Insta360 8K 360° Action Cam Drops to All-Time Low After Black Friday, GoPro and DJI Look Overpriced Now

Insta360 came to the action camera party later than GoPro and DJI, but the Chinese brand has been steadily taking their lunch money with cameras that have more features and cost less. The X5 came out in April of this year and is already a serious threat to the big players. It has 8K 360-degree capture and AI tools that really help with post-production work. This weekend, the model’s price dropped to its lowest point ever, from $549 to $464 during the Black Friday sales event on Amazon. That discount is important because you’re getting cutting-edge technology that would have cost twice as much just two years ago. It’s now in a body that can handle a lot of abuse and record video that looks professional right out of the camera.

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Dual Sensors That Live Up to the 8K Promise

The Insat360 X5 has two 1/1.28-inch sensors that work together to record 360-degree video at 8K resolution and 30 frames per second. The bigger sensors let in more light and detail than the small chips that come with cheaper cameras which means that your footage stays clear and colors stay true, even when you’re filming complicated scenes with different lighting.

The dual-sensor setup stitches together perfectly in the camera and get rid of the obvious seam lines that used to ruin great shots in other 360 cameras. If you want regular flat video instead of the full spherical capture, you can also switch to InstaFrame mode: The camera will automatically track you so that you stay in the center of the frame while recording. This mode saves a lot of time because you can get shareable content right away without having to open editing software.

Three AI chips work together inside the body to reduce noise and process images, and this is why the camera works better in low light than you would expect from an action camera: Night scenes and dimly lit rooms look surprisingly clear with detail visible in the shadows instead of the blurry mess that cheap cameras make. The triple-chip architecture also makes the “invisible selfie stick” effect possible. This effect automatically takes the stick out of your footage to make those impossible floating third-person angles that make it look like you hired a professional camera operator.

With FlowState stabilization, you don’t need to carry a gimbal as it uses electronic correction to smooth out bumps and jolts while keeping the horizon level no matter how you twist or turn the camera. The 360-degree horizon lock lets you put the X5 on a bike helmet, surfboard or drone and the footage will stay in the right direction even when you do crazy flips and spins. Four microphones surround the body and a new wind guard system cuts through rushing air to pick up clear voice audio.

The replaceable lens design solves one of the biggest problems with action cameras: if the lens got scratched or cracked, you had to buy a new camera or deal with bad footage. The X5’s lenses were designed by Insta360 to pop off and on in a matter of seconds and the new glass is less likely to get scratched than older versions while still providing good optical quality.

The camera can also go down to 49 feet without needing a separate case and its battery lasts 185 minutes, which is much longer than the 60 to 90 minutes that most other cameras last. And the good news is that with fast charging, the battery can go from empty to 80% in just 20 minutes.

This new and capable camera is a great deal in the action cam space, especially since other 8K models from well-known brands still cost more than $500. You’re getting next-gen sensor technology, professional-level stabilization, and AI-powered editing tools for less than the price of a mid-range GoPro.

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