Insta360 X5 Review: The Best 360 Camera You Can Buy

User-replaceable lenses. 1/1.28" sensor offers overmuch amended video quality. Better low-light footage. Longer artillery life. Magnetic mounting system.

More costly than X4. No 8K log video.

Insta360's X-series 360-degree cameras person agelong dominated the market. They person large video quality, an easy-to-use interface, and elemental editing software, which makes these the astir beginner-friendly 360 cameras around. The latest version, the Insta360 X5, continues that contented portion bringing larger sensors with adjacent better-looking video.

The X5 is simply a worthy upgrade; video prime is better, artillery beingness is improved, and caller features similar the PureVideo lowlight mode and replaceable lenses marque the X5 the astir compelling 360 camera connected the market.

What's New

The large quality successful the X5, and the crushed to see upgrading adjacent if you already person the X4, are the caller duplicate 1/1.28-inch sensors. They're a sizeable measurement up from the 1/2-inch sensors successful the X4. At the aforesaid time, the video specs person not changed overmuch astatine all, with 8K 30 fps and 5.7K 60 fps astatine the precocious end. A larger sensor with the aforesaid solution means much item successful that footage, which is precisely what you get here. This is without a uncertainty the best-looking footage I've seen from a 360 camera.

Keep successful caput that the 8K refers to the wide 360-degree shot. When you really framework that footage successful the app, the highest solution you'll beryllium capable to export is 4K. But the 4K footage you'll get is markedly amended than what the X4 delivers.

The footage coming retired of the X5 is large for a 360 camera. Bear successful mind, though, that astir immoderate different newer enactment camera is going to person somewhat amended video quality. The entreaty of the 360 camera is that it tin seizure what's down you, whereas Insta360's accepted enactment cam, the Ace Pro 2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), cannot. This makes 360 cameras cleanable for filming erstwhile you don't cognize precisely however you privation to framework your shot, for illustration portion riding a bike, skiing, skateboarding, and truthful on. In the past, to get this benignant of shoot-everything, frame-later flexibility, you had to springiness up immoderate video quality. While that's inactive existent to an extent, with the X5 you're giving up precise small successful presumption of video quality.

This is particularly noticeable successful item retention, a spot adjacent enactment cams often struggle. On a agleam time with a fewer clouds, a concern wherever you often extremity up with hazy, undersaturated skies, the X5 retains bully opposition and doesn't lavation retired the highlights. The X5 delivers a overmuch bluer, richer entity code and much details successful the clouds. There's besides a spot little sound successful shadows erstwhile shooting astatine midday. What's impressed maine is that it's susceptible of this successful the default modes, without tweaking vulnerability oregon color.

The X5 has fantabulous dynamic scope and mostly manages to debar that overprocessed HDR look. There is an HDR mode, if you bask specified things, but the resulting files are lone 8-bit colour extent (not 10-bit) and successful the BT 709 colour space, not DCI-P3 (or Apple's Display P3). So portion Insta360 calls this HDR, and it does look to person a somewhat wider dynamic scope (along with much saturated colors), it's not successful the P3 colour space.

Another betterment to video prime successful the X5 is Insta360's PureVideo low-light mode, which works conscionable similar it does successful the Ace Pro 2. As with my earlier experiences, PureVideo is beauteous amazing. Here it's constricted to 5.7K footage, but it manages to not conscionable chopped the sound successful the shadows but does a tenable occupation of protecting highlights too, which is important since agleam lights are communal successful low-light scenarios.

That said, I person seen immoderate videos connected YouTube showing a fewer borderline cases wherever PureVideo fails, particularly nether bluish airy and precise accelerated strobes (for illustration shooting a concert). In those cases you'll person to crook disconnected PureVideo and spell with 8K footage and manual exposure. For astir people, though, this won't beryllium an issue, and PureVideo makes the X5 considerably much susceptible than the X4.

There's a caller video mode arsenic well, InstaFrame, which automatically tracks you done the shot. I'll confess I don't recognize this mode. The full constituent of a 360 camera is to get a 360 shot, which this does not. InstaFrame is besides constricted to lower-resolution modes similar 5.7K+ oregon 5.7K, wherever the reframed output becomes 1080P. Why would I privation this erstwhile I tin bash the precise aforesaid happening successful the Insta360 app and person 4K output?

I was excited to spot that Insta360 has added enactment for I-LOG video recording. Unfortunately, that enactment is constricted to 5.7K video. If you privation to bash your ain colour post-processing, you're amended disconnected shooting successful the accustomed level mode astatine 8K and utilizing that arsenic a starting point. The tiny summation of I-LOG is negated by losing the 8K capture.

Body Image

Insta360 X5 is adjacent capable to the X4 successful carnal plan that I didn't announcement overmuch difference. There's a 3D geometric signifier connected the beforehand of the X5, but different the assemblage looks astir the same. For the hair-splitting among you, the X5 is simply a millimeter taller and narrower, and weighs 3 grams little the X4. Unfortunately, owed to the repositioning of the artillery door, existing accessories and particularly cases volition not enactment with the X5.

There are a mates of changes to the assemblage that are worthy noting. First and astir importantly, the lenses are present replaceable. Previous models of the X bid relied connected lens covers, which are inactive disposable with the X5, but determination is an unfortunate nonaccomplishment of video prime with the covers. Replaceable lenses means should the worst happen, you'll lone beryllium retired $30 for the replacement kit, which includes a azygous lens and the removal tool, arsenic good arsenic a fewer accessories similar lens cloths and gloves to assistance you get the caller lens connected smudge-free. As idiosyncratic who loves to repair things, I'm precise blessed to spot Insta360 continuing to find ways to assistance consumers support their cameras moving longer. (Also kudos to the institution for its agelong past of important firmware upgrades.)

The different outwardly evident alteration to the assemblage of the X5 is the caller microphone windscreen cover. Although it's a antithetic design, this is precise akin successful attack and effect to the windscreen screen Insta360 added to the Ace Pro 2 past year. It works reasonably good present too. I tested this camera extensively portion riding my motorcycle (which is the main usage lawsuit I person for a 360 camera) and tin corroborate that audio is rather a spot amended than what the X4 was susceptible of. I perceive a batch much dependable of the tires connected gravel, and little of the wind. Despite that, determination is inactive sizeable upwind sound erstwhile you get supra 15 MPH. When I stuck the X5 retired the model of my car going 60 mph, the upwind is inactive a deafening roar. Sorry, motorcyclists.

Finally, my favourite caller diagnostic is that the magnetic quick-release strategy of the Insta360 Ace Pro and others is present connected the bottommost of the X5, making it casual to connect to immoderate existing, GoPro-style mounts you mightiness have. (Pro tip: This Ulanzi equine is lighter and cheaper than Insta360's. Unless you're riding a motorcycle, I urge it implicit Insta360's.)

Admittedly, it is not precise blistery yet wherever I am, but shooting successful the car, prima coming done the windshield, successful 8K 30p mode … I could not get the X5 to overheat. I besides noticed erstwhile moving this trial that you are nary longer constricted to 30-minute clips. You tin grounds a azygous clip until the artillery dies, which was astir 80 minutes connected mean successful my tests (shooting 8K 30p). The batteries complaint marginally faster too. Unfortunately, this is partially owed to a carnal redesign, which means your X4 batteries won't enactment here.

And present the infinitesimal you've been waiting for: Do SD cards origin issues? The reply is, maybe. Like galore X4 users, I had immoderate issues with SD cards, wherever the camera simply stops signaling aft a while. Ostensibly this occurs due to the fact that the paper can't support up, but I person had this hap with the SD cards Insta360 provided. To get astir this, I bought the fastest SanDisk V30 SD paper I could (at the time, this card). With the X5 I utilized some that paper and Insta360's ain Pro V30 paper and did not person immoderate problems with either.

Do You Need One?

If you do, this is the 360 camera to get successful 2025.

Most of the time, I inactive similar an enactment camera for the higher-quality image, but the Insta360 X5 is the archetypal 360 camera I've tested that I deliberation could regenerate my enactment camera successful immoderate scenarios, portion inactive delivering the representation prime I'd request to premix it with footage from different cameras.

If you similar the flexibility of shooting successful 360 and reframing later, the X5 is unquestionably the highest-quality video you're going to get from a 360 camera. The caller sensors are overmuch sharper, with less artifacts, and the colour subject successful the default settings is remarkably good. The added bonus of being capable to regenerate the lenses makes this the 360 camera to get.