The modern “pocket camera” – your smartphone – is exceptionally capable of taking pictures and recording videos for moments of your life. And you would not want a blurred still or a shaky video to ruin the record of your memory.
Luckily, DJI is here to the rescue with its new OSMO Mobile 3. Evolving from its widely-acclaimed OSMO Mobile line, the OSMO Mobile 3 introduced a very welcomed foldable design, the return of a trigger button and, rejoice, rejoice, better pricing.
The new foldable design is much more convenient, to begin with, as compared to the OSMO Mobile 2. Even better, it can be folded with the phone still in place. Without the phone, the OSMO Mobile 3 can easily fit into the side pocket of your backpack so you can carry on without packing the gimbal into it. And it’s not necessarily bulky with the phone still attached.
Mounting the phone is easier as well with the new mechanism. Screw the screw-on mount (punt, in case you didn’t notice), the new clip-on is much more convenient for using the OSMO Mobile 3 on the go. Balancing the phone with this new setup is simpler as well. The ports of the phone are free to access in this new mount also, so you can charge your phone (with a power bank or the Mobile 3) or use an external microphone while using the OSMO Mobile 3. Not to mention the trigger that is missing in the OSMO Mobile 2, the returning addition makes re-centering and other controls more intuitive.
Pocket-lint has a minor complaint to the color of the OSMO Mobile 3. The dark grey color is acceptable for me, personally, especially when a gimbal is still eye-catching for pedestrians. The third-generation mobile gimbal also packs more features than ever, including auto portrait/landscape rotation for an easy shift to your Instagram stories. The grip is more ergonomic as well, unlike the previous generation. Connecting your phone to the OSMO Mobile 3 brings even more possibilities. Gesture controls make it easier to take a selfie or start a recording. ActiveTrack 3.0 and Sports Mode are very helpful for taking moving shots for your beach walks to an intense basketball game as well.
You can’t talk about a gimbal without talking about its stabilization, can you? The OSMO Mobile 3 is just as incredible as other DJI stabilization products. Using the OSMO Mobile 3 is such a huge improvement from the in-built stabilization of the phone we’ve tested. And the stability is on par with other products from DJI, like the Ronin series. The stowing mechanism is a great plus with just three taps of the M button to automatically spins the phone for stowing. Need to use it again, just pop it back and triple tap the same button and it will be up in no time.
Just like any other DJI stabilization products, there is a joystick, a zoom toggle (requires the DJI Mimo app), a recording button and the M button. The button combo is very similar in functions to other products that take almost no adaptation. The aforementioned trigger is a great return for double-tap to reset the position of the phone, though it is almost unnecessary unless you went bonkers in shifting the device.
Battery wise, the OSMO Mobile 3 has a 15-hour operation time (if you are not charging you phone while using), which is very feasible for a long day out and charging in the night for the next day. Adapting to USB-C is another nice change for fast charging and one step closer to the ‘one-cable-fits-all’ utopia.
As mentioned by the Verge, the new, less expensive pricing of the OSMO Mobile 3 is as welcomed as other new features of the third-gen. Starting at AUD$159 for just the gimbal and AUD$189 for the combo (including the tripod and a case), the OSMO Mobile 3 is the essential tool to ensure you can capture the right moment with great quality.
