Insta360 ONE X2 review | A 360 camera that everyone needs
We’ve had the Insta360 ONE X2 here at Visordown for a while - and after plenty of use, here’s our review!
360 views for every cruise - we’ve been testing out the Insta360 ONE X2 camera for a few months here at Visordown, and it has already become a staple of our video arsenal.
To outline from the start, this isn’t a paid review - Insta360 sent us the ONE X2 and asked us to give it a go and see what we think of it.
It’s since found use on many a launch and review, including the recent Harley-Davidson Adventure Centre trip and our Suzuki Adventure video, numerous launches: the Honda NT1100, Yamaha R7, BMW CE04, plus countless other videos & features.
What is the Insta360 ONE X2?
Simply put, it’s a 360 camera capable of recording in up to 5.7k 30fps. It’s packed with tech and features - most notable is the superb auto stabilisation, 4-mic 360 audio (which automatically filters out high pitched sounds, like rushing wind when riding along) and HDR quality.
Pair the device with the official accessories, like the invisible selfie stick (the party trick where the pole will be masked out of videos to make people wonder what it’s attached to), motorcycle grip kit, tripod and dive case (if you fancy it) and you can end up with some outrageous videos & photos.
The device also comes with a dedicated app (both PC/Mac & mobile) to edit your videos into shareable bitesize clips, and once you get your head around the editing software - which is straightforward enough - you’ll be sorted.
Insta360 ONE X2 Price & availability
You can purchase the Insta360 ONE X2 for £429.99 (on its own) via the Insta360 store.
You could also pick it up with a purpose-built bundle (like the Motorcycle kit for £501.89). This includes a 64 GB SD card, protective lens cover, motorcycle mounting bits and a selfie stick, so well worth considering the upgrade when pricing it up.
What is it and how do you use it?
It’s genuinely really simple to use. Set it up where you want it, the small circular screen will display your surroundings, and you can adjust image quality and settings via the touchscreen - or, as I do, press the button and it starts to record with an audible beep & red light to let you know it’s rolling.
Once you have your footage, you can connect to the device via your smartphone wirelessly to edit and share files on the go, or connect it to a laptop and edit via the free software there.
What we’ve really enjoyed
For us moto journalists - and you may call us lazy here - setting up cameras on a bike for all the different angles to pad our videos can be time-consuming, and a 360 camera can provide about 4 different perspectives from one placement. Yeah, poor us, but time saved is time spent riding!
You can also track objects in frame in the edit, so you highlight what you want the clip to be focused on and it does the tracking for you - very useful. Also, staying in the app, there are constant updates to the AI with new features regularly added that you can add to your edits.
Stick the camera on the selfie stick, safely attach it to your bike, and you have a third-person view of what you’re doing - like in the Yamaha R7 video, amongst others.
Plop the cam on the tripod, put the tripod on the side of that sweet flip-flop section of road you know of, and you have a quality little video of you riding about to share. Good stuff!
The sheer versatility of the product is its biggest selling point, for me. Every time I go out on a filming run it’s genuinely the first camera I think of packing.
Product features - battery life, file size, file types.
Quoted run time at full 5.7k @ 30 fps is 80 minutes. The Insta360 ONE X2 battery is 1630 mAH, you can buy bigger replacements if you want, but I’ve yet to actually run out of battery on a shoot - the card always fills up before then, so I often use it sparingly rather than leaving it rolling for an hour.
Recharge from empty to full with the supplied USB-C cable takes around 85 minutes, but your mileage may vary, particularly if you ever actually run the thing flat. 50% to 95% seems to be done in 20 minutes.
You’ll get a video file in the form of a ‘.insv’ file, which you open in-app with your desktop or phone to edit and play around with. Note here that you’ll get 3 files per recording, one from each camera and a compiled ‘LRV’ file. Premiere Pro users can install a plug-in to edit files there, also, which is handy.
The types of shots you can get is limited only by your imagination and your editing creativity. Sometimes the software can be a bit fiddly to work in, but once you learn the nuances you can create some top videos - you’ll probably want a good PC/laptop to work from if you’re planning on heavy edits.
Any drawbacks or negatives?
Editing the footage can be a bit of a faff (ie downloading, editing and clipping what you want in shot, exporting), particularly if you have video-hungry editors chasing you down and 15 individual clips to cut through. You’ll need an appreciation of the editing software to get the most out of this device.
If you zoom in too far on a subject in the edit, the quality can drop quite a bit - even at 5.7k. Just don’t expect crisp quality at max zoom on a 360 camera.
If you were to press me for another drawback - the sheer number of files you get per filming session can be a bit much. Record 10 clips and you’ll have 30 files to store and sort through, and if you rename one you’ll have to rename all three to remember which one is tied to what.
Verdict and conclusions
In a few words, the Insta 360 ONE X2 is a superb action camera that sets itself apart by its sheer versatility.
We’ve been running one for a few months, and without fail every time we upload a clip to our social pages (or YouTube) we’ll get someone asking what camera we’re using. The possibility for editing creativity is endless, and it adds an extra layer of uniqueness to the content you’re able to produce.
As an action camera, it ticks all of the boxes - even just for catching all angles of the action. Simple features like wind reduction and auto-stabilisation make sure your basic exported edit is incredibly high quality, and it’s a fantastic foundation to build more unique character in with your own touch is amazing.
As mentioned at the start, this cam has become a staple of our video arsenal, it’s really just that good.
