Which 360 camera should you buy in 2023? In
this video, I'll compare the best and most popular consumer 360 cameras to help you figure
out which is the best choice for 360 videos, 360 photography, and virtual tours. I will also
determine the clear winner for doing both. Stay until the end to learn about some brand
new 360 cameras coming later in the year, as well as my predictions about what
I think we'll see by the end of 2023. The contenders in this comparison are the Insta360
X3, which was released late last year, the One X2, which is the X3's predecessor, the One RS,
which was also released last year, a modular 360 camera from Insta360. The original One R is no
longer available for sale, so the One RS replaces it. Then we have the One RS 1-inch, which is the
first consumer 360 camera from Insta360 with the one-inch sensor. The Theta Z1, which is now nearly
four years old but still a contender in 2023. The Theta X, which is a simpler version of the Z1
released last year. The Trisio Lite 2, which is perhaps the most underrated 360 photo camera.
The Xphase Pro X2, which looks like a weapon but boasts 134-megapixel photos, and finally,
the GoPro Max because many of you requested it. Links to all cameras can be found below,
and I do have detailed reviews of all of these cameras on my YouTube channel if you want more
information beyond what is covered in this video. Now I'm going to rank these cameras based on
the biggest factors most people look for in a 360 camera: price, design, specs, 360 videos, 360
photos, and workflows. To give everything in this video some context, we should start with price.
The X3 is $449, One X2 $429, One RS Twin Edition $549, One RS 1-inch $799, Theta Z1 is around a
thousand dollars give or take, Theta X is $799, Trisio is $399, Xphase is $1349, and the GoPro
Max is $399 with a GoPro yearly subscription. Based purely on price, Trisio and GoPro Max
are the cheapest, followed by the One X2, X3, and One RS. Now, in terms of actual value
for money, aka what you get for that price, things look a little bit different. In my opinion,
the X3 delivers the most value for money, followed by the Trisio, followed by the One RS 1-inch.
You'll see why that is by the end of this video. Let's talk about designs. Which of these cameras
has the best design? Let's start with screens, and the ones that catch my eye are the X3,
the Theta X, and the GoPro Max, which have the three biggest screens of the lot, with the
X3 being significantly bigger than the other two. This makes using the X3 so much easier
because I find the small screen designs of cameras like the One X2, the 1-inch, the One
RS are so small that it's easy to choose the wrong settings and go around in circles trying
to do something basic, whereas the X3 is so big, it's almost like having a phone screen attached to
your camera. What about fragility? The bigger the screen and the bigger the lens, the more fragile
the camera is, therefore the more likely it is to break. Therefore, the cameras that are the
most fragile are the X3 with the big screen, the One RS 1-inch with the two big lenses
on either side, the Theta is the one with the big lenses, and the Theta X with the big
screen. The Trisio only has one single lens, which makes it the best camera for fragility
because you can put it down on its back, and the lens isn't really a risk, and the same with
the Xphase, even though it's a really weird shape, the lenses don't stick out from the body which
means you can put it down on a table. All of these cameras are susceptible to smashing a lens,
though, so you'll need to be equally careful with all of them. The cameras that are waterproof are
the X3, One X2, One RS, and GoPro Max. These four cameras are strongly branded as action cameras;
therefore, being waterproof is a must overall. With design, I give the X3, One X2, and
Theta X the highest marks because firstly, they're the smallest and most compact,
they easily fit in your pocket, but also they all have screens that make
the cameras easier to navigate and even preview back your photos and videos.
Now let's take a look at the spec sheet. The X3 has a half-inch sensor. It shoots 360
video at 5.7k30 and 4K 60, as well as 3K 100 FPS, which was added after release. The X3 also
has a single lens mode if you want to shoot in one direction, and this ranges between
1080P 60 all the way up to 4K 30. Insta360 claims the X3 also shoots 72-megapixel 360 photos. The One X2 has a one over 2.3-inch sensor, which is smaller. It also has nearly identical
360 video specs as the X3. It also has a single lens mode that shoots up to 2.5k50 FPS,
and it shoots 18-megapixel 360 photos. The One RS also has a one over 2.3-inch sensor,
as well as having the same 360 video specs as the One X2. If you were to rebuild the 4K mod
of the One RS which comes in the Twin Edition, that would give you a range of single
lens options if you want to shoot in one direction starting at 1080p anywhere
between 24 and 200 frames per second, all the way up to 6K 25 FPS in widescreen mode.
The 360 photos the One RS shoots 18 megapixels. The One RS 1-inch 360 obviously has a one-inch
sensor. For 360 video, it shoots 6K 25, 4K 30, and 3K 50. You could technically say that it
shoots in one direction, even though with this build of the camera, you can't, but since it is
the same camera as the One RS, you could just buy the 4K mod, which gives you the exact same
specs as the One RS. Built as the 1-inch version, though, it shoots 21-megapixel 360 photos. The
Theta Z1 also has a one-inch sensor. It shoots 4K 30 360 videos, as well as 23-megapixel 360
photos. The Theta X has a half-inch sensor. It shoots 5.7K 30 360 videos, as well as 4K 60
photos. The Trisio has a 1 over 2.3-inch sensor and shoots 32-megapixel 360 photos. Unfortunately,
the Trisio does not shoot 360 videos. The Xphase has 25 lenses and 25 sensors, all of which are
1 over 3.2 of an inch. These are the smallest sensors on this list. The massive spec of the
Xphase, though, is that it shoots 134-megapixel 360 photos. Just like the Trisio, the Xphase also
does not shoot 360 videos. Finally, the GoPro Max has a 1 over 2.3-inch sensor. It shoots 5.6K 360
videos at 30 FPS, as well as 3.6k at 60 FPS. The GoPro Max does have a single-lens mode called
Hero Mode, which shoots up to 1440p at 60 FPS. The photo resolution of the Max is 16 megapixels.
So going from top to bottom, the One RS 1-inch and the Z1 have the biggest sensors, which we'll
see later on make a significant difference when it comes to photo and video quality. The 1-inch
also shoots the highest resolution 360 videos with single-lens mode. The One RS built as the
4K mod has the most amount of flexibility if you were to use it like a GoPro. However, if you don't
want to include the 4K build in this comparison, then the X3 easily takes the cake over the GoPro
Max. Finally, when it comes to photo resolution, the Xphase annihilates the competition with that
extremely high 134-megapixel quality being the main draw part of this camera. If you were picking
a 360 camera just based on the spec sheet and you wanted a bit of everything, to me, the X3 would
win. If you also want to shoot in single-lens mode, and if you don't care about that, the
One RS 1-inch has the best all-around specs. Now that we've seen the spec sheet, let's
take a look at how that affects the quality of 360 photos and videos from these cameras.
While the Theta Z1 and X do have video modes, they really are photo-focused cameras. Video
modes of both are missing six-axis stabilization, as well as having very short recording limits,
making these impractical for serious 360 video capture. For this reason, I'll be leaving
them out of the upcoming 360 video comparison, as well as the Xphase and Trisio since
they don't shoot 360 videos. If you're capturing 360 videos of yourself
in broad daylight at close range, then the remaining five 360 cameras are so close
I can barely tell the difference, even the colors, the look, and everything looks the same. For other
situations, though, things look a bit different. Here each of them are in Auto exposure mode, but
this time I'm about 10 feet away from the camera and comparing the sharpness between these 5,
there is a really big difference. Here the 1-inch by far is the sharpest and I'm not just
talking 0.3 of a k it looks several k's sharper. The One RS performs the worst, the GoPro Max
I'm surprised it's holding its own against much newer cameras and it's just as sharp, if not
sharper than the X3, but both are nowhere near the level of sharpness as the 1-inch. One of my
favorite features of the X3 is active HDR which is essentially HDR video that you can use while the
camera is moving and of these 5 cameras, it's the only one that has it in 360 mode, so if you take
a look at the blue sky behind me on the left you don't see that with the other four and this will
be a really handy feature if you're ever shooting in mixed lighting and you want to retain highlight
detail and shadow detail. Here I am inside and again the 1-inch has the best sharpness and the
least Noise by far. I intentionally made this really tricky for all cameras by putting my neon
light on and having bright light coming in through the windows and you can see I'm clearly defined
with the 1-inch and GoPro Max and the other three I'm a bit washed out. Punching in further and the
neon looks best on the 1-inch, followed by the X3, followed by One X2 and while the GoPro Max
is as good as the 1- inch for low noise, the overexposure in the light and the window
is a bit too much to bear. If you're planning on shooting indoors a lot then there's only one
serious xontender here and that's the 1- inch, because of that one inch sensor, it's able
to handle low light better, as well as, mixed lighting situations without the shot being
completely ruined by overexposure. Also it's worth noting that the GoPro Max has a drifting problem.
I've sped up this clip so you can see what I mean. Again if you're shooting solely outside
then all of these cameras are great options, however if I were to rank them overall
for the 360 video capabilities then the 1-inch comes in a very definite first,
the X3 goes in second because of active HDR being a great option in mixed lighting
as well as having so many different modes, frame rates and resolutions to shoot in. I'd put
the GoPro Max in third because it's performed well overall, followed by One X2 and One RS.
If you're into 360 video then I'm excited to announce that I'm working on a brand new
in-depth 360 video course which will take your 360 videos from good to Holy that's good!
It'll be released later this year and you can sign up to be notified when it's ready by following
the link down below and if you're watching this video later in the year, it may have already
been released. Now moving on from 360 videos, which of these cameras is the best for 360
photography and virtual tours? Well let's start with if you don't want to do any editing
whatsoever, here's what the cameras look like in their respective HDR modes without any color
correction applied. The cameras where you can see any kind of detail at all in the sky are the
Theta X, the Trisio and the Xphase, the rest are too blown out to retain any highlight detail.
The roof tiles look the sharpest on the Xphase, the 1-inch and the X3 and the camera with the
most accurate colors straight out of the camera, in my opinion, is the Theta X. If you choose
to color correct, which you should if you're shooting virtual tours, then this is where it gets
interesting. So starting with dynamic range the Theta Z1 has the best dynamic range out the window
thanks to the Dual fisheye plug-in that I used in this comparison which the other cameras don't
have. Then the Trisio and Theta X are the only other cameras where you can see the sky outside,
however when we look at interior dynamic range around my 360 neon, I can't believe I'm saying it
but the X phase has the best dynamic range. Here I used six shot inbuilt HDR with the Xphase and
has done a great job inside as has the Theta X. Now let's look at sharpness and be sure to watch
this video in full screen so you can really see the finer details here because if you're seeing
what I'm seeing the Xphase is so much sharper than all the other cameras. Sharp enough that you
can read the writing on my light, as well as, the YouTube plug, whereas the other cameras
are too blurry at this level of zoom. Trisio is second sharpest as you can see it's the only
other camera to pick up details like this. also I can't believe I'm saying it, but the texture on
the wall is the smoothest with the Xphase as well, despite having the smaller sensor of the lot. I
can barely see a speck of noise in the Xphase, whereas even the smoothest of the others which
I think is the 1-inch still has a little bit of noise. Now you can remove noise easily in the
Topaz Suite, however if your camera doesn't produce much noise to begin with that's always
going to be preferable. Unfortunately the Theta X falls short in this area of the shot because this
corner of the room is where I aim the seam line of all cameras and this is one of the main weaknesses
of the X. Looking at one more area of this image and again it looks best with the Xphase, the
photo print and the plant look the clearest and have the most amount of overall detail including
really nice smooth surfaces, so I'm gonna say it, the Xphase is the best 360 camera for virtual
tours followed by the Z1, Theta X and Trisio which all produce professional results for virtual
tours. Then the 1-inch and X3 come in after that. That said, you could definitely use all six of
these cameras for paid virtual tour shoots. Over the past few years the Xphase team have clearly
addressed some of the major flaws of the camera. The main one, back in 2020 was that it didn't have
good dynamic range for virtual tours but having taken a bunch of samples I can say that isn't true
anymore. This dynamic range looks fantastic and these shots are just so sharp the Xphase really
pushes the limits of what a 360 photo camera can do. It's not all sunshine and roses though, the
main flaws of the Xphase images are, one I've noticed in general there's a pink color cast which
needs to be corrected later on, also the stitching isn't always a hundred percent on straight lines.
Here you can see what I mean, it's noticeable but it's not a deal breaker. Also you can't get too
close to the Xphase, so it's not really a selfie camera because it clearly prioritizes the focus
on distant objects and not close ones. So I'd only shoot with the Xphase in situations where the
detail in your scene is more than three feet away from the camera. If you're buying a 360 camera for
virtual tours and you want to level up your skills quickly so you can start charging for your work,
I have an online masterclass called Virtual Tour Pro which will show you step by step how to start
and run your very own virtual tour business which I'll link below. So now that we've compared these
cameras on most of the important stuff there's one thing we need to talk about, how easy are they to
use and how easy or complicated are the workflows? Well with all of the Insta360 cameras in this
video I'd say that an easy workflow is one of their best assets, they are constantly updating
the mobile app and the desktop software and it's really at the point now where you can create
highly complicated edits in minutes and by far these cameras have the best workflow
when it comes to reframing 360 videos or exporting as actual 360 videos or actual 360
photos. The GoPro Max is pretty easy as well, however I've noticed GoPro have stopped developing
their software when it comes to 360. The Trisio is easy to use and has a fast workflow where it's
literally just the tap of a button it captures your photo and it downloads your photos easily
to your phone's camera roll. The Theta X also has a super fast workflow where it's one button to
shoot and you will instantly have a high dynamic range photo which looks awesome. Like we saw
earlier with the Theta Z1, it's a little more complicated. While you can use the inbuilt
HDR feature the strength in the Z1 really is in bracketing using the Dual fisheye plug-in and
that is a longer workflow to do, as is bracketing with any camera. So with the Z1 you're basically
doing more editing to get a better end result, which is sustified if you're doing virtual tours
for clients, however it's going to take at least five minutes per photo to edit your images. Which
you can do with all the other cameras but I feel like you need to do it that extra bit with the
Z1 because its primary workflow is now using the Dual Fisheye plug-in. Finally we've got the
Xphase which does not have an easy workflow. It's mostly because of underdeveloped software.
It requires following lots of steps even to update the firmware of this camera, the mobile app
looks exactly the same as it did several years ago and because these images are so big each photo is
going to take time to capture and to stitch later on. Again for a great result this is the price you
pay but in terms of workflow this camera is going to take you extra time to work with to get those
awesome shots. So now that the comparison is done, which camera should you buy? Well I'll start with
the ones you shouldn't buy. The first one is the GoPro Max because it's so old now, it's seen no
firmware updates in ages. They basically stopped working on this camera. While it still does
work and it does a good job you wouldn't buy it in 2023 over something else. Insta360 have
far outperformed GoPro when it comes to 360 camera, so I would consider an Insta 360 camera
instead, except the One X2, this is another camera you shouldn't buy because the price is so close
to the X3 that it just wouldn't make sense. While it was a great camera in its time, the X3 is an
improvement over the One X2, so don't buy it. The cameras on this list that you should consider are
firstly the One RS, while there was this massive amount of hype around the One RS last year the
hype was over something that we more or less had before in the One R and One X2 and while it wasn't
updated in the One R series, the differences were so minimal. The main one really was 6K flat
video, if you shoot at the 235 to 1 aspect ratio, which is a pretty niche use, but otherwise I
wouldn't buy this camera unless you're looking for a modular camera that can also perform like a
GoPro. Personally I just like having two cameras, it's kind of annoying having to rebuild your
camera into different things, so if you prefer to shoot 360 content just get a dedicated 360 camera.
The second camera you should consider is the Theta Z1, this camera has been a reliable choice for
the past four years, however in 2023 it's not an obvious choice anymore due to the sheer amount of
competition as you saw earlier. If you've already purchased the Z1 then this is still a camera
you can use professionally for years to come, however the price point right now is just too
much to justify as a new purchase when there are other options at similar price points like the
X phase and the Insta360 1-inch and those two cameras exceed the Theta Z1 at their specific use
cases. It will still be a good choice if you shoot photos at night time, since the 1- inch sensor
delivers far superior image quality than the rest, however that's a pretty niche use case. The third
camera to consider that isn't an obvious buy is the Theta X, many people were unhappy last year
that it didn't have a one inch sensor, it didn't shoot raw and it was seemingly a step backwards
from the Z1, well again I think the Theta X is a niche camera for a niche audience but it performs
extremely well for that niche audience and that niche audience is people that want to shoot
virtual tours with amazing dynamic range without having to do any editing. The inbuild HDR feature
is extremely impressive in most situations, combine that with 60 megapixel resolution and
this is the perfect camera for Real Estate virtual tours. It's too expensive to buy for 360 video
and it doesn't have the editing flexibility of the Z1 or 1-inch, so I'd only get it if you want
quick 360 photos with amazing dynamic range . Now for the cameras you should buy. Let's start
with 360 photos and with the low end of the price range the Trisio Lite 2 is the obvious choice. If
you want to spend less than 400 on a camera for virtual tours. It doesn't shoot 360 video so only
get this if photography is your main use case. If you're willing to spend more, well a thousand
dollars more, then the Xphase Pro X2 will be a great investment for any virtual tour business.
As you saw those images are so sharp and with the few firmware updates they've released over the
past few years they have tackled the bad dynamic range issue, as well as, some other frustrations I
had when shooting with the Xphase like, the camera constantly freezing. If you're looking for high
quality 360 photos then the Xphase will decimate the competition in most 360 photo situations. The
main downsides are the Xphase doesn't shoot 360 video and the workflow feels a bit bare bones so
you need to be really patient when shooting and editing with the Xphase ,however if you are
a patient person, you'll get these fantastic results that come close to 360 photos taken with a
DSLR. The 360 video I think you can guess what my recommendations are, yes the Insta360 One RS 1-
inch and the X3. If you want to spend less than 500 get the X3, if you're willing to spend more
for more quality get the 1-inch. While the 1- inch doesn't have the action features of the X3, it
does have that one inch sensor which means better videos and better photos and I really would get
this for more considered shoots where you might be shooting 360 videos for VR or you just want
more overall quality for your reframe 360 videos. X3 is the better choice if you're shooting 360
videos for social media or any type of action content, it's got a lot more features that
are action friendly, like being waterproof, having a smaller and easier to use design
and it's cheaper if you were to break the camera. You're not going to cry yourself to sleep,
although I probably still would. Also active HDR, yeah now what if you're looking to shoot both 360
video and 360 photos? Which 360 camera should you buy? Well while I hate to keep recommending the
same thing over and over again I really do think that the One RS 1-inch and X3 are the best
choices. Clearly they're the best two cameras for 360 video, but also they shoot quite good
photos. With the one inch sensor of the 1- inch it comes close to the Theta Z1 and Theta X which
yes, you could use to shoot professional virtual tours and build a business around. It also shoots
the highest resolution and best quality 360 videos in bright light as well as low light which is
also one of the strengths of the 1- inch. With the right manual exposure settings your shots will
be not only Noise free but will be better quality and have less motion blur than other cameras.
So if that's your use case and you're willing to spend a bit more then the 1-inch is the best
camera of the lot, although I'd say the X3 isn't that far behind. While it is lacking with 360
photos as we saw with a virtual tour examples it does shoot much better photos outside, especially
when using pure shot mode. Then with 360 video, you know the rest, it's got active HDR and
all of the great editing options that come in the app and the desktop software that make
this camera by far the best 360 camera under $500 for 360 photos and videos in 2023. So if you
don't need it for a niche purpose but you want to shoot a bit of everything then the X3 really is
the obvious choice. Did Insta360 pay you to say that? and look I know it seems totally biased
that I'm recommending Insta 360 camera after Insta 60 camera, but the truth is Insta360 have
a monopoly on 360 cameras. Year after year they have literally been the only company consistently
releasing cameras and while there's only been this much difference between them over the years,
this much plus this much, plus this much, plus this much, plus this much equals this much
and that can't be said about other companies. I really do think Insta360 make the best cameras
for 360 video by far, that's said I welcome any competition that comes in 2023 that could
potentially knock them off their pedestal. Now let's talk about some upcoming cameras coming
this year. The first one is the Lab Pano PilotPano and this was announced a couple of months ago to
crickets, reason being the specs were exactly the same as everything we currently have. I won't
dismiss this camera too soon because I do have one on the way but to be perfectly honest, I don't
have high hopes. The next one is a camera that's just been announced, well two cameras actually.
The Qoocam 3 and the Qoocam 3 Ultra from dun dun dun Kandao. Yeah, remember Kandao? The company
that made the Qoocam 8K, which was an 8K 360 camera that promised a lot, only to overheat
for most people causing the lenses to go out of focus. Which is not good when you're shooting
8K video. Anyway Kandao are releasing two cameras, both named Qoocam, which to me seems strange,
given the reputation of the Qoocam 8K you'd think they'd move away from that name because it
wasn't a great name to begin with, was it? Qoocam, QooCam. Here are some clues in the press release,
firstly the design looks exactly like the GoPro Max, it's waterproof with 5.7 K video and 62
megapixel photos. It does 4K 60fps 360 videos, which could be interesting. It has two 1.55 inch
sensors which is slightly smaller than a one inch sensor. It will have an aperture of f 1.6, four
built-in mics for spatial audio, so nothing that groundbreaking but I guess we'll see when it
gets released. The Qoocam Ultra is supposed to be an 8K camera, again I'm very suspicious but
hopefully they've learned from their previous mistakes and do thorough r and d before releasing
a camera. And now for Mr Ben's predictions for upcoming 360 cameras this year. The first one
is a new ,or several new cameras from Insta360. It''s not just a prediction that's a spoiler. So
here's what I'm predicting, the Insta360 Go 3, which is their wearable action camera not a 360
camera but thought I'd mention it. I predict they'll release the One RS2 or something with a
similar name, I'm predicting this because I've noticed that they're clearly competing with
GoPro and DJI by entering the action camera space and this is what you get with action
cameras, it's one new camera per year. So you can expect the One RS 2 to come later in
the year with about a five percent difference between that and the previous camera. I don't
think Insta 360 will release an X4 this year, simply because they just released the X3 and
it's too soon to be releasing another X camera, unless again they go for the same approach as
the action cameras by releasing one new one every single year. Will there be a new GoPro 360 camera?
Hmm maybe, I wouldn't count on it though because they haven't released anything since the Max and
that's been a pretty significant time period, so clearly GoPro aren't prioritizing 360
cameras. My final prediction is for a new Trisio camera. This thing is one the most bang
for your buck 360 cameras released in the past couple of years and it's a simple concept of the
rotating camera, so clearly they've got a winning camera concept here so, what's to stop them from
making something even bigger and better? So tell me what's your 360 camera of choice right now
and why? Let me know down below and if you're considering either the One RS 1-inch or the X3
then be sure to check out my detailed reviews here so you can get the full list of pros
and cons of these cameras. See you next time
