MO Tested: Insta360 GO 2 Review

Insta360 appears to be the first action camera company that has a real possibility of disrupting the giant action camera gorilla in the room that is GoPro. There have been other companies over the years that offered a quality video image and image control sometimes even surpassing GoPro, but none of them could compete with the ease of mounting and presence in the marketplace that GoPro has enjoyed. Perhaps this will change with the release of Insta360 second iteration of their tiny “GO” camera, the Insta360 GO 2.

MO Tested: Insta360 OneX Camera Review

Back in May, during the height of lockdown, I got the cushy video assignment of shooting a product review video in my living room on another Insta360 product. The OneX ( reviewed here) was my introduction to Insta360 as a brand, as well as my introduction to using a consumer 360 degree camera. What struck me about the OneX is that they’re offering 360 video capture technology in a package that is instantly accessible to anyone with a computer or smartphone. While not perfect, I came away impressed with its ability to capture all the action around it while letting the user decide later what they want the audience to see (the whole point of 360 cameras). The phone app that Insta360 developed offered easy control of the camera and a host of ways to manipulate and share footage. Perhaps the biggest surprise was some of the novel approaches to capturing unique perspectives with video modes like Bullet-Time, Hyperlapse Time Shift, and Deep Track automatic subject tracking in post. Flow-State stabilization worked very well. Naturally, I had few criticisms, but you can read about them in the review.

Shop for the Insta360 GO 2 here

Much as the Insta360 OneX showed me how much I was missing out on the capture capability that is 360 video, the GO 2 showed me how useful it can be to have an always-ready-to-go action camera which fits discreetly in your pocket. For $300, this tiny 27 gram marvel packs 6-axis stabilization just like your $40,000 Panigale R, remote start/stop/power up, 120 fps slow motion @ 1080p, Timelapse, Time Shift Hyperlapse, HDR video, and resolution up to 1440p at 30 or 50 fps through a 120 degree ultra wide lens with adjustable view modes. Unlike your smartphone, this camera is tiny, rugged, easy to mount just about anywhere, and best of all, utilizes auto horizon leveling technology combined with Flow-State Stabilization to automatically keep your shots level and free of jitters and bounce. Does it replace traditional action cameras? Can 1440p resolution cut the mustard in a world of 4K, 6K, and 5.7K 360 cameras? Or does it fill its own niche? Click on the video link below to find out.