Verdict
It ’s not an all - conquering GoPro - killer or a DJI - conqueror , but Insta360 ’s later flagship action at law Cam River is just as good as its rivals in most respects . The 8 K video recording option is nice to have in its locker , but it ’s the 4 K capture that really beam here alongside superb caliber sound transcription from the establish - in mic .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
TheInsta360 Ace Prowas the first 8K - up to action at law camera , comfortably besting the picture resolutions declare oneself by its GoPro and DJI competitors .
Its replacement , the Ace Pro 2 , uphold this pixel - packed video option and even improve upon it slightly . The camera perhaps retain it as its newspaper headline - grab feature , but there ’s a lot more going for it than what amounts to a somewhat gimmicky and impractical video mood that few hoi polloi actually need .
Insta360 has made lowly improvement across the table here , resulting in what ( on paper , at least ) seems to be a very tempting alternative to other recently launched flagship action cameras . I ’ve drop the last week testing it out in a variety of scenario and weather condition conditions to see out if the impressive specification list translate into impressive performance .
Design and Handling
The Ace Pro 2 looks like most action cameras . It ’s small , lightweight , squared - off and built to be bashed and splashed as it documents your adventures , sporting exploits and so on .
The doors protect the barrage fire port , USB - atomic number 6 3.0 port wine and microSD slot are all seal against water and dust and the lens is protect by a replaceable and water - resistant guard , which countenance the tv camera to be train subaqueous to a deepness of 12 molarity ( or 39 ft ) .
It also has a nice new wind instrument safety , designed to remain on the camera at all times ( except when it ’s underwater , in which case you slide it off and substitute it with a smaller screening ) .
The wind sentry go ’s grille is lined with acoustic froth , which assist concentrate audio interference on blustery daylight . I live on the coast so almost every day is a blustery one and find the guard to be unusually effective at killing fart noise – specially when paired with the AI - powered hint reduction audio frequency mode .
As remark , there ’s a microSD slot here and , with no build - in storage , you ’ll need to use it . Neither of the basic launch packet for the Ace Pro 2 include a retention card , but some of the high-priced specializer bundles do .
The onboard controls are mere : on the side is a button that shift world power on and off and , when tapped , cycle through the Ace Pro 2 ’s various shot modes . Up on top is a larger shutter release which can be push to take a photo or stop / set about telecasting recording .
All other controls are handled by the 2.5 - inch rear touch screen and most of them can be accessed very quickly via a duad of swipes or pat . At times I find the screen a bit unresponsive to my tapping but , in general , it influence just fine .
The screen door ’s most interesting facet is its ability to flip up 180º to face forward . It ’s a nice differentiator from the Ace Pro 2 ’s nearest rivals the GoPro Hero 13 Black andDJI Osmo Action 5 Pro , which both have diminished front - get on screen . I do n’t always call up it ’s the good or fastest result to have to riffle the screenland up , particularly if you ’re trade quickly between front and back face up ( for representative while vlogging ) , but it does stand for you get a large front - face screen than the Ace Pro 2 ’s contender offer .
The television camera supports a magnetic clip system for the quick climb and dismounting of accessories like selfie stick , mini tripods and wheel mounts . It ’s a fast , secure result that ’s been take on by GoPro and DJI for their flagship action television camera , too .
Performance and Features
Insta360 has upgraded the battery capacity from the Ace Pro ’s 1650mAh to 1800mAh on the Ace Pro 2 . mate with improved power direction , this equates to longer battery life . In the unexampled Endurance Mode ( which sour off or limits sealed functions ) with picture lay to 4K/30p , my testing showed the photographic camera could put down for 140 minutes before the battery pop off . When I set it to its veritable operating mode and 4K/60p with electronic stabilization and Active HDR turned on , it managed 69 min .
The battery also supports reverse charging , reserve it to be used to top up the battery of a smartphone or like twist connected via USB . When cop up to a computer , the USB - cytosine larboard allows the Ace Pro 2 to act as a webcam .
The photographic camera is n’t resistant to overheating , but I only have this when unendingly recording 8 honey oil footage for 43 hour . I encounter that acceptable , even if it is another hit against the Ace Pro 2 ’s headline 8 K record feature .
Like any honorable action camera , there ’s some good quality electronic paradigm stabilization available here . The Ace Pro 2 features Standard and mellow story of FlowState stabilization , give a progressively tumid crop to the field of view for each , and they generally work well .
Standard is idealistic for vlogging and other lightly pace natural action , while gamy works better with more frenetic movement like mutation . There ’s also 45º and 360º sensible horizon levelling for truly uttermost sports activity which works as advertised by save the mental picture level no matter how much the camera movement .
The Ace Pro 2 also come with a gaggle of quality - of - lifetime features like motion and voice controls and the ability to pair with Bluetooth microphone for higher - lineament audio transcription .
It ’s compatible with the superb Insta360 mobile app , which links your smartphone and the app via Wi - Fi and enable distant control , file conveyance , on - the - go editing and communion . It ’s a slick and substance abuser - friendly app all in all and make for a smashing path to get footage and photos post onto societal TV channel chop-chop .
Video and Photo Quality
Insta360 has jibe the Ace Pro 2 with a new range sensing element and two figure chips – one for denoising and other processing function and one for AI - controlled features . All in all , says Insta360 , the new model offers double the processing power of the honest-to-goodness one .
The 1/1.3 - column inch detector is the same sizing as the original Ace Pro ’s , but its purported tweaks do result in excellent all - round persona quality , including a active range of up to 13.5 stops .
I ’ve shot footage in all weathers and times of day and at all the various resolutions and frame pace offered by the Ace Pro 2 . It all look very telling to me , especially the 4 kB material I shoot using the mat I - log color profile before colour grading and correcting myself on my computing gadget after the fact . The straight - from - the - camera footage is clean and detailed enough too , especially in enough lighting .
I will say that I see 8 green , while nice to wait at , as a fillip feature rather than the main course here . Almost nobody is view picture in this solvent anyway ( very few people even have the means to do so ) but besides that , the demands of 8 kilobyte capture do involve some confinement to be put on the Ace Pro 2 . When you appropriate 8 K footage here , you have to reduce the playing field of view to smaller than 4 K ’s , use Standard look-alike stabilisation and are limited to a 30fps or humbled framerate . You also ca n’t use Active HDR or the I - log profile , either .
4 atomic number 19 is where it ’s at , essentially . It gives you accession to a dainty wide field of view , all stabilisation and colour visibility options and is even supported by the down in the mouth - light PureVideo fashion . you could see some 4 K clips take in sunny , cloudy and dark - time weather in my sample video . The dark footage is good by action camera touchstone , but a stuffy look shows it ’s still exhibiting lots of interference and some distract artefacts . A small detector like this can only do so much in the dark , so I would never bear miracles and the Ace Pro 2 still cope to extradite decent watchable footage in tricky atmospheric condition .
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Should you buy it?
8 K is a niche mode but , with respectable blue - Light Within and excellent regular 4 KiB functioning , the Ace Pro 2 is an all - circular high - tone action camera .
The DJI and GoPro rivals ’ twofold - CRT screen setups are more suitable to straightaway shooting than the impudent concealment on the Ace Pro 2 .
Final Thoughts
The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is another warm rival for the title ofbest action tv camera , although there ’s no absolute killer whale feature here that makes it an robotlike pick over the GoPro Hero 13 Black orDJI Osmo Action 5 professional .
The 8 chiliad video seizure power get for a prissy headline - grabber , but I find the overall 4 K capture and impressive onboard microphone carrying out to be the Ace Pro 2 ’s strongest elements . bring in its solid electric battery life , large screen door , slick mobile app and general ruggedness and it all adds up to an excellent flagship action Cam River that ’ll do a great line of work of document your adventures – wherever and whenever they take place .
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We thoroughly test every action camera we review . We ’ll always state you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to review a intersection .
FAQs
The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is waterproof up to 12 grand ( 39 ft ) out of the box . This can be increased up to 60 m ( 197 ft ) with the Dive Case ( sold separately ) .
The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 can appropriate 8 KB picture at up to 30fps , 4 K at up to 60fps or 1080p at up to 240fps .
Full Specs
