Insta360 X4 Review - Worth the Upgrade?

The Insta360 X4 has some great upgrades, including an improved 8K resolution. But is it worth upgrading if you already own the Insta360 X3?
Insta360 X3: geni.us/mBECM
Insta360 X4: geni.us/P2BoQ5X
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#insta360x4 #insta360 #insta360x3

[@JeffPelletier]

Shop for the Insta360 X4: geni.us/P2BoQ5X Compare it to the Insta360 X3: geni.us/mBECM

[@afewmominutes]

Kudos for the transparency, glad you didn't participate in the approved reviews by Insta with the launch, what a mess. Great and honest review as usual, thanks for this!

[@dustinmay4498]

@afewmominutes The whole time I was wondering how they pissed Jeff off, but appreciated it at the same time. This kind of highlights how un authentic a lot of other reviews are however.

[@dumpsterdaddyllc.9711]

Hi, I found your content while on another channel, but since you are comparing the X3 and the X4, I decided to respond from the channel I use both units on. Last year, I saw another content creator capturing fun footage of him repossessing vehicles in his pickup truck. I got curious about how to add something like that to my channel as I grow. So, after some time and research, I pulled the trigger on the X3 in late 2023, around November. Along with the DJI Action 4 and my phone, I am learning the ropes of content creation, mainly for visibility for my business SEO purposes. You know how it goes. Now, I am new to this content creation game, and I am not a reviewer, but the X3 quickly became my favorite camera, and I use it mainly for capturing the B role of me doing my thing out there. It took me a week of watching reviews to confirm I was going to get the X4, even though I feel like I just got the X3 and haven’t spent much time with it, but I was late to that party, lol. Since I use the app on my iPad to frame and download videos, the upgrade I appreciate the most with the X4, outside of 8k, is having one long recording file instead of the shorter files on the X3. I heard one reviewer mention that, and for me, that made it worth the upgrade. I am looking to offload my X3 on F.B. Marketplace, haha. Thank you for taking the time to review both units for us. I will also share your channel with my wife; she enjoys running. Mostly, Disney races; that’s her thing. Charlie (A.K.A.) Dumpster Daddy

[@JustinOutdoors]

Best review or the x4 I've seen. The tree cover side by side was really insightful. I agree on wanting a size and weight optimized version. But I'd also take a 1inch sensor at the current size. Haha

[@JeffPelletier]

Agreed, a 1” type sensor in this form factor would do it for me as well!

[@asksteevs]

@@JeffPelletierThis sounds awesome but man would it be expensive. And I wager the lenses would need to get much larger / protrude more as well.

[@IvNike]

Hello, Jeff! I'm waiting for my first 360 camera, I decided to buy it thanks to your videos, I recently started watching your channel. I immediately decided to buy the x4, as it is a new model. It's great that your review confirmed my choice. Thanks!

[@sakarrc5001]

Just got it for cloud FPV shooting and it's slightly disappointing to see that after reframing, the picture is terribly low quality, I couldn't squeeze more than bad quality 1080p for 90deg FOV. Its on manual iso, high bitrate, -0.5 exposure, 8K/30FPV, flat. To be fair 360 cameras have something like 10 years to reach gopro 7 quality! I'll hop on again when 48k is an option.

[@avia4281]

Thanks for the input helped me not to purchase and use my hero 7 black and my old Samsung 360 and wait for the next version.

[@sakarrc5001]

@avia4281 In response, I have to say that the quality has been worsened by Insta360 export codecs, which are very bad. Reframing and exporting from Premiere is much more bearable but still out of the league of real cameras like hero 7 black.

[@DerrickLytlephoto]

Great review, man. Just got an X4 as an upgrade over my fleet of GoPros and it’s way better.

[@sergiovargas2990]

Excellent first objective review. Thank you!

[@obristimagery]

Love the review. Need people to be honest. Have an rs but will see if this is worth the upgrade. :) thanks for the review!

[@TrailRunningCapeTown-hs8gy]

Thanks for the review. Would you recommend a GoPro or Insta360 for someone making running videos and can only have one camera? I feel like an Insta is great for selfie vids, but the GoPro can be used for more types of shots?

[@JeffPelletier]

If I could have only one, it would be the GoPro for sure. Higher quality and easier workflow for editing.

[@TrailRunningCapeTown-hs8gy]

@@JeffPelletier thank you

[@nicolasmachado447]

Would love to see a BTS of your videos. Your background color when you speak is perfect

[@kmantriing]

Great review and definitely has me thinking more about 360 cameras. I debated buying the X3 or the Go3 a few months ago, but went with a Go3 for the handsfree flexibility and overall creative potential of the tiny form factor. Do you still use a Go3 sometimes vs a GoPro?

[@JeffPelletier]

I don’t find myself using the Go3 as much as I thought I would actually. So often I end up just wanting to keep it simple with a GoPro.

[@Ozpeter]

Some very well framed comparison shots, thanks. Many reviewers have put side by side comparisons with one camera cropped in more than the other, which isn't very fair. But what sharpness were you using on the X4? It looks like the low setting, which to me throws away detail as well as sharpness, and thus wastes the advantage of the 8K capture. While the X4 image quality in your samples was indeed a significant improvement over the X3, at many points of the image it looked less crisp than the X3 and it is almost as if the X3 was the one with the 8K sensor. (But maybe you used medium sharpness and I will feel silly...!)

[@JeffPelletier]

I shot all sample footage on Medium sharpness for both cameras (this is the setting I’ve always used). Agreed that the sharpness in the footage on the X3 looks higher, which may be due to how Insta360 Studio attempts to ‘upscale’ the footage during the output. There’s unfortunately not really a way that I know of to exactly match the resolution of the source footage during export.

[@Ozpeter]

@@JeffPelletier Thanks - I suspect there is a lot of AI processing of the X4 image happening - rural scenes sometimes look slightly soft and urban scenes (brickwork for instance) can look surprisingly crisp. Perhaps the camera processes leaves and bricks differently...

[@Joe-nb3fs]

Nice one! Is the motion compression we're seeing on youtube (for example, on the in the grass on hillside below you at 0:45 or in the trail ground at 4:47) coming from youtube compression or from the camera? I imagine it's the former.

[@JeffPelletier]

It’s a bit of both, actually. KZbin definitely adds additional artifacting though.

[@CarlCunningham360]

Your shot results are way smoother than mine. Wondering if there is something wrong with my brand new X4?

[@JeffPelletier]

There could be.. maybe try a factory reset, in case it’s one of your settings?

[@TimeArb]

@jeffpelletier where do you usually store the camera when running? In your quiver? In the water flask area?

[@JeffPelletier]

I’ll put it in the water reservoir area like a sword, or in my quiver if I have one.

[@nathan_phua]

​@@JeffPelletierdo you mean in the zipped back pocket? Wouldn't that be a hassle to take out and out back in?

[@JeffPelletier]

In the area designed for the bladder, sticking out the top.

[@parkerkerth8446]

Hi Jeff! Great video! i had a question on the insta360x4. did you have issues exporting videos on the app, saying your device didnt have enough space, when it did? or playing videos back in memode on the app? my just play back all black

[@JeffPelletier]

I’d recommend using the desktop app to avoid the issues you mentioned.

[@parkerkerth8446]

@@JeffPelletier the think is, I use the Garmin overlays. Which you cannot get on the desktop app

[@FRnir]

Nice review, but....nobody talks about the SLOW file transfer and Painful post possessing procedure..... (i compare it to my old X2 camera)

[@JeffPelletier]

I do cover that in my original review of the X2. This was meant purely as a comparison between models.

[@adrienmierop4741]

Thanks for the video, if you had to take only one camera with you on one ultra trail race, which one would it be ? (smartphone included)

[@JeffPelletier]

I tend to default to my GoPro.

[@Gadgetdad007]

No need to eat up memory and record in 8k when 1080 is good enough for most use cases.

[@UltraDad]

Hey Jeff, how is the audio? That has always been an issue to me on my one x2 (which I am still using!)

[@JeffPelletier]

I didn’t notice much of a difference, although it wasn’t something I specifically tested. I don’t typically record audio (other than ambient sound) with a 360 camera.

[@scotttowle8208]

I saw online how the details were supposed to be so much better than the x3 and even the GoPro but I presume that is only for still photos? The video disgusted me because I was hoping for better. The noise was awful... So... ?

[@Das644]

I wish the d4 had 1 inch sensors. I wanna get it but that smaller sensor isn’t right.

[@z352kdaf8324]

It'll be huge like the other one.

[@CarlCunningham360]

Out of the box why is the X4 so jumpy when walking around and my old X2 is way smoother?

[@JeffPelletier]

I mentioned in a response to your other comment that you may want to try a factory reset. But also be sure you’ve updated to the latest firmware. If that doesn’t help, I’d recommend sending it back to Insta360.

[@cometier]

Good review. I doubt I’ll buy it, very spendy.

[@wearethemasons]

Took mine back. Not worth it!

[@Joobeee]

What is the location of the mountains?

[@JeffPelletier]

That footage was filmed in a few locations in Ecuador, including Cotopaxi National Park. You can see the entire adventure here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHWkXoWVi62Fha8si=U7ZJL3saAdHiYZwZ

[@dnbnetwork3531]

I personnaly would buy it if the size and battery was same as x3,i do not care a little bit less battery range.Always bigger,better,wtf

[@FloridaVolts]

If you gone care a spare battery why complain about weight of larger batteries

[@JeffPelletier]

I wouldn’t ever carry a spare battery. If need be, I would keep one in a drop bag during a race to change it. Very specific use case, I know.

[@FuzzleyFuzzington]

Surely being given the camera for free is the same as being sponsored. You may not have given them the video to be approved, but you'll still be trying to keep in their good books or they wont give you a free camera the next time. I want to see reviewers who spend their own money buying the camera.

[@JeffPelletier]

Fair enough! That’s why I disclosed it. In fact, I’m further motivated by wanting to make a commission from the affiliate links, as are all other KZbinrs who use affiliate links even after buying the camera themselves 😉. What you’re going to want to look for are reviewers who don’t monetize their channel in any way. Even a ‘bad review’ can be skewed by wanting to create a click bait video, with titles like “Don’t buy until you watch this first”, in order to get views and play ad breaks.

[@BackwardsKnees]

resolution is super overrated at this point, senor size, bit rate, etc is where the difference is. not worth buying a whole new camera for this. Still so confused why insta360 is copying the gopro business wise after seeing how much it failed gopro in the 2000s. China things I guess. Everyone can't be DJI

[@RowOfMushyTiT]

Did you even watch the video? The bit rate, frame rate and dynamic range has improved alot. Just look at the side-by-side footage.

[@Tugela60]

In a 360 view camera resolution is NOT over rated. Remember, it has to cover a much larger field of view than a normal camera, so 8k is the equivalent of a much lower resoltution on a normal camera. He says 1080p, but I doubt it even comes close to that, more like effectively 540p or even less. You absolutely will notice that. 360 view cameras still have a LONG way to go.