The Insta360 X4 is a powerhouse. Here are our thoughts on this incredible 360 action camera. Photo: Will Sileo//The Inertia
Insta360 is one of the more recent players in the action camera game, but has quickly established itself as one of the top brands in a highly competitive field with its line of action cameras, 360 cameras, and even professional recording equipment. We’ve been big fans of the new style of 360-degree cameras, and I was excited to try the new Insta360 X4 given our great experiences with the X3, and the step up that the X4 promises to be.
I’ve mainly tested this camera out while wing foiling on the San Francisco Bay, read to the end for a quick download on how to best mount your 360 camera – insta360 or otherwise – to capture your wing foiling. The first part of the article will focus on the improvements that the new X4 makes over the previous version X3.
| Pros | Cons |
| Unmatched 8k resolution | A bit heavier than the previous version |
| Larger battery allows for much longer (67%) shooting times, a game-changing difference (for my application) | Expensive, but worth the price |
| Recent app updates allow for much faster downloading of videos to one’s smartphone |
First Impressions
We’ve tested the Insta360 X3 in the past so we’re already familiar with the dual-camera, 360-degree design. When I first received the X4, I noticed it’s a bit larger and heavier than the X3. It has a slightly larger touchscreen and notable new extras like a bump guard frame that comes included with the camera, as well as two lens guards that screw on over each lens. I was excited about the lens guards at first, but soon learned they only work on dry land, as they are not waterproof. So I’ve yet to be able to truly test them.
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Riding on the bay with friends. Photo: Will Sileo//The Inertia
Notable Features
The X3 is an incredible action camera, and the X4 is a step up in all the right ways.
Resolution
First off, the resolution takes a huge jump, with the X4 capable of shooting 8k at 30fps over the X3’s 5.7k at 30fps. That also makes for smoother, higher-frame-rate capabilities at lower resolutions, with the X4 being able to shoot 5.7k at 60fps and 4k at 100fps. That’s quite impressive for such a relatively small package. I honestly found myself using the lower resolution shooting modes so as not to cram up the device’s storage, or chew through the battery, but I needn’t have worried so much – equipped with a 256 gb microSD card (not included), there was plenty of both to go around.
Battery Life
The battery life is one of the biggest and most important upgrades from the X3 to the X4, with the X4 having a 67% longer shooting time than the X3. That makes a huge difference, allowing you to leave the camera on and choose the shot later. This is especially true for wind sports as well as for filming winter sports, with cold conditions that are notoriously tough for camera batteries. As the snow is only just now falling in the Northern Hemisphere, we have yet to test the X4’s capabilities in the snow but will report back when we do.
New Features
Gestures are another stand-out feature that the X4 introduces, with the ability to gesture at the camera to complete certain actions like starting and stopping filming.
New Accessories
Lens Guards: the X4 introduces removable lens guards that protect the lens of your camera from scratching, both standard and premium versions with the premium being made of tempered glass for improved optical quality. The lens guards are a great addition for on-land activities, but don’t work in the water as they are not sealed and will let water in. They’re exceedingly simple to screw on and off.
Action Invisible Selfie Stick: With the original selfie stick being made of aluminum, the action invisible selfie stick is made from carbon fiber for improved stiffness, lighter weight, and better durability. We have yet to test this accessory but are excited to do so – we’ve found carbon to be a winning material for these sorts of camera mounts, especially for action sports.
The App: One of the best part of the Insta360 family of cameras is the powerful video-processing and editing app that allows you to save what you’ve just captured straight to your phone. With 360 cameras, the video-processing software is almost as important as the hardware and internal stats of the camera itself, as its where you’ll most likely be framing and choosing the shot you want to capture and share from the 360-degree recording.
Rather than downloading the video to my computer and editing from there, I find it much easier to use the Insta360 app on my phone to select the footage I want to share. In part because mobile is where I’ll be sharing the content, but also because the use of a touchscreen makes it so easy and intuitive to pan the view around to keep the subject in the frame, etc.
Over-the-shoulder view while wake-riding. Photo: Will Sileo//The Inertia
Drawbacks
As we mentioned previously, the X4 does gain a bit of weight and bulk over the X3 (weighing 203 grams vs the X3’s 180 g), worth keeping in mind, but overall impressive how little weight is added given the massive increases in battery life and resolution.
Overall, weight should be noted with these cameras — compared to action cameras like the GoPro Hero13 (159 g) and the GoPro Hero (86 g), the weight is more noticeable when mounted on a helmet or with a mouth mount. The latter option, I actually wouldn’t recommend with the X3 or X4 at all as it defeats the purpose of the 360 view, and the weight of the camera feels uncomfortable on the teeth.
Another downside I’ve noticed is the lack of a location to mount an extra safety leash. I have broken two of the base-level selfie sticks myself, and both times it happened I was very, very happy to have my own jerry-rigged safety leash (a loop of paracord screwed down between the camera and selfie stick). But having a small loop somewhere on the camera to attach to would be much nicer.
It’s also hard not to mention the price of these cameras, reaching up to $500 for the X4. But the cost certainly feels worth what you’re getting in return with such a powerful, well-designed piece of equipment.
Mounting the camera to the boom of your wing provides a great angle for wing foiling. Photo: Will Sileo//The Inertia
How to Use a 360 Action Camera While Wing Foiling
Wing foiling presents a unique challenge to filming oneself, unlike other water and wind sports. With both hands occupied by the wing for most of the time, you won’t want to be holding the camera in your hand, and with the wing in front of your face for a majority of the time as well, having it in a bite-mount or attached to your helmet provides a fairly limited field of view, especially the bite-mount, which also gets tiring for extended periods of time.
I’ve discovered a few different options, both wing and body-mounted. For the wing, the Flymount Aero attaches around the leading edge of your inflated wing, clamping down for a secure and stable fit. It’s also one of the less obtrusive ways to mount a camera while wing foiling, However, it doesn’t provide my favorite angle of the action as it is a little tight to the rider, and because of how it’s mounted on the wing, the video can look a bit distorted.
Another wing-mounted option, which is a bit more home-brew, and a bit more obtrusive than the Flymount, involves mounting the 360 camera on a selfie stick or pole, and then strapping it to the boom or handles of the wing. This provides one of my favorite angles for filming while powered up and riding, as you can extend the selfie stick beyond the trailing edge of the wing, giving you a full view of everything happening on the other side of the wing, as well as yourself with a from-the-back perspective. I’ve found it works best with a boom, but it also works with hard and soft handles – I usually use voile ski straps to keep things in place. Worth adding a safety leash to your camera, as I’ve snapped a couple of selfie sticks this way. However, the main issue with this attachment style is how it affects the wing in free flight while riding wakes or swells, weighing down the trailing edge and making it prone to dragging in the water.
More recently, I’ve moved beyond the wing-mounted options above, finding a body mount to fix the above issues and provide me with a more reliable angle when switching between wing-powered and wave-powered riding. What do I mean by that? Well, when I’m swapping between using my wing for power, and holding it luffed to the side while riding a wave or swell, it can be hard to keep myself in the frame unless I use the deeptrack software which doesn’t let me manipulate the angle of view as freely when editing.
The first iteration of the body mount has been to use a selfie stick tucked into a slim running Nathan Sports backpack that I also use to transport my radio, phone, and tool for my foil (my “oh shit” kit out on the bay). With a carbon fiber selfie stick from amazon, I’ve been able to tuck the stick through the hydration sleeve to have the camera over my left shoulder at a slight angle for an above-and-behind view of myself and my surroundings. The main drawback is that having a stick hanging out over your left shoulder makes it nearly impossible to tack cleanly, unless you have the selfie stick very short, at which point most of the shot is cut off by your own head.
Insta360 also makes a waist harness option allowing the rider to extend the selfie stick behind themselves, for a lower – and arguably better – third-person view. I was unfortunately not able to get my hands on one of these before the end of the season, but if I were to make some educated guesses, behind-the-back handle passes are going to be hard with a setup like this.
A solid selfie stick is a must-have accessory for the Insta360 X4. Photo: Will Sileo//The Inertia
Final Thoughts
If you’ve got the cash to throw at it, the Insta360 X4 is certainly worth the extra dough over the X3. If you’re on a budget, the X3 is still an awesome camera, being plenty high-res enough for recreational users. However, the extended battery life of the X4 is an incredible upgrade, allowing for much longer shooting times – literally hours of continuous shooting at lower resolutions. That’s a big deal for my use case of wing foiling, where I’ll be out on the water for an hour or two at a time, with the camera well out of reach. I can imagine it will also be critical as the seasons change and I look forward to filming in the snow up in Tahoe, where cold temperatures are notoriously unkind to camera batteries. Stay tuned for more as we get the chance to test this awesome 360 camera’s capabilities in other situations.
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