Verdict
The Insta360 Ace Pro is a bold attempt to take on GoPro and DJI , and while I could n’t call it markedly ranking to either , it ’s open of holding its own against both – while offering some feature of speech ( like the insolent sieve ) you do n’t incur elsewhere . All told , another timber addition to the military action cam mart .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
It ’s almost unconvincing to think that the Ace Pro is Insta360 ’s first ‘ traditional ’ GoPro Hero - style action camera .
The Chinese society has been steady turning out telling specialist cameras – 360 - level action River Cam , super - compact action cams and a nifty face - tracking webcam – for old age , but had yet to pretend onto GoPro ’s family greensward . Until now .
The Insta360 Ace Pro may look like other conventional action cams , but it provide a spate of features in an attempt to bear out from the pack ; the company has been keen to talk up the tv camera ’s ‘ exchange premium ’ range sensing element , tack - up screen , humiliated - Christ Within potentiality ( an area where the GoPro Hero has always been weakly ) and AI - assisted highlights editor .
So is it a GoPro beater ? And how does it fare against the satisfying late showing from DJI ’s own GoPro rival , theOsmo natural process 4 ? Having been putting it to the tryout in a change of situations over several years , here ’s what I ’ve discovered .
Design and handling
The Insta360 Ace Pro ’s anatomy and build caliber is similar to that of a GoPro Hero and , like the current Hero 12 Black , it ’s waterproof to a depth of 10 m out of the boxwood ( match it with the optional honkytonk case and it ’ll merrily go to 60 m – also the same as the GoPro ) .
The top - mounted record button and side - mount on / off button are big and low-set , crap them easy to press with sloshed or gloved hands , while the microSD card , USB - Cport and stamp battery are all hide behind secure , water- and debris - proof dither .
I regain the control well-heeled enough to apply ( I entail , there are only two physical push button on the thing ) and the camera is both lightweight and chunky enough to hold comfortably in one deal .
Of of course , it works best on a mount but , unlike the Hero 12 Black , there are no built - in mounting fingers . Instead it amount with a magnetic time for the purpose of securely fixing it to the likes of cycle frame of reference , helmets , surfboard and selfie sticks , and while this support speedy attachment and detachment compare to a GoPro I did find that I needed to be careful when reattaching the camera to the mount – the magnet makes the camera feel securely desex even if it is n’t attached to both clips . I had to give it a firm push to ensure it was clip in and would n’t lessen off .
The best and most notable design tactual sensation is the rear display , a 2.4 - inch touch screen that ’s able to cant over up by 180º to face forwards . While I do marvel if it could be a potential break - point in the case of the photographic camera being dropped , this flip screen is invaluable when capturing selfies and vlogs , and arguably superior to the GoPro ’s one heavy back screen , one minuscule front covert approach . The Insta360 Ace Pro does have a diminished front display , but it ’s simply for showing current options info ( which it does well enough ) .
Features and performance
The Insta360 Ace Pro ’s 1650mAh shelling seems to go on and on . In my day - to - day testing I never check it dip below 50 % , and a stress mental testing – in which I go down it continually enter at 4K/30p to see how long it lasted – saw the microSD scorecard fill up before the power ran out ; after 1 hour and 15 minutes of UHD TV capture , it was still going strong ( albeit with the icon showing it close to depletion ) .
This seems slightly better than the battery life on the GoPro Hero 12 Black , but perhaps does n’t quite match that of the DJI Osmo Action 4 . I ’d be concerned to put the two headspring - to - heading , but unluckily no longer had my Action 4 critique sample to give . The battery burster quickly as well , going from empty to 80 % in about 20 minutes and to full in about 45 .
The television camera comes with electronic look-alike stabilisation in the sort of Insta360 ’s FlowState technology , which I found to be more often than not impressive at preserve television smooth . It comes in three user - selectable levels and even offers comely 360º automatic view - levelling ( albeit only when film in the FreeFrame video musical mode ; during regular video , only 45º of horizon lock is available ) .
Even though I do n’t think it ’ll be that pop , I feel I should mention the built - in AI Highlights Assistant . You eat it a pick of videos and it manducate them up and spit out a highlighting reel ready for share . you may tweak it slightly if you want , but it ’s mostly done by AI . It ’s quite telling and potentially useful for busy people looking to apace share videos of holiday and trip with family and friends .
last , a quick word on the Insta360 mobile app , which has been around for years and has grow into a really upstanding option for remotely controlling your action cam , reviewing / editing footage and divvy up it online . I mostly skipped the app and used the television camera itself in the process of this recap , export my footage to a microcomputer to redact it – but the few times I did discharge up the app on my iPhone , it did n’t let me down .
Video and photo quality
The Insta360 Ace Pro , reportedly co - engineered with Leica , packs a large 1/1.3 - column inch sensor that dwarfs the GoPro Hero 12 Black ’s 1/1.9 - inch sensing element and is the same size of it as the DJI Osmo Action 4 ’s .
The latter has been the best GoPro - sized action River Cam for captivate vindicated , crisp humiliated - light footage since its release earlier this year , but I think the Insta360 Ace Pro ticktack it . I find its low - light PureShot video mode impressive ( by action Cam River standard , at least ) in terms of the detail it can draw out of very dark , downhearted view .
Its low - light footage is n’t perfectly clean by any mean value – as you could see from my test footage below , it ’s still softer and smearier than the day footage , and there are some strange artefact that seem to seem corresponding to movement – but it ’s far full than the Hero 12 Black ’s and , I think , somewhat punchier than the Osmo Action 4 ’s . PureShot footage is steady too , but curb to 30fps ; if you require to shoot liquid 60fps activity footage at Nox , you ’ll have to use the regular video capture mode .
There are few restrictions when it comes to regular video , however : the Ace Pro records 4 K at up to 120fps and 8 K at 24fps ( although 8 K was n’t usable with the pre - launch firmware , so I ’ll have to update this review once I ’ve had a chance to try it ) . It ’ll also use Active HDR for 4 K video up to 30fps , which quetch in mechanically to unlock more contingent in umbrageous orbit of the frame .
I wish the standard image quality , although it ’s not easy to say if it ’s any better or high-risk than the daytime range from the Osmo Action 4 – it ’s pretty much the same in my opinion . I do cerebrate the GoPro Hero 12 Black ’s unedited , out - of - the - tv camera daytime television is the best of the current crop of legal action cams – it just looks more pleasing to the eye in my opinion . But really , all three of these cameras do a very self-colored Book of Job in good lighting .
Unlike the Osmo Action 4 there ’s no 10 - minute video option , which I found a bite surprising , but there is an alternative to shoot standard 8 - bit footage in a savorless color profile for easy colour scaling in stake - production .
Audio is recorded in stereo and is about what I ’d expect from the onboard mics on an action Cam River : it ’s fine but picks up wind randomness very well . Insta360 sell an extraneous mic transcriber , however , and those who need good tone sound ( vloggers , for instance ) will do well to pick up a separate microphone for the undertaking .
Still photography is available at 48MP or 12MP thanks to the Quad Bayer detector , and I did n’t notice a huge quality difference between the two . My expectations for action at law cam photography have always been humble , but the Insta360 Ace Pro does a passable job , and it ’s potential to capture some quite striking snap with its HDR style .
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Should you buy it?
The Ace Pro ’s big detector and AI - help noise reduction make it the best small activity camera for modest - lightness footage .
The Insta360 Ace Pro ca n’t quite match the Hero 12 Black ’s 5.3K/60 or 2.7K/240 video in ideal lighting conditions .
Final Thoughts
With a cost barely unlike from the well - set up GoPro Hero 12 Black , the Insta360 Ace Pro was always going to fight at being the ‘ best action camon the grocery store ’ , but nobody who pick out this over the GoPro or the DJI Osmo Action 4 is drop dead to finger like they ’re get a natural deal .
Despite it being Insta360 ’s first ‘ standard ’ activity River Cam , it ’s a surefooted and bold product that delivers on all fronts . It ’s sturdy , sluttish to apply , the battery life is telling and its TV quality is very good , peculiarly in unmanageable lighting state of affairs . All in all , it ’s an choice that vloggers and sportspeople face for a small camera should in spades consider .
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We soundly test every action camera we review . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , admit money to survey a ware .
FAQs
Yes , the Insta360 Ace Pro can record in up to 8 K at 24fps .
Full Specs
