The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro may not be as big of an upgrade as the 4 was but this $349 packs a new sensor giving you 13.5 stops of dynamic range and delivering smooth footage up to 4K 120fps or 1080p 240fps. It now also shoots 40MP stills. So, is it time to ditch the GoPro?
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Should you buy or skip the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro?
00:05I mean, they've added pro to the name,
00:07so it's gotta be good this year, right?
00:09Well, this $349 Action 5 isn't as big of an upgrade
00:12as the Action 4 was to the 3,
00:14sticking with the same max 4K 120 or 1080p 240,
00:18but this year's model gets a slightly upgraded sensor
00:21offering 13.5 stops of dynamic range,
00:24and it now shoots 40 megapixel stills,
00:26as well as, and this is a big one,
00:28a more efficient processor for longer runtime.
00:31Not to mention, it now also has 48 gigabytes
00:33of internal storage, giving you about 80 minutes
00:36of 4K 60 frames per second video,
00:38as well as a few other upgrades, which we'll get into.
00:41The Action 5 is undercutting most of the competition,
00:43including the GoPro Hero 13 Black
00:45and the Insta360 Ace Pro by about $50,
00:47so here's everything you need to know
00:49before picking one up.
00:51That's a little steep.
00:52The first reason you should get the Osmo Action 5 Pro
00:55is that it uses a new 1950 milliamp battery,
00:59which also, which also, as well as a more efficient
01:04four nanometer image processor
01:06that gives it better battery life,
01:08actually, the best battery life
01:09of any action camera, period.
01:11DJI now says you can get four hours of continuous recording,
01:14but that's at 1080p 30,
01:15which, honestly, I'm never touching, because ew.
01:17Disgusting!
01:194K's really nice, and I don't really need
01:21four hour long clips, but it's there if you need it.
01:23That said, 4K 60, I get about 120 minutes outdoors,
01:26and when you drop that down to 4K 30,
01:28it'll extend by another 30 minutes.
01:31And so, with a mix of shorter, two to five minute long,
01:33and a few 10 to 15 minute long clips,
01:35I was able to record all day without charging it up.
01:38And so, if you want an action camera
01:40that lasts the longest on a single charge,
01:42the Action 5 is king.
01:43The DJI Action series has always stood out to me
01:46as the action camera to get,
01:48because they prioritize video quality a lot more
01:51than the competition, in my opinion.
01:53You can quickly switch between multiple angles,
01:55from their extreme wide nine millimeter equivalent
01:58to 15 millimeter, with distortion correction
02:00and stabilization applied.
02:02You can also record in either 16 by nine widescreen
02:05or four by three aspect ratio, which is helpful
02:08if you wanna get both a widescreen and vertical crop
02:11from the same video clip
02:12without shooting natively wide or vertical.
02:15But more importantly, you've got three color profiles
02:17to choose from, standard, HDR, HLG, and D-Log M.
02:21The latter being what I almost entirely always shoot on.
02:24Because of its larger sensor,
02:25which we first saw on the Action 4,
02:27unlike most other action cameras,
02:30the Action 5 continues to be half decent and low light,
02:33especially when you shoot in that 10 bit D-Log M profile
02:37and apply a little bit of noise reduction.
02:39Although it's fixed depth of field
02:41won't trick you into thinking
02:42that this is a small pocket camera
02:44and definitely not a DSLR,
02:46but it still offers incredible dynamic range
02:49and lots of room to color grade.
02:50And it also matches really well to DJI's other cameras
02:53like the Osmo Pocket 3,
02:55which if you've seen any of my recent videos,
02:58you know I use quite a bit.
02:59The Osmo Action 5 Pro includes a front
03:02and rear color display, both with touch support.
03:05The square front display is pretty small,
03:06measuring just 1.5 inches diagonally,
03:09but it has 800 nits of brightness
03:10so it's easy to see outdoors.
03:12You can get all your functions really easily.
03:14It's pretty good.
03:15But new for this year,
03:16they're packing an even larger rear display,
03:18which is now 2.5 inches diagonally.
03:20The screen's also very bright, up to 1,000 nits,
03:23and it supports, again,
03:24those touch and swipe gestures as well.
03:27The screen is much better than the smaller
03:29and dimmer options that you'll see on the GoPro Hero 12
03:33and even the Hero 13 Black cameras.
03:35And especially as a solo content creator,
03:37having these two really large, bright screens
03:39that you can easily switch between
03:41is great for reviewing your footage
03:43or just making sure your framing looks right.
03:45I think another strong point with the Osmo Action 5
03:47is its connectivity.
03:48It has the one USB-C port,
03:50which is for charging and data transfer,
03:52and you can actually use this as a webcam
03:54when connected to a computer if you want.
03:56And even though this doesn't have a microphone port,
03:58you can either use a 3.5 millimeter adapter
04:00to connect a wired mic if you'd like,
04:02but even cooler, just like with the Osmo Pocket 3,
04:05the Action 5 can directly connect
04:07to the DJI Wireless Mic 2 via Bluetooth,
04:10which for 90% of my audio,
04:12including making this video right here,
04:14is my go-to choice because of how easy and quick
04:16it is to set up, not to mention the audio quality
04:19is really good too.
04:20So just like with the picture modes,
04:21if you already own other DJI cameras,
04:24being in that ecosystem really pays off here
04:26because you can use that same hardware
04:29for a really awesome setup.
04:31And new for this year, the Action 5 also extends
04:33its waterproof rating by an extra two meters,
04:36now totaling 20 meters, without even having a diving case.
04:40But what's even better is they now have
04:42a built-in pressure gauge to record
04:44and display water depth, altitude,
04:46and other data in real time to give your footage
04:48more context and make it feel a little bit more dynamic.
04:52In my experience, 4K is plenty of resolution,
04:54especially for an action camera.
04:56That being said, those who like to maybe reframe
04:59and crop or digitally add movement to their footage
05:02a little bit more might find the extra resolution
05:05offered by rivals like the new GoPro HERO 13 Black
05:08or the Insta360 Ace Pro to be an omission here
05:12with the Action 5.
05:13It's worth noting that this would obviously
05:15take a hit to the battery life,
05:16not to mention result in larger file sizes,
05:19but yeah, I'm never gonna say no to more resolution
05:22if it doesn't sacrifice image quality
05:24because sometimes it could be nice
05:26to have that little extra room for editing.
05:28Just like with the Action 4,
05:29I think the Action 5 Pro is incredibly reliable
05:32and does everything it does exceptionally well.
05:34That being said, it's been a few years
05:36since we've really seen anything dramatically innovative
05:39with this lineup.
05:40The one easy area that I think DJI
05:42should at least try to explore
05:43is offering similar GoPro style lens mods.
05:46The ability to add a macro anamorphic
05:49or extra wide angle lens
05:50to quickly change the look of your footage
05:52or even just quickly swap on an ND filter
05:55for better control over your lighting
05:57helps make that GoPro HERO 13,
06:01helps make the new GoPro HERO 13
06:03more of an all-in-one camera that can adapt
06:06and help you be a little bit more creative with your shots.
06:09I wouldn't be surprised if DJI is working on something
06:11like this behind the scenes,
06:12but for now, the Osmo Action series
06:14hasn't introduced its own niche yet.
06:17So tied in with that last point,
06:19I think if you've already got an Action 4,
06:22you probably won't see a huge need
06:24to upgrade to the Action 5 Pro.
06:26With basically the same sensor,
06:28I don't think you're gonna see much of a difference
06:30in video quality.
06:32Maybe if you're taking a lot of photos with this,
06:34the new 40 megapixel sensor might be enticing,
06:36though I don't really think anyone's primarily buying
06:39one of these as a photo taking device.
06:41You're probably better off
06:42just investing in a small pocket camera.
06:44Now, the built-in storage, the bigger rear display
06:47and the improved battery life are definitely great,
06:49but if you weren't concerned with them on the phone
06:51and you thought it was good enough,
06:52I don't think this is reason enough to upgrade again.
06:54To that point, if you haven't bought either
06:56and you're trying to decide between the two,
06:57I think that's an interesting question.
06:59You can't really go wrong with either.
07:01I think the $249 price for last year's Action 4
07:05is a great deal, while spending the extra $100 premium
07:08to get the Action 5 Pro might be also a great investment
07:11for a lot of creators if you're gonna be taking advantage
07:14of those new improvements features.
07:16So, buy or skip.
07:18The DJI Osmo Action 5 is the standout choice for creators
07:21like me who are already heavily invested
07:23in DJI's other camera gear.
07:25From matching the color profile to my other DJI cameras,
07:28to pairing and using the mics between them,
07:31there's a lot of added value to an already very affordable
07:34and competitively priced Action camera.
07:36And while I personally don't get to use
07:38these Action cameras as much as I like anymore,
07:40when it comes to shooting Action content,
07:42DJI continues to be my top choice
07:44just because of those aforementioned conveniences
07:47combined with its excellent video quality,
07:49even in low light, not to mention, of course,
07:51its battery life will keep you rolling for hours long.
07:54It might not be the most exciting or fun Action camera
07:56to use this year, but it maintains its notoriety
07:59for being reliable day in and day out.
08:02But let me know what you think.
08:03You can find us everywhere at Tom's Guide
08:05and you can follow me to see what I'm reviewing next.
08:07Thanks for watching.
08:08I'll catch you in the next one.