DJI Osmo Action is often referred to as “one true competitor” of the renowned GoPro series action cameras. But there’s a huge price tag difference between these two.
Is there any difference between their performance?
Or is this camera worth all the hype from photographers from different corners of the world?
From technical aspects to hands-on experience about its performance, here is all the information you might be looking for about this camera.
Table of Contents
DJI Osmo Action Camera Review
When this camera was launched, people assumed it was an attempt to replicate the GoPro Hero 07 Black, looking at its design and specifications. But first, in terms of price and secondly in terms of some features, there are some differences between them.
The surprising thing is that both gadgets are almost the same performance. We found Osmo Action’s still images results are marginally better in our experiment.
This nifty camera can shoot videos at resolutions up to 4K60 and 1080p240, 12MP still photos in JPG & RAW formats, waterproof up to 36 feet, features a front-facing colored screen, offers a high-end stabilization, offers an above-average battery life, and tons of other great features.
Unfortunately for this camera, whenever it is reviewed, it is compared with GoPro Hero 08 or 07. This sometimes highlights the problems that aren’t noticeable if reviewed solely. Take the example of video quality.
Osmo Action’s videos are very sharp and premium-quality. Both gadgets can equally shoot with their maximum framerates and offer an incredible time-lapse. But GoPro Hero 08 is laced with additional signature features of the series, i.e., modern TimeWarp 2.0, LiveBurst, and SuperView.
All this shows DJI Osmo Action a bit of undercut despite being an exceptional and better action camera than 90-95% of other action cameras available in the market.
Salient Features of DJI Osmo Action:
Built and Design
The boxy design and the lens placement of the camera make it just like the GoPro.
It is best in terms of portability. It is a tiny action camera and weighs merely 0.12 Kg. The body is plastic with a rubbery finish and feels very rugged in hand.
Its fully packed body is waterproof up to 36 meters, more than Hero 07, which costs relatively more. In terms of buttons, the camera’s body is reasonably straightforward – features merely a few buttons that are easy to press and operate.
But as the camera itself is very small, the buttons are also tiny, which can get annoying sometimes, especially outdoors.
The camera side features a USB-C port and a microSD card slot.
The base of the camera houses a battery component. On the front is the camera, the most prominent feature is the square 1.4 inches display.
And last but not least, the camera’s back features a 2.4 inches LCD (16:9) display with a pixel density of over 300 PPI. The display results are very sharp and vibrant.
Overall, DJI Osmo Action is durable and pleasant to use but not at all to be used as a hand-held camera.
Video Performance
DJI Osmo Action can shoot impressive 4K60 and 1080p240 videos. With that, it also offers dynamic HDR video and time-lapse videos. Recording the entire frame on each camera means using a ratio of 4:3. During experimentation, the 8x slow motion at 1080p240 also met all the hype created by the developers in the pre-launch phase.
It features a built-in electronic image stabilization named RockSteady. We felt like this was pretty much like the HyperSmooth (image stabilization of GoPro). HyperSmooth is an exceptional case of EIS. So, if Osmo Action even 80% of that, it is a pretty excellent deal for the camera’s price tag. After all, what the end-user is looking for are good results.
One somewhat disappointing aspect of the camera is that it lacks an autofocus system. Overall, the camera performance is reliable, but this camera is almost useless when fast-moving objects or rapid actions are involved, i.e., sports photography or wildlife photography.
Still Performance
Usually, action camera manufacturers are more focused on the video results, but the still images results of this camera turned out exceptional. In fact, better than its video performance.
Both outdoors and indoors images turned out ultra-sharp with many details. But in general, images in the well-lit situation are relatively better than those shot in dimly lit surroundings.
It supports JPEG and RAW format for still images and takes HDR and time-lapse photos.
Battery life
DJI Osmo Action uses the standard 1300 mAh Lithium-ion battery (5.005 Wh,3.85 V). The battery’s output is better than most action cameras in this category.
A fully charged battery can support video recording at 1080P/30fps for up to 135 minutes (with RockSteady stabilization turned off and screen sleep enabled after 1 min) and 4K/60fps for up to 63 minutes (with RockSteady turned on and screen sleep helped after 1 min).
Connectivity
DJI Osmo Action offers both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
Connectivity features combined with the camera’s mobile application make footage sharing more accessible. And given the fact it uses Besides other functions, the WiFi can be used to transfer footage directly to the phone; much speedier than using data cable et cetera.
Using the app and Wi-Fi, a 1-minute 4K 30fps HDR clip (723MB) took only about 1-minute and 30 seconds to transfer.
DJI Osmo Action App
The App makes the user experience much innovative and better. To utilize all camera features, users need to install the App because several features such as exposure-peaking are exclusive to the DJI Osmo Action App.
Users can download the footage directly to their phone from the camera over the Mimo application.
DJI Osmo Action Specs and Technical Information:
- Dimensions: 65×42×35 mm
- Weight: 124 g
- Front Screen: 1.4 inches
- Back Screen: 2.25 inches
- Sensor: 1/2.3″ CMOS
- Effective pixels: 12M
- Lens: FOV: 145° f/2.8
- ISO Range: 100-3200
- Electronic Shutter Speed: 120-1/8000s
- Max Image Size: 4000×3000 pixels
- Still Photography Modes: Single, Countdown, Timed, Burst, AEB
- Video: 4K (16:9) – 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, 24fps; 4K (4:3) – 30, 25, 24fps; 2.7K (4:3) – 30, 25, 24fps; 2.7K (16:9) – 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, 24fps; 1080p – 240, 200, 120, 100, 60, 50, 48, 30, 25, 24fps; 720p – 240, 200fps
- Slow Motion: 720p 120, 240fps (Speed: 4/8); 1080p 120, 240fps (Speed: 4/8)
- HDR Video: 4K, 2.7K, 1080p
- Timelapse: 4K, 2.7K, 1080p (0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 20, 30s)
- Photo Formats : JPEG/JPEG+DNG
- Video Formats: MOV, MP4 (H.264)
- Supported SD Cards: microSD; Max. 256 GB
- Audio Output: 48 KHz; AAC
- Battery Type: LiPo, 1300 mAh, 5.005 Wh,3.85 V
- Battery life: 1080P/30fps for up to 135 minutes; 4K/60fps for up to 63 minutes
- Wi-Fi: Yes
- Bluetooth: Yes
- Charging Time: 90 mins
What we liked:
✔ Outstanding still images
✔ Built-in digital stabilization
✔ Competitive video quality
✔ Above average time-lapse results
✔ Good battery life
✔ Waterproof up to 36 feet
✔ Front-facing screen
What we didn’t like:
❌ No Autofocus system
❌ No GPS
❌ No HDMI port
❌ Slow continuous shooting speed of 7 fps.
Our Verdict
DJI Osmo Action was the first-ever action camera released by the manufacturer. But if its features and still images performance is compared with the action cameras in the same price range, it is better than the most – Make it yours today! <– Affiliate link 🙂
The first-ever release being considered as GoPro’s direct competition makes the camera a pretty big deal.
We liked and favorably endorsed this action camera.
Suppose you are looking for a rugged device, which can be your partner everywhere in your adventure without you worrying about damaging it, and want to save every escapade in a crystal-clear manner using the eye of a camera; in that case, this is the perfect gadget for you!
But unfortunately, it doesn’t feature an intelligent built-in autofocus system, so we do not recommend it if you are looking for a camera for sports and wildlife photography.
