Insta360 X4 Review: The Best Consumer-Level 360 Camera (2024)

The Insta360 X4 is a 360-degree action camera boasting 8K video, a plethora of useful accessories, and even more quality of life features to make this device simple to use well. It is a marked improvement over its predecessor, the X3, and it may be the very best 360-degree camera at the consumer level.

Insta360 X4

9/ 10

The Insta360 X4 is a 360-degree camera offering 8K video, 72MP photos, a lengthy battery life, many useful accessories, AI tools for ease of use, and incredibly easy editing software, Insta360 Studio.

Pros

• Incredible 8K video resolution
• Extremely intuitive hardware
• Easy to use editing software with AI features
• Fantastic build quality
• Many useful accessories
• Lengthy battery life

Cons

• Poor low-light performance
• Some accessories overpriced and confusing

$499.99 at Insta360$500 at Amazon$499.99 at B&H

Price and Availability

The Insta360 X4 is available from the company's website, Amazon, and B&H. The device costs $499.99 for only the camera, and accessories cost extra.

This Is a Sturdy Camera

Action cameras need to withstand some extreme scenarios, and the second I took this camera out of the box, I was impressed with how durable it felt.

It is significantly heavier than you would expect such a small camera to be, and everything about its build screams quality. For example, it has a .25” thread for tripods and other mounts, which was a highly welcome sight for an action camera, especially when GoPros have historically eschewed this thread prior to more recent releases.

It also has convenient latches for opening and closing compartments, such as viewing the USB-C port or removing the battery and microSD card.

These latches also note whether the device is sealed, which is especially useful for knowing if it’s safe to go underwater with it. I also recommend a large microSD card of at least 256GB, as file sizes for this device are huge.

Insta360 Offers Many Useful Accessories

At launch, the Insta360 X4 offers a multitude of additional accessories you can purchase in various packs, ranging from the invisible selfie stick, to extra batteries, to lens protectors, and beyond.

For most people, the most relevant accessory will be the invisible selfie stick, as it allows for the most impressive “drone-like” shots due to how it disappears in videos when used.

For power users who may run through the device’s battery life in a single sitting, many bundles for the X4 also include an additional 2290mA battery. Each battery takes 55 minutes to fully charge, so if the battery lasts for 75 minutes when shooting in 8K30, you could theoretically use the camera in near perpetuity with access to a charger.

Other useful peripherals and accessories exist for the X4, such as a cold shoe mount for a wireless mic—advertised as for the Røde Wireless Go—a chest mount for POV shots like when on a bike, and varying degrees of lens protectors to help the camera withstand the action you’re likely to put it through.

The Quantity of Accessories May Confuse You

However, some peripherals seem somewhat unnecessary or odd, such as a quick SD card reader, with a bulky body, Lightning and USB-C male plugs, and a microSD port.

This is indeed durable and convenient for users quickly importing footage from their camera to their phone, but it seems unnecessarily expensive. It's also completely useless on most desktop computers, as the USB-C plug has some extra plastic near it.

The breadth of accessories is useful for the equally diverse ways people may use this camera in action, such as biking or scuba diving, but the sheer quantity of accessories is highly confusing for people who may be unsure of how they will specifically use the camera: invisible selfie stick, the bullet time handle, or both?

Are the cold shoe and quick SD card reader necessary? Which lens protector should I get? Should I spend an extra $95 on a spare battery and charging hub?

The bundles listed on the X4’s store page likely suffice to answer these questions, but you may want to research how best to record your intended activity or content, then work backwards to figure out what you need.

360-Degrees Isn’t Just a Gimmick Anymore

When 360-degree video first entered the mainstream, many saw it as a gimmick due to lacking features, the novelty of the technology, and camera specs lagging behind the vision of the technology.

360-degree cameras simply require far greater pixel density to offer a clear picture, so many older 360-degree cameras had incredibly grainy, low-resolution images when zooming in on any part of the video. You might have been able to capture some unique shots, like this overhead shot below, but specs were lagging up until more recent models.

Now, with higher resolutions and better features as the standards for Insta360’s cameras, 360-degree cameras are serious tools for content creators that can dramatically diversify the shots you can capture, especially with 8K video offering dramatic improvements now.

8K Offers Ultra-Crisp 360-Degree Video

When we think of camera resolutions for video, we may often think that 8K is excessive for most people. For standard video, this is certainly true, but when your video encompasses 360 degrees, every pixel counts.

Below is an image using the Insta360 X4 in an 8K30 video.

Next, we have an image using 5.7K video, the resolution cap for the Insta360 X3.

Now, let’s zoom in on the details at 8K below.

You can see that the 8K resolution is significantly sharper than the 5.7K image pictured below.

Low Light Performance Remains Subpar

However, the camera, in all settings, performs quite poorly without substantial lighting. If you’re recording outdoors and have sunlight, this may not be an issue, but even when simply standing in the shade or indoors in a moderately lit room, I saw a substantial amount of grainy noise in the camera’s video, even at 8K.

The camera also recommends shooting at 5.7K or lower when in low-light scenarios. These quirks with low light are to be expected for action cameras with smaller sensors, but it is an unfortunate limitation for the form factor, exacerbated by the nature of 360-degree video stretching the image out so much.

HDR Is Nice to Have but Unnecessary

In general, I don’t like how high dynamic range (HDR) video looks. It’s often unnatural-looking and overly muted, but it is a useful feature in high-contrast scenarios to ensure you capture the shot without too-dark shadows or too-bright highlights.

This especially applies in the action-packed scenarios you’d use an Insta360 camera: you’re using a 360-degree camera to ensure you capture the shot, so it makes sense to use HDR to make sure every detail is clear too.

HDR is quite taxing on the camera, with a warning about the camera being more prone to overheating when in this mode. Additionally, because HDR typically captures multiple layers of video for differing exposure levels, it is limited to 5.7K at 30fps.

In highly contrasting lighting scenarios, such as a mix of high noon sunlight and shade, HDR does make the picture clearer in terms of brightness and contrast, as seen below in shade.

However, 5.7K is a huge decrease in resolution compared to the camera’s maximum 8K resolution, seen in the previous section's 8K images. The same applies in harsh sunlight. In HDR, the most illuminated parts of my face are clear.

In standard dynamic range, those same spots are blown out. The shadows are also darker in this shot, but because this shot used 8K, it is clearer in terms of resolution.

Thus, for the improved resolution and resulting clarity, you’ll probably get the best results with standard video at 8K. That said, HDR is a nice feature to have.

Numerous Features With Ease in Mind

Resolution is the most noticeable improvement over the X4’s predecessor, the X3. However, numerous other features make the X4 stand out.

First, it includes on-camera AI noise reduction as a setting for its 72MP camera for extra clear images. The X3 additionally has a 72MP resolution for its 360-degree photos, but it does not have this processing feature.

Additionally, the X4 has a significantly longer battery life than its predecessor, offering 135 minutes at 5.7K30 compared to the X3’s 81. However, the X4 only has a 75-minute battery life when shooting 8K30 360-degree video. During my extensive testing, I was never worried about draining the battery.

Moreover, the X4 offers convenient gesture and voice controls for recording video and taking photos. I initially thought this would be more of a gimmick than a useful feature, but I was amazed at how well these worked. It was a bit finicky, as some gestures and words didn’t seem to be recognized all the time. However, I foresee many cases where you need to record, can’t conveniently reach the camera, and use a gesture instead.

Beyond high-resolution video and other convenient features, the Insta360 X4 also provides superb stabilization. No matter how intensely you use this camera, you will never need to worry about the stability of your shot.

On top of everything else, navigating through the device’s settings and options is incredibly simple. Tactile buttons are for shooting shots and changing shooting modes on the front.

It also has side buttons for toggling power and selecting presets.

On the screen itself, swipe up on the touch screen to change resolution and frame rate.

Swipe left for picture adjustments or to switch to manual mode to adjust exposure.

Next, swipe right to view your files. When viewing a 360-degree video, you can swipe while playing the video to look around at all angles, too.

Last, swiping down reveals many more settings.

Everything about this camera is designed with ease and convenience, which is essential for an action camera capturing fleeting shots with the frequent necessity to rapidly change settings.

Insta360 Studio’s AI Features Makes Editing Easy

In the Insta360 Studio software, the X4 utilizes various AI and processing features, such as clarity and color enhancements, adjustments for underwater video, voice-focused audio, noise reduction, dynamic stitching between the two lenses, and more.

The most useful, however, is AI tracking for framing your video. You can select objects for the video to track, so you can simply select yourself and always be in frame.

You can also select multiple objects, as well as set different focuses for different lengths of the clip. Maybe a snowboarder wants to focus on herself, then switch the focus to a nearby friend, or adjust framing to ensure both are in frame.

As a video editor myself, this software was extremely easy to learn how to use, and it is certainly user-friendly for all skill levels. For advanced editors, this editing is further enhanced with a Premier Pro plugin for a convenient creative workflow.

Should You Buy the Insta360 X4?

360-degree video is increasingly becoming a better way to capture action-packed moments or create unique shots. While the Insta360 X4 still has remnants of the early problems with 360-degree cameras, such as a bit of graininess and poor low-light performance, it offers incredible quality, durability, and ease of use.

At $499, it may be pricey for casual users, but this may be the best 360-degree camera at a consumer-level price. If you have any solid reason for needing a 360-degree camera, this is the one for you.

Insta360 X4

9/ 10

The Insta360 X4 is a 360-degree camera offering 8K video, 72MP photos, a lengthy battery life, many useful accessories, AI tools for ease of use, and incredibly easy editing software, Insta360 Studio.

$499.99 at Insta360$500 at Amazon$499.99 at B&H