Which 360 camera should you buy
in late 2022 to early 2023?
In this video,
compare the brand new Insta360 X3 with not just one,
but six of the most popular
360 photo and video cameras right now.
Those being the One X2,
the One RS, and One RS 1-Inch 360 Edition,
the Theta Z1, Theta X, and the Trisio Lite 2.
These are the most popular
and most requested 360 cameras
to make a comparison with the new X3.
So while I won't be covering
every last feature and spec of these cameras,
I will be covering the five most important things
most people look for,
being the design, the specs, 360 photo quality,
360 video quality and most importantly, the price.
So stay to the end to get the cold, hard truth
about whether the X3 is as good as they say it is.
Now, let's start with prices
because you get what you pay for,
and these prices will add context
to everything else we compare in the video.
The X3 is $449 US at the time of launch.
The One X2 is 429 US.
The 1-Inch is 799.
The One RS 360 Edition is 495.
Theta X is 799.
The Theta Z1 is 1046, quite an odd number if I do say so.
And the Trisio Lite 2 is the cheapest, coming in at 379.
To my friends in Europe,
you'll have to pay slightly more because you pay VAT.
So the X3, the One X2, the One RS 360, and the Trisio,
you could say are the lower budget cameras of the lot.
And then the 1-Inch 360 and the two Theta cameras
are on the higher end.
Now, let's compare the designs.
They're all different sizes, shapes, colours,
and have their own unique strengths and weaknesses
associated with the design.
Let's start with screens.
And in general,
I find that the bigger the screen is on the camera,
the easier it is to use without a smartphone.
And this is something I love about the Insta360 X3
is it has a massive screen with really good resolution,
it's highly responsive,
and serves as a great playback tool
to see your shots in pretty decent quality.
For me, the X3 and the Theta X
are the only screens big enough to use without a smartphone.
While the One X2, One RS, and One RS 1-Inch
do have touch screens, they're tiny.
And this makes it pretty hard to change settings
because it means you need to be extremely precise
with your fingers,
or you will likely tap on the wrong thing,
and you'll get really frustrated
trying to navigate around the camera.
So for me, the screens of the 1-inch, the One RS,
and the One X2 are just too small to use for everything,
so you will need to rely on your smartphone
with these cameras.
The Theta Z1 has a small LED black and white screen,
which works surprisingly well for changing camera settings,
given it's not a touch screen,
but the downside is you can't preview your images
on the camera.
Then the Trisio has no screen at all.
Next, let's talk about fragility.
And the cameras I feel are the most vulnerable
to being damaged are the Theta Z1 and the X3,
because the Z1 has these two big lenses,
and the X3 has slightly bigger lenses
than the other cameras,
and the massive touch screen,
which if you drop the camera, is probably gonna scratch.
The One RS 1-Inch and Theta X also have a lot of glass,
and the 1-Inch has those two big lenses as well.
So I would also consider this camera to be quite fragile.
The least fragile I'd say would be the One X2
because of the smaller lenses and smaller screen,
the One RS because of the smaller lenses and smaller screen,
and the Trisio, which only has the one tiny lens.
These cameras are waterproof.
This camera is water resistant.
And these ones, you should keep well away from water.
Looking at these cameras
from a user friendly point of view,
and I've used them all many, many times,
For me, the standouts are the One X2, X3,
the Theta Z1, and the Theta X.
This is because they easily fit in your hand.
The buttons and ports are on the side.
The tripod thread is in-built on the bottom.
And they're also a consistent size and weight all around.
Whereas the One R, One RS and One RS 1-Inch
are weird shapes and weights.
For example, the 1-Inch is top heavy,
the RS is a bit awkward to hold in your hand.
And as a result, require a bit more fumbling
whenever you're setting up your shots.
The Trisio is pretty user friendly,
except for this bit at the end.
And the tripod Mount does come off,
so you could lose it.
Meaning, that you couldn't put it on a tripod
without that attachment.
All seven of them have USB-C charging,
with batteries that last a decent amount of time.
With maybe the Z1 and X being the weakest of the bunch,
which makes sense because the batteries of these cameras
are among the smallest of all seven,
with the X being 1350 mAh,
and the Z1 having an unknown capacity,
but I estimated to be 1350 or less.
While the 1-Inch does have the same battery size,
I've found from using it,
it doesn't drain as quickly as the Theta X.
With the other cameras,
the battery life is very decent.
You'll last anywhere from half a day to a day,
assuming you turn the camera off when you're not using it.
The standouts here being the X3 with 1800 mAh,
which is the most of all Insta360 cameras,
and the Trisio, which has a whopping 2480 mAh.
The Z1 and Trisio have the battery in-built.
The Theta X does have a replaceable battery,
as do all four Insta360 cameras.
In terms of overheating, all of them can overheat
if one, you're in excessively hot conditions,
two, you're using a slow SD card,
or three, you're recording for a really long time
or using your camera intensively.
But I wouldn't say that any of the seven
have overheating issues that are out of the ordinary.
So if I were to pick one winner overall in terms of design,
I'd say I'd pick the X3,
because for me, one of its best features
is the touch screen.
And it's also got the other things,
like being waterproof, easy to use, changeable batteries,
as well as being one of the smallest 360 cameras
you can get.
These cameras will fit easily in your pocket.
These ones will leave you with a suspicious bulge.
Let's go through the specs,
the most important ones,
being the resolution and the sensor size.
The X3 has a 1/2 inch sensor.
It shoots 5.7K video at 30 FPS,
as well as 4K video at 60 FPS.
It shoots 72 megapixel photos,
which sounds too good to be true, but is it?
You'll find out in a bit.
The One X2 has a 1/2.3 inch sensor,
which is smaller than the 1/2 inch.
It also shoots 5.7K 30, as well as 4K 50.
For some reason, the One X2 shoots 3K 100,
whereas the X3 doesn't at the moment.
And in terms of 360 photos, it shoots 18 megapixels.
The One RS 1-Inch 360,
obviously, has a one inch sensor,
which is four times bigger than that of the X3.
It shoots 6K 25 FPS 360 video, 4K 30, 3K 50,
as well as 21 megapixel 360 photos.
The One RS regular 360 Edition has a 1/2 inch sensor,
5.7K 30, 4K 50, 3K 100, as well as 18 megapixel photos.
The Theta X has a 1/2 inch sensor,
it shoots 5.7K 30 360 video, 4K 60,
and also boasts an impressive 60 megapixel photos.
The Theta Z1 has a one inch sensor.
For 360 video, it shoots 4K 30,
and that is really the only 360 video mode worth mentioning,
as well as 23 megapixel 360 photos.
The Trisio has a 1/2.3 inch sensor.
The Trisio does not shoot 360 video,
and the 360 image size is 32 megapixels.
So from looking at the spec sheet overall,
the things that stand out to me
are the two cameras with one inch sensors,
because as you'll discover in a bit,
this contributes greatly towards photo and video quality.
6K 360 video resolution being the highest with the 1-Inch.
And the highest 360 photo resolution
belongs to the X3, followed by the Theta X.
However, something I've learned
from my many years reviewing cameras of every kind
is you can't judge a camera based on the spec sheet.
Next, let's compare these cameras for 360 video,
which is the most popular use for 360 cameras.
And while I would like to include all seven cameras in this,
I feel like I need to eliminate three of them right now.
The Trisio because it doesn't shoot 360 video.
The Theta Z1 because it only goes up to 4K
and barely has any decent 360 video features.
And the Theta X, because while it does have 5.7K recording,
it doesn't have 6 axis stabilisation,
which is essential for any kind of 360 action camera.
And it also has a clip length limitation of five minutes,
making it pretty difficult to use as a diverse 360 camera
in many different situations.
For those reasons,
I'll only be including these three cameras
in the photo comparison,
since that really is their strength.
I'll start by saying that if you're using these cameras
for everyday action shots or vlogs,
aside from me completely messing up the white bounds
with the 1-Inch,
you're going to notice barely any difference
between these four cameras.
They're all made by the same company,
and they all produce a very similar look.
The stabilisation is close to as good as you can can get.
So in everyday daytime situations,
I think the look is good enough with all of them.
But we don't want good enough, we want great.
Here I've put them side by side,
but this time, I've used the in-built HDR mode
for three of the four cameras.
With the X3, it's Active HDR.
With the One X2 and One RS, it's HDR video.
Right now, unfortunately,
the 1-Inch does not have any form of HDR video mode,
which means the X3 delivers better dynamic range
than the 1-Inch.
And you wouldn't think that to be the case
if the 1-Inch did have a HDR mode,
surely, it would be better.
But for now, the X3 has the best dynamic range
of the four, due to a very impressive Active HDR mode.
Active HDR beats HDR video
because you'll notice the horizon of the One X2
and One RS are shaking quite a bit
with the multiple exposures,
whereas it's dead still with the X3.
I can't figure out why they would do this
because the 1-Inch is being positioned
as the best point and shoot 360 video camera under a $1000,
yet it's missing this crucial function.
The only thing I can think of
is that they're really trying to avoid marketing the 1-Inch
as an action camera.
And maybe this would be considered an action camera feature,
I don't know?
But punching in the dynamic range
is way better with the X3.
And the skies completely blown out with the 1-Inch.
The other two being somewhere in between.
Look, the sharpness is definitely better with the 1-Inch.
Don't forget, it's only 0.3 of a K higher in resolution,
yet it looks at least twice as sharp
if you look at the trees in the background
and the blades of grass in the foreground.
This is what it looks like
using regular video mode without HDR.
And, yeah, I guess you would say the 1-Inch
does have the best dynamic range here,
but I just don't see why you shoot in regular video mode
when Active HDR is or could be an option.
Here they are in low light,
and I've used manual settings here
to try and reduce the amount of overall noise
and increase sharpness and visibility.
If you look at the ground beneath me,
the One RS is the noisiest by far,
followed by the One X2, X3,
and 1-Inch is definitely the best.
Punching in closer,
and the 1-Inch has the best clarity on that fence,
as well as the least noise again.
And I'd say the 1-Inch and the X3
have the least over exposure in that light.
So of these four cameras, I rate the 1-Inch first,
the X3 second, the One X2 third,
and the One RS fourth in low light.
Now, let's compare the stitching.
And as usual,
I'm going to get uncomfortably close to the stitch line.
And this is a test of not only how ugly
the stitching makes me,
but also how well it blends in the lens flare
from the right-hand side of frame.
And I'd say with both of those things,
the X3 does the best job.
While it's not perfect,
I am very close to the camera,
and it does a pretty good job.
I don't think this is ever going to cause
major stitching issues.
Okay, this is a sound test at close range.
I'm testing the Insta360 One RS 1-Inch,
versus the Insta360 X3, versus Insta360 One X2,
versus Insta360 One RS.
Which one sounds the best?
Something tells me it's the X3.
Now, let's move on to 360 photography.
And with a resolution of quote, unquote "72 megapixels,"
the new X3 has massive expectations to live up to.
I captured this same room with all seven cameras
using the best shooting modes I could choose,
and edited them in Adobe Lightroom
to the best of my ability.
Now, let's punch in and take a look at the finer details.
Say hello to Mr. Reindeer.
Hello Mr. Reindeer.
And Mr. Reindeer is placed in front
of the center of the lens with all cameras.
At first glance, the Theta X is the sharpest,
followed by 1-Inch, followed by Theta Z1 and Trisio,
followed by the rest.
Here's the center of the other lens,
and you'd say the results are pretty similar.
Theta X and 1-Inch of the sharpest,
Z1 and Trisio next, and the others after that.
My beloved ficus fiddle-leaf fig is slightly off-center,
and you'd say the results are pretty similar again,
with the X3 and Theta Z1
gaining a bit of ground on the leaders.
Now, let's face towards the seamline.
And all of a sudden, the Trisio
has taken the lead by a long shot.
Look at how sharp those palm leaves are in the distance
versus all of the other cameras.
This is because the Trisio camera
does not have a stitch line
due to the rotating nature of the way the camera works,
the front of the lens faces all sides.
Therefore, it's picked up this direction,
and the reverse direction much sharper.
Most of the other cameras are noticeably blurry
around the seamline.
Here's the seamline in the other direction,
and I intentionally pointed it at the black window bar.
Again, the Trisio is the sharpest,
followed by the 1-Inch and X3.
The others I'd say aren't very sharp at all.
I intentionally left the purple fringing there
so you can see what it looks like.
I'd say the Trisio and Theta X have the least,
followed by the One RS, One X2, and X3.
With the 1-Inch, it's a bit worse.
And with the Z1, it's a lot worse.
Which brings me to my next point, dynamic range.
Again, the Trisio has done extremely well here,
competing with all of the other more expensive 360 cameras.
While the light wasn't too harsh here,
it has done an exceptional job
using its in-built HDR mode, which is called anyScene.
In hindsight, I probably could have brought back
more dynamic range with the Z1,
given the high level of flexibility editing Z1 DNG files.
In the brightest area of the shot,
I was able to produce far better dynamic range with the Z1,
thanks to the DualFisheye Plugin,
which works wonders in high contrast lighting.
Whereas the Trisio only has single shot in-build HDR JPEGs.
And there's only a certain amount you can edit JPEGs.
At nighttime, I found the Theta cameras perform the best,
partially because of the sensor size of the Z1,
but also because they have a really nice
in-build HDR algorithm that produces fantastic results,
even with the X.
The 1-Inch is good too because of the one inch sensor,
but I don't know if it's quite on the level
of Theta cameras.
The other four cameras are fine,
but I wouldn't choose them over the Theta cameras
if you're focusing on low-light 360 photography.
I feel like this video is starting to drift away
from the X3.
Well, just this section anyway,
because truth be told,
I do not think it lives up to the hype
of the 72 megapixel spec.
It sounds good in theory,
but the sensor just isn't big enough,
and therefore doesn't deliver
anywhere near the quality of what you would expect
72 megapixels to deliver, say from a DSLR.
Therefore, I wouldn't use the X3
for anything other than low-budget virtual tour shoots,
where it will be perfectly fine,
as well as, of course, catchy social media shots.
Now, I feel like I need to touch on workflow.
And while I could go into a lot of detail
about the different workflows of the cameras,
to be honest, they're all pretty good.
I would truly say that all seven of these cameras
have a fast workflow.
And even though you can add as many steps as you want,
all of them can shoot
their respective photos and videos instantly,
and can be processed without any bottleneck,
or having to navigate any serious workflow issues.
All of them come with great mobile apps, and software
that make the actual workflow factor a non-issue.
The seven cameras also come with many other unique features
associated with only those.
And I would suggest checking out my full reviews
of each of them, which I'll link in the description,
if you wanna find out every last spec and feature.
However, I do feel like I covered the main ones
in this video that really are the make or break things.
So which ones do I recommend?
I think you can probably guess by now,
but I wanna break it up on a use case basis.
So let's start with photos.
If you're looking for a 360 camera for virtual tours,
and you wanna spend less than $500,
my number one choice would be the Trisio Lite 2.
We saw the photos, they're really sharp,
and this camera is a breeze to work with.
It doesn't shoot 360 video,
so only buy it if you're shooting virtual tours.
If your use case is virtual tours
and you have a budget of up to a $1,046,
then yes, I would recommend the Theta Z1 or the Theta X.
For me, these cameras deliver
the best overall dynamic range.
They're also the best choice for low-light 360 photography.
If you're okay with more editing for a better result,
go with the Z1.
If you want fantastic shots straight out of the camera,
choose the X.
I do rate the 1-Inch up there as well.
While it may not have the dynamic range of the other two,
it's got the versatility
of being the best 360 video camera out there,
aside from the missing Active HDR feature,
which would also be a part of your virtual tour camera.
Whereas with the two Ricoh cameras,
360 video is definitely one of their weaknesses.
What about a camera for casual 360 photography?
If your budget is under $500,
yeah, I would recommend the Insta360 X3.
The photos from it are actually really good,
especially outside.
While it doesn't do amazingly in virtual tours,
not many Insta360 cameras do.
They really are cameras best used
when you're out and about,
and you wanna get fun shots outside,
doing whatever cool, crazy stuff you're doing.
And if you're one of those people
that has a slightly higher standard
than the average social media user
for the quality of your posts,
then yeah, I would consider the 1-Inch
for your casual 360 photos for social media.
It probably is overkill though.
Which camera should you choose for 360 video
if your budget is up to $500?
Then it's the X3, without question.
This is the newest, the best,
the most feature packed 360 camera I can recall under $500.
It also has fantastic Active HDR 360 video capture.
The mobile workflow is just as good
as it always has been with Insta360 cameras.
And I can say pretty confidently
that it will over deliver for the price you pay for it.
That said, like I said in my previous video,
don't upgrade to this if you've already bought this,
or even this.
Because overall, I just think they're a bit too similar
to have to pay the cost of an entire new camera.
But if you're upgrading from something older,
like the original One X, or even the One R,
then I do think you'll find enough differences in the X3
to make it worth the upgrade.
But what if you're willing to spend a little more?
Let's say up to a $1000 dollars for a 360 video camera.
Then my recommendation would be probably still this,
but also still the 1-Inch as well
because of the biggest sensor,
it's going to capture clearer shots.
It will be better in low light.
And despite missing that crucial dynamic range in videos,
will somewhat make up for it in clarity,
assuming you're shooting outdoors or indoors,
as long as you've got consistent light.
If you're shooting in mixed lighting,
then I truly think the X3 would be a better choice
because of the Active HDR mode.
So that's it.
Tell me, what's your pick for a 360 camera in late 2022?
Is it the X3 or something else?
Let me know down below.
And if you're considering the X3 or the 1-Inch,
and you're still undecided,
be sure to watch my in-depth reviews of both cameras.
Because in those,
I go far beyond the level of detail I've gone in this video,
especially about the unique features
that you'll find with each of these cameras.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Hope this was helpful.
Peace out.