Last week, I came home to find Insta360’s new X4 camera on my doorstep, along with a company asking me to make a sponsored video about it. At first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it. As cool as these 360 cameras are, I thought, “I already have a phone camera that I love and take everywhere. When would I actually use this?”
So, I decided to put it to the test. I booked a trip to London, took the X4 and my phone, and set out to see what it’s really like to own a 360 camera in 2024. The first thing you notice when filming with the X4, besides it looking like a high-tech gadget, is how it simplifies filming. A lot of people think 360° video is kind of pointless, and I mostly agree. Am I going to post a 360° video anywhere? Probably not, but that’s not the point.
The point of capturing every angle at once isn’t to keep them all; it’s so you can choose the best ones later. It stops that thing we all do when something worth recording happens. Instead of getting lost in trying to frame the perfect shot, we can stay in the moment, knowing we won’t miss anything—like when your sister blows out her birthday candles for the 20th time.
When you record something on the X4, it’s not just capturing what’s in front of the lens—it’s recording a full 360-degree view all the time. This gives you three cool options for editing your footage.
First, you can let AI do all the work. It automatically scans the footage and creates a clip, highlighting what it thinks are the most interesting moments. Super easy, no effort required.
Second, there’s quick mode. This lets you change the viewpoint using simple tools like a little joystick at the bottom of the screen or your phone’s gyro sensors. As you move your phone around, you’re actually looking around inside the clip, which is pretty neat.
But the coolest option by far is Deep Track 3.0. You just draw on an object, tap the play button, and watch as the camera keeps that object in the center of the frame in real time. It’s seriously impressive.
And if you’re a control freak who loves to get into the nitty-gritty details, there’s Pro mode, where you can dive in and tweak everything to your heart’s content.
But the big thing that really ties it all together this time is that the camera now records in 8K resolution. For a long time, the 360 camera industry has been limited to a maximum of 5.7K. While that’s still a lot of pixels, it meant that whenever you wanted to reframe your footage or zoom in a bit, you’d lose some resolution. But not anymore.
This is a significant perk, but I still didn’t think it alone justified carrying around an extra gadget. So, I dug a little deeper. When would I use this where my phone wouldn’t suffice? Then I remembered another powerful benefit: having a camera on each side that can record simultaneously.
This setup essentially gives you two cameras. You can use it as a normal action camera, capturing full 4K quality at 60 frames per second—it’s stunning. Need a dash cam? This is the highest-end dash cam you can buy, shooting 4K video in both directions at once with FlowState stabilization that makes mountain biking footage look smooth—almost good enough for my driving. Want a webcam? An upcoming update will let it serve that purpose too, with two ultra-wide cameras covering everyone in the room and four directional microphones picking up each person’s audio individually.
Where the whole multiple-camera setup really hit me was when I remembered the Unbreakable Tech video we filmed a few weeks ago. We were shooting this insanely fast car in our garden, and we had no idea where it would end up. So, we had Josh, our main cameraman, filming from one angle, Joseph, our everything guy, filming from another, and Dre from yet another. But then I thought about the new X4. If we had used it, all we would have needed to do was stick it in the ground and leave it there. This camera records everything. It can focus on the car as it approaches, track it smoothly and accurately, follow it as it zooms past, and then show where I am in the frame—all without needing anyone behind the camera.
Oh, actually, can we talk hardware for a second? I wanted to start the video with hardware, but Dre told me no one would watch it. Still, I think you’ll find this cool. Unlike phone companies, Insta360 upgrades their cameras every two years. So, the jump in specs from the X3 to the X4 is huge. The battery lasts almost 70% longer. For comparison, the GoPro Hero 12 can shoot 90 minutes at 5.3K, but the X4 can shoot 135 minutes at 5.7K in 360°. It’s powered by a new 5-nanometer AI chip that makes everything run faster. This chip boosts footage transfer speed by 50% to 100% and allows the camera to shoot using high-efficiency video coding. This means the new, higher quality 8K clips take up less storage space than the older, lower quality ones.
The X4 has a bigger, more colorful display, but if you don’t want to use it, you can control the camera with gestures—great if you’re wearing gloves or teaching your grandparents how to use it. There’s also a new Mega View mode that’s insane. It gives you a field of view that feels impossible. I can see both sides of my hand in one frame, which makes me wonder if this is what it would look like if we had eyes on the back of our heads. The body is more durable, the glass is now Gorilla Glass, and it comes with removable lens guards that are included in the box. These guards really improve durability. Oh, and it’s dive-proof up to 10 meters.
When it comes to recording, the video quality has jumped from 5.7K to 8K, which is pretty impressive. To show you what that looks like, I tested my Insta360 X4 next to the previous generation’s Insta360 X3. But it’s not just the normal video that’s improved. Slow motion is now at a much higher quality too. You can record 5.7K at 60 frames per second and 4K at 100 frames per second, which is a first for a 360° camera. Combining slow-mo and 360° footage opens up a lot of creative possibilities.
For time-lapse videos, instead of the already impressive 8K resolution—which is four times the resolution of 4K—this camera can shoot in 11K resolution. I tested it out, and although it needs good lighting, the results are incredible. No phone can match this. You can move to any angle, and it still looks great because there are so many pixels. Plus, with 360° footage, you can zoom out and get an 11K resolution mini globe of a memory.
Another cool thing is how much this setup resembles drone footage. The camera has two lenses, each with a 210° field of vision, creating a blind spot that makes the selfie stick invisible, so it looks like the camera is flying. While it’s not a full drone replacement, it can do a lot of what people use drones for, without the usual downsides: it’s silent, easier to control, cheaper, has a longer battery life, is less fragile, and won’t crash into obstacles.
What I find most impressive is M mode. This feature keeps the camera locked onto your face even if you’re not paying attention to its direction. It has an internal gyroscope that maintains level footage in full 360°, something I haven’t seen in any other camera. While your phone is still the most convenient camera, this one is perfect for anyone who wants to get a bit more creative without needing professional gear.
Alright, let’s break down what we’ve covered so far—it’s the basics, you know? But where things really get exciting is with Shot Lab. It’s like this massive treasure trove of effects, taking your camera game to a whole new level. Imagine camera filters, but supercharged to make the most of the camera’s ability to capture everything at once. And guess what? Since I first tried it on the X3, the list has grown like crazy. Remember how I showed you that sky-swapping feature? Well, it’s still there, but now there’s even more to play with. Electric Surge blew me away with its swirling lighting effects, straight out of a Dragon Ball episode. And then there’s Bullet Time—yeah, it’s still here, but crisper and cooler on the X4, taking things up a notch. Flash Dash? Totally feels like a move from Dragon Ball, right? Oh, and AI Warp? Mind-blowing stuff. Pick a style, and watch as your video transforms completely thanks to AI magic. And those Inception-like horizon-bending effects? Always a jaw-dropper, turning even the most mundane clips into cinematic wonders, like me just taking a stroll down the street.
Now, let’s talk money. The X4 is creeping into premium territory at $499, but for me, Shot Lab makes it worth every penny. It’s like this playground of creativity, and it’s all included in the price. Well, almost all—AI Warp has a cap of three free uses a day, probably because it’s pretty resource-intensive. Compare that to GoPro’s editing suite, which is okay but comes with a subscription fee. Oh, and speaking of 2024 subscriptions, I’ve got a video that dives deep into that—I’ll drop the link. And hey, if you’re eyeing the Insta360, they’re throwing in a free invisible selfie stick with the camera. Check the description for more info.