I've never shot a YouTube video on an action
camera before, but today's review of the Insta360 Ace Pro—you guessed it—was shot on the
Insta360 Ace Pro. Back to the video mic. So, the Ace Pro is the world's first 8K action camera,
and Insta360's attempt at beating GoPro at their own game. While it does have many impressive
hardware and software features, it also comes in at a slightly higher price point of $449.
So, should you consider buying it? What are its biggest strengths, what are its weaknesses, and
do you really need 8K? In this video, I'll do my best to answer all of those questions and more.
This video is not sponsored, and all opinions are 100% my own. Every shot you see in the video
was shot with the Ace Pro, aside from shots of the camera itself, like this next section.
Now, let's talk about the design. As you can tell, it looks very much like a GoPro, and the build
quality feels really good. It feels solid, like it's not going to break easily. And in the
hand, it feels very much like a premium action camera. The on buttons are on the side,
and it has a big 2.4-inch touchscreen. If you change the orientation of the camera from
horizontal to vertical, the menu will adjust, which is a great feature, and especially helpful
if you're shooting vertical content for Instagram, TikTok, and social media. You can also flip the
screen up so it faces you while you film, which, from my experience, has been a great addition to
have a bigger screen as opposed to the smaller one that most action cameras have.
However, if you shoot extreme sports, this may be a liability because obviously, it
can get hit and potentially break. However, it does feel like it's pretty solidly stuck
onto the camera body. Then, in addition to that, there's a black and white display on the front,
which shows you your camera settings, battery, and SD card capacity. It has a built-in Leica
F2.6 lens. However, unfortunately, it's not user-replaceable. So, if you break the lens, you
can send it in within 12 months back to Insta360, and they have offered to replace the lens for
free if you cover the cost of shipping. So, I see this as a win-lose situation. Lose because
you can't do it yourself, but win because Insta360 will literally pay for a new lens and replace it
themselves, even if it was entirely your fault that the lens got smashed. It's got a huge
indicator light, which I find really cool because it makes it very obvious when you're doing
something like recording or charging. You can see it from a distance. However, you can also turn
it off in the internal settings if you prefer. On one side, you find the battery compartment.
On the other, a USB-C charging port and micro SD card slot. Obviously, on the top is the recording
button, and on the bottom is a no-quarter-inch tripod adapter but a mount adapter.
So, in the box, it comes with this GoPro Mount which clips on very snugly and firmly.
However, it doesn't come with a 1/4-inch tripod thread adapter. Rather, it comes with this
adhesive mount, which is a one-time application, and a USB-C to USB-C cable. So, you'll have
to use your own tripod thread adapter or buy an accessory that comes with one. I do like the
fact that every side of the Ace Pro is completely flat so you can place it on any side, and
it's going to be stable while filming.
The menu is very similar to other action and
360 cameras. Swipe right for exposure settings, swipe down for camera settings, up for resolution,
swipe the middle of the screen to change modes, and swipe from the left to access your gallery. So
overall, I do think the design of the Ace Pro is fantastic. It feels like a premium action camera,
with the two biggest downsides being the lack of replaceable lenses and the lack of an inbuilt
tripod mount, which most recent GoPros do have.
Some accessories you might want to consider
are the quick release mount, multi-mount, which is like a selfie stick combined with a
tripod that folds up and can fit in your pocket, which also does come with the tripod thread
adapter. Full-color GPS preview remote—this one's pretty cool. It connects wirelessly to your
camera and can be worn like a watch to preview your shots and, of course, record GPS data.
And finally, cold shoe and mic adapter if you want to record sound externally to the camera.
To give you an idea of battery life, on average, it lasts around 100 minutes if you shoot
at 4K 30. So, if you're shooting at higher resolutions or pausing and turning the camera
off in between, then you can do the math up or down as to how long it would last. The camera
also charges super quickly. It can go literally from 0 to 80% in just 20 minutes. Then, to
get to the full 100%, it takes around 45.
I bet you're curious if it overheats. Well, I
tried to make it overheat by setting it to the highest resolution possible, which was 8K, and
I let it run for as long as it could. What would you guess? Maybe 5, 10 minutes? Nope, it got to 48
minutes and 51 seconds before the camera finally overheated. For 8K resolution from a pocket-sized
camera, that's pretty damn good. You are able to plug it into power while filming, and you can
even remove the battery completely. However, from my tests, this didn't increase 8K recording
time. What it did help me with, though, is a test to see how long the camera would record
for continuously. So, I set it up one afternoon, completely forgot about it, came back the next
day, and it was still recording. And finally, it stopped at the 16-hour mark. And it wasn't because
it overheated; it was simply because it ran out of SD card storage. So, if you're happy to shoot
at the 4K 30 setting, you could hypothetically shoot as long as you like. Just keep in mind,
though, that these tests were done with a fast SD card—the SanDisk Extreme Pro—and in reasonable
weather. I'd say it was like 23 degrees when I did all of these tests. So results may vary.
Now let's talk about camera specs. And in case you didn't know, the Ace Pro isn't the
only camera that's just been released. Yes, there is also a regular Insta360 Ace camera,
which is a more budget-friendly version of the Ace Pro. It has a 1/4-inch sensor, whereas the Ace
Pro's is 1 over 1.3 inches, which is significantly bigger. Ace Pro has an aperture of F2.6, whereas
the Ace is 2.4, which is hypothetically better. They both have roughly a field of view of the 16mm
lens. The Ace shoots between 1080P up to 240 FPS, all the way up to 6K 30 FPS. Whereas the Ace Pro
also shoots 1080p 240, but it goes all the way up to 8K 24 FPS, which again is the first time
an action camera has had resolution this high. Unfortunately, it's 24 FPS and not 30, but 8K 24
is better than nothing. Also, for some reason, the Ace Pro doesn't have 6K. They both go up to
4K 30 in active HDR mode, and with the Ace Pro, it's activated automatically when shooting
up to 4K 30. And both have pure video mode, which is the low-light mode, and that goes up to
4K 30. They both shoot up to 48-megapixel photos and have very similar modes and features overall.
So, the main differences between them really are the camera design, the bigger sensor of the Ace
Pro, the slightly wider aperture of the Ace, and the higher resolution video of the Ace Pro.
And of course, the price—the Ace Pro is $449, whereas the regular Ace is $379.
Now, while the Ace Pro is technically an 8K camera, the reason it's 8K is because the
sensor is a quad Bayer sensor. In layman's terms, that means it uses four small pixels instead
of one big pixel. So, what would have been 4K resolution otherwise, with every pixel of that 4K,
instead of one big pixel, you've got four small pixels inside that bigger pixel, which technically
means it is higher resolution. However, it doesn't perform the same as, say, a traditional
cinema camera would perform at 8K, which uses 8K resolution except it's 8K of the big pixels, not
the four smaller ones. This means that sometimes, in certain lighting conditions like this overcast
day, 8K will be noticeably sharper than 4K. This shot, you could say 8K looks better. However, is
it two to four times better, as 8K would imply? This is where the numbers are kind of deceiving
with this camera. While the clarity is extremely impressive from a wide-angle perspective, when you
zoom in, the 8K just isn't 8K. In fact, in broad daylight, 4K looks sharper than 8K. So, due to
the quad Bayer sensor, the sharpness level of 8K will vary a lot depending on the type of lighting
conditions you're shooting in. For me, it seemed to perform best on overcast days with relatively
even lighting. I know that's kind of complicated, but long story short, is 8K isn't really the
definitive feature of the Ace Pro. Because of this, it's not reliable in all kinds of shooting
situations. Also, just keep in mind that this is 8K shot with an action camera with a built-in
lens. Therefore, it's not going to be as cinematic as capturing 8K on a proper cinema camera.
So now that we got that out of the way, the bigger question is, do you really need 8K?
Well, my short answer is no. While you can make 8K videos if you really want to, say, for 8K
TVs or larger displays, that's a pretty niche use case. And again, you're only going to get an
action camera's point of view on that 8K screen. While it will be sharp, it's not going to be sharp
all the way around the edges, and it just won't feel as cinematic as shooting on a proper cinema
camera. The reason I see a lot of value in this 8K feature, however, is because of clarity zoom. What
clarity zoom is, is when you're filming in 4K, if you double-tap the screen, it will zoom in
two times and still capture the scene in front of you in full 4K. Again, 4K from the quad Bayer
sensor. But what it's doing is essentially taking that 8K that we had before and cropping it into
4K. So, you've kind of got the option of having a wider field of view or a longer field of view,
almost as if you were to change lenses. Obviously, action cameras don't always have interchangeable
lenses, but this option gives your action camera, the Ace Pro, two different fields of view
and up to 4K 60 resolution. I see that as pretty valuable. You can't always get as close
as you'd like to things, and it's good to have that creative option to go with either a wide
or a close shot in any scene you're filming.
Take this one, for example, it was high tide here
at Maroubra rock pool, and I wasn't going any closer to the water. I don't want to fall in. But
when I double-tap the screen, I could film these swimmers battling the waves a lot more clearly
than if I was stuck with a wider field of view and just zooming in. While other action cameras
do offer a level of zoom, it only really goes up to 1.6 times, whereas the Ace Pro has a two times
zoom while still maintaining the 4K resolution. So, the idea of having an 8K camera isn't so much
about filming in 8K, but it's about having more variety of shots that you can capture in 4K.
The camera has extremely impressive dynamic range when shooting at 4K 30 and below. Active
HDR mode will be applied automatically. And even in the trickiest scenes when the sun is behind
you and most cameras would be completely blown out around the sun area, the Ace Pro is able to
keep the highlights under control and maintain a really impressive and even-looking exposure.
The stabilization is fantastic as well. You can shoot with this camera literally handheld, and
it will stabilize your shot and almost make it look like it was shot on a gimbal. You can see
here I'm being quite bumpy with my movements, yet the end result looks silky smooth. Here's
one I did, this time on a selfie stick, and I was honestly surprised at how well
this turned out thanks to that awesome stabilization. So, even though the 8K is a bit
of a letdown, I do think the dynamic range and the fantastic stabilization make up for it.
Normally, I'm a manual exposure settings kind of guy, but with the Ace Pro, I found myself
using auto exposure more and more since the active HDR is just so good in any type of daytime
scene. At nighttime, it performs great as well, with the sensor combining with pure video mode,
which is Insta360's low-light mode dedicated to keeping grain to a minimum. Also, the auto
exposure is really clever and knows how to choose settings that keep motion blur to a
minimum, eliminate flickering from lights, which is a very common issue that all cameras
face, all while choosing the correct exposure for your specific scene. Filming with an action
camera should be easy, and the firmware of the Ace Pro makes it so by very cleverly choosing the best
camera settings, so you can focus on getting the best shot. So, I'd definitely say that low light
is another key selling point of this camera.
You can shoot vertically with all resolutions
by turning the camera 90° while filming, which is handy because it means you can frame your shot
vertically instead of having to crop a horizontal shot later that might not have captured enough.
If you want to keep your options open, though, there's a free frame mode where it captures a
wider field of view for you to choose either horizontal or vertical aspect ratio later in
Insta 360 Studio. In 4K, it shoots up to 120 frames per second, which is great for action,
extreme sports, or silly shots like this one. You can also make fast-motion effects like a
hyperlapse. You'll just need to make sure you keep the camera really still while filming, and with
some added motion blurring in Insta 360 Studio, this shot looks really decent.
For a sound test outdoors, there's a construction site behind me. I'm in Sydney
CBD at Circular Quay, which is downtown Sydney, right near the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge.
Here's one of its 48-megapixel photos. Here's an iPhone selfie. They're both great, but I just
can't see why you'd use an action camera and not your phone to take photos unless you're in a
place that's really hard to reach with your phone, and an action camera is all you have.
A few more features the Ace Pro has: it's waterproof to 10 m, it has this great new
option called pause recording where you can tap the screen in the middle of a recording, and
it will literally pause it as long as you like, to then restart again when you're ready to go,
keeping it to one clip only instead of hundreds of small clips. You can cancel a recording
literally as it's happening by holding down the record button and deleting the file immediately,
instead of having it use our precious storage space. It has gesture control and voice control,
both handy but personally, I wouldn't use them.
One feature I know many of you have been
waiting for is 30-minute time cutoffs. I'm looking at this clip now as I'm recording it,
and I'm at 29 minutes and 52 seconds. Normally, with Insta 360 cameras, at the 30-minute mark,
it will stop the recording and start again 5 to 10 seconds later, missing those few seconds
of footage. So for any longer recordings where you're capturing a live presentation or
something, you're going to miss that small section of footage. Not with the Ace Pro; this
records continuously to 30 minutes and beyond.
The Insta 360 software is good, as always.
I've been using the Insta 360 app and desktop software for many years with my 360 cameras,
and it's always been fantastic. So, as usual, you can expect a great editing experience
in both apps. Not that you need to use them, though; with most files, you can just drag the
files off the SD card into your video editor. It's only for free frame where you'll want to
use the apps to choose your frame later. The file sizes are roughly 1.3 GB per minute of
8K video and 800 MB per minute of 4K video.
One feature they've added to the mobile app is
background downloading, which allows you to use your phone as you normally would while your clips
are downloading, which unfortunately isn't a thing with action cameras until now. Then inside the
Insta 360 app, you can edit multiple clips of your video together and export it as a complete
video with added sound, music, stickers, effects, and so on. It has an AI highlights assistant
feature that you can enable before shooting, where you're basically telling the camera to
keep an eye out for highlights and mark them for you to review later, denoted by the flag icon
at the bottom. Then, when you go to your clip, you can watch back the parts that it thinks are
the highlights. For this one, it saves some okay viewpoints, but I wouldn't say they were the
best. So there's that, and you can also save the highlights yourself manually by long-pressing the
screen to save a section as a highlight. However, I don't see this is super useful, since this is
the exact same process you go through when editing your clips anyway, and only you know what you
want to include in your edit. A camera or an app doesn't, so anyone that says that this is a big
feature and that the Ace Pro is a "quote-on-quote AI camera," just take it with a grain of salt.
One feature that they added to the Ace Pro is called AI walk, and what it is is like creating
an AI video of your Ace Pro video where it just adds in all these random animations
and stuff. I guess it's kind of cool, and the artwork is actually really impressive. It
just seems like this isn't really a feature that's connected to the Ace Pro; it's just like a random
effect they added in there just because. Damn, I look good as a woman, so you can expect to have
2 minutes of fun with that before you get bored.
So should you buy the Insta 360 Ace
Pro or the regular Insta 360 Ace? Well, while I don't actually own the GoPro Hero
12 Black or the latest DJI camera/cameras, I can say for sure that the Ace Pro delivers a
lot of value for the $449 price tag and is one of the most versatile cameras I've ever
used. So if you're looking for an action camera that has a lot of features and is both
beginner-friendly and has advanced features, then you will definitely want to consider buying
it. If you do decide to buy it and you want to learn how to edit multiple clips inside the Insta
360 mobile app, then watch this video here to get my complete guide to the Insta 360 mobile app so
you can start editing amazing videos in minutes.
