Verdict
The sound mobile gimbal just capture good – especially for iPhone users
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
When I reviewed it in April of last year , I described theInsta360 Flowas “ the best nomadic gimbal you’re able to buy ” . Despite being Insta360 ’s first attempt at a smartphone stabiliser , the Flow ’s combination of summary , portable design , superb subject tracking , in force 3 - axis of rotation stabilization and a pretty down monetary value put it right at the top of the gimbal tree .
Now , there ’s a new and improved reading . Dubbed the Insta360 Flow Pro , it establish upon the original Flow ’s foundation with a raft of small but meaningful betterment . The biggest of these is compatibility with DockKit , the fresh Apple technology that set aside third - party object to chase field of study via the iPhone ’s aboriginal photographic camera ( and third - political party tv camera apps ) .
It ’s the first smartphone stabiliser to plunk for DockKit , so does this climb make the best even better ?
Design
Like the Flow , to which it ’s almost identical physically , the Flow Pro is lightweight ( under 400 gramme in total , including the magnetic clamp ) , compact and sturdily constructed from sound satisfying plastic . It folds down to a compendious , almost pocket-sized size and come with a soft storage bag to keep it secure .
Thankfully it ’s quick to deploy . The magnetized clamp grips securely onto the edge of a smartphone and snaps securely onto the gimbal arm with a comforting ‘ thunk ’ , holding the speech sound steadfastly in position . The branch is then turn to stretch out it , turning on the business leader at the same time . This setup is even faster if you purchase the new Magsafe - compatible Magnetic Phone Mount appurtenance , which clicks firmly to the back of Magsafe iPhone models and replaces the Magnetic Phone Clamp .
I should note here that while some of its newspaper headline feature are reserved for iPhone users , the Flow Pro is compatible with Android smartphones too . As long as they match inside the Magnetic Phone Clamp , they ’re good to go .
As with the Flow , the Flow Pro ’s handle features a standard tripod thread mount on the bottom and contains two pull - out enhancements : a 215 mm extendible selfie stick from the top , and a mini tripod from the bottom . The latter doubles as an annex of the adhesive friction – handy ( no wordplay intend ) as the hold is very low without it . A rubber eraser arm ( let in in the corner ) can also be wrapped around the handle to increase grip , and there ’s a cold skid on the handle for mount external mic receivers .
The gimbal ’s control apparatus is dewy-eyed and ( from memory , at least ) exactly the same as the original Flow . A exclusive circular tactile sensation dialog box handles most of the controls . Swipe your finger’s breadth clockwise and anticlockwise to switch between the three gimbal mode ( and car ) , rotate the jog wheel to use your phone camera ’s soar , use the parallel pin to manually move the gimbal subdivision and press the dedicated button for power on / off , shutter and switch between front / rear cameras and changing the phone predilection .
There ’s also a front initiation , which is used to reset the gimbal position , change the phone facing and turn open trailing on and off . Overall , I found all the Flow Pro ’s controls gentle to control – even if I did occasionally block whether it required a doubled or triple press of one button or another to do something .
App and tracking
The Insta360 Flow Pro ’s big advantage over its predecessor is DockKit compatibility . This means it ’s already class - leading AI - assisted topic trailing now ferment with the native iPhone tv camera app ( and , according to Insta360 , a range of more than 200 third - party camera apps ) . A fresh light on the gimbal ’s hand glow green when trailing is fighting , so even if you ’re not using the front - face photographic camera you ’ll now be capable to severalize if you ’re lock in or not .
Interestingly , you have to use NFC conjugation ( at least in the first instance ) to get this DockKit execution exploit . The Flow Pro has an NFC logo on the gimbal grip ; touching your iPhone onto it pair the two devices in seconds .
When trailing , the gimbal will move the phone to keep the subject in physique at all times . It ’s keen for self - shoot picture : you could just lay up the Flow Pro on a tabletop and take the air around , knowing that you ’ll be maintain nicely focus in the shot . I loved that I could even walk fully around the gimbal now , as the Flow Pro impart 360º cooking pan trailing . The camera follow me in continuous circles without breaking a sweat .
In summation to people , the Flow Pro ’s AI - assisted Deep Track 3.0 trailing technical school can recognise animals ( cats , domestic dog and horse to be precise ) , and I found it quite capable of cursorily re - acquiring a subject on the occasions that it lost it – for example when you walk behind an target and block the camera ’s melody - of - plenty .
One thing I did notice is that , despite the DockKit integration , the tracking was smooth , more antiphonal and good at keeping subjects centre when I was using the Insta360 app ; at present , it also only process when iPhone photographic camera apps are set to the standard video recording modal value . Perhaps we ’ll see melioration to the DockKit tracking in future firmware and iOS updates ( it ’s been confirmed that the iOS 18 update will allow DockKit tracking for photograph , pano , cinematic and slo - atomic number 42 shooting modes ) but for now , I would stick with the Insta360 app for the near trailing experience , particularly when spud quicker moving subjects .
The Insta360 app is basically unchanged from old reading , and you canread a more detailed verbal description of it in our Flow recapitulation . It ’s a well - boast television camera app supporting a across-the-board grasp of shoot modes and volunteer lots of restraint over the look of your videos and pic . That is n’t even to mention the amazingly powerful built - in editing retinue , heaps of tutorials for shooting unlike kind of substance and plenty of ways to share your finished clips directly to societal media .
I used the app to make the two telecasting you see implant here – one manually and one using the AI editor function , where you simply feed the editor some shots , pluck a terminal video recording duration and have it do its matter .
The AI editor in chief is fairly savvy when it comes to transitions and pacing but does occasionally make odd option about which part of a clip to use . you could see this in the television , where it spends several seconds loiter on a blue dumpster . Still , it ’s a decent time - rescuer if you desire to get a picture out ASAP .
Stabilisation and performance
The original Flow had brilliant barrage life , with up to 12 hours of runtime on a full charge – rough double what you ’d see with rival stabiliser like the DJI OM 6 .
peculiarly , the Flow Pro takes a svelte stone’s throw backward here . The stamp battery life is now around 10 hours , which is still pretty telling , I opine . Thankfully the might bank routine , which lets you use the Flow Pro ’s electric battery to top up your smartphone via a second USB - C port , remain present .
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Should you buy it?
build up on the Flow ’s excellent foundations with new and improved features , the Flow Pro is our new favourite all - round smartphone stabiliser .
The improvements over the Flow , while celebrated , are n’t plot - changers – even for iPhone exploiter . If you own the Flow , stick with that for now .
Final Thoughts
away from the slight reduction in battery life , the Insta360 Flow Pro is a renowned improvement on its 2023 - released predecessor – in particular for users of recent iPhone models .
While DockKit functionality is n’t quite the game - changer I thought it might be ( I ’d rather utilize the Insta360 app , where the trailing works better ) it ’s unquestionably an enhancement , as are other additions like one - tap NFC pairing , 360º continuous panning and animal trailing .
The tracking and stabilisation also remain top - drawer , making this an even more desirable gimbal than the one I present five stars last year – especially at its relatively low damage . If you still want to see what else is out there then do have a read through ourbest smartphone gimbalround - up .
Trusted Score
How we test
We prove every gimbal for at least a workweek before fork over a final verdict . Where possible , we will test each gimbal with an iPhone and an Android phone .
FAQs
Yes , the Insta360 Flow Pro supports AI - attend to subject trailing with Deep Track 3.0 .
Yes , the gimbal is compatible with both iOS and Android phones , though some feature film are only supported on the former .
The Insta360 Flow Pro matter 398 yard including the gimbal and phone clinch .
