Insta 360 Flow After the Hype: Is it Really That Good?
Insta 360 Flow is one of the most creative products of 2023. The smartphone gimbal has an innovative design and comes with an integrated selfie stick, wireless connectivity, and an excellent design. So, here is a comprehensive review after using the gimbal for a month.
Let’s Inspect
Summary
Pros
- Excellent pricing
- Durable, strong, and well-balanced
- Easy controls
- Expandable selfie stick and tripod inside the handle
- Great battery life
- Insta 360 app is exceptional
Cons
- Limitations with some low-end Android phones
- No 360° Panning
Insta 360 Flow – Price
Insta360 Flow standard pack comes at 159$, which is the same as DJI OM 6. And the creator combo cost 209$. Which has some extra accessories like a carrying case, fill light, and more. The gimbal makes great sense considering the price and excellent features the gimbal offers.
Insta 360 Flow – Unboxing
Unboxing is great, as we have seen in almost every Insta360 product. It comes in an excellent package with all the content safely packed. Opening the box will reveal the gimbal. I have ordered the creator combo, so we have another accessory box.
In the box, we get the Insta 360 Flow, spotlight, magnetic clamp, grip cover, carrying bag, Type-C to Type-A wire, Type-C to Type-C wire, and Type-C to lightning cable.
Overall, the unboxing is nice, and all the contents are safely packed.
Appearance and Build Quality
Insta360 Flow is the most cool and creative product of 2023. It has an exceptional design. Two things that make it so good are a transparent cover on the central arm that keeps all internal parts visible—and two expandable parts inside the handle. You can pull a handy tripod from the bottom, and the top extends as a selfie stick, adding an extra foot to the length. The magnetic phone clamp is also robust.
The gimbal easily fits in a pocket, and the controls are rather straightforward. On the handle, you have the joystick, power button, capacitive touch section for control, and trigger on the back for quick selection.
The design and build quality of the gimbal is exceptional. It is small enough to fit in our pocket, strong enough to handle drops, and flexible to shoot outstanding videos. So, no matter how you are going to use it, Insta 360 Flow will deliver excellent results.
Technical Specifications
- Stabilization: 3-axis
- Mechanical Range: Pan -230° to 100°, Roll -150° to 180°, Tilt -100° to 82°
- Battery: 2900mAh
- Weight: 400 grams with Magnetic Clamp
- Max Payload: 300 grams
- App: Insta 360
Controls and Calibration
Insta360 Flow is an incredible smartphone gimbal. It has a simple one-step deployment, just turn on the device, and you are good to go. You also don’t need much calibration or correction when connecting a new cell phone. The magnetic clamp on top makes it easy to attach and detach cell phones.
The controls are also rather easy; the learning curve is very minimal. The trigger behind it is for a quick selection of modes. It has commands like a double click, single click, long press, etc., that change modes. Moreover, you can also swipe or click on the capacitive touch area to change modes. Lastly, we have the joystick and zoom wheel, and everybody knows how they work and what they do.
Moreover, with AI’s power, Insta 360 Flow can also understand various gestures to start and stop tracking and switch through modes, which is a handy addition.
Insta 360 Flow – Performance
Insta 360 Flow is an excellent gimbal but has some compatibility issues. If you have an iPhone and flagship Android phones, you will not face any problems. But as you get to mid-range and low-end smartphones, the number of features and options decreases. So, make sure to read the compatibility list.
The gimbal delivers the smoothest footage, and the reason for that is Deep Track 3.0. The AI on this gimbal is impeccable. No matter if you are tracking a person or an object, flawless tracking will keep going perfectly. I have tried to deceive the AI a few times but failed. Insta 360 Flow will immediately resume tracking after the object becomes visible. The years of Insta360 efforts have created the perfect AI for smartphone gimbal.
In addition to usual modes, the smartphone gimbal has motion lapse, timelapse, 360° panoramic shot, barrel roll, and more. Another thing that I really like is the operation’s friendliness. You don’t have to turn off the gimbal; just pull the phone, and Insta 360 Flow will fall asleep.
Insta360 App
The smartphone app has made a massive contribution to making the gimbal smart, fast, and functional. The app has all the controls, work as a camera app, and makes video-making easier. In addition to basic features and options, the app has a Shot Genie Library with several short lessons to help you create better videos according to different situations.
Insta360 also notifies you when the mobile is not mounted rightly. Insta360 Studio is the computer software that opens much more possibilities to make video editing and organization faster and easier.
Battery Endurance
Insta 360 Flow has a solid 2600mAh battery. The massive battery can power the gimbal for up to 12 hours.
Drawbacks
- No waterproof rating
- It cannot pan 360°
- Tripod feels a bit flimsy
- Limitations on smaller Android phones.
Conclusion
Insta 360 Flow is an exceptional smartphone gimbal. It is close to perfect; everything is on point, performance is flawless, and it has a sturdy body with zero learning curve, which totally makes it the best smartphone gimbal on the market. Moreover, the AI performance exceeds expectations in every aspect.
So, if you have a high-end Android phone or iPhone, just blindly choose Insta 360 Flow.
Watch our video to learn more about the gimbal.
