Dji Osmo 360 Review: A Capable Action Cam That's A Real Threat To Insta360

DJI is yet taking connected rising rival Insta360 pinch its first panoramic action camera, nan Osmo 360. The institution dug into its heavy engineering toolkit successful an effort to one-up nan title pinch features for illustration a caller sensor design, up to 8K 50 fps 10-bit log signaling and a smaller, lighter body.

It besides matches aliases thumps its rival successful different areas, pinch akin artillery life and superior low-light capability. After testing nan instrumentality successful various scenarios for illustration riding astir connected an e-bike, I’m impressed. Like different 360 cameras, though, nan Osmo 360 sacrifices video value for nan convenience of unlimited angles. Plus, DJI’s editing app still needs immoderate work.

Design and features

Insta360’s cameras made a scatter successful nan action cam world because of a then-unique trait: they seizure footage from each angles. That lets you reframe video successful immoderate guidance truthful you’re not stuck pinch a accepted camera's forward-only view. The downside is that value is reduced from nan stated solution (from 8K to 4K, for example) erstwhile footage is "de-warped" aliases flattened to create nan last video.

DJI has truthful acold stayed retired of this category, but that's changed pinch nan Osmo 360. Like rival models, it has a lens and sensor connected each side, pinch a show astatine nan backmost and a grounds and camera position fastener beneath (just for illustration Insta360). There’s besides a powerfulness fastener connected nan side. Other settings and controls are operated from nan surface aliases a smartphone via DJI's Mimo app.

A cardinal characteristic is nan caller 1-inch quadrate sensor designed specifically for panoramic shooting. That allowed DJI to usage 25 percent much of nan sensor than rival models pinch rectangular chips, successful move boosting image value and low-light capability. It besides makes nan camera much power-efficient.

The Osmo 360 is simply a spot smaller than Insta360's latest model, nan X5. Though a spot thicker and wider, nan Osmo is substantially shorter astatine conscionable 83mm compared to nan X5 (124.5mm). It's besides astir 9 percent lighter astatine 183 grams. All that makes it somewhat easier to transportation and connect to your body, bikes aliases different things, though it's still bulkier than a regular action cam.

Another prize pinch nan Osmo 360 is nan 105GB of usable built-in retention (plus a microSD slot), compared to… zero for nan competition. The artillery is nan aforesaid arsenic nan 1 successful nan Osmo Action 4 Pro and 5 Pro, truthful owners of those models already person a compatible battery. It supports up to 120 minutes of 8K 30 fps signaling successful endurance mode, aliases 100 minutes successful regular mode, akin to nan X5's 93/115 minutes. On apical of that, artillery life connected nan Osmo 360 tin beryllium boosted to 180 minutes pinch an optional artillery hold rod.

Video and audio

With its caller sensor, nan Osmo 360 tin nutrient nan highest value video successful nan 360 class astatine up to 8K 50 fps, compared to 8K 30 fps connected nan Insta360 X5 and 6K 30 fps connected nan Insta360 One RS. That successful move lets creators seizure high-quality level (de-warped) video astatine up to 4K 50 fps. The caller exemplary besides offers 10-bit D-LogM signaling to boost move range, which is amended than nan X5's 8-bit I-Log. And if you'd alternatively grounds level video, you tin do that successful single-lens "Boost Video" mode astatine 4K 120 fps, pinch a section of position up to 170 degrees.

The different use is improved low-light capacity successful each modes. DJI says that nan autochthonal 8K pixel size is 2.4 micrometers, doubly that of nan X5, allowing for accrued ray gathering. If you want to return panoramic photos, nan Osmo 360 thumps nan title location arsenic good pinch up to 120MP photos (compared to 72MP for nan X5), aliases it tin bin 4 pixels down to 1 for 30MP photos pinch little sound successful debased light.

After testing it successful time and nighttime conditions, I’m impressed. In bully light, it was connected par pinch Insta360's X5 successful position of sharpness and colour accuracy. It was superior successful tricky contrasty situations, though, pinch nan D-LogM floor plan boosting move range. Skies, shiny roads and different brightly lit objects showed much item than nan 8-bit I-log video changeable pinch nan X5 and shadows were besides little washed out.

DJI's integer RockSteady stabilization delivered impressively soft video, moreover complete unsmooth cobblestone roads. And arsenic pinch different DJI devices, you tin fto nan camera slope pinch your movements aliases support nan sky level (HorizonSteady), though that will travel astatine nan costs of immoderate resolution. Stitching was besides seamless (except occasionally pinch objects adjacent to nan camera), truthful I could take immoderate perspective without worrying astir distortion.

Not each was cleanable though. As pinch different 360 models, nan Osmo 360 is intelligibly little crisp than DJI's Action 5 Pro aft conversion to 4K level video. And while low-light capacity was so very good, integer stabilization became problematic erstwhile shooting astatine night, showing signs of pixelation and video tearing owed to mobility blur. However, that’s a problem that’s emblematic pinch each action cams since they deficiency optical stabilization.

Like different DJI Action cams, nan Osmo 360 supports nan company's Mic 2 and Mic Mini wireless microphones and tin grounds from 2 of those astatine nan aforesaid clip via its OsmoAudio nonstop relationship system. You tin besides link third-party wireless earbuds arsenic I did pinch Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro 2, though only 1 group astatine a time.

DJI’s mics let for crisp and clear audio, and adhd a batch of convenience. When paired pinch nan camera, they tin besides grounds audio internally to supply a backup copy. Insta360 precocious released its ain microphone strategy pinch nan $50 Mic Air that connects straight to nan Insta360 X5 and Insta360 Ace Pro 2. However, those models tin only usage 1 mic astatine a clip alternatively than 2 for illustration nan Osmo 360.

DJI Studio editing

Software is an important constituent of panoramic cameras. On apical of editing, they thief creators alteration camera angles and do 360-specific moves. And if you scheme to output afloat panoramic content, it injects that metadata into nan last video truthful that apps for illustration Facebook and YouTube will admit it correctly.

A large logic for Insta360’s occurrence has been its fantabulous Studio app that helps users do each of those things. DJI’s consequence to that is simply a caller app of its own, which is besides called Studio, but its first ace astatine a 360 editor doesn’t rather measurement up to its rival.

DJI Studio does fto you do basal editing, for illustration inserting shots and trimming them. However, it’s not nan astir intuitive process — it took maine excessively agelong to fig retired really to trim shots earlier inserting them into nan timeline. It’s besides a spot buggy: nan root show tends to show shots you haven’t selected and nan camera angles sometimes randomly change. It besides lacks features recovered connected Insta360 Studio for illustration matter overlays and transitions.

That said, DJI Studio does a bully occupation pinch its astir important task. It’s easy to move to a caller position utilizing keyframes and group animations to amended smoothness. You tin past export video successful either level aliases panoramic formats and import it into apps for illustration Premiere Pro aliases DaVinci Resolve for nan last colour correction, effects and titles. All told, DJI Studio is bully for a first release, but still needs activity compared to its main rival.

Wrap-up

It took DJI awhile to get a panoramic action cam into nan market, but nan Osmo 360 was worthy nan wait. It stacks up good against its main rival, Insta360’s X5, by offering amended video value successful debased ray aliases high-contrast situations. It’s besides easy to use, offers bully artillery life and trumps its title pinch a ample magnitude of built-in storage.

The superior drawbacks are somewhat little image value compared to regular action cams and stabilization that breaks down a spot successful debased light. The all-new DJI Studio app besides needs immoderate work. For a first effort, though, nan Osmo 360 is simply a amazingly coagulated rival to Insta360’s X5.

DJI's Osmo 360 is now disposable astir everyplace but nan US astatine €480 for nan Standard Combo (around $554) which includes a azygous battery, protective pouch and rubber lens protector, aliases €630 ($728) for nan Adventure Combo which adds 2 other batteries, a charger, a speedy merchandise adapter equine and a 1.2m Invisible Selfie Stick. As for US availability, "it will not beryllium disposable for waste instantly successful nan U.S. marketplace done charismatic DJI channels," a DJI spokesperson told Engadget. "We presently do not person an estimated timeline… but we will fto you cognize erstwhile we do."