Usually, when people think of action cameras, they immediately think of GoPro. Countless snowboarding, jet skiing, and even action-packed dog videos have been filmed on the GoPro, essentially cementing its place as the camera associated with action sports. It might be time for GoPro to move aside, though. Insta360 have released a line of action cameras that absolutely blow GoPro out of the water.
The Insta360 One X2 is a 360 action camera that’s just as durable and portable as any other action camera. However, the addition of an extra camera on the back enables shots that would never be possible on a GoPro. Videos can be shot in a full 360 degrees and edited with the Insta360 studio software to create videos that would put the GoPro to shame.
Insta360 One X2 Features
For a camera that’s only slightly more expensive than competing action cameras, the Insta360 One X2 is loaded with features. The most important feature is obviously the dual cameras, which enable 360-degree video, and can be used to shoot two perspectives at once. The latter feature is great for vloggers who may want to show themselves talking, as well as whatever they’re looking at. The One X2 is also Matterport compatible, meaning the dual cameras can be used to scan rooms and create 3D models of real-world spaces.
As far as technical specifications go, the One X2 is still fairly impressive. The camera can shoot up to 5.7k resolution videos, and photographs taken with the camera measure at 18.4 megapixels. The camera can also shoot up to 100 frames per second for slow motion video, which reduces the resolution down to a still solid 3k.
An additional feature of the One X2 is that the viewfinder doubles as a touch screen. This touch screen can be used to drag around the angle that the viewfinder displays, giving a more complete look of what each camera is capturing. The camera also has built-in image stabilization, making particularly action-heavy shots more stable and consistent. Other interesting features include four built-in microphones for 360-degree audio, and that the camera is waterproof up to 10 meters.
Insta360 One X2's bullet time feature
There are also a few optional accessories for the One X2 that are worth picking up. The bullet time handle and the selfie stick are the two accessories we recommend most. The bullet time handle works in conjunction with the selfie stick in two ways. The first way is that it allows “bullet time” recordings, where you swing the camera around your head in a circle and capture everything around you in slow motion. The second is that the bullet time handle opens up so that it acts like a tripod, and the selfie stick can be attached to extend its height. The selfie stick is definitely the more useful of the two, especially because it automatically deletes itself from the footage.
Insta360 Studio Features
Insta360 Studio is the software used to edit the videos captured with the Insta360, and it’s completely free. You don’t even have to own an Insta360 camera to download and use the software, you just need access to some 360 footage to edit. The software itself is fairly easy to use, and has a far more manageable learning curve than something like Premiere Pro. There is also an AI editing tool, which will take your videos and edit them automatically. The downside to the desktop software is that there aren’t as many different editing options as the mobile app, the Insta360 Shot Lab.
Insta360 Shot Lab is also free, and features the same tools as the desktop app, but with a few extra tools that would be nice to have in the desktop version. The mobile app can add stop motion, multiple clones of the same person in one video, and a lot of other effects that the desktop version does not have, for some reason. The AI tool is also updated over time, as new 360 video editing techniques emerge.
Drawbacks
All that said, the Insta360 One X2 does have a few drawbacks. Certain lighting really does not work well with the One X2, including both LED lighting and low-light environments. Both cause significant distortion and artifacting in footage, enough to the point where otherwise decent shots would need to be thrown out. There are filters that can be added in Insta360 editing tools to offset distortion, but these don’t really fix the aforementioned problems caused by lighting issues.
The lenses on the camera can also not be changed. As such, there is only one zoom level on the One X2, and although the resolution is good enough to zoom in on certain parts of the footage in the editing software, it still does not come close to the quality of footage that can be captured with other cameras with a zoom lens. Lens covers, either neutral-density filters or protective lens covers, will also cause distortion, although these are more minor than with the lighting issues, and the editing software does a decent job of improving these issues.
Conclusion
Overall, the Insta360 One X2 has a ton of features, for a similar price to other action cameras. The 360-degree footage is obviously the biggest draw here, and the camera does that really well. Outside of the obvious, unavoidable stitching, the footage looks really clear and captures most things really well, outside of low-light environments and LED lighting. The free editing software for the Insta360 devices is also very easy to use and contains handy features that help even non-video editors achieve cool shots and sequences. Outside of a few small drawbacks, the One X2 is a very impressive camera with a relatively affordable price tag.
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