Insta360 One R Review

The purpose of this document is to give you a high-level overview of my thoughts on the Insta360 One R! There is a ton of information here, but it’s much more shorthand than in the video that I created to serve as a review for the camera, so if you’re interested in learning even more than what’s here, please don’t hesitate to go give that a watch!

If you choose to purchase the camera, please consider using my affiliate link: https://bit.ly/nurkoner

The First thing that we’ll go over is the side by side footage from the camera and it’s direct competitor, the GoPro Hero 8 – you can see side by side comparisons in the following table: 

Insta360 360 Mod vs GoPro Max 360 Mode

Both Cameras Unstabilized

Insta360 One R Flowstate vs GoPro Hero 8 Hypersmooth

Insta360 One R Flowstate vs GoPro Hero 8 Reelsteady Go

Insta360 One R Flowstate HDR vs GoPro Hero 8 Reelsteady Go

Insta360 One R Flowstate vs GoPro Hero 8 Reelsteady Go Handheld Walking

Review

As promised, below follows the bullet-point review of the camera. If you’d like to receive more information on anything about any of these talking points, please refer to the full video! 

• General
  • Features
    • Swappable Mods 
      • The camera is built to be “swappable” meaning that there are multiple different “mods” that you can use to create different types of shots. These include 360 mode, 4k mode (traditional action camera), as well as the 1” sensor – which is a much larger sensor that can capture more information, color depth, and lower light than other action cameras
    • Battery life
      • The battery on the camera is very large, and it lasts for hours of filming – I haven’t yet bumped into a situation where I’ve actually run out while filming, and that’s been impresive to me. You charge the battery over USBC
    • Timelapse 
      • One of the best features of 360 cameras is the ability to timelapse and reframe in post. Basically, I put the camera in the middle of the action of what I am working on, and then reframe the camera around in post based on what’s happening on screen.
    • Hyperlapse
      • Hyperlapses are basically timelapses but with movement. With the stabilization and the ability to reframe in post that the Insta360 OneR offers, you have the ability to make some pretty amazing hyperlapse shots.
    • Slow motion 
      • The OneR shoots up to 200fps, which slowed down to 24FPS is roughly 8 times slower than normal speed
    • Stabilization 
      • Insta360’s stabilization software “Flowstate” is incredible out of the body of the camera, even to the point where I think I like its look more than GoPro’s competitor “hypersmooth.” Flowstate eliminates some of the issues that hypersmooth has, and makes for a smoother image.
    • Software and apps
      • The apps and software that Insta360 offers for editing 360 degree footage are the most reliable, consistent, and easiest to work with that I’ve experienced out of the many cameras that I’ve tried. The ability to import, edit, and export 360 degree, keyframed footage is not something that’s easy to pull off, but I think that insta360 has truly nailed it.
    • Reasonably durable so far
      • While I haven’t had any major crashes with this camera, I have flown at least 200 batteries with the camera mounted to drones, involving at least a handful of healthy crashes. So far, the camera shows no wear and tear other than a scratch that I put there whilst poking it with a tool to reach a button that I was having a hard time with.
    • Waterproof to 5m
      • Speaks for itself – it won’t die if it goes in the water.
    • In body playback (unlike the onex)
      • Compared to previous models of Insta360 cameras, the OneR has a screen on the back side of the brain module that allows you to review footage from the camera directly in body without having to tether it to a phone or pull the SD card into the computer
    • Apple Watch Control
      • You have the ability to use an apple watch to start or stop recording, and change basic settings.
  • Pricing: 
    • 4k edition – $300
    • 360 Edition – $450
    • Twin Edition – $480 
    • Hero 8 Black – $400 

• Good
  • Amazing stabilization with both the 360 mod and the 4k mod 
    • As mentioned above, the stabilization software Flowstate does an amazing job for in-body camera stabilization. In my opinion, it looks better than GoPro’s hypersmooth, but still doesn’t compare to Reelsteady Go.
  • Convenient mounting for our drones
    • For the 4k mod, the camera fits very easily into a standard drone GoPro mount, and with the 360 mod, simply attach the cage and use the GoPro mounting system at the bottom of the camera to tether it to your drone
  • Screen for reviewing shots
    • This is the first consumer product from Insta360 to have a built in screen that allows you to review footage on the body without tethering it to your phone or pulling the SD card onto a computer
  • Be able to turn around the camera for a vlog mode 
    • Because of the modularity, you are able to turn the “brain” of the camera around which will also flip the screen around relative to the lens. Thus, if using the 4k mod, you are able to switch the screen to “selfie” mode to be able to more easily vlog or see what you’re recording when the camera is facing you.
  • Onboard screen for changing settings and formatting cards
  • Most consistent connection to app
    • I’ve tested a number of different action cameras that offer features in which you can control, review, and access settings from a phone app. However, I’ve had nothing but problems with the connectivity of the majority of these platforms except insta360. I’ve found the connection to work very well, remain solid, and not make me tear my hair out trying to find out why the camera won’t connect or have to reconnect it a million times just to pull footage to my phone
  • Little rubber protector for the dual lens mod
    • The 360 mod comes with an awesome little rubber thing to protect the very scratch-sensitive 360-degree lenses
  • Can turn stabilization on and off in post 
    • Unlike any other camera platform that I’ve worked with, the user has the ability to turn stabilization on and off in post, allowing you to choose the look of the shot after you’ve filmed it. If you want the raw, rugged look of unstabilized footage, it’s yours. But if you find out that you want it smoothed, just flip the switch.
  • HDR mode
    • HDR mode allows the camera to enter “high dynamic range” meaning that the camera will grab more information both in the highlights and the shadows. 
  • Invisible selfie stick
    • Insta360 makes a selfie stick for the camera that disappears in the seam line between the two lenses

• Bad
  • No gopro labia 
    • With the GoPro Hero 8, GoPro introduced the “labia” which are two little legs that stick out from the bottom of the camera that allow you to mount the camera to their standard mounting system. The Insta360 misses out by not having an option for something like this, as it now requires a cage in order to mount to any tripod, selfie stick, or camera.
  • First insta360 camera without the 1/4-20 mount 
    • The OneX and One both had 1/4-20 threadings in the bottom of the camera which allowed you to directly mount the camera to a tripod or selfie stick, but the OneR got rid of this, which is quite disappointing.
  • Touchscreen is a little weird
    • The swiping and movement on the touch screen on the brain end of the camera is not smooth in any way shape or form. It requires a great deal of patience to interact with. BUT… it is there which is a great start.
  • SD card door broke off 
    • There is a little, cheap, plastic door that covers the SD card slot and the USB port, and it broke off in normal use on day 1 for me.
  • Audio is pretty bad compared to hero8, but who cares?
    • The audio is useless. Windnoise, prop noise, and tinny. That’s okay though.. It’s an action camera. Who cares?

Conclusions

The Insta360 One R is an incredible camera and one of my GoTo cameras for filming. The combination of easy to make hyperlapse and timelapse footage, as well as the amazing out-of-body stabilization are features that I am very glad to have. That being said, for the ultimate image quality, I still choose to use a GoPro Hero8 and film for Reelsteady as my favorite look out of a camera. For those that don’t want to deal with post processing, but want to have a lot of flexibility out of the camera for the price, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to them the Insta360 OneR as a super viable option! 

Once again, please consider using my affiliate link if you choose to purchase the camera: https://bit.ly/nurkoner