DJI’s First 360 Camera Is Gunning for Insta360’s Class-Leading X5

Like the world’s strangest West Side Story spinoff, the China-based camera companies DJI and Insta360 are muscling in on each other’s turf. While Insta360 plans to share details about an upcoming “immersive” drone, DJI now plans to offer a 360 camera that is taking direct aim at Insta’s bread and butter. The DJI Osmo 360 has supposed specs that may give it the slightest edge over the pack-leading Insta360 X5 for the same price.

While the average camera sensor records images in a square or rectangular format, a 360 camera includes twin fisheye lenses that capture a sphere around itself. This means you don’t have to worry about the orientation of your camera at the end of a selfie stick or attached to a skier’s helmet speeding down a mountain. The $550 DJI Osmo 360 (which comes packed with a protective pouch and lens protector) is capable of recording at a native 8K resolution and 50 fps, whereas the X5 can only hit a max of 30 fps. If you were tired of the lack of internal storage on Insta360 cameras, the DJI Osmo 360 comes with 105GB of built-in storage along with the microSD card slot.

The factors that set the DJI Osmo 360 apart are small but noteworthy if you’ve ever considered dropping money on a 360 camera. DJI claims its twin 1-inch sensors that capture video in a square format utilize 25% more of the sensor compared to other, rectangular 360 cameras. This may offer better quality images in dim or low light. The device can also take 120-megapixel still photos compared to the 72 megapixels on the Insta360 X5, which may provide more detailed shots with a wider dynamic range.

Despite DJI’s claimed capabilities, the company’s first 360 camera is still very, very similar to the Insta360 X5. Both cameras shoot HDR video for better colors and contrast. The Osmo 360 can also capture at 30 fps for a stated 100 minutes continuously. That would indeed be impressive considering it has a 1,910mAh battery capacity, less than the 2,400mAh of the X5. Insta360 recently updated its camera with an 8K “endurance” mode for just under 2 hours of continuous recording.

The one major difference between the X5 and DJI Osmo 360 may be more significant for those planning to take these devices out on the road. Insta360’s devices allow users to replace the lenses if they ever get damaged. DJI offers lens protectors in the base bundle, but there’s no question that Insta’s 360 camera has the edge in repairability. The GoPro Max 360 camera lenses are also non-replaceable. At the very least, you can connect the camera to DJI’s leading microphones like the Mic Mini and DJI Mic 2. The China-based drone maker has yet to share a planned U.S. release date. The company told Gizmodo it would share more information on a release timeline at a later date.

The world of action cameras has felt incredibly dry over the last few years. Every year of GoPros and GoPro-wannabes offers minor improvements over the last generation. DJI and Insta360 also make their own high-end action cameras, but now that there’s more competition for dual fisheye lenses, maybe we can finally see the market start to innovate. Insta360’s upcoming drone seems like a unique case, but perhaps we need to start thinking about other places to stick a 360 camera. Hell, now that smart glasses like the Meta Oakley HSTN are offering similar POV action shots, who wants to see a pair of glasses with massive, 1-inch sensors jutting out of each arm? Then again, maybe not…