Stabilise that smartphone
The Osmo Mobile from DJI uses an electronically-controlled gimbal head to steady your shots.
THE DJI Osmo Mobile sports a similar handle and gimbal head as the Osmo which we reviewed earlier.
But instead of a built-in camera, the Osmo Mobile comes with a holder for your smartphone so you can shoot stabilised videos and photos on your own mobile device.
It also has a few other interesting tricks up its sleeve which we’ll get into later.
Balancing act
The build quality of the Osmo Mobile is impressive – while the handle and buttons feel the same as the Osmo, the gimbal head is a little sturdier. Not surprising really, as it’s supposed to support a variety of smartphone sizes.
We tried devices ranging in size from 4in to 5.5in and all managed to fit. The 6.4in Xiaomi Mi Max, however, proved too large for the clamp.
Although it has what looks like a 3.5mm audio port, it’s only used for charging and firmware updates. There is no option for fitting an external microphone.
Once charged, setting up the Osmo Mobile is pretty straightforward – you just clamp the smartphone onto the gimbal and adjust the armature until your smartphone is properly balanced and sits level.
It’s not absolutely necessary to get it perfectly balanced – once you turn on the Osmo Mobile, the gimbal will automatically compensate for any imbalance.
You also have to install the DJI Go app on your smartphone. In case you are wondering, this is the same app that works with the Osmo and DJI drones.
The app connects to the Osmo Mobile via Bluetooth so that the smartphone can still maintain Internet connection via WiFi or cellular network for you to livestream your videos.
While you can initiate recording by tapping on the smartphone screen, it’s more convenient to use the built-in buttons on the Osmo Mobile. It has dedicated buttons for video recording and taking stills and a little joystick for controlling the gimbal head.
Start shooting
The mechanical stabilisation works really well to eliminate any side-to-side movements so you get nice, steady videos.
Videos shot with the Osmo Mobile were smoother even when compared to smartphones with OIS (optical image stabilisation), especially for clips recorded while running.
If you want to see a comparison video we made with the iPhone 7 on the Osmo Mobile and just a handheld iPhone 7, check out youtu.be/lRuK_54JK7s.
However, videos shot with the Osmo Mobile were a little less smooth compared with the Osmo to my eyes. Perhaps this is due to the increased inertia of using a smartphone instead of the built-in camera on the Osmo.
Also, the quality of the video recording will largely depend on your smartphone’s camera.
The one problem with recording videos using the Osmo Mobile is that you can’t easily connect an external microphone to the smartphone because you might end up getting the cord tangled up or throwing the rig out of balance.
In fact, if your smartphone’s audio jack is at the bottom, chances are the Osmo Mobile will block access to it. So if better sound is very important then the standalone Osmo with built-in camera and external microphone port will be the better choice.
In the mode
The Osmo Mobile has more to offer than just stabilisation, as it comes with several special modes.
For example, when shooting videos, you get a feature borrowed from DJI’s drones called ActiveTrack which allows the Osmo Mobile to automatically track a subject you select.
You also get a host of special effects. The most interesting option is M-timelapse (Motion Timelapse) which allows you to record a timelapse video.
In this mode, all you have to do is set the beginning and end of the pan and the Osmo Mobile will automatically move the gimbal as it records a video.
For still images, you get a few options for panorama – 180°, 330° or one where it shoots a combination of nine shots with the gimbal head moving vertically as well as horizontally between shots to give you a photo that’s both wider and taller.
The modes work really well, producing perfectly stitched panoramas that look much better than anything we have captured with the smartphone alone. It’s easier to do too, as you only have to hold the Osmo Mobile still and the panning is done automatically.
The app also gives you options for long exposures so you can get shots like light trails and slow shutter speed effects. Gimbal-stabilised smartphone mount
Manual, auto, slow motion, panorama, long exposure
Depends on smartphone
980mAh lithium polymer app on Android or iOS (Bluetooth 4.0 LE) 61.8×48.2×161.5 mm
201g www.dji.com RM1,377 (with GST)
Gimbal head works with a variety of smartphones; build feels sturdy; good variety of shooting options.
Can’t easily connect external microphone.
Battery life is rated at about 4.5 hours and I got very close to that although I tended to run out of smartphone battery long before that as video recording is very demanding on battery life.
You also need to consider storage space on your smartphone – just to give you an idea, a minute of 4K video can take up about 350MB of space.
Conclusion
The Osmo Mobile is a nice gadget and while it’s a little pricey, it’s especially handy for users serious about recording videos.
My only bone of contention is that it’s not practical to attach an external microphone which is important for recording videos.
In this case, you might have to consider recording audio separately onto an external sound recorder and syncing it up with the video later. It does add a bit of complexity to an otherwise easy-to-use device.