The best 360 cameras might be just what you're looking for if you’re a content creator or love to record action videos. These panoramic cameras capture everything around you, making for incredibly immersive experiences.
But the best 360 cameras have another trick: super-smooth video. That's because they can identify the horizon and automatically level your video, no matter how bumpy. Try that with a regular action camera and see what happens.
From their earliest iterations just a few years ago, 360 cameras have come a long way. Not only are they smaller these days, but companies have added more sophisticated technology so that you can track people and objects, no matter where they move around you.
The best 360 cameras you can buy today
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The Insta360 X5 is easily the best 360 camera you can buy, and it's a camera the manufacturer did't even need to make. With the X4, Insta360 already had the market cornered, and no other brand has been making 360 cameras like this.
Continuing from the X4, the Insta360 X5 can record 360-degree footage in 8K/30p. That means you can reframe in 4K at ultra wide FoVs, or at 2.7K in slightly narrower FoVs. It's as good a resolution as you can get from 360 cameras.
But it isn't all about resolution. The X5's sensors are bigger than the X4, which means it's better in low light, producing a cleaner image. I tested the X5 after the sun went down, and was very impressed by the brightness but cleanliness of the low light picture.
As usual, Insta360's image stabilization does a great job, and footage throughout testing looked smooth and shake-free. The Insta360 app is, as always, best in class, and makes editing 360-footage on-the-fly easy. The Insta360 Studio desktop app is the best way to edit footage though, and happily both applications are free.
My favorite of the upgrades applied to the X5, however, is in regards to the microphone. Insta360 has fitted the X5 with a mesh wind guard, and implemented a new wind reduction algorithm, which works an absolute treat. In testing, it did an incredible job at cleaning up wind buffeting in fast-paced footage — better than a standalone mic.
One of the main community criticisms about previous X-series models was that the lenses were liable to damage, meaning you had to use lens guards to protect them which impacted image quality. Insta360 remedied this with the X5, which features lenses that can be replaced by purchasing an affordable lens kit.
It isn't perfect: Insta360 has improved the battery for 8K recording, and in testing I was able to get noticeably improved times. There's also an endurance battery mode for a whopping 185-minute run time. In 4K/60p single lens mode, though, battery life has actually decreased over the X4.
The X5's launch price is also $50 more than the X4's, which was already an expensive camera. However, both of these cons are relatively minor considering the improved performance of the X5. It really is the best 360 camera you can buy.
Read more in my full Insta360 X5 review.
If you can't stretch to an X5, the Insta360 X4 is the next best 360 camera you can buy. Like its newer sibling, the X4 offers 8K/30p recording. This is a big step up over previous iterations and action cameras, which could only shoot at 5.7K. With that 8K max resolution, you can reframe in up to 4K, so this camera will still suit hardcore content creators.
The stablization is fantastic, the internal mic is decent (although not as good as the X5's), build quality is excellent and the X4 has a bigger screen than the X3, which is bright and responsive. It also comes with some nifty new features, including MeMode, which allows you to achieve the invisible selfie stick effect in 16:9 at 4K/60p in camera. It's also waterproof down to 33ft (10m) like its predecessor.
The best thing about the X4 (aside from the increased resolution, of course) is its battery life. The X4 has an upgraded battery versus the X3, which equates to over 50 minutes longer at 5.7K (135 minutes in total). It shot 8K footage for 73 minutes in testing, which is very impressive.
When used as a 4K single lens action camera, we got over 110 minutes at 4K/60p, which is much better than even the best action cameras around. While the Insta360 X5 can shoot for longer in 360 mode, the X4 shoots for a lot longer in 4K/60p single lens mode, so if you're producing a lot of typical action camera-style footage, this could be the better camera for you.
Read more in our full Insta360 X4 review.
The Insta360 X3 is ageing now, but still offers decent specs for those on a budget. With its 5.7K max resolution, you can refreame in up to 2.7K. It has fantastic image stabilization that will make even the bumpiest videos look smooth, and can capture 4K single lens video at up to 60 fps. A TimeShift feature also lets you slow down or speed up specific segments of your videos.
As an Insta360 camera, the X3 uses the best companion app in the game: the Insta360 app, which makes it easy to edit 360 footage on the go.
The X3 is water resistant to 10 meters (33 feet), and has a much larger touchscreen display than its predecessor, which makes previewing video and changing settings on the fly easy. It also has a decent battery life of up to 80 minutes.
Read our full Insta360 X3 review.
For those looking for a 360 camera with more of a traditional action camera design, the Insta360 One RS is your best bet. Like its predecessor, the Insta360 One R, this innovative camera has a modular design that lets you swap out its 360 lens for a wide angle 4K camera or a camera with a 1-inch sensor. What's more, the camera has some other pretty cool features, including video stabilization and a comprehensive app that has a lot of powerful editing tools.
We like that the One RS' display can be turned around so you can frame yourself in videos, but its small size relative to the GoPro makes it much more difficult to navigate on-screen menus. And, like older GoPros, you'll need to use a frame to mount it to anything. But, this is one versatile 360 camera.
Read our full Insta360 One RS review.
Unlike most 360 cameras, the GoPro Max has a small display on its back that lets you view what its cameras are looking at. While it's not as handy as it seems, the large display does make it easy to navigate and change the Max's settings without having to use your smartphone.
The GoPro Max also has a HyperSmooth stabilization feature, so your bumpy video will look nice and smooth, and image quality from the camera — up to a max resolution of 5.6K/30 fps — lives up to GoPro's typical high standards. Plus, GoPro's app is loaded with features, including the ability to livestream video from the Max.
However, the GoPro Max's design requires the use of a selfie stick, and lacks a tripod mount, so you have to use it with one of GoPro's accessories. At $499, it costs more than the Insta360 One X2, but the GoPro Max delivers.
Read our GoPro Max review.
FAQs
What is a 360 camera?
Simply put, a 360 camera records a full 360-degree field of view, meaning it captures everything around the camera, rather than the restricted fields of view of, say, a traditional action camera.
How do 360 cameras work?
By having more than one lens, with a wide field of view, a 360 camera can "see" in 360 degrees. If each of those lenses targeted onto a sensor, you then have a recordable 360-degree view!
This often involves placing the lenses opposite one another, though, as you'll see with the Insta360 X4, so most 360 cameras use more than one sensor (one per lens usually). The camera then stitches together the images from each lens (so 180-degrees per lens on a two-lens camera) to create a 360-degree FoV. This often results in "stitching" lines being visible in footage, where the fields of view haven't met up perfectly, overlapping or missing small slivers instead.
Here's where things get interesting. The maximum resolution of the camera (i.e. 8K for the Insta360 X4) is for all the sensors combined, so that full 360-degree FoV. If you then want to export in 16:9 for people to watch on YouTube, you'll need to crop into that image and will lose resolution.
How much resolution you lose depends on your reframing FoV, or essentially how wide of an angle you take. Reframing at a very wide FoV like 170-degrees will allow you to keep lots of resolution, but your video will suffer from wide angle barrel distortion (fish eye effect). Reframing at a narrower FoV like 110-degrees will give your footage a more linear/less distorted look, but will lose a lot more resolution.
As a rough guide, on the 8K Insta360 X5, you can reframe in 4K at the widest MegaView 170° FoV, and 2.5K/1440P in the narrowest Linear 110° FoV.
Meanwhile, on the 5.7K Insta360 X3 or the 5.6K GoPro Max, you're looking at around 2.7K in the widest MegaView 170° FoV and 1080P in the narrowest Linear 110° FoV.
What should I look for when buying a 360 camera?
The main factor to consider, as long as you have the budget, is maximum resolution. Above, I explained how 360 cameras work and that if you want to reframe your footage to 16:9 to actually view it (you can't view 360 degrees on a screen), you're going to be losing lots of resolution.
You want as much resolution as possible, so that when you reframe, you have more flexibility over camera angles while keeping image quality. The Insta360 X5 is currently the highest res camera, at 8K, which means you can reframe 16:9 footage in 4K at a 170-degree FoV.
You'll also find that 360 cameras tend to fall into two camps: small, pocketable stick-style devices, and larger squarish (or circular) cameras. The former tend to be less expensive, and are designed for more casual and impromptu shooting. In the second category are cameras such as the Insta360 X5, which are larger and more expensive, but tend to produce higher-quality video. Generally, the design of the latter type of 360 camera also means you'll have to attach it to a tripod or some other mount if you want to capture good footage.
Be sure to think about how you plan to use a 360 camera before you purchase it; if you want to get some fun selfies with friends, then the stick-style cameras will fit your needs well. If you want to capture hair-raising exploits when you go skydiving or skiing, then a larger camera may be the better option.
How we test 360 cameras
As reviews and cameras editor here at Tom's Guide, I test all the latest 360 camera releases in the same way. Now, there's only one real way to test 360 cameras, and that's to strap them to yourself or something else and get shooting! Before I do that, though, I subject each camera to our usual evaluations: price, build quality, styling and overall design, number of ports, etc.
I then shoot footage in each camera's full 360-degree FoV mode. While I'm shooting, I'm analyzing each camera to see how they perform: do they overheat? How long is the battery life? How easy is the camera to control and change settings on while I'm shooting? How many recording features are available to me? And more.
I then always analyze the footage in whatever companion software the camera comes with, looking at image quality, contrast, lens artefacts, and stitching. Naturally, I also test how many features the companion software offers, and how easy it is to use (360 footage needs lots of tweaking and adjusting in software).
Finally, I reframe the footage to 16:9 to get an idea of how sharp the final footage looks.
- Don't need a 360 camera? Check out the best action cameras
- Best GoPro camera: Which is right for you?
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