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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom of TechJap and I've been waiting for this, the new and improved Insta360 X4.
00:07I've been using the X3 for a couple of years almost, it came out in late 2022, so that's
00:33about 18 months, and now we have a new one, refreshed, although from the outside you wouldn't
00:37really know except for the fact that it says X4 right there.
00:42Really it's all about what they've done on the inside, with a new AI chip unlocking a
00:46whole range of new options including 8K video for the very first time, also 5.7K at 60fps,
00:52previously topped out at 30, we get better image quality all round, it's much more responsive,
00:57you can also now shoot 72MP 360 photos because we've got that 8K resolution, we get longer
01:03battery life, new modes, so looking like an absolute tourist I roamed the streets of Rome
01:09which was a whole lot of fun with the X4 and I'm probably the first person ever to record
01:13the Colosseum and the Vatican in 8K 360.
01:20But first a big thank you to Insta360 for sending this out ahead of launch and also
01:24for partnering with me on this video.
01:26So I should say all these extras are, well, extra, they're optional, you're absolutely
01:30fine with just buying the X4 by itself but I would definitely recommend the invisible
01:34selfie stick to start with, maybe an extra battery as well, especially if you plan to
01:37shoot in 8K, and also while the X4 is water resistant, we have the same IPX8 resistance
01:43as the X3, and it will survive a dunk in the pool, and it transpires several dunks in a
01:48surfing wave pool, for proper surfing in the sea, for diving and just for more intensive
01:52activities in the big blue wet thing, perhaps a dive case is worth the investment, and you
01:57do have a lot of options.
01:58We've got this 10 foot tall or 3 meter extendable, well, selfie stick I guess you could call
02:05it, and I looked like a complete knob walking around with this in Rome, although I got some
02:09absolutely fantastic shots that you just couldn't normally get because of the crowds, shots
02:13that perhaps a drone could get but there's absolutely no way you could get away with
02:17using one of those, and it compresses back down to that, it really is quite compact,
02:21and as I say, I think your first accessory should be the invisible selfie stick.
02:24You can see the size difference there when you screw it in, and as you can see we've
02:27got this little screw thread mount underneath there, so you can just pop it onto any sort
02:31of GorillaPod mount, or a lot of GoPro mounts can also be used with this.
02:36Because of the size of it, you can't actually see the stick in the frame, so sometimes you
02:39do look like you're just holding nothing, and I'd love if there was an AI way of replacing
02:43it with a bottle of beer or a glass of wine or something so you're just walking around
02:46with your beer.
02:47The invisible selfie stick, because you can hold it at arm's length, you can stick it
02:50out your car window, probably the best thing to start with, and then perhaps a car mount
02:55so you can pop it on your bike or your car and get some cool shots, then maybe this guy
02:59so you can get some crazy sort of high drone shots, and then you've also got the bullet
03:02time accessories.
03:03You have a lot of options, but you can just start with this, don't get too overwhelmed
03:08at first.
03:17You can also now replace the lens guards if you scratch or damage them, and you've got
03:21a standard and also a premium option with higher quality scratch-resistant tempered
03:25glass.
03:29They also bunged a massive microSD card in my goodie bag, which you slot in here beside
03:33the battery in this little compartment, and it will take a long time to fill this up,
03:36even with 8K footage.
03:37You'll definitely run out of battery first.
03:40But that's where a second battery is helpful, you can just pop it out and swap it with that,
03:44and of course you can charge it via the USB-C port under that little flap there.
03:48Very nice.
03:50Press the on button and almost instantly the screen wakes up, and if it's your first time
03:54it'll give you a handy walkthrough of how to use it.
03:56And I can tell you already, just swiping around and turning it on and switching modes, it
04:00feels a lot faster and more responsive than the older, slightly laggy X3, thanks to this
04:05new processor.
04:06So there is a lot to talk about with the new X4, but to give you a gist, Insta360 gave
04:10me this very handy little one sheet of the features for the X4, and also a couple of
04:15pro tips on the back.
04:17You can always pause the video at this point if you want to sort of read that in detail,
04:21but I feel like that's a little bit cheesing.
04:22Let me show you what's new and why you might want one of these.
04:26So first of all, what is this thing?
04:28Well, if you've used the X3, which came out in 2022, this will all feel very familiar,
04:32which is a good thing because it can be a little bit overwhelming at first figuring
04:36out how the hell to use this thing.
04:41Think of it like a regular action cam.
04:43This is Insta360's Ace Pro, I actually reviewed this a couple of months back, really, really
04:47fantastic action camera and I like the flip out screen here, but obviously what makes
04:51this stand out is the fact that we have two lenses, one on the back, one on the front.
04:56And with a clever bit of software, stitching the two together, you can capture almost seamless
05:01360 video.
05:02But also like their action cameras, we have their fantastic flow state stabilisation,
05:06tons of shooting modes, you've got different fields of view, lots of accessories you can
05:10mount it to.
05:11And that's kind of the point of this, it gives you almost limitless filming possibilities
05:15because you're capturing everything around you at the same time.
05:20So panning around on the X4 screen as you're filming or more likely afterwards in the Insta360
05:25app on your phone or the desktop studio program, you can reframe the footage however you like.
05:30Make it horizontal for YouTube, vertical for socials, you can set keyframes and manually
05:34pan around the footage to get the shot you want.
05:37And not only can you now capture in high resolutions and higher frame rates than before, but just
05:41as importantly for retaining that quality, you can now export in 4K at higher bit rates.
05:46This previously topped out at 80p.
05:48Max out the export settings and you can get some stunning looking footage from this.
05:52But remember, while this is an Insta360 X4 and you can shoot 360 video, you don't have
05:58to.
05:59All you have to do is press this little button down here, go from 360 to single lens and
06:03here you can shoot photos, videos, Mi Mode, loop recording, free frame, all that good
06:08stuff.
06:09So you can also just shoot with one lens, which turns it into a bit more of a traditional
06:12action camera.
06:13And now with the X4, you can shoot single lens at 4K 60, up from 4K 30 last time.
06:18And this is best for POV shots like biking or surfing or driving or walking around.
06:23And you just want to capture one direction and not worry about reframing a full 360 video.
06:28Mi Mode also makes a return, but now at 4K.
06:31And this uses AI to track you, just you.
06:34And it's best used with the invisible selfie stick stuck out in front of you.
06:37So again, no editing or reframing needed.
06:39It's just you and your lovely face.
06:42And that's what I really like about this, that versatility.
06:44You can just shoot regular content, you know, POV 16 by 9 videos for your YouTube video
06:49like this and get some unique perspectives.
06:52But then you've got all the craziness with the AI edits that can either look really cool
06:55or perhaps a bit gimmicky.
06:57And the truth is, you might not use this all the time and maybe just for a handful of shots,
07:01but for something that fits in your pocket, for me at least, this is absolutely worth
07:05having in your creative arsenal.
07:09So that's the idea, but you could do pretty much all that with the X3.
07:13What the X4 brings to the party, among other quality of life improvements, is the ability
07:17to shoot in 8K video at 30fps and also 5.7K at 60.
07:22Now shooting in 8K will drain the battery a bit faster, and I would only recommend it
07:26in really good lighting.
07:28But you can see here, 5.7K versus 8K, the higher resolution gives you a sharper and
07:32less noisy image, which means you can zoom in further while retaining more detail.
07:37So for static shots, vlogs, walking around, exploring, generally slower paced content
07:42and you have good light, 8K is a great new option to have.
07:46But then for sports, for driving, faster paced activities, you'll want to use the new 5.7K
07:5060 option.
07:52Double the framerate of the X3 and this feels like the sweet spot for image quality, framerate
07:56and you can get slow motion out of it, although I would definitely drop down to 30fps if you
08:01are in lower light for better image quality.
08:04Everything else, all the other settings, I left pretty much as it comes, standard colour
08:07mode, medium sharpness, but you can tinker and play around with all this.
08:11And I also appreciate while you can switch between ultra, mega and de-warp field of views
08:16for varying levels of fish eye distortion for your shots, whatever you've chosen as
08:20you're recording, you can switch between all three afterwards, you're not locked into
08:24it.
08:25And really the hardware is only half the story, the software, the AI tracking, the stabilisation
08:29and the fantastic Insta360 app, which can make editing as simple as pressing one button
08:33with the AI doing the rest, but you've also got quick and pro modes, giving you more and
08:37more granular levels of fine tuning.
08:39There's also a new motion ND option, which adds a kind of motion blur and can give you
08:43shots like this, which is an 8K time shift that I recorded with motion ND turned on.
08:49And it just looks a lot sleeker and more polished.
08:51And you've also got the Insta360 Studio app, which is available on Windows and Mac.
08:56And also now you can actually import files from the Insta360 X4 straight into Premiere
09:02Pro.
09:03You need to download a plugin and do a couple of things, but there's a really easy guide
09:06for that.
09:07I'll leave a link below.
09:08But you've got tons of other mode options like time shift and time lapse.
09:11You've got bullet time.
09:13There's also an active HDR video mode, which is great for capturing better dynamic range,
09:17especially if you've got really bright highlights like the sun in the frame.
09:20Now if you're wondering how you actually get your files off this thing, well, there's a
09:23bunch of different options.
09:25The main one most people would probably use is just with your phone with the Insta360
09:28app.
09:29You can connect to this over Wi-Fi and then download your files that way.
09:32What you can also do is buy one of these, which is a quick reader, and you take out
09:36the micro SD card in this, pop it in there, and then you've got a lightning port connector
09:41and a USB-C, which you can plug straight into your phone or laptop and then just directly
09:46transfer the files, which is a bit faster.
09:48It also supports faster file transfers.
09:50There's new voice and gesture control support.
09:52You can connect it to your Apple Watch or Garmin watch for GPS tracking and stats for
09:56the X4.
09:57And finally, while we do have a mic built in here and also there's a little speaker
10:00there as well, I would definitely suggest pairing this with a nice Bluetooth mic to
10:04get the best audio quality with your video.
10:08So that is the new Insta360 X4.
10:10And when it launches today, as I'm posting this, April 16th, it'll cost you $499, which
10:16is $100 more than the X3.
10:19So this is coming at a bit of a price premium, but it is an incredibly versatile bit of kit.
10:22And while I'm not going to use it for every shoot all the time, I'm definitely going to
10:25be putting this in my camera bag and taking it with me everywhere I go.
10:28Just for those fun extra shots that you can't normally get.
10:31My only gripe is they haven't actually changed the sensor size.
10:34Yes, it's high resolution, you get more options, it's higher image quality because of that.
10:38Because as with any action cam, you really do need good lighting to get the best image
10:41quality.
10:42But what do you think?
10:46Tempted to buy one?
10:47Definitely check out the new 8K Insta360 X4 and I'll drop a link in the description below.
10:52And also if you did enjoy this video or found it helpful, then a little like and subscribe
10:55would be fantastic because I did fly all the way to Rome to make this video.
11:00It's a tough gig.