Insta360 is back with its latest 360 action cam, the X4. Capturing immersive video in up to a crazy 8K 360° video, it’s been upgraded with a bigger battery and protection with removable lens guards. Combined with some of the easiest-to-use mobile editing features, Insta360 is delivering even more creative possibilities with its latest candy bar-sized camera. Be sure to hit the video below to check out all of the details.
Quick Specs:
- 8K30fps 360° video
- 5.7k60fps, 4K100fps video
- 11k Timelapse
- 72mp photos
- Removable lens guard
- 2290 mAh battery
- 10m (33ft) waterproof
- H.265 files
- $500
Insta360 X4: Overview
The bones of the Insta360 X4 are all familiar from the last generation we reviewed. It’s still the candy-bar-shaped stick that uses a camera on either side of its body and crazy processing to stitch the images together into unique perspectives that can be manipulated, reframed, and exported easily from a mobile app or imported into a professional video editing software for even more control.
This time, it’s even easier to get the files into Premiere since they now have their own native plugin. In the past, Insta360 relied on GoPro’s reframe app for controlling the images in Premiere but not anymore.
X4 is also bigger and better both physically and in terms of its capabilities. This generation is noticeably bigger than the X3 but it’s still easy to throw in a pocket and mount in a variety of locations.
Insta360 X4: Video
It’s also capable of capturing incredible 8k30fps 360° video. That’s a bit different than the 8K terminology you might be used to. Most of those pixels won’t be visible at once since it is 360° but that allows for the image to be reframed and resized in post-production. And the 8K upgrade compared to the last generation’s 5.7k is noticeable.
Now, there are caveats to using all of those new pixels in the best way possible. It can only shoot up to 30fps, it doesn’t work with Active HDR, and it should only be used in good lighting. In my experience, shooting outside in the late morning delivered an incredible image. For me, the beauty of these 360 cameras is being able to reframe an image after capturing it and the more pixels a camera has, the sharper that reframed image will look.
How I use it
I ride motorcycles and make videos for a local motorcycle company, Janus Motorcycles, so of course one of my favorite ways to use these 360 cameras is to capture some riding footage on one of these motorcycles.
Typically when producing videos for Janus, I have to hang out the back or side of a van or hatchback to get engaging riding footage of the entire motorcycle. But with a 360 camera, like the Insta360 X4, that is so much easier to capture. It’s like having a production crew in your pocket.
I initially got this idea from Micah at Electrek – he uses 360 cameras to capture most of his two-wheeled riding review videos. And now that the X4 has an even higher resolution, It’s more capable in this professional use case scenario.
Now, it won’t completely replace the imagery I can capture with a Sony a7s3 on a DJI Ronin stabilizer but it opens up the possibilities and is effortless to use.
Viewing/Editing footage
In addition to an easy-to-use 360 action cam, Inta360 makes viewing, editing, and exporting the footage easy. The app connects to the camera via Wi-Fi and I was surprised how quickly the image became available and how seamlessly the preview played.
In the app are controls for viewing, reframing, and placing keyframes, or even having the app make and edit for you with AI analysis and editing. I typically wouldn’t rely on the AI editing but for quick clips, it’s pretty fun. It produces some fun edits without any additional work for family trips and quick travel clips.
Typically, I prefer to download the footage and edit it on my PC in Adobe Premiere Pro. In the past, even Insta360 recommended using the GoPro Reframe plugin to manipulate the footage inside of Premiere but now they have their own plugin – Insta360 Reframe.
It operates nearly identical to the GoPro plugin. Video files from the camera can be directly imported into Premiere and manipulated for a variety of creative styles.
Alternatively, the Insta360 Studio desktop app is a powerful way to reframe and export videos. With natural, intuitive controls that more closely align with what’s available in the mobile app.
Insta360 X4: What else can it do?
Beyond capturing two-wheeled adventures, the Insta360 X4 is ready for a variety of adventures. It’s waterproof up to 10m without any additional accessories.
And beyond 8K30fps video, X4 can take 72MP photos, 11K timelapses, and seamlessly creates hyperlape TimeShift videos. With direction lock enabled, the camera automatically pans with reorients the view with the movement of the camera making seamless Timeshift videos.
Mic test
I was also impressed with the mic quality. Since I tested the camera mainly riding a motorcycle, I was surprised to hear a very small amount of wind noise in the video even when riding my motorcycle at around 60mph. Be sure to watch the video to hear it in action.
Battery life
The battery on the Insta360 X4 is considerably bigger than its predecessor at 2290mAh compared to the 1800mAh X3 battery. That yields up to 130+ minutes of recording at 5.7k on the X4 compared to 81 minutes on the X3. Bumping the resolution up to 8K does take a toll on battery life as that total run time goes down to around 75 minutes.
Accessories
Insta360 also carries a wide variety of accessories that make capturing unique videos even easier. Of course, there is the standard invisible stick, but there is also an extended selfie stick that extends up to 3m. There are mic adapters, card readers, extra batteries, and more.
9to5Toys’ Take
Overall I’m happy to see increased resolution, a bigger battery, and more easy-to-use mobile apps. Unfortunately, that comes at an increased price as well. The X4 comes in at $500. The X3 started at $450 and is now available for $400. But the increase in specs and performance makes this camera more capable for how I use these cameras and it’s worth the price increase.
Buy Insta360 X4
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