insta360 has until now supplied separate lens guards to protect the lenses of the X3 and X4, given the camera's built-in lenses are extremely liable to impact from stones kicked up on the road, or impacts while positioned 6 foot in the air on a selfie stick.

Unfortunately, putting anything in front of a lens degrades image sharpness — even the tempered glass guards Insta360 produces. The manufacturer knows this, and has designed the lenses of the X5 to be removable and replaceable with the purchase of an affordable repair kit ($29), if the need arises.

This is great to see, meaning you can use your X5 without lens guards knowing there's a solution should the worst happen.

Insta360 X5 review: Video performance

The Insta360 X5 shoots phenomenally good video, primarily thanks to its 8K maximum resolution in 360-degree mode. Now, I'm not usually a fan of resolution-touting, spec-swinging contests, but in the world of 360 cams, higher resolutions result in tangible benefits.

Buy an 8K traditional action camera like the Insta360 Ace Pro 2, and you won't really see the benefits of 8K over 4K, because in all likelihood you (and everyone else) will be playing it back on, at most, a 4K monitor.

However, with 360-cams, that max resolution really matters. You can't really show the full 360-degree capture in, say, a 16:9 window — i.e. on YouTube. That footage needs to be reframed to do so, which means cropping into the image.

The wider the field of view FoV you use for that reframing, the more resolution you keep, but the more of ultra-wide angle barrel distortion (fish eye effect) you'll get. The higher the max resolution, the more flexibility you have with cropping, allowing you to maintain resolution at different FoVs when reframed. The Insta360 X5's 8K max resolution typically allows:

• 4K in the widest MegaView 170° FoV
• 2.5K/1440P in the narrowest Linear 110° FoV

There are various FoVs available between the MegaView and Linear, giving you the flexibility to tailor the quality of your output based on the resolution and/or FoV you need.

In contrast, a lower max resolution, like the Insta360 X3's 5.7K, would typically result in:

• 2.7K in the widest MegaView 170° FoV
• 1080P in the narrowest Linear 110° FoV

Essentially, that 8K max resolution genuinely makes a big different to quality of your output, and the flexibility you have when editing it.

Stabilization

This time around, image stabilization is automatically applied and non-adjustable (so you can't select different levels or disable it). It's a good job Insta360's stabilization is some of the best in the biz, X5 included, so no worries there.

As you can see in the video clips throughout this section, footage is incredibly smooth — you really have nothing to worry about, no matter how extreme your action content.

360-degree footage

As a 360-degree camera, the main benefit of the X5 is that it gives you ultimate flexibility with camera angles. Filming in 360 degrees means you can essentially shoot first, frame later, and you don't need a B-cam to cut away to a separate angle.

As you can see in the footage above, by recording in 360-degrees, it is then possible to pan from a subject, to the road ahead, and then back to the subject whenever wanted.

Like many other 360 cameras, the X5 does this by shooting through two lenses, each onto their own sensor. Both record a 180-degree field of view (FoV), which is then stitched together by the camera to result in a 360-degree picture.

Stitching lines are often visible by missing chunks of the frame. The X5 does suffer from some noticeable stitching, but it isn't major, and is confined to the area directly below where the camera is positioned. I couldn't see any stitching lines elsewhere.

Stitching gaps below the camera often works in the user's favor, as it's what enables the X5's invisible selfie stick view, where the selfie stick is removed and the camera appears to be floating, as you can see in the footage above.

It wouldn't be an Insta360 X-cam without the crazy effects you can apply to 360 footage either. There are plenty to choose from, from the funky 'Tiny Earth' effects demonstrated above, to stomach-churning flipping and rolling, through to more sober effects such as post-production subject tracking (which works very well).

As you can see in the screenshot above, the software was able to detect and track faces frame by frame — it could even pick up faces in passing cars!

Single-lens

While it's a 360 camera, the X5 can also shoot like a traditional action camera in single lens mode at 4K, up to 60fps. You can use all of the set fields of view (FoV) available in 360 mode, but once you set your FoV, it's locked in as you record, like a traditional action cam.

Single lens footage looks fantastic in 4K/60p, as you can see in the clip above. This video was shot on a sunny day in the camera's Vivid color profile and looks fantastic. It's sharp, with bold, vibrant greens and blues, but doesn't feel unnatural.

InstaFrame

One of the issues with 360 footage is that it takes a lot of editing. You need to go through the entire footage and set keyframes to keep everything aligned on/switch to the FoV you want at any given time.

InstaFrame is a new mode that shoots single-lens and 360-degree footage simultaneously. This means you have a fixed-perspective footage that doesn't need shedloads of reframing, plus 360 footage to change angle if you want to.

After shooting some footage in this mode, I can certainly see the usefulness of having a single-lens file, with a 360 file as essentially B-roll to splice in when I wanted. If you're in a time pinch and just need a video to upload immediately with the flexibility to edit more later, it could be great.

However, when you do that editing later, you'll still have to reframe that 360 footage as usual, and then take extra time splicing and arranging into a single lens timeline. What's more, this mode maxes out at 5.7K (1080P when reframed) for the 360 footage and 1080p for the single lens footage, so you're sacrificing a lot of resolution.

Low light performance

The X5 features larger sensors than the X4, up from 1/2 inches to 1/1.28 inches. Larger sensors generally allow for cleaner images in low light, and wider dynamic range capture.

Additionally, Insta360 says it has fitted a better image processor, which should smooth out noise better than the prior model, resulting in a sharper image.

As you can see from the footage above, shot in the PureVideo low light mode, performance is pretty solid. I shot the footage at around 9pm, after the sun had set. The X5 has brightened up the sky significantly. The video is free from noise, although there is some loss of sharpness thanks to the smoothing effects of noise suppression, but this isn't major.

Insta360 X5 review: Microphone performance

The Insta360 X5 has the best internal microphone of any action camera or 360 camera I've tested. Even better than the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro (and that's no mean feat).

Firstly, there's a vocal enhancement mode, which cuts background noise to (you guessed it) prioritize vocals. This mode is designed for general vlogging in noisy environments.

I tested this mode with some very loud church bells being rung behind me, and it did a decent job of quieting the bells and making my voice sound more prominent. As you can see in the video above.

Wind reduction modes are usually little to write home about, but the X5's is extremely capable. Combined with the new built-in mesh wind-guard, motorcycling footage (the ultimate test for wind reduction) remains eerily free of buffeting. As you can hear in the clip below, using the 'Strong' wind reduction setting, the motorcycle's engine and exhaust are discernible and wind buffeting is minimized.

The 'Strong' reduction processing has resulted in a little clipping and distortion of the upper frequencies, plus some thinning out of the sound as lower frequencies are cut.

The clip below, by contrast, using the 'Weak' wind reduction setting, is a little truer to life. There's less clipping up top, more depth to the engine note, and only a little more wind buffeting — I think it's a very happy medium.

Compare both to the footage below with wind reduction disabled, which is effectively ruined by wind buffeting.

There isn't as much depth as you'd expect from a high end external microphone like the Rode Wireless Pro or DJI Mic 2, but the X5's microphone performance is more than good enough for online content. Besides, if you don't (or physically can't) place an external properly out of the wind, you'll experience ruinous wind buffeting anyway.

For motovlogging in particular, where wind buffeting is a major issue, I highly recommend the X5.

Insta360 X5 review: App & software

The best way to edit 360 footage from the X5 is via the Insta360 app or Insta360 Studio desktop software. I used the app for all the footage in this review, because I was shooting testing footage while away from home. It's super easy to use for short clips, giving you plenty of basic editing functionality (exposure, colors etc), plus the ability to keyframe edit, align and add crazy effects to 360 footage.

If editing longer clips, I would advise instead using the Insta360 Studio desktop app, as the interface gives you more space, and you'll find your workflow much easier.

The Insta360 app also offers a remote control mode, so you can control the camera from your phone. Naturally, it allows file transfers/exporting to your phone over Wi-Fi and direct social media uploads.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: the Insta360 app is still best in class as far as action/360 camera companion apps go.

Insta360 X5 review: Battery & overheating

The X5 features an improved battery and better heat dissipation versus the X4. Insta360 claims a 185-minute maximum battery life, up from 135 minutes in the prior model.

That 185-minute claim is when the X5 is put into a new 'Endurance mode' at 5.7K/24p. Endurance mode tops out at 5.7K/30p, which will result in Full HD at 30p 16:9 reframing. Not really an ideal scenario, as the main benefit of the X5 (like the X4 before it) is the ability to reframe in 2.7K thanks to that 8K maximum 360-degree resolution.

In my real world testing, I managed to get around 95 minutes of mixed footage on a single charge, and still had 7% battery left. That included:

• 52 minutes at 8K/30p (used ~70% battery)
• 20 minutes at 5.7K/30p Endurance mode (used ~10% battery)
• 16 minutes of InstaFrame footage at 5.7K/1080P/30p (used ~7% battery)
• 9 minutes of single-lens footage at 4K/60p (used ~5% battery)

Oddly, single-lens battery life appears to have gone backwards. In my standardized 4K/60p single-lens indoor stress tests, the X5 lasted for 87 minutes. The X4, by comparison, lasted for 111 minutes at 4K/60p. Neither overheated once (although expect overheating at 8K during slower-paced of standstill shooting).

Clearly, as Insta360 says, big improvements have been made to the battery during 360 use, although its disappointing to see a decrease in performance in single lens mode. I loved the fact that the X4 was able to put many of the best action cameras to shame at 4K/60p. Still, what matters most in a 360 camera is 360-degree battery life, and that has been improved.

The X5 also features rapid charging. Using a 100W charger, I obtained 50% battery from a 20-minute charge. So you can expect zero to full in under 45 minutes.

Insta360 X5 review: Verdict

The Insta360 X5 is easily the finest 360 camera money can buy. It produces stunning video, with the best quality 360-footage, features and editing it's possible to get right now. Combined with a superb microphone array, the usual Insta360 slick interface and app, and replaceable lenses (removing the need for lens guards), and the X5 is a truly worthy successor to the X4. I'd say it's even worth the upgrade.

The only thing that Insta360 has left to achieve now for its 360 cameras is 4K 16:9 reframing, which is a serious technical feat, requiring entirely new sensors. I'm sure they'll get there before long. And until then, the Insta360 X5 is more than enough 360-camera for me.

GoPro has just quietly launched the new Max 360 action camera — and it's the first refresh the camera has gotten since its original release over five years ago.

The update introduces features we've been waiting for since we reviewed the first-gen model. The 2025 refresh, which retains the 5.6K video resolution, brings a bigger battery, better mounting system and a new app — at a lower price too.

GoPro announced the updated Max 360 in its latest blog post: "The 5.6K spherical camera now comes with a MAX Enduro Battery and an upgraded mounting system, making it compatible with all standard ¼-20 tripod mounts. All for only $349.99 MSRP."

Alongside this, the action camera giant is introducing a "totally updated 360 mobile editing experience in the Quik App." Through the app, you'll be able to easily edit footage with tools like AI-powered object tracking, keyframing, automatic transitions, and more.

Big updates

The most noteworthy upgrade is the new mounting system. Under the folding mount fingers is a standard tripod mount, which conceals the selfie stick to produce the "invisible pole" effect.

There's also a bigger 1,600mAh Enduro battery for extended recording times even in extreme conditions, such as 14°F (-10°C). GoPro doesn't specify battery duration, though.

Video resolution, however, is still limited to 5.6K (which results in 1080P footage when reframed to 16:9). The Insta360 X4 (the best 360 camera you can buy right now) records 8K/30P video (reframed at 2.7K) and has a 4K invisible stick mode.

Of course, priced at $499, Insta360's offering is also over $100 pricier than GoPro's. It remains to be seen how the two compare which we'll be able to determine once we've reviewed the 2025 iteration of the Max.

The original Max had a retail price of $499 / £479. The 2025 refresh is cheaper and is available to purchase already, for $349 at GoPro U.S. / £349 at GoPro U.K.

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The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is the latest flagship action camera from Chinese manufacturer Insta360, competing with the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and GoPro Hero13 Black — two of the best action cameras you can buy. All are aimed at content creators and professionals who need a rugged camera with high resolution video.

The Ace Pro 2 builds on the original Insta360 Ace Pro, which was a good but overpriced camera with some gimmicky features like 8K recording. The Ace Pro 2 brings only modest upgrades over the original model and packs the same gimmicks, but comes with a reduced launch price, making it a more competitive option.

Could this be the action camera for you? Find out in my full Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Specs

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Price & availability

Insta360 has launched the Ace Pro 2 at $399, which is $50 less than the launch price of its predecessor, the Ace Pro. It’s in line with the GoPro Hero13 Black ($399) and $50 more than our favorite action camera, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro.

Dropping prices in line with the other flagships is a sensible move from Insta360. The Ace Pro was a good camera, but it offered little that the GoPro Hero12 Black didn’t, except relatively useless 8K and a Leica lens that wasn’t very sharp. It wasn’t worth the $50 premium, so this new pricing feels about right.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Design & controls

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is styled almost identically to its predecessor. That means that it’s huge, at 2.8 x 2.1 x 1.5 inches and 6.3 ounces, making it the largest and heaviest of all three flagships. Build quality is par for the course with Insta360, i.e. excellent.

The Ace Pro 2 again eschews the conventional front selfie display for a flip-up 2.5” rear LED display for to-camera shooting (there is a front screen, but it’s only a settings display). The flip-up rear screen is bright, responsive and much easier to use than a tiny front display, especially with gloves on. It’s disappointing to see no upgrades over the Ace Pro though, like an OLED panel. Insta360’s menu layout is my favorite of all three major brands, giving you lots of control, and its inherent ease of use is complemented by the spacious rear screen.

The Ace Pro 2 also utilizes Insta360’s magnetic mounting system, which is quick, secure and versatile. Since GoPro’s overdue adoption of magnetic mounting on the Hero13 Black, you’ll now find similar mounts on all of the big brand flagships.

Waterproofing has been increased from 33 feet in the Ace Pro to 39 feet (12 meters), which is 6 feet deeper than the Hero13 Black (33 feet) but quite a way from the DJI Action 5 Pro’s 65-foot rating.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Stabilization

Insta360’s stabilization systems are always excellent, and the Ace Pro 2 is no exception. The footage below was shot on very bumpy ground using the camera’s high stabilization mode.

Looking at the bike’s speedometer in the bottom right, you can see just how much the bike is bouncing around over the bumpy terrain. The Ace Pro 2 does a solid job of ironing out the rough ride for smooth footage.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Autofocus

The Ace Pro 2 features a face priority metering mode, which also functions as the face tracking autofocus mode. It’s pretty tenacious, detecting and tracking onto my face and keeping locked onto it even when I obscured my face partially behind a phone.

This mode isn’t as good as DJI’s subject tracking mode, but that tops out at 2.7K while the Ace Pro 2 will track your face all the way up to 8K. Besides, the Ace Pro 2’s autofocus is pretty good even in the standard video mode, and I had no issues staying in focus when shooting selfie-style footage.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Video performance

The Ace Pro 2 still features the two gimmicks that were my main gripe with the original Ace Pro: 8K recording and Leica-branded optics. While the majority of displays top out at 4K, recording in 8K serves little purpose other than to oversample 4K footage in post or to crop/zoom in heavily in post. The latter is a useful feature, but most users won’t need this, and the difficulty of dealing with 8K files in the first place, in my opinion, outweigh the benefits.

Meanwhile, the Leica logo is employed to suggest premium optics, although in reality they’re no sharper or better than on other action cameras. My issue with these features on the original Ace Pro was that they offered little benefit yet came with a $50 premium over an equivalent GoPro — that’s no longer the case, so I can cut the Ace Pro 2 some slack.

In the sample shots below, taken at various FoVs, the centers of images are always sharp and detailed, while edges are soft and fuzzy. This isn’t an issue exclusive to Insta360 — at such wide angles, you’re always going to see soft corners — but my advice is the same as per the original Ace Pro: just don’t buy this camera thinking that because the lens says “Leica” on the front, it’ll be sharper than a GoPro.

In moving images, soft corners are much less noticeable, and 4K footage looks fantastic. It’s nice and sharp, with decent levels of contrast and natural-feeling colors when using the Standard color profile, as you can see in the dog-cam footage below.

The Ace Pro 2 shoots up to 8K/30p, with 4K/60p available, plus 4K/120p for high res slow motion. There’s I-Log recording for challenging dynamic range capture, although no Hybrid Log Gamma as with the OA5 Pro — if you’re a pro shooter and that’ll affect your existing workflows, the DJI will be the better buy. Insta360’s FreeFrame video is present up to 4K/60p, which lets you shoot video and reframe later in different aspect ratios.

Low light

In low light, the Ace Pro 2’s footage becomes very noisy, with a noticeable loss in detail. In the gallery above, you can see a snapshot from 4K/30p video shot in low light, and then with the exposure boosted in Adobe Photoshop, which better shows the loss of detail.

There’s a night mode called Pure Video, which is locked to 30p when shooting 4K. Pure Video brightens images up nicely, although doesn’t clean up the noise and fuzziness. The Ace Pro 2’s low light performance is comparable to that of the DJI OA5 Pro and GoPro Hero13 Black — this is a natural limitation of such small sensors.

Timelapse

The Ace Pro 2 features Timelapse and TimeShift (Hyperlapse) modes, as well as a Starlapse mode for long exposures, which can be used for its eponymous star trail painting, or for light painting. These are fun, but the timelapse and light painting modes on the GoPro Hero13 Black offer more features and much more creative control. If those kinds of videos and shots are important to you, opt for the GoPro.

Dashcam features

The Ace Pro 2 has two features that enable its use as a dashcam. There’s loop recording, which records in a loop, saving only the last segment of footage — you’ll find this on DJI and GoPro cameras, too. However, the Ace Pro 2 goes one step further with a dedicated dashcam mode that functions similarly to loop recording but saves multiple clips, overwriting only the first one when a set storage limit is reached.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Audio performance

The Ace Pro 2 introduces an integrated wind guard, which can be replaced with a blank sealed guard for underwater filming. The guard makes a noticeable difference when filming in windy conditions, helping keep the audio generally much cleaner than on the original Ace Pro in comparable conditions. In the clip below, the deep rumble of the motorbike engine has been captured well, while Wind Reduction mode has softened the wind buffeting to some extent. You can hear distortion and clipping in the higher frequencies, but the Ace Pro 2’s internal audio is as good as the OA5 Pro’s and a step ahead of the Hero13 Black’s.

In addition to 3.5mm wired hookup (via Insta360’s microphone adapter) for external mics, the Ace Pro 2 supports wireless external microphone connection. The list of compatible mics is pretty thin, but it includes the DJI Mic 2, my favorite wireless mic. DJI’s cameras have historically been the only ones that could connect to its mics wirelessly, giving it an advantage — well, no more!

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: App

Insta360’s app is the most user-friendly and feature-packed of all three major brands’ companion apps. It provides a wide selection of effects and filters, including some fun AI filter effects, as in the video below. You can control the Ace Pro 2 remotely via the app, which makes manual control of the camera much easier.

There are also excellent video editing tools, so you can apply a wide range of edits to your clips, from exposure control through to face filters, slow motion and freeze framing. There’s a timeline editor to arrange lots of clips into full videos, alongside audio tracks, text overlays, cuts and effects, — it can be a little fiddly to control, especially when you want to move clips around the timeline, but it’s a very powerful tool considering the app is free.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Battery life & overheating

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 features an 1,800mAh battery, and achieved 76 minutes from a single charge in my standardized indoor 4K/60p test. In the same test, the GoPro Hero13 Black (1,900mAh) achieved 80 minutes and the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro (1,950mAh) achieved 112 minutes, making the Ace Pro 2 the weakest of the bunch. The original Ace Pro managed 80 minutes.

During the test, the Ace Pro 2 demonstrated exceptionally good thermal performance. While it became hot to the touch, it didn’t overheat and stop recording at all. The OA5 Pro overheated after 43 minutes while the Hero13 Black overheated after 54 minutes.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: How does it compare?

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review: Verdict

So should you buy the Insta360 Ace Pro 2? If you’re already invested in DJI or GoPro accessories, I’d say no: the Ace Pro 2 doesn’t offer enough over other brands to justify a switch. The DJI is cheaper and better waterproofed, while the GoPro offers unique Lens Mods for plenty of creative options. If you’re upgrading from an older Insta360 camera, though, or this is your first action cam, the Ace Pro 2 is a great purchase.

It makes noticeable improvements over its predecessor, while costing $50 less. Internal audio is decent thanks to the new wind guard and Bluetooth compatibility with external microphones has been improved. It still touts the same gimmicks as the original Ace Pro, such as 8K recording and a not-very-sharp Leica lens, but these no longer demand a premium over the equivalent GoPro, so I can look past them.

Video quality and stabilization are generally great, its flip out screen and interface are both super easy to use, and the Insta360 app is still the best action camera companion app around. While it isn’t the cheapest around, you won’t regret splashing out on the Ace Pro 2.

Want to know what your cat does all day, besides sleeping and licking himself? So was I, which is why I strapped an action camera to my cat to see what he saw on his little excursions outside. This racked up over 800,000 view on YouTube, and you can check it out below.

Insta360 — the company that made the camera — has come out with a newer version that's even better suited to capturing your feline's antics. And right now the Insta360 Go 3S is on sale for $40 off in Amazon's Cyber Monday sale.

When I put the Insta360 Go 2 on my cat, I was really impressed with how well and how clearly it captured video of him running around my yard. Video was crisp, clear, and colorful — it was a real treat to see his little paws padding though the yard, with his whiskers drooping down in front of the lens. Even cuter was when he started chirping at some birds who were safely out of his reach.

The one problem with my cat is that he really doesn't like to wear collars; we've gone through several, as he's managed to ditch the others somewhere in our neighborhood. So, I've been reluctant to put a $300 camera back on him, never to be seen again.

However, the Insta360 Go 3S has a feature new to the line: Apple Find My, so if your cat is like mine, you have a much better chance at recovering the camera if he decides to shed his collar.

But the ability to track down a missing camera is just one of the neat things about the Go 3S; unlike the older cameras, it has a higher resolution of 4K/30 fps, and it's waterproof to 33 feet. The camera on its own can record up to 38 minutes of 1080p video — that's a few minutes less than the Go 3 — but should still give you plenty of time to see what your kitty does outside.

Cyber Monday deals are just around the corner, and while Black Friday is now in the rear view mirror, I haven't seen any let up in deals on the best action cameras. In fact, all the deals that were live in the run up to Black Friday are still going, with one or two even coming back after stock issues.

My favorite deal is on the DJI Osmo Action 4, which is now $209 at Amazon with a $15 gift card included. The GoPro Hero13 Black Accessory bundle, is $100 off at Amazon which is another epic deal if you can stretch to the higher price point — it packs a load of accessories for only $10 more than the discounted base Hero13 Black.

As the reviews and cameras editor here at Tom's Guide, I test every action camera launched by GoPro, DJI and Insta360, putting them through their paces while comparing each to one another. I know how all of these cameras perform and stack up against one another. So, let me take you through the best Cyber Monday action camera deals.

Quick links

• 12 months GoPro Premium: FREE with Hero13 Black @ GoPro
• GoPro Hero: was $199 now $179 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero11 Black: was $249 now $203 @ Amazon
• DJI Osmo Action 4 (+$15 gift card): was $315 now $209 @ Amazon
• Insta360 Ace Pro: was $349 now $299 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero12 Black: was $349 now $299 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X3 360 camera: was $379 now $329 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero13 Black: was $399 now $339 @ Amazon
• GoPro Hero13 Black Accessories bundle: was $449 now $349 @ Amazon
• Insta360 Go 3S (128GB): was $429 now $389 @ Amazon
• Insta360 X4 360 camera: was $499 now $424 @ Amazon

Cyber Monday GoPro deals

As I predicted earlier in the run up to Black Friday, GoPro hasn't dropped the Hero13 Black any further than $339 (unsurprising given how recently it launched). As we head into Cyber Monday, that won't change, so if you've been eyeing up the the Hero13 Black, now is as good a time to buy as any so far this sales event.

The best deal on the latest model is still on the Hero13 Black accessories bundle, which packs a decent array of additional accessories for only $10 more than the base Hero13 Black's sale price. This deal has been live for a few days, too, and likely isn't going to move further. If you're on a budget, the best deal of last week was on the powerful Hero11 Black for just over $200 — this ended, but I'm glad to see it's made a return on Amazon! The tiny Hero, launched alongside the Hero13 Black, is still discounted by $20 to $179, and while not as powerful as a fully fledged Hero Black model, is still a great little camera.

Cyber Monday Insta360 deals

Insta360's Cyber Monday deals are, admittedly, never huge, while its cameras are always pricey to begin with. However, if you're after a 360 camera, GoPro's Hero Max just doesn't compete with the Insta360 X4, and the Insta360 app is just so well geared to 360 footage manipulation that the X3 still comes out on top of the Hero Max too, despite comparable top line figures. All that is to say, if you're in the market for a 360 cam, the deals on the X4 and X3, while not huge, are your best bet.

The Ace Pro is a decent traditional camera, and is now more competitively priced than ever, although unless you're already invested in other Insta360 products I would opt for a DJI Osmo Action 4 instead, given it's on such a huge discount right now.

I'm not anticipating any further drops from the deals we see now, so if you have your eye on an Insta360 cam, now is as good as ever to take the plunge.

Cyber Monday DJI deals

DJI's action camera lineup is very small — there's just one line: the Osmo Action cameras. Naturally, then, it isn't offering many deals to begin with when compared to Insta360 and GoPro, which each have large rosters of cameras. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro (OA5 Pro) is currently our favorite action camera, but it's too new for the company to want to discount right now, so if you want a cutting edge action cam of the most recent 2024 flagship generation, the GoPro Hero13 Black is the only deal for you. I'm hoping for some discounts on the OA5 Pro in response to GoPro discounting the Hero13 Black, but with no movement yet, it's not looking promising.

The deal on the Osmo Action 4 (OA4), however, is an absolute belter. This is DJI's 2023 flagship, so it's hardly old tech. It maxes out at 4K (like the OA5 Pro) but very few need more than that. In every other respect, the OA4 is still a very competitive camera, even against 2024 flagships, so $200 is an utter steal! If you're after the most bang for your buck, the OA4 deal above is it.

Cyber Monday action camera deals: Accessories

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This year's Black Friday deals are already rolling in, even though there are still a few days left before the big day itself. There are already some great deals on action cameras, but this is my favorite so far: the GoPro Hero13 Black is currently $60 off at Amazon.

As the cameras editor here at Tom's Guide, I test action cameras for a living, and I've spent a lot of time with the Hero13 Black. This is GoPro's very latest model that was only just launched, so while I'd like to be proved wrong, I highly doubt it's going much lower than this. That means now is the time to buy a new GoPro!

The GoPro Hero13 Black is one of the best action cameras around. As the reviews and cameras editor here at Tom's Guide, I oversee all our action camera testing, and have spent some serious quality time with this action camera for my GoPro Hero13 Black review.

This action camera is an absolute unit, packing 5.3K video at up to 60fps, plus GoPro's legendary image stabilization and 33 foot waterproofing. Those things were also present on the older GoPro Hero12 Black, but the 13th iteration brings some super handy (and in some cases long overdue) new features to the lineup.

Firstly, there's magnetic mounting, which has been a feature on competitors for a while now, but which GoPro had held off implementing. I was really glad to see this feature finally making an appearance, as it makes quick mounting much easier. GoPro has also widened the Lens Mod range for the Hero13 Black, producing extra lenses including ultra wide, macro and anamorphic (coming in 2025) variants, giving you lots of creative options.

Overall, at their list prices the GoPro's main rival, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, overtook the Hero13 Black to the top position in our best action cameras, ultimately offering almost as many features for $50 less, making it better value for money. However, with this deal, the GoPro Hero13 Black is a no-brainer, as it's now $20 less than the Osmo Action 5 Pro.

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Make sure to stay locked to our Black Friday deals live coverage for all the latest and greatest deals on your favorite tech. And why not also check out:

• Best Buy Black Friday deals
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With the Hero13 Black, the reigning champ GoPro enters the arena yet again to defend its title as the best action camera. The challengers: none other than the fabulous DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro (OA5 Pro) and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2.

Historically, GoPro has rarely had to strain to keep its Hero Black line ahead (if only marginally) of DJI and Insta360. There’s the weight of GoPro’s brand for a start: it’s not uncommon to hear “GoPro” and “action camera” used interchangeably, although I always rebuke any blasphemers for doing so in my presence. There’s also the fact that the Hero Black line is the original winning formula — why meddle with what works? And so, in much the same way as its predecessor, the GoPro Hero12 Black, was but a modest modification of the Hero11 Black, so is the Hero13 Black another demonstration of evolution, not revolution.

The thing is, with this latest crop of action cameras, the title belt has never been so hotly contested. With unbeatable waterproofing and pro features from DJI, plus 8K recording from Insta360, is it really enough for a GoPro to just extend its Lens Mod range, slap on a magnetic mount, tweak the battery and call it a day? Does GoPro still have what it takes to maintain its record? Find out in this GoPro Hero13 Black review.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Specs

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Price & availability

The GoPro Hero13 Black starts at $399 at Amazon U.S. and GoPro, $50 more than the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro ($349) and the same price as the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 (which I’m testing at the time of writing).

GoPro hasn’t raised the price over the Hero12 Black, which also launched at $399. That’s good, although not something to dole out too much kudos for — that’d be like thanking someone for not slapping you. The Hero13 Black hasn’t received all that many serious performance updates over its predecessor: there are few new shooting modes and boosted battery capacity, but for almost all intents and purposes, it’s the same camera. The biggest performance feature is the expansion of lens mods through a new mount, but those lens mods come separately and will each cost you a pretty penny.

By contrast, DJI has dropped the Osmo Action 5 Pro’s price by $50 over the Osmo Action 4, despite major internal upgrades, including the sensor (and therefore stabilization) and waterproofing. Likewise, Insta360 has dropped the Ace Pro 2’s launch price by $50 from the (frankly overpriced) Insta360 Ace Pro, which launched at $449.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Design & controls

The GoPro Hero13 Black has received very modest design changes over the Hero12 Black, sporting an altered lens mount (more on that later), a slightly different frontal display surround and, well, that’s about it.

Displays & dimensions

The 1.4-inch front and 2.27-inch rear displays are exactly the same as on the GoProHero12 Black, and are both LCD touch screens that are bright, responsive and large enough for their respective purposes. Both pale in comparison to the updated OLED displays on the Osmo Action 5 Pro, which are brighter, crisper, larger and more spacious.

Likewise, the Hero13 Black’s dimensions stay the same as the Hero12 Black at 2.8 x 2 x 1.32 inches and 5.4 ounces, making it larger and heavier than the OA5 Pro, although by no means as cumbersome as the chunky Insta360 Ace Pro 2. Build quality is, as can be expected from GoPro, fantastic — second to none and equal to both DJI and Insta360.

Controls & connectivity

Most features and controls are tweaked via the menu on the rear screen. GoPro’s menu system is sensibly laid out and can toggle quickly between an “Easy” simplified mode and an in-depth “Pro” mode, which gives lots of creative manual control. I find GoPro’s menu navigation frustrating at times: going back often requires scrolling up to the top of the page to hit a back arrow, and while doing so it’s super easy to accidentally knock a setting, especially while wearing gloves. On one occasion, I accidentally toggled the camera from 4K to 2.7K recording; on another, I managed to accidentally change the shooting mode to TimeWarp, resulting in the time-lapsed dog cam footage below (as my mother often says about me: a very happy accident). I much prefer Insta360’s menu system, where I never have such issues.

Of further annoyance is the USB-C port, which as with previous models is underneath the battery hatch. If you’re hooking up accessories, you’ll need to remove the battery hatch, exposing the battery and compromising waterproofing. As I found on my GoPro Hero12 Black, over time, batteries don’t tend to sit so snugly, resulting in unwanted power downs when there’s no hatch keeping everything in place. GoPro has solved this previously with a USB-C pass-through door accessory for the Hero11 Mini, but doesn’t appear to offer one currently for the Hero Black line. Of course, GoPro wants you to buy its various USB-C accessory mods instead, which encase the camera and hold the battery in place.

GoPro has finally entered the world of magnetic mounting, facilitating quick release mounts and rapid changeovers between mounting setups. This is a feature that both Insta360 and DJI have had for a while. I like that GoPro has managed to work this into its existing flip-out fork mount, though, keeping both options available.

Waterproofing

Waterproofing hasn’t changed from the Hero12 Black, at 33 feet (10 meters). By contrast, DJI has increased waterproofing from 59 feet in the OA4 to 65 feet in the OA5 Pro. For water-based activities, it’s DJI all the way.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Autofocus

The GoPro Hero13 Black’s autofocus is fine for non-vlogging footage, prioritizing the background and wider scenery, as you can see in the dog cam and stabilization footage later in the article. If you’re moto-vlogging or shooting extreme sports, this is what you want.

For vlogging, I found the autofocus a little lacking. As you can see in the test footage above, the camera maintains focus on the background as I walk up to it and take up the center of the frame. Even after standing in shot for a couple of seconds, the focus is still on the background, as the mannequins’ heads are sharper than my face. If you’re vlogging, the subject tracking feature DJI has added to the OA5 Pro and DJI Osmo Pocket 3 will suit you much better.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Stabilization

GoPro’s HyperSmooth stabilization system is excellent. In the slow speed motorcycle footage below, shot in the standard HyperSmooth stabilization mode, the footage is very smooth despite the extremely bumpy ground. You can see how much the bike is shaking by looking at the speedometer in the bottom right.

Before now, GoPro and Insta360 have boasted comparably ferocious autofocus systems, with DJI dragging a little behind. That has all changed with the OA5 Pro, which has noticeably improved stabilization, although GoPro’s HyperSmooth is still a whisker ahead of the pack.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Video performance

Video performance is naturally the most important aspect of any action camera, and unsurprisingly the Hero13 Black doesn’t disappoint. On offer are 5.3K/60p and 4K/120p for slow motion footage, although the camera also introduces a slow motion burst feature, which can shoot 720p footage at frames rates of up to 400fps for super slow motion content.

Now, most people can pretty much ignore that headline 5.3K figure, not to mention the Ace Pro 2’s 8K top res — at least while the majority of monitors and TVs top out at 4K. However, if you’re a professional wanting a b-cam or vlogging camera, that extra resolution will enable oversampled (in post) 4K footage, while also giving you flexibility to crop into your frame and maintain resolution. The Osmo Action 5 Pro tops out at 4K, which is a disappointment, but for the masses is absolutely fine and worth the $50 saving. Like the OA5 Pro, the Hero13 Black now has HLG and Log gamma profiles to capture wider dynamic range, plus 10-bit for a wider color gamut when shooting 4K and upwards — both cameras are therefore relatively equal in terms of the professional recording features they offer.

The GoPro’s 4K footage looks fantastic, and is nice and sharp in the center until wide angle barrel distortion naturally starts to warp the peripheries. Colors are rich but natural in Standard color mode, although the walking footage above is shot in Vivid, which is nice and vibrant. The standard lens will shoot five fields of view (FoV), from a fixed linear FoV of around 30mm down to an ultra wide HyperView of 12mm (full frame equivalent). Below you can see how the default Wide and ultra-wide HyperView look. The video shot for the autofocus section above uses Linear, for less barrel distortion.

Low light performance is as you’d expect from the Hero13 Black’s 1/1.9-inch sensor (the same as in the Hero12 Black) — sensors in action cameras are small and therefore don’t handle low light as well as, say, one of the best mirrorless cameras with a larger sensor. As you can see by the low light test footage of the Marshall amp below, with denoising set to high, the camera has had to smooth out a lot of noise, resulting in a blurry image.

The fine text on the amp’s control panel is still visible, but it isn’t a good looking picture. The OA5 Pro, with its 1/1.3-inch sensor, performed marginally better in similar conditions, yielding a brighter and slightly cleaner (although still rather unpleasant) image.

Timelapse

Making a return from the Hero12 Black are GoPro’s fun timelapse modes. There are modes for capturing star trails, light painting and vehicle lights. These all use long exposures to paint light trails, producing both a photo and video. You can see the light painting video demonstrated in the GIF above and the resulting photo below — they're pretty rad.

There are also traditional timelapse and nightlapse modes, plus TimeWarp, which is essentially just a timelapse with image stabilization applied. I accidentally used this on a dog walk in the footage below, and was delighted with the results: super stable timelapse footage of Luna’s walk through the fields! I shot this using GoPro's Fetch Dog Harness ($39), which I highly recommend.

Both the OA5 Pro and Ace Pro 2 offer timelapse modes, with the Ace Pro 2 also offering a star trail mode. Neither make it as easy as the GoPro to capture as many specific types of light trails, though. The OA5 Pro is the only of the three to also offer a hyperlapse mode.

Lens mods

The Hero13 Black puts on a fairly respectable display audio-wise. As you can hear in the motorcycle audio capture below, shot in wind reduction mode, the camera’s internal microphone has done an acceptable job at reducing wind buffeting, and has captured some of the deeper tones of the bike’s exhaust.

It isn’t great, so if audio is important to you, it’s worth investing in a 3.5mm adapter and one of the best microphones. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro features better internal mics (it has 3, although they’re still no substitute for an external setup), as well as wireless hookup to DJI’s fantastic mics like the DJI Mic 2.

One feature I love on the GoPro, though, is its raw audio recording, which will store a raw .wav audio track alongside video, allowing you to edit audio separately and providing higher resolution files for more flexibility in post.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Audio performance

The Hero13 Black puts on a fairly respectable display audio-wise. As you can hear in the motorcycle audio capture below, shot in wind reduction mode, the camera’s internal microphone has done an acceptable job at reducing wind buffeting, and has captured some of the deeper tones of the bike’s exhaust.

It isn’t great, so if audio is important to you, it’s worth investing in a 3.5mm adapter and one of the best microphones. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro features better internal mics (it has 3, although they’re still no substitute for an external setup), as well as wireless hookup to DJI’s fantastic mics like the DJI Mic 2.

One feature I love on the GoPro, though, is its raw audio recording, which will store a raw .wav audio track alongside video, allowing you to edit audio separately and providing higher resolution files for more flexibility in post.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Smartphone app

The GoPro Quik app is pretty good. It’s free, straightforward to set up and start using, and reliable in use. It makes wireless hook up easy, for updating firmware, remote control and file transfers. In terms of shooting aids and manual controls, the Quik app doesn’t offer anything that isn’t already possible in camera, unlike the DJI Mimo and Insta360 apps, for example, which allow you to choose from extra color profiles.

The Quik app also offers a decent array of editing features, including trimming, filters and exposure controls. There’s a gimmicky auto-editing feature, too, which automatically applies music and themes, and could be handy for quick social media content.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Battery life

GoPro has fitted the Hero13 Black with an upgraded battery, up from 1,720mAh to 1,900mAh. This new power cell means that your old batteries from previous generations of Hero Black cameras won't work in the Hero13 Black.

In my standardized 4K/60p indoors action camera battery testing, the GoPro Hero13 Black managed 80 minutes before dying. That's pretty good, and an improvement over previous generations. However, it isn't as good as the 1,950mAh cell in the OA5 Pro, which achieved 112 minutes in the same test.

This test, being indoors, naturally stress tests camera thermals. The Hero13 Black overheated after 54 minutes, which is 11 minutes longer than the OA5 Pro. In reality, you'll rarely be shooting statically with these cameras indoors for that long, so it isn't a huge issue, but proves that the GoPro boasts better thermal management. That said, you won't want to touch the GoPro after such a run — the body was extremely hot to the touch, especially the metal fork mounts at the base.

I haven't yet tested the Insta360 Ace Pro's 1,800mAh cell or its overheating times, but will update this section when I have.

GoPro Hero13 Black review: How does it compare?

GoPro Hero13 Black review: Verdict

The GoPro Hero13 Black is a great camera, but GoPro no longer has the lead it once had over its rivals, and that margin has been cut to its thinnest ever point with the latest crop of flagships from Insta360 and, in particular, DJI. In fact, GoPro’s headroom has been cut so much that the Hero13 Black is only a recommendation of mine with caveats.

For most people, including casual creators, vloggers or those for whom waterporoofing is paramount, the Osmo Action 5 Pro is a better buy. It offers a wireless external mic hookup, better internal audio and waterproofing, plus subject detection for vlogging, all for $50 less. 4K max res is fine for most, and DJI has worked hard to fix the stabilization and app issues that previously put the Osmo Action line on the back foot versus GoPro.

If, though, you’re shooting seriously with your action camera — hardcore content creators or pros needing a rugged b-cam, for example — the GoPro will be worth the $50 extra. The extra resolution of 5.3K allows for oversampled 4K and extra cropping flexibility in post, while the new lens mods will provide plenty of creative flexibility. Of course, the GoPro bells and whistles, including epic stabilization and Timelapse modes, are a real sweetener, too. Like I said earlier, the Hero13 Black is a great camera, it’s just that in this rematch, the challengers have finally managed to grind out a draw.

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is the fifth instalment in DJI’s flagship (albeit its only) action camera lineup, competing with range-topping models from Insta360 and GoPro. For a while now, the Osmo Action line has been nipping at GoPro’s heels — never before now, though, have those ankles been harassed quite like this.

The Osmo Action 5 Pro (OA5 Pro) builds on the strengths of its predecessor, the DJI Osmo Action 4 (OA4), with best-in-class waterproofing and internal audio, plus wireless hookup with DJI microphones and pro recording features to satisfy hardcore users. Better yet, DJI has dropped the price, massively undercutting its flagship rivals, the GoPro Hero13 Black and Insta360 Ace Pro 2.

Is this one of the best action cameras around? Yes. Should you buy it? Find out in my full DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Specs

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Price & availability

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro launched in fall 2024 and starts at $349 / £329, undercutting its main competitor, the GoPro Hero13 Black, by $50. Last generation, the OA4 was priced in line with the Hero12 Black at $399, which didn’t make much sense — as strong as DJI cameras are, they possess neither the headline specs of a Hero Black camera, nor the weight of the GoPro name. Why buy a 4K DJI when you can buy a 5.3K GoPro for the same money? It makes a lot more sense for DJI to have priced the OA5 Pro lower, and kudos to the manufacturer for doing so — it’s a good thing in its own right.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Design

The OA5 Pro is a squat little camera, measuring 2.77 x 1.74 x 1.29 inches. It’s a quarter-inch shorter than the Hero13 Black and Insta360 Ace Pro 2 ($399) and feels much less bulky than those rivals. At 5.15 ounces, the OA5 Pro is the lightest of the three flagships and the best for helmet mounting.

The rear display is a quarter-inch larger than the OA4’s, and now OLED instead of LCD. The front display has also been given the OLED treatment alongside a fractional boost in size. Both screens are gorgeous: crisp, colorful and highly reactive to the touch. I had no issues using the rear display in bright sunlight, even at 80-90% brightness. The rear is an ‘always on display’, showing a low-consumption recording timer that helps prolong battery life while shooting.

The OA5 Pro demonstrates DJI’s usual impeccable build quality: the camera is finished in a rugged but premium-feeling metal, while all buttons and hatches operate with reassuring clicks and thumps. Making a return is the secure magnetic mounting system. I find this system a little more finicky than Insta360’s equivalent, but still much more user-friendly than GoPro’s old-fashioned fork mount, which can be fussy and slow.

Waterproofing has been boosted to 65 feet from 59 feet in the OA4 — the latter was already best in class, making the OA5 Pro the new reigning champ for underwater footage. DJI has also added a software pressure gauge to give users an indication of safe operating depth — useful to snorkelers or others swimming without gauges.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Controls & connectivity

DJI’s menu system is simple and easy to navigate. Partly, this is down to the fact that there are fewer features on the OA5 Pro versus, in particular, Insta360 cameras, which are usually crammed full of different modes. There’s everything you need though, and an excellent array of manual exposure controls in video mode if you dig a little.

For connectivity, there’s a microSD slot, plus a single USB-C port for charging, accessory hookup and data transfer, although the latter can also be done wirelessly.

One of the camera’s finest features is its 47GB internal storage, which serves as a reserve fuel tank, giving you an hour or more of 4K/60p. I’m not ashamed to admit it: I’ve arrived at my shooting destination more than once only to realize I was without a card. With the OA5 Pro, you can record anyway!

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Stabilization

The OA5 Pro uses the same RockSteady 3.0 stabilization algorithm seen in the OA4, but it is more effective in the new camera. This is thanks to the updated sensor, which allows for faster shutter speeds to be used, resulting in better stabilization. It did a great job of stabilizing the footage above, despite the very bumpy road and slow speed. As you can see from the instrument dial, bottom right, the bike is jittering around like a bug on drugs, but the OA5 Pro smoothed everything out.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Autofocus

The Osmo Action 5 Pro is the first in the lineup to feature subject tracking autofocus, which we saw implemented first in the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, although it’s naturally less effective here given there’s no built-in gimbal to help physically track subjects. Subject detection will only work in well-lit conditions, I got t a warning telling me it was too dark to work even in moderately dim lighting. Output is also capped at 2.7K, which isn’t ideal.

Still, tracking performs well in the right conditions, detecting humans and even my dogs very easily and following them through the frame, although only if the camera or subject moves slowly. In vlogging scenarios, where tracking will be of most use, it works very well, tenaciously holding onto subjects even when things move in front of the lens.

That said, I rarely felt the need to use subject tracking given the OA5 Pro’s AF did a thoroughly respectable job in standard video mode (where 4K is available). As you can see in the selfie-style video test above, the camera had no issues keeping me in focus as I panned at arm’s length.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Video performance

The OA5 Pro maxes out at 4K versus the 5.3K Hero13 Black and 8K Insta360 Ace Pro 2. DJI doesn’t seem interested in a spec-swinging contest , and indeed these +4K resolutions won’t be of any benefit to most casual creators (at least not while YouTube uploads top out at 4K). Likewise, as I’ve pointed out before, editing 30 minutes of 8K footage will make your high-end gaming rig look like a 2008 potato running Vista. All that is to say, if you’re a casual creator, don’t let the 4K max res put you off.

The thing is, the OA5 Pro literally has “Pro” in the name, alongside some powerful features genuinely useful to serious shooters (covered below). Hardcore video shooters are likely to be some of the only people who’ll see tangible benefits from 5.3K/8K by exporting downsampled higher quality 4K, so it’s frustrating to see the OA5 Pro still hamstrung here, potentially pushing this audience away. DJI confirmed to me that this choice was made given that 4K is the maximum resolution of most online streaming channels.

Still, as you can see in the clip above, shot in the camera’s standard color profile (in 8-bit color), 4K/60p footage looks gorgeous and sharp. The tones of the blue sky and green hedgerows are bold and vivid, and the warmth of the summer’s day has been perfectly captured. There are no creative color profiles, but befitting the ‘Pro’ moniker, you can select from 10-bit color in the standard profile for a wider gamut, plus two gamma correction profiles for higher dynamic range capture: HLG and D-Log, depending on your individual workflows and grading requirements. Again, these aren’t features for general consumers shooting clips, but will be very welcome to serious content creators with the tools, time and know-how to grade their own footage.

There are three fields of view (FoV): Standard (dewarp), Wide and Ultra Wide. I prefer Wide, which crops out much of Ultra Wide’s barrel distortion without stretching the image to dewarp it (removing said distortion), both of which affect image sharpness in the corners.

Low light performance is a mixed bag. In standard Video mode, footage is noisy with a noticeable loss in sharpness, but is as you’d expect from a 1/1.3” sensor. The “SuperNight” low light mode, which uses AI denoising to “yield cleaner and clearer footage”, did the opposite in testing, delivering noisier and fuzzier results. You can compare standard video and SuperNight video in the screengrabs below — each shot in the same conditions using the camera’s automatic metering.

Also available are timelapse and hyperlapse modes (the latter only via the Mimo app), plus loop recording for using the device as a dashcam and pre-recording to capture up to one minute before the record button is pressed. For slow motion footage, you can either shoot in standard video mode at 4K/120fps for converting to slow motion in post, or shoot slow mo straight out of camera at up to 240fps in FHD, or 120fps in 2.7K or 4K.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Audio performance

DJI has microphone pedigree, lending a natural advantage over its rivals. The OA5 Pro features three microphones delivering strong internally recorded audio. Listening to the motorcycle footage above, the camera has done a decent job reducing wind buffeting, while capturing the deep rumble of the motorcycle exhaust. This is the best internal mic I’ve heard from any action camera (save the OA4), and far cry from awful budget cameras like the SJCAM SJ20.

Obviously, though, if you want properly clean audio, you need a proper mic. As with the OA4, the OA5 Pro can wirelessly hook up to DJI microphones like the epic DJI Mic 2, which is supremely useful, removing the need to hook up via a 3.5mm cable. If you’re a creator who already has a DJI Mic, this should be a big selling point. Wired hookup is still possible using DJI’s audio adapter, though, if you’ve already invested in another mic like the Rode Wireless Pro.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Smartphone app

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro pairs with the DJI Mimo smartphone app — now much improved with better editing features, especially exposure controls (no longer must you edit in a separate third party app). Wireless hookup is easy, as is updating firmware, and in general it’s just a much slicker affair than it was at the OA4 launch. There are also some features to help the app appeal to casual users, like a ‘One Touch’ editing feature that automatically applies edits, rather gimmicky filters and frames — ostensibly an attempt at competing with the Insta360 app’s AI editing features.

The app will also be beneficial to serious shooters, though, thanks to live view and full manual exposure controls, which are much easier to tweak via the app than the camera’s rear screen.

In general, the Mimo app still feels less slick than the Insta360 app, with fewer features for the casual user, but it’s great to see the improvement and it’s now much more usable than before.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Battery & overheating

DJI has boosted the battery capacity for the OA5 Pro over its predecessor, from 1,770mAh to 1,950mAh, and the difference is stark. In our testing, the OA4 managed 80 minutes of footage, while the OA5 Pro managed 112 minutes at 4K/60p.

Our battery tests are run indoors, recording at 4K/60p, which naturally doubles as an overheating stress test. The OA5 Pro overheated after around 43 minutes, which is a decent performance. Naturally, when shooting outdoors in moderate temperatures and/or while moving, this won’t be an issue, and I experienced no overheating while recording continuously during motorcycle testing.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: How does it compare?

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: Verdict

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro builds on an already excellent formula. The strengths of the Osmo Action 4 have been either maintained or amplified: even better waterproofing, pro recording features, strong internal audio and wireless mic compatibility. DJI has also fixed key issues with the OA5 Pro’s predecessor by boosting battery capacity and increasing app functionality, while adding extremely handy internal storage and undercutting the rival Hero13 Black by a whopping $50. The end result is that the OA5 Pro is a phenomenal product for the money, and unless you desperately need higher than 4K for downsampling, there really is very little reason not to buy this camera.

There was a time long ago when I was dismissive about the best action cameras, especially when the best camera phones offered me just as much utility. However, my stance has shifted the more I got to use action cams — and the GoPro Hero 13 Black continues to prove that to me.

The newest member in GoPro's lineup isn’t just your ordinary iterative update. While it shares the same design as last year’s Hero 12 Black, GoPro turbocharges the Hero 13 Black with more accessories, an easier way to mount it, deeper shooting modes to cover all your needs, and a battery life that can handle everything you throw at it.

Yet, for me to grasp the new changes, the only way to do that is to do the most GoPro thing ever — jet skiing around the island of Manhattan. Before I get to all the best parts of the GoPro Hero 13 Black, here’s a quick refresher on everything new about it

GoPro Hero 13 Black: All the big changes

• Burst Slow-Mo up to 400 fps: For those moments you want to slow down, the GoPro Hero 13 Black can record up to 400 frames per second at 720p.
• Power efficient Enduro battery: A new 1,900 mAh Enduro battery is 10% larger than the battery in the Hero 12 Black, giving it a boost of up to 28% runtime when recording at 4K 60 fps.
• Magnetic latch mount: In addition to the fold-down mounting fingers and ¼-20 mounting threads, you can now easily mount the GoPro Hero 13 Black with its quick-release magnetic latch.
• GPS: GoPro removed GPS from the Hero 12 Black, but it’s now back with the Hero 13 Black to geotag all your clips locally.
• Faster Wi-Fi 6 connectivity: Upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 on the Hero 13 Black, you can expect up to 40% faster transfer speeds when downloading clips to your mobile device.
• More lenses to choose from: Video shooters can access new shooting methods with the GoPro Hero 13 Black with new lenses for ultra-wide, macro, anamorphic, and ND filters.
• HLG HDR Video: Gain wider color gamut using 10-bit hybrid-log gamma recording to color grade high fidelity footage.

Seeing the world in ultrawide

What better way to test out the new Hero 13 Black by putting it to the test while jet skiing around Manhattan? Usually, I stick to the standard lens for anything action-oriented, but since I wanted to remember this activity, the only way to do that was to swap it for the new $99.99 ultra-wide lens mod — which extends its field of view to 177 degrees.

All of the new lenses don’t come cheap, but there’s no comparison between the before and after shots and the standard and ultra-wide lenses. With the GoPro Hero 13 Black strapped onto my chest for that perfect first-person PoV, I fell in love with how the footage covers more of the scene in front of me while riding the waves. It’s like seeing the world through a crystal ball, making the footage look more immersive and epic.

I’m also astounded by how the footage looks fluid and stable, even through all the times when I slammed into cross waves that had me briefly flying through the air. Sure, the horizon looks crooked a bit in the footage above, but a quick edit in the Quik app levels it for me. The new magnetic latch makes it even easier to connect and remove the camera from the mount.

Closer and slower

Back on land after jet skiing for about 2 hours, I swapped over to the new $129.99 macro lens to see what I could capture. This new lens has a minimum focus distance of 4.3 inches (11 cm), which is technically 4x closer than the standard lens.

Pairing this with its new Burst Slo-Mo mode, I captured the creation of these bubbles in the clip above with outstanding quality. It’s unbelievable that this tiny action camera can shoot at the blistering speed of 400 frames per second at 720p.

The bubbles produced look amazing up close, but are made more epic thanks to the slow motion applied to the clip later in the app. It’s just unbelievable because the original clip was no longer than a couple of seconds, yet it's been slowed down to see each bubble formed in all of its glory. I haven't come across this kind of stuff in an action camera.

Endurance to last a while

By the end of my jet skiing excursion that took me as far south to the Statue of Liberty and then north very close to the George Washington Bridge, the GoPro Hero 13 Black’s battery was nearly depleted. I was surprised it still had gas left in the tank, considering I was recording continuously for several minutes at a time. At one point, I even recorded a timelapse clip uninterrupted for 9 minutes straight before stopping it.

If I were to exclusively record at 4K 30fps, which is what I think is the optimal shooting mode for GoPros, the Hero 13 Black can last upwards of 104.6 minutes. That’s a long stretch for something this tiny and compact, so there’s little worry if you’re the kind of shooter who tends to let the camera roll for longer — rather than short bursts at a time. The above clip exemplifies this because it’s a shorter snippet from the 7+ minute clip I shot.

This was the last stretch before getting back to our starting point, and as you can see from the HDR video, the Hero 13 Black does an excellent job of neutralizing the exposure across the entire scene. Even when the sun’s beaming its light straight into the camera’s lens, the sky isn’t totally blown out like on other cameras — and instead — all the clouds in the sky remain visible.

There’s also a cheaper Hero

I’m happy to report that the Hero 13 Black maintains the same $399.99 cost as its predecessor. I think the upgrades are well worth it here, especially if you’re using a GoPro that’s more than a couple of years old at this point. Preorders are available starting today, with general availability slated for September 10.

If your budget’s tighter, there’s also the $199.99 price Hero — the smallest and simplest 4K capable action cam in GoPro’s lineup. It’s launching alongside the Hero 13 Black and makes the necessary trade-offs, like not having a front-facing display, but it still packages everything you’ll need in a starter action camera. They include a waterproof design of up to 16 feet, 4K recording with up to 2x slow-mo capture, rear touchscreen display, HyperSmooth video stabilization through the Quik app, and 100 minutes of battery at the highest recording setting.

More from Tom's Guide

• Insta 360 Go 3S — 4 reasons I'd buy (and 3 reasons I'd skip) this $400 action cam
• I flew the DJI Avata 2 for an entire month — here's what I wish I knew beforehand
• Elgato Prompter review: A content creator’s dream

The Insta 360 Go 3S is the latest tiny action camera in Insta 360's popular Go lineup. But with all the upgrades it packs in over its predecessor, the Insta360 Go 3, It might as well be called the Go 4. 4K recording is the big highlight feature, but we also get higher frame rates, better waterproofing, and some other cool tech without bumping up its price. 

The Go 3S continues to be one of the best action cameras, and personally one of my favorites, It’s small unique magnetic design allows it to be so much more than a traditional action camera, but at the same time it introduces a few limitations that are worth keeping in mind. You can check out what I mean in my full YouTube video. Otherwise, see the biggest reasons I'd buy, and biggest reasons I'd skip the Insta 360 Go 3S below. 

Reasons to buy

Better video quality

The first reason I'd buy the Go 3s is that it’s arguably one of the biggest upgrades in the Go lineup. It can now shoot 4K video up to 30p, which is a big step up over the 2.7K/30p maximum in the Go 3. The Go 3S also features a higher 120Mbps bitrate (versus 80Mbps on the Go 3) giving your footage noticeably more sharpness and detail. With the bump in quality, the Go 3s feels more capable as a travel/pocket camera rather than just an action cam. From walking around, timelapses, and timeshift, everything looks super clean and punchy.

But what about slow motion? The Go 3S shooting now supports 1080p at up to 200fps versus just 120fps in the Go 3. 240fps would have been great, but at least you can now do 8x slow motion vs, 5x when conformed to 24p timeline. 

Apple Find My

The Go 3s is Insta360’s first camera to work with Apple Find My. This is easily the most underrated feature for any gadget, camera or otherwise to have, and I can’t wait till everything adopts it.

A device like the Go 3S is small and easy enough to misplace as is, and as someone who is always switching bags or leaving things behind, being able to keep tabs on where the Go 3s is awesome. And while not theft-proof, this could also be a great way to keep the camera more secure, especially if you’re a solo creator and like to set the camera up in other locations so you can capture those behind-the-scenes or more “candid” shots. No.. I don’t do that… that much. 

It can be mounted anywhere

Its small size, magnetic design, and support for several mounting options means you quickly attach the Go 3S to your chest, head, bike, ceiling, model car, suitcase... you get the point. 

As Insta 360 likes to call it, the 3S is “a truly no-hands camera”. It unlocks a new way of filming unique angles, which aside from being fun, helps you be more creative with your storytelling. Not only that, it’s so small and inconspicuous, that if you like to film yourself while flying under the radar, the Go 3s is the right choice. 

Handy flip-up display

A final reason to buy the Go 3S is that it has the Action Pod that was first introduced on the Go 3. It feels a little more solid while still offering the same 2.2 inch flip-up which is what you’ll use for framing your subject and changing your settings — it’s perfect for vlogging and selfies. My biggest complain with the Insta 360 Go 2 was how frustrating it was to quickly change video modes, not to mention I needed to rely on a smartphone to make sure everything looked good. 

This is one of the best displays I’ve tested on any action or small pocket camera. It’s the perfect combination of size, brightness, and functionality. Even though the GoPro Hero 12 Black has a larger 2.27" rear display, its front 1.4" screen is not nearly as convenient to use. 

Reasons to skip

Not as durable as traditional action cameras

As great as the Go 3Ss modular and small design is, it does introduce a few limitations. First, the camera body itself isn’t as rugged compared to your traditional action camera. When detached, the camera is IPX8 waterproof, up to 33ft (10m) with its Lens Guard installed. 

The Action Pod, though, is only splash-proof, so no taking this to the pool or beach unless you buy its Dive Case which is waterproof up to 197ft (60m), but that’s something you need to remember to install and it’s going to set you back another $60. The Hero 12 Black is only waterproof up to 33ft without a case, but for most people, that’s plenty for casual water sports and it doesn’t require an additional accessory purchase. 

Similarly the screen, when flipped-up, also probably wouldn’t be able to take the same level of beating those other action cameras would. If having the most indestructible camera for all your action sports is your main goal, the Go 3S has to be babied a bit more than the rest. 

No removable storage

The Go 3S also might not be the best choice if you’re recording nonstop all day and don’t have time to back up your footage. Just as with its predecessors, the Go 3S still lacks support for external storage. Given its smaller size, this is more forgivable, but unlike other action cams with removable microSD cards, it does mean you’re stuck with whatever capacity Go 3S you buy: either the 64GB model for $399 or the $429 128GB one. The 3s is not available in 32GB like the 3 is, but given how much more storage your 4k clips are going to need, that makes sense. I also think the extra $30 to upgrade to 128GB is worth the piece of mind knowing you’re not going to run out of storage as fast. 

Although Insta360 does offer a new quick transfer accessory for another $44, which features a micro-SD slot and connects to the Go 3S camera, it’s nowhere near as quick or convenient as simply swapping out for a fresh new card. For a lot of people, this is one of the Go 3S's biggest let downs. 

No external mic support

A final reason you might want to avoid the Insta360 Go 3S is that it doesn’t support external microphones, both physically and wirelessly. The built-in mic on the Go 3S is surprisingly good at capturing clear audio, but it’s not always the right choice, especially when you’re not wearing it directly on you. 

If I want to get a nice dynamic shot, I’m going to need an external mic like my RODE Wireless Pro to pick up my audio. Some newer Action cameras like the GoPro Hero 12 Black support Bluetooth earbuds such as Apple AirPods or offer USB-to-3.5mm dongles to connect other inputs. It would be great to see that make its way on the next Insta 360 Go, but for now, the only option to up your audio quality is to sync the video and audio files in the edit, which isn’t always an option if you want to quickly post your clips without much work. 

Buy or skip?

Despite its quirks, the Insta 360 Go 3S is an easy buy for me. It’s a camera I use several times a week and for $400, it’s well worth the investment for everything I use it to capture. Image quality and battery life are impressive, and its other features like the large flip-out screen and Apple Find My make this even easier to use for a variety of setups. 

While it falls short in a few areas like its ruggedness without the use of additional accessories, it does about 95% of what I need from an action camera. If Insta360 can figure out how to support higher frame rates in 4K, the Go series will be hard to compete with. 

DJI's action camera line has long been a great alternative to GoPro. The DJI Osmo Action 4 released last year packs powerful features and came in at a lower price than GoPro's Hero12 Black. 

And it sounds like the Action 4 is getting a Pro-level sequel, as spotted by our friends at Tech Radar. Over on X, regular drone leaker Quadro News, revealed the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro. 

There's not a ton to go on, but the new action cam was spotted on the website for the TDRA (Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority), which regulates tech in the United Arab Emirates. 

What we have is a model number, AC004. Quadro News showed the model number saying, "there will be something interesting besides DJI drones." Most likely referring to its own leaks regarding the DJI Air 3S, a long-awaited drone since the Air 2S released in 2021. With a DJI drone sales ban working its way through Congress, though, we might not see it in the US when it launches.

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3, which came out late last year, featured a 1-inch CMOS sensor, so that is a possible direction for DJI.

In general, the Pro tag means that the device has more features and upgrades than the mainline model. With so little information, however, we can't speculate if DJI has plans to release a Pro model and a baseline model of the Osmo Action 5. 

This would be first time DJI has used the Pro moniker in any of its products. 

Several commentators hoped for a 1-inch sensor in the Action 5, which would be an upgrade over the 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor in the Action 4. While we were disappointed in the Leica lens on the Insta360 Ace Pro, it is 8K capable, while the Action 4 goes up to 4K. Even the recently released Insta360 X4 has 8K capabilities.

To fit the Pro naming convention, DJI will need to beef up the pretty good specs of the Osmo Action 4.

We'd like to see improved battery life in the rumored camera. The Action 4 only managed 80 minutes of mixed recording before going dead. It also needs better cooling as we found that Action 4 could overheat quickly if not in a cooling environment.

Pro also usually means more expensive. The Action 3 and Action 4 were easy to recommend because they offered great features while costing less than GoPro's action cameras. The Action 4 launched at $399, we expect an Osmo Action 5 Pro will be priced higher, probably closer to a GoPro than you'd like to see.

More from Tom's Guide

• I replaced my camera with the DJI Cosmo Pocket 3 for a week — here's what happened
• I've been testing the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 — and it's easily my new favorite camera
• DJI Osmo Action 3 review

The Insta360 Go 3S is the latest adorable model in the Chinese manufacturer’s tiny Go lineup, and if you ask me, it could rightfully be called the Insta360 Go 4. That’s because this new model packs some pretty choice upgrades over its predecessor, the Insta360 Go 3 — namely, 4K video recording, better waterproofing and some cool new smartphone features. 

It does all of this while offering the same stabilization, great battery life and an awesome companion app. Better yet, the Go 3S doesn’t cost a cent more than the Go 3 did at launch. 

So, is this one of the best action cameras around? Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for you. By their very nature, the Go line of cameras are designed with certain usages in mind, so your best bet is to carry on reading our full Insta360 Go 3S review.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Price & availability

The Insta360 Go 3S launched in June 2024 and, despite lots of new features, is priced the same as the original Go 3, at $399 for the 64GB model and $429 for the 128GB model. There’s a slight difference in that the Go 3 was available in a lower 32GB model ($379) — this is not an option on the Go 3S, but honestly 32GB is going to get you about half an hour of 4K footage, so a 32GB model would’ve felt a little redundant.

You can buy the Go 3S from Insta360 directly, or via Amazon. Currently, it’s available in white or black.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Design & controls

The Insta360 Go 3S looks identical to the original Go 3, comprising the tiny main camera, and a larger Action Pod housing a second battery, buttons, a USB-C port and a rear screen. Returning from the Go 3 is the magnetic mounting system, which is excellent — it’s secure enough for high octane adventures and is effortlessly quick to detach. As with the Go 3, the camera itself is also magnetic, allowing you to mount it easily onto many of Insta360’s quirky mounts (like the included cap peak mount and neck pendant).

The Go 3S camera weighs slightly more than the Go 3, but we’re only talking 1.38 ounces versus 1.25 ounces. At 1.0 x 2.1 x 0.9 inches, it’s exactly as compact. Likewise, both models’ Action Pods measure and weigh the same at 2.5 x 1. 9 x 1.2 inches and 3.4 ounces. The Go 3S Action Pod is virtually the same size as the Akaso Brave 8 and Akaso Brave 8 Lite — these are cheaper budget options, but aren’t even in the same league as the Go 3S.

The Go 3S’ display is the same 2.2 inch flip-up touchscreen as on the original Go 3, which is perfect for vlogging and selfies. The screen is sensitive to the touch and bright enough that I had no issues using it on a sunny day. Despite costing less, the Go 3S’ tiny rival, the GoPro Hero11 Mini, only features a tiny LED status display, so isn’t nearly as versatile.

Along the side and top of the Go 3S are power, Q and record buttons. I found these easy to press even when wearing motorcycle gloves. The camera itself also features an invisible record button next to the lens, which operates as a quick start button so there’s no need to turn it on and wait before starting to record.

The menu system will be familiar to anyone who has used Insta360 cameras before, but can take a bit of getting used to if you’re new to the brand. Once you are accustomed to it, though, it’s well laid out and easy to navigate.

The biggest concession you have to make with regards to the Go 3S’s size is storage. Unlike GoPros, which have removable microSD cards, you have to make due with the built-in storage of the Insta360 camera. So, if you plan on shooting a lot of footage, you’ll want to opt for the larger storage. That said, Insta360 has taken steps to remedy this, offering a new quick transfer accessory ($44), which features a micro-SD slot and connects to the Go 3S camera, allowing you to free up internal storage on the move. This isn’t that quick, though, and requires a power source, such as the Action Pod or your phone.

The Go 3S camera features much better waterproofing than the Go 3, and can be taken down to 33 feet versus 16 feet — the same as professional action cameras like GoPro Hero12 Black. although both Action Pods are only IPX4 splash proof. If waterproofing is of paramount importance, check out the DJI Osmo Action 4, which is waterproof to 59 feet.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Stabilization

As with every Insta360 product I’ve tested recently, the Go 3S’ image stabilization is fantastic. Dialed up to max in the motorcycle video below, you can see how smooth the footage is straight out of camera.

The Go 3S is primarily designed with more casual pursuits in mind, but the stabilization comes up trumps there, too — as you can see in the walking video below (walking is no easy thing to stabilize, remember), it smoothed out the footage really nicely.

Naturally, the Go 3S makes mincemeat of super-slow paced footage like still handheld shots or panning. The panning video below is effortlessly smooth. That said, for vlogging and/or walking footage, nothing can beat the gimbal stabilization of the DJI Osmo Pocket 3.

The Go 3S also features a useful Tilt Fix setting, which levels the footage based on the horizon. You’ll want this turned on if mounting the camera loosely — I shot some cycling footage with it dangling around my neck, for example, which ended up being wonky as I had Tilt Fix disabled. The camera prompted me to disable it for cycling, but I guess it assumed footage will usually be filmed mounted to the bike itself.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Photo performance

The Insta360 Go 3S takes 9MP photos in 16:9, which are relatively pleasing to the eye, although I wouldn’t say they’re any better to look at than a smartphone camera — the Go 3S is designed primarily for video, after all.

The flip up screen is very useful for taking a selfie though, as is the ultra wide field of view. When taking this selfie of me and my partner, I was also pleasantly surprised at the facial recognition, which I could see happening on screen. The AF locks onto faces quickly and tracks them accurately across the frame — this will also be an excellent feature if using the camera for vlogging.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Video performance

The Insta360 Go 3S shoots video in 4K at up to 30P, which is a big step up over the 2.7K/30p maximum in the Go 3. Interestingly, while the Go 3 allows you to shoot in FreeFrame mode at only 1440p (less than its maximum 2.7K resolution), the Go 3S will shoot in FreeFrame mode right up to 4K/30p. This mode allows you to crop and change aspect ratios as you like later down the line. The Go 3S also features a higher 120Mbps bitrate (versus 80Mbps on the Go 3), which means it essentially captures more color and image data for a higher quality image. 

Slow mo credentials have also been bolstered, with the Go 3S shooting in 1080p at up to 200fps versus 120fps in the Go 3.

The Go 3S’ 4K video looks pretty good. As you can see in the footage above, shot in the Vivid color profile, the camera has captured the vibrant blue sky and lush greens of the trees, as well as the rich red paint of the boat.

The image is a little oversharpened, resulting in a slight watercolor effect which, counterintuitively, decreases sharpness on larger displays. This is down to using the camera’s Medium sharpness setting (which Insta360 advised us to do for our review). As a general rule, unless you plan to only view your footage on a smartphone screen, set the sharpening to low, which will rectify the issue. In fairness, this is only really noticeable and an issue in scenes with less movement. We had similar issues with the Insta360 Ace Pro, though, so it’s a little annoying to see sharpening still causing problems and forcing users to think so far ahead when they shoot.

The Go 3S also does a good job at exposure metering. The motorcycle footage above was shot in a challenging dynamic range, with dark, shadowy areas of the frame intermingled with extremely bright areas of sunlight and sky. The Go 3S’ put in a stellar performance given its sensor size, exposing properly (for the most part) even as lighting scenarios quickly changed.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Audio performance

The Insta360 Go 3S doesn’t support external microphones, just like the Go 3. Unfortunately, this will limit its effectiveness if you want to shoot professional-looking footage in loud environments or for scenarios with a wide audio dynamic range — motorcycling, for example. 

That said, the internal microphone isn’t bad. The audio is a little tinny, as you can hear in the motorcycle footage above, where the depth of the exhaust hasn’t been captured. But the Wind Reduction mode did a really decent job of suppressing the buffeting while I was riding my motorcycle.

You can see just how much work Wind Reduction mode was doing by comparing it to the next video above, shot in Stereo mode. The audio is horrible and totally dominated by wind.

At slower speeds, such as the cycling footage directly above, the internal microphone is more than adequate. In that video, shot in Wind Reduction mode, you can hear the whistling of bird song in the background, over the sound of a busy road.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Smartphone app

The Insta360 smartphone app is easily best in class, offering powerful editing features and complete remote camera control, all for completely free. While GoPro’s Quik app is decent, you won’t get the best out of it without a GoPro subscription. The app lets you control exposure, apply filters, trim and apply effects — if you have an Insta360 camera, this it’s the best video editing app you can get.

Connecting to the app is quick and easy, and connections are reliable, which makes a big difference when you’re updating firmware or transferring videos to your smartphone. 

With the Go 3S, Insta360 has also introduced some really handy new app features. There’s now a quick transfer feature, which lets you instantly send video to your smartphone with a button on the Action Pod screen. There’s also an instant preview feature, which sends a video preview to your phone (notifying you with a push notification) so you can quickly check back through your latest recordings — I found this one really useful. Finally, you can now track your camera’s whereabouts through the iOS Find My app!

Insta360 Go 3S review: Battery life

In our 4K standardized battery tests, the Go 3S put in a very respectable performance. The camera alone ran out of battery after 29 minutes at 4K/30p. The Action Pod then added another 91 minutes, resulting in 120 minutes overall.

While the original Go 3 lasted around 170 minutes, that was at 2.7K. Two hours of 4K footage is no mean feat. For context, flagship action cameras like the GoPro Hero12 Black, DJI Osmo Action 4 and Insta360 Ace Pro all achieve around 90 minutes of 4K (albeit at 60p).

The lone camera overheated after around 21 minutes and was very hot to the touch. In the Action Pod, we didn’t experience any overheating for the full 91 minutes. Our battery and overheating tests are conducted inside, though, and when shooting outside, I experienced no overheating even when only walking and without the Action Pod.

Insta360 Go 3S review: Verdict

The Go 3 was primarily a camera for documenting casual exploits or family fun, as its 2.7K resolution limited its use for serious content creation. The Go 3S fixes that with 4K recording, making it a viable tool for YouTubers or vloggers, providing of course they’re happy to sacrifice audio quality, as the Go line still lacks external mic support. Likewise, for anyone producing high-octane footage, 4K/30p may prove a limiting factor versus the 4K/60p recording found on professional action cams like the GoPro Hero12 Black, DJI Osmo Action 4 and Insta360 Ace Pro.

That said, it isn’t fair to fault Insta360 for not going far enough with the Go 3S when the progress is actually already really impressive. 4K in a camera this small, without serious detriment to battery life, is no mean feat. It’s easy to lump the Go 3 in with its professional contemporaries, but let’s not forget this is a casual user’s action camera whose size make it applicable to a huge range of uses. Mount it in your car to use it as a dash cam; on your chest to use it as a body cam; or on your cat to use it as, well, a cat cam. Now you can do all of that in 4K! The Go 3 was already such a versatile little camera, and Insta360 has just made it better without charging extra — who could complain about that?

The Akaso Brave 8 Lite is a budget 4K action camera and little sibling of the Akaso Brave 8. While the Brave 8 Lite features a smaller sensor and lower maximum photo resolution, many of its specs are the same as you’ll find on the full fat model. Both shoot 4K/60p, use similar microphones and have the same front and rear screens. 

Importantly, the Brave 8 Lite is much cheaper than its older sibling, which is a great starting point. In my Akaso Brave 8 review, I was disappointed that the camera cost as much as it did — at $289, it offered the features and performance of a budget action camera, yet the price of a top tier product like the GoPro Hero10 Black.

At $199, though, the Brave 8 Lite is priced very competitively, which could make it a great budget option if you want a no-frills action camera and can’t stretch to one of the best action cameras. Find out more in our Akaso Brave 8 Lite review.

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Price & availability

The Akaso Brave 8 Lite costs $199 for the Standalone (camera only) version, and is available now from Amazon. Don’t be put off by the “Standalone” bit — this still comes with a decent selection of basic accessories and mounting options in the box. 

There’s a more expensive Advanced kit which features an array of accessories, but you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be, well, bottom dollar. The Standalone’s included accessories aren’t any better, but at least you aren’t paying extra for them — I’d advise buying the basic kit, figuring out what specific accessories you need and purchasing them separately. There’s no proprietary mounting systems as mounting is all done using the outer cases — a plastic one is supplied — which use standard fork mounts.

Top on your accessories list should be Akaso’s aluminum mounting case, which features cold shoe mounts for fitting accessories. The standard plastic case my pre-production review unit came with was so loose that the camera visibly shook around inside it — Akaso sent me the aluminum case for testing, which I was quite happy about, as it’s high quality and features two cold shoe mounts to hook up mics and accessories. Akaso told me the standard plastic case would be fixed on production models.

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Design & controls

The Akaso Brave 8 Lite looks more or less the same as the standard Brave 8, sharing the same external features and dimensions with only a few aesthetic differences. The action camera is wrapped in cheap-looking grippy gray rubber with a chevron design and red accents. I kind of like it, though: it has a sort of 80s/90s sci-fi vibe about it, like something out of Total Recall (the proper one, not the remake).

It’s a small camera, measuring 2.5 x 1.8 x 1.4 inches and weighing only a fraction over 4 ounces. Despite its “Lite” moniker, though, the Brave 8 Lite is actually a tiny bit heavier than the Brave 8, although that camera was itself super lightweight to begin with. The Brave 8 Lite doesn’t feel too light though — it possesses a sturdiness that you might not expect from looking at it.

Next to the large, removable lens guard is the 1.2-inch front screen, while on the back sits a 2-inch touchscreen. Both screens are bright enough that I had no issues using them on a sunny day, with the rear responding well to the touch. There are three buttons — power/display, record and a quick access M button — all of which are easy to press even wearing thick motorcycle gloves. The Akaso menu system isn’t pretty, but is easy enough to navigate and provides all the controls you’ll need.

Behind a small hatch on the side of the camera you’ll find a memory card slot and a USB-C port for charging and hooking up accessories. You needn’t charge through the camera, though, as Akaso supplies a dual charging adapter in the box (a rarity these days).

The Brave 8 Lite will survive underwater down to 33 feet — the same as many flagships like the GoPro Hero12 Black. You can buy a waterproof case separately to take it deeper, but if you need a camera for underwater exploits, we’d recommend spending a bit more on the DJI Osmo Action 4, which can be taken down to 59 feet without needing an extra case.

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Image stabilization

Image stabilization was one of the biggest drawbacks of the Akaso Brave 8 and, unfortunately, it’s the same story for the Lite. Enabling internal image stabilization really does nothing, as you can see from the footage below. The video is incredibly shaky and unpleasant to watch.

That isn’t the full story. When you enable stabilization in camera what you’re actually doing is enabling the footage to be stabilized later down the line in the Akaso Go app. This actually works quite well (see the stabilized version in the Video section), but will be a massive pain if you’re shooting lots of footage. The Brave 8 Lite shoots in 3-minute clips, so you’ll have to run all of those through the app separately before then stitching them together in the best video editing software. This process can be extremely unreliable, taking several goes to work given the jankiness of the app.

Akaso’s main issue with their Brave lineup is stabilization. Fix that, and they’ll be producing worthy budget contenders to undercut the big players. As it is, the Brave 8 Lite can’t be used for any serious content creation that isn’t shot standing still, as the footage is unusable out of camera.

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Video performance

As with the Brave 8, the Brave 8 Lite’s poor internal image stabilization is a real shame, because the 4K video is surprisingly good. The camera does a good job at exposing properly, even on bright days with a wide dynamic range. Although there’s only one color profile, it’s quite pleasing, rendering vivid blue skies and lush green foliage in the footage below (footage stabilized in the Akaso Go app).

Happily, the Brave 8 Lite shoots 4K/60p, so fast paced footage shouldn’t look choppy. While that doesn’t sound as impressive these days as the headline figures coming from flagship rivals, such as the 8K Insta360 Ace Pro, 4K/60p is all most people will really need from their action camera, at least while YouTube still tops out at 4K.

Low light performance is as you can expect from a 1/2.3-inch sensor. It isn’t terrible, but footage is quite grainy at 4K/60p. You can eek out a little extra exposure by dropping down to 4K/30p, which allows the camera to slow its shutter.

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Audio performance

The Brave 8 Lite’s internal microphone performance is poor. It isn’t as bad as the SJCAM SJ20’s mic, but that isn’t saying much. Internal audio is tinny and crackly, with lots of distortion from loud and low frequencies, as you can hear in the sample footage below.

You’ll want to invest in an external microphone, although I often had difficulty getting my Rode Wireless Me to connect (resulting in mute footage, as you can see in the video below) and when I did get an external mic to hook up, the USB-C adapter Akaso supplied experienced connection issues and would crackle (see the clip in the Video section).

Again, if Akaso could only sort out the fundamental basics of what an action camera needs, they’d be in with a serious shot at disrupting this market. Until then, their cameras are not usable by anyone wanting to put out high quality footage.

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Smartphone app

The Akaso Go companion app isn’t the worst I’ve used from an action camera manufacturer — once again, that dubious honor goes to SJCAM. It’s relatively easy to connect to (once you realize you need to tap the Wi-Fi icon on the camera itself to pair) and offers some basic editing features. It also allows you to access video stabilization (although I wish the video were stabilized in camera). 

That said, it’s rather unreliable and has a tendency to drop out while transferring videos. It also offers nothing like the features you’ll find from the powerful Insta360 and GoPro Quik apps.

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Battery & overheating

The Akaso Brave 8 Lite’s battery is the same 1,550mAh unit you’ll find in the Brave 8. This performed surprisingly well in our 4K/60p indoors testing, lasting around 80 minutes. The Brave 8 Lite also comes with a spare battery and a charging adapter in the basic package, so you won’t need to buy an extra battery or have to charge through the camera itself.

Our indoors 4K/60p testing naturally tests overheating. The Brave 8 Lite performed extremely well and didn’t overheat at all throughout the whole 80-minute battery run test. It did get extremely hot to the touch around the lens guard, but this likely won’t be an issue outdoors with the benefit of windchill. 

Akaso Brave 8 Lite review: Verdict

There’s no doubt that the Brave 8 Lite is a more compelling purchase than the Brave 8, especially for budget-conscious buyers. Akaso priced the Brave 8 far too high given its features and put it into direct competition with action cameras that, while older, still outclassed it in every way. 

With the Brave 8 Lite’s lower price, Akaso is finally undercutting big name rivals by a hefty margin, offering decent 4K/60p while sacrificing a few features, like resolutions over 4K, that won’t matter to many buyers.

The main problem is that Akaso still hasn’t fixed the issues preventing their cameras being serious contenders in the action camera market: internal audio and stabilization. Without those, particularly the latter, this camera is not a viable tool for anyone wanting to make serious content for, say, YouTube.

Akaso, if you’re reading, please focus on fixing the fundamentals. I want these cameras to be the humble heroes they deserve to be — they’re close now, but still too far.

With the Insta360 X4, the best just got better. Its predecessor, the X3, launched a couple of years ago and has been our pick of the best 360 cameras you can buy ever since, although it wasn’t without its issues.

As with all 360 cameras, the attention-grabbing maximum resolution is actually for the entire 360-degree frame, while the resolution of reframed exported content is always much lower — the Insta360 X3’s 5.7K full resolution equated to only 1080p exported video when you reframed in 16:9 for viewing. This made the price of the X3 a hard pill to swallow, as despite the benefits and flexibility of 360 recording, the output was disappointingly low res.

The new X4 has a maximum resolution of 8K — much higher than the X3 or the 5.6K GoPro Max. The result is 2.7K reframed 16:9 footage, which is much nicer to look at. This makes the Insta360 X4 a shoe-in to topple the X3 and be crowned the best 360 camera around.

Interestingly, Insta360 has given the X4 some key specs that make it a seriously good action camera, too. Depending on what you need, the X4 could give today’s best action cameras a serious run for their money. Find out more in our Insta360 X4 review.

Insta360 X4 review: Price & availability

The Insta360 X4 was unveiled on April 16th 2024 and is available from Insta360, major camera retailers and Amazon. It costs $499 / £499, which is around $50 more than the X3. It’s also pricier than today’s flagship action cameras, the GoPro Hero12 Black ($399), the DJI Osmo Action 4 ($399) and Insta360’s own Ace Pro ($449). As we’ll see though, the X4 is a lot of camera, potentially justifying its steeper price.

Insta360 X4 review: Design & controls

The Insta360 X4 looks virtually identical to the X3, with a few subtle changes, including a ridged pattern on the body. It’s an ounce heavier and slightly longer than the X3 (around ⅓ inch), the same width and fractionally deeper. Both are too cumbersome to comfortably mount on top of a motorcycle helmet, for instance, as you’d mount a traditional action camera. The X4 is instead better suited to chest or off-body mounting, such as on handlebars or selfie sticks. 

The rear touch screen has been boosted to 2.5 inches from the X3’s 2.29 inches and is positively spacious. As with the X3, there are front and rear LEDs to show recording or charging status.

The X4 sports the same dual lens design as the entire X lineup. Around the rim of the lens housings are slots for lens protectors that guard against impact, while sacrificing image quality — you can see in the test footage below the optical artifacts caused by the supplied plastic protectors. Upgraded tempered glass protectors are available for extra impact resistance. The X4 can automatically detect which are fitted to compensate for the altered optics when stitching 360 footage.

The X4 features a USB-C port with a detachable cover so that you can attach adapters, to hook up an external mic, for example. The MicroSD slot is positioned inside the battery department, so you’ll need to remove the battery to change cards.

Build quality is fantastic, befitting a product of this price. The menu system is easy to use and sensibly laid out, with a shallow learning curve. My only minor gripe with the UI is the record button, which I found impossible to press wearing motorcycle gloves — quite dangerous and distracting while operating on the move. A solution is to remap the recording function to the Q button, which I would strongly recommend if you wear gloves while using the device.

Just like the X3, the Insta360 X4 is waterproof down to 33ft (10 meters) — the same depth rating as flagship action cameras like the GoPro Hero12 Black and Insta360 Ace Pro, although lower than the DJI Osmo Action 4’s 59ft (18m) rating.

Insta360 X4 review: Image stabilization

As with every other Insta360 camera I’ve tested, the X4’s image stabilization is fantastic. This is best demonstrated by the standard 16:9 4K/60p footage below, which is beautifully smooth, even on the bumpy, pothole-filled roads of South Wales. 

I even shot using MeMode (see the section below) at 60fps, which disables stabilization, and found the footage far less shaky than I was expecting. If you want YouTube-worthy footage, your camera needs excellent stabilization like this.

Insta360 X4 review: Video performance

The Insta360 X4’s video performance builds on that of the X3, upgrading maximum 360 degree resolution from 5.7K/30p to 8K/30p, with 5.7K/60p now available too. That 8K resolution is for the entire 360 FoV, and equates to 2.7K/30p maximum resolution when  reframed to 16:9 for YouTube or 9:16 for social media. This is a massive boost over the X3, which had an effective maximum resolution of 1080p when reframed to 16:9.

2.7K/30p may sound low when compared to a 4K/60p action camera, but that is currently the sacrifice you make for the flexibility of 360-degree footage. Shooting 360 footage allows awesome features like real time in-footage panning between FoVs, or the invisible selfie stick mode for an overhead floating perspective, to name just a couple. It means you can effectively shoot different angles at once, so a single camera can record both your main footage and b-roll, avoiding the need for a second camera. This is without doubt my favorite aspect of a 360 camera, so I’m thrilled that the X4 now finally packs such flexibility alongside a respectably high resolution.

The X4 also has a neat trick up its sleeve called MeMode. This mimics the invisible selfie stick effect, stitching and reframing in camera without recording in the full 360-degree FoV. This allows you to achieve invisible selfie stick style footage in up to 4K/60p (versus the 2.7K/30p you’d get from reframed invisible selfie stick footage shot in 360 mode), albeit without stabilization above 30p. It can be a little tricky to get right, as counter-intuitively you need the camera positioned horizontally with the lenses facing upwards and downwards. Footage isn’t as striking or flexible to edit as full 360-degree invisible selfie stick video, but serves as a reasonable alternative if you want a similar effect in higher than 2.7K.

The X4 can also shoot 4K/60p in single lens mode, so you can use this as a traditional action camera. For slow motion, the X4 can shoot in 4K/100p or in a new Bullet time mode for Matrix-style slow motion panning. I didn’t get to try this out, but you can see some example footage from Insta360 below.

The X4 utilizes a ½-inch sensor and the 5nm chip found in the Insta360 Ace Pro. That camera’s image quality was let down by some mediocre Leica optics, but the X4 doesn’t suffer the same fate: image quality is great. 360 stitching is mostly fine — I could see the occasional dodgy stitch in post, but these almost always disappeared with a slight adjustment in viewing angle as the camera re-stitched. You’ll want to avoid using large mic cables when shooting 360 video — for me, this resulted in the ghostly apparition of my red Rode cable floating in frame.

Low light performance will not be comparable to a camera with a larger sensor as you’ll find in a mirrorless camera or DSLR, but the X4’s ½-inch sensor is larger than that found in the GoPro Hero12 Black or DJI Osmo Action 4, so will produce cleaner images in low light.

As with other Insta360 cameras, you can tweak your exposure settings and filters in camera, with more filters available in the app. The camera also features face detection, which quickly and accurately locks onto faces in frame.

Insta360 X4 review: Audio performance

The Insta360 X4 features four internal microphones, so no increase from the X3. These actually perform surprisingly well for a camera that hasn’t been manufactured by DJI. 

You’ll want to use an external microphone if you’re after the best audio quality — Insta360 offers a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter ($19 @ Amazon) and a cold shoe bracket for the X4 ($29 @ Amazon), which in my opinion are essential purchases. However, I was really happy with the performance of the internal mics in wind reduction mode. In the MeMode footage above (using internal mics), the audio wasn’t fantastic, but was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting given I was riding quite fast. 

The X4’s mics performed much better than almost every action camera on the market save the DJI Osmo Action 4 (check out our DJI Osmo Action 4 test video to compare yourself). In fact, I’d say wind reduction was noticeably better than on the Osmo Action 4, although the DJI captured much more of my bike’s low frequency exhaust noise. 

Insta360 X4 review: Smartphone app

Insta360’s smartphone app is easily best-in-class. It’s simple to connect to, stable, straightforward to use and generally very polished. Unlike GoPro’s paywalled Quik app, the Insta360 app is totally free and offers incredible functionality, especially for 360 footage. You can edit 360 footage to a high degree straight from your smartphone, without needing a computer or even having to download the full video files to your phone, then trim, adjust or apply filters. Most importantly, you can utilize the Keyframe feature to control framing, switch between FoV modes and apply various effects. There’s also an awesome subject-tracking feature which lets you draw a box around a subject and lock framing on it — this saved me lots of time keeping the framing centered on myself.

If you want to correct audio, you will need to use one of the best video editing software applications, as the Insta360 app doesn’t give you professional audio FX features like, say Adobe Premiere Pro. On that note, Premiere plugins for managing the X4’s 360 footage should be available at or shortly after launch. Insta360 also offers a desktop application for editing 360 footage, which is free.

Making their return after launching with the Ace Pro are AI Warp effects, which are fun to play around with, if not slightly gimmicky (check out our Insta360 Ace Pro review to see those in action). An interesting new AI-powered editing feature is the AI 360 editing mode, which analyzes footage to decide on and apply edits. I couldn’t get this to work on my beta testing version of the app, although I would personally prefer not to use it anyway because I like to control edits myself. Besides, AI often doesn’t get things right. There is a Quick editing mode, though, which offers a more streamlined 360 editing experience and uses a joystick to control framing. It’s a useful go-between if you want to save time editing but still want control.

Insta360 X4 review: Battery life & overheating

Battery capacity is up from 1800mAh in the X3 to 2290mAH in the X4, which is a sizable boost. The X3 was rated by Insta360 for just over 80 minutes in 360 mode at 5.7K/30p, and in my 4K/30p indoor battery test achieved just under 90 minutes. 

In 360 mode, the X4 is rated for a huge 135 minutes at 5.7K/30p. In my 360 testing at full 8K/30p it achieved 73 minutes, so not much shorter than the X3 at maximum despite the massive boost in resolution. At 4K/30p single lens, the X4 achieved 131 minutes. At 4K/60p single lens, the X4 achieved almost 111 minutes, or around 30 minutes longer than Hero12 Black, Osmo Action 4 and Ace Pro. This is phenomenal battery life, especially if you want to use the X4 as a traditional action camera.

Thermally, the X4 performed in exemplary fashion again, and didn’t overheat once during 4K/30p and 4K/60p tests. It also wrote entirely to single files, while the X3 had to pause recording several times and break footage into clips to help manage temperatures. The X4 warns you against shooting in 8K/30p unless you’re moving, though, to avoid overheating, which could be problematic if you want to shoot 360 footage of slower-paced activities.

Insta360 X4 review: Verdict

The Insta360 X4 has naturally taken the crown from the X3 and earned its place as the best 360 camera around. The benefits and flexibility of 360 recording, like the invisible selfie stick mode and the ability to change camera angles after shooting, now no longer need to come at the expense of reframed resolution. Sure, 2.7K isn’t 4K, but it’ll still be enough for producing nice-looking YouTube videos. The X4 also features fantastic stabilization, surprisingly decent internal mics and pairs with Insta360’s fantastic smartphone app. It’s easily the best 360 camera you can buy, or ever made.

Thanks to 4K/60p single lens recording, the X4 can double as a traditional action camera, too, where its battery life is extremely impressive versus other action cams at 4K. Whether the Insta360 X4 will suit you better than a traditional action camera is down to your requirements. If you need higher than 4K output (which won’t be the case for most), a Hero12 Black or Ace Pro are better choices. For deeper waterproofing, you’ll want the Osmo Action 4. Those cameras are also more compact, increasing mounting options and portability. 

Where the Insta360 X4 truly excels is in its usability. If you want one camera to record your exploits in as many cool ways as possible, it’s worth spending the extra money over a traditional action camera. I would happily use the X4 as my main camera for motorcycle footage from now on — I love only needing to take one camera with me that can shoot my main footage, then some awesome, visually-interesting b-roll. The Insta360 X4 is the ultimate all-rounder.

The Ace Pro is Insta360’s crack at a premium standard action camera to compete with GoPro and DJI. Insta360 already makes epic action-oriented cameras with specific niches. There’s the Insta360 X3, currently the best 360 camera you can buy; and there’s the Insta360 Go 3 if you need something as small and portable as you can get.

However, Insta360 has until now lacked a flagship standard action camera to mix it with the big kids: the GoPro Hero and DJI Osmo Action lines. The Ace Pro is designed to plug that gap, offering users a premium action camera experience with high end features. The Ace Pro is also being released in tandem with the standard Ace, a slightly lower-tier offering intended to attract buyers away from slightly older, cheaper rival models. We’re hoping to test the standard Ace in a separate review, but we’ll point out some of the key differences here.

So, how does the Ace Pro stack up against the best action cameras around? Find out in our Insta360 Ace Pro review.

Insta360 Ace Pro review: Price and availability

The Ace Pro launched in November 2023 and costs $449 / £429 for the standalone camera. This puts the Ace Pro in the same price bracket as the GoPro Hero12 Black ($399) and the DJI Osmo Action 4 ($399), although $50 more expensive than both. For those who want to save a little money, the lower tier Ace costs $379 / £359. 

Included as standard with the standalone camera is a battery, a mount with a fork connector, an adhesive mounting plate and a USB-C cable.

The mount used by the Ace Pro is different to mounts used by other Insta360 cameras, so you can’t share mounting plates. However, most accessories use a fork connector or a ⅜-inch thread, so are they interchangeable between cameras. Insta360 offers a wide range of official accessories, giving a great selection of creative angles and ways to shoot.

Insta360 Ace Pro review: Design

The Ace Pro has a few standout design features, but the one Insta360 is proudest of is the lens. It’s a 16mm (full frame equivalent) ultra-wide-angle f/2.6 lens co-developed with legendary German manufacturer Leica (the standard Ace doesn’t get this). We’ll touch on optical performance in greater detail later on.

The lens is shielded by a lens guard, which unfortunately is non-removable — putting any glass in front of a lens will theoretically degrade optical performance. The non-removable nature ensures the 33-foot (10m) water resistance which this camera needs in order to keep up with the Hero12 Black (also 33-foot). Still, both lose out to the Osmo Action 4, which is water resistant to a whopping 59 feet.

Rounding off the key design features are the screens. There’s a front screen which, at first glance, may appear disappointing. It’s only a settings display, akin to the front screen on a much older GoPro Hero8 Black. However, the Ace Pro’s 2.4-inch rear touchscreen flips 180 degrees, effectively resulting in two front screens.

The large flip up screen works really well for selfie-style shooting and will be a big plus for vloggers, as it can be difficult to make out anything on the tiny front screens of the Hero12 Black and Osmo Action 4. It’s bright, with enough room for easy operation and checking framing. Flipped to 90 degrees the screen also allows you to check your footage from above, for example when the camera is mounted on handlebars.

The Ace Pro’s build quality is mostly decent. All construction materials and buttons feel premium and sturdy. Side hatches have good tension and click nicely to tell you they’re closed. The hatch over the connection ports can be removed to make space for a mic adapter, which is useful, although the hatch broke on one of our test models after only a few remove/replace cycles. It’s a large action camera at 2.8 x 2 x 1.5-inches and weighing 6 ounces, which may restrict mounting in certain situations, like helmets.

Connectivity-wise, there’s a micro-SD slot and a USB-C slot for charging and hooking up accessories. Spartan, but par for the course with action cameras.

Insta360 Ace Pro review: Controls

There are only two buttons: a record button, and an on/off button which doubles up as the quick menu button in use. Most device control is done via the touchscreen menus. Insta360’s menu system is a little more convoluted than DJI’s, for instance, which has a shallower learning curve simply by virtue of being more basic. There’s no ‘easy mode’ as you’ll find on the Hero12 Black either, which can be extremely useful for the uninitiated.

That said, Insta360’s menu system is comprehensive and sensibly laid out, so once you know your way around it you’ll have no problem flicking between settings.

Insta360 Ace Pro review: Autofocus performance

Autofocus performance is a mixed bag. Face detection is very good, with the Ace Pro detecting faces in frame and reliably tracking them. As you can see in the selfie footage below, the Ace Pro tracked my face even to the edges of the frame and kept me in focus. It wasn’t as good at detecting smaller/distant faces at wide angles, but it still put on a solid performance, especially when zoomed.

However, without people in frame, I sometimes had difficulty getting the Ace Pro to focus on inanimate objects in the fore- and mid-ground — it prioritized backgrounds, even when that meant focusing on blank walls. This could be down to testing on a pre-production model on pre-production firmware/AF algorithms. There’s no way to manually select focus, though, which would've helped solve the problem.

Insta360 Ace Pro review: Video performance

The Ace Pro’s headline figure is that it can shoot up to 8K/24p video. That’s higher res than both the Hero12 Black (5.3K) and the Osmo Action 4 (4K). Don’t be distracted by how shiny and impressive this huge resolution sounds, though: it’s unlikely to provide much benefit in real world usage, so I wouldn’t buy the camera just because it shoots 8K.

Firstly, 8K is not a very usable resolution by any means — try previewing 20 minutes of 8K footage in Adobe After Effects with anything less than 64 gazillion gigabytes of RAM, and you’ll realize why. Not to mention there are very few 8K monitors in existence (let alone affordable). By the time 8K monitors are widespread enough to make 8K output worth most peoples’ time, effort and computing power, the Ace Pro will be old news.

And while 8K recording may be useful for outputting nicer-looking 4K, there’s still the 24fps frame rate cap to consider. 24fps is not conducive to the whole “action” part of the ‘action camera’ moniker. In reality, 4K/60p is still what will matter most to the majority of consumers, and both the Hero12 Black and Osmo Action 4 shoot that beautifully too, for $50 less. 

Annoyingly, there’s no selectable resolution between 4K and 8K. As such, if you do want higher than 4K but don’t want to shoot at 24fps or deal with huge 8K file sizes, you’re out of luck. It’s a strange omission given the standard Ace shoots at 6K/30p.

The Ace Pro’s video quality at 4K is generally very good. In busier or faster paced scenes — as in the motorcycle footage above — images look great in 4K. For action content, the Ace Pro produces as nice footage at 4K/60p as its competitors. 

However, I noticed fuzziness in corners at Ultra and Action FoVs, which worsens in Dewarp FoV (as the camera stretches the image to remove barrel distortion). This will be down to optics. It isn’t really noticeable in busy action footage, but it stood out in quieter scenes — vlogging, for example, which Insta360 pitches this camera for.

Barrel distortion is normal at ultra-wide focal lengths, but it doesn’t have to equal soft corners — there are plenty of ultra-wide lenses out there that are sharp into the corners even after software optical correction. I’m not saying this is a terrible lens, or that you won’t find similar issues on competitors. But given buyers will be paying a premium for the Leica name — usually a synonym for optical and imaging excellence — I was expecting the lens to be sharper. These issues may either be caused or exacerbated by the lens guard, originally intended to be removable, which Insta360 decided to permanently affix just before production to maintain a 33-foot waterproof rating. The issue will likely fluctuate in severity with changing aperture.