The Insta360 ONE RS is a modular action camera that lets you quickly swap between a standard wide angle lens and a 360 degree lens. It comes in a compact package with a very capable accompanying smartphone app that makes it easy to edit your footage – particularly important if you capture with the 360 lens.
This upgraded model from Insta360 has a faster processor and a new 4K lens with a ½” 48 MP sensor. I’ll test both this new lens and the 360 lens mountain biking, road cycling, running and I’ll even attach it to a 50 mph RC car. And I’ll see how it compares to a GoPro Hero 10 to try and find out if it’s the right action camera for you.
So let’s take a closer look.
Overview
The Insta360 ONE RS is a modular camera and a few configurations are available to purchase. I’m testing the Twin Edition which comes with both the 4K action cam lens and the 360 lens. If you don’t already have a 360 camera, this is the option I’d recommend.
Inside the box you get the ONE RS Core already attached to the 4K Boost lens, the 360 lens, the battery, an USB-A to USB-C charging cable, and the mounting bracket. There’s also a silicone 360 lens cover, a GoPro to ¼” adapter, a getting started manual and a lens cloth. There’s no included hard case like you get with GoPro cameras. It would make even more sense to include one with the modular design of this camera.
And you don’t get any mounts included unless you opt for one of their bundles. The bundles are pretty good value compared to GoPro accessories but you can also just use any GoPro accessories you may already have.
If you want to swap to the 360 lens, just pull the Core module with the LCD screen from the 4K Boost lens and connect the 360 lens. The 360 lens does need to be connected the right way around – with the battery mounting slots on the bottom. Reattaching the 4K Boost lens, you can connect it either way depending on whether you want the LCD screen facing you for selfie shots or not. Unfortunately unlike the latest GoPro’s there is only one screen so you will have to switch around this configuration as needed.
The battery then clips onto the bottom holding everything together and there’s a latch to release the battery. The battery can only be attached one way around with its charging pins matching the Core module’s.
The camera can be used like this, without its mounting frame. But you won’t have any way to mount it, and it’ll be lacking any waterproofing. But all the modules feel very well made and there’s no play even without the mounting frame. It weighs just under 126g with the 4K lens without this frame and 160g with the frame. The GoPro Hero 10 weighs just under 153g. You can see the camera’s dimensions and weight with the 360 and 1” lens above.
The side of the Core module has a locking door that reveals the USB-C port and microSD card slot. It needs a fingernail to unlock this door, and insert and release a microSD card. It’s all very fiddly and if you have short fingernails, removing the microSD card can be difficult. I sometimes have to resort to using plastic tweezers – especially if the camera’s in its mounting frame. You can pull off the door which does make things a little easier. To reattach it you just push the plastic arm back into the hole. You need this door reinstalled and locked shut for the camera to be waterproof.
The camera slides into the mounting frame which locks shut from the side. The frame has the standard GoPro mount, not the ¼” mount of Insta360’s ONE X2 and GO 2. But there is an adapter so you can still use any accessories like their Invisible Selfie Stick range that use the ¼” mount. The frame also accepts Insta360’s cold shoe bracket for attaching accessories like microphones and mini LED lights. This bracket also fits the 4K Boost lens without the mounting frame. It would be nice if this bracket was included.
With the mounting frame the camera is waterproof to 5m and it does provide some additional protection too. But although it’s pretty easy sliding the camera in and out of the case, it’s not as convenient to use as a GoPro that requires no frame and has its integrated and replaceable folding fingers mount, but that’s a sacrifice of the unique modular design of this camera.
Insta360 does have the optional Boosted Battery Base which also has these folding fingers and brings it more in line with GoPro, but without the ruggedness.
The camera charges pretty quickly at around 10W with the supplied USB cable, taking just over a full hour for a complete charge. Turn the camera on with a single press of the power button. A long press turns it off.
Swipe down from the top of the LCD screen to configure the camera. Swipe up to access your media. Swipe left or right from the middle of the screen to choose from a generous range of shooting modes. Swipe left from the right of the screen to configure your chosen shooting mode and for manual controls.
If you tap on the bottom of the screen you can configure the frame rate and resolution in video mode and also switch between the default built in FlowState stabilisation or choose Post if you’d prefer to use the smartphone or desktop app to apply stabilisation. I’ll discuss this further shortly.
If you tap the top right of the screen beside the Q icon you can select a preset capture mode. Or store your own current settings into any of these presets but tapping the arrow icon beside the mode.
If you tap the bottom right of the screen beside the magnifying icon you can slide your finger to digitally zoom or tap on the presets at the top of the screen. This only works with the 4K Boost and optional 1” lens. But being able to change your field of view while you are recording could be useful.
If you double tap the middle of the screen the preview will zoom in to fill the screen which is handy since the screen is tiny – especially if you’re used to a GoPro. It measures just 32mm diagonally and it’s sometimes difficult to tap on the right portion of the screen if you’re not careful. For example tapping the zoom function will often bring up the resolution and framerate menu if you’re not super accurate. Still in general use the screen is fine and it is responsive. And there is a very good smartphone app to control the camera.
The Insta360 app lets you set up and control your camera and view, download and edit your footage. I have had a few occasions where it struggles to connect to the camera, but I have similar issues with my GoPro cameras as well. I sometimes have to manually connect to the camera via WiFi settings on my smartphone.
It works much more reliably when I’m out and about, and not already connected to my home WiFi. If you turn on Settings | General | Bluetooth Wakeup the app will also turn on the camera via an always on low power Bluetooth connection, which is useful if you use the app a lot. But this will use a small amount of battery on both your phone and camera.
I’m not a big fan of all the busy home screen of the app, but I usually just tap on the Album icon to access my footage, or the camera icon to check framing, adjust settings and start recording. Even without downloading your footage locally, scrubbing through even long videos is very fast. You can trim your clips, apply filters and colour correction, add music or just grab a still for Strava using Snapshot.
If you’re using the 4K Boost lens with the built in FlowState stabilisation you don’t need to use the app – you can just download the MP4 files straight off the microSD card and use them as you like. If you’re using the 360 lens, you’ll most likely want to reframe your footage which you can also do in the smartphone app. The 360 lens captures everything around you and this content can be uploaded to YouTube for example, and viewed with a VR headset or by dragging your mouse around the virtual sphere.
But it’s far more common to convert or reframe these clips to standard 1080p videos that we’re all used to. The smartphone app lets you select your preferred camera angle in this 3D space and then exports this to a standard MP4 file. Typically you create keyframes where you want a change in this viewpoint, and then the software automatically transitions between these camera angles. It’s much easier than it sounds, but there is also a very nifty Snap editing feature in the app where you tap and hold the record icon and then just move the camera around in 3D space to dynamically create a reframed video clip very quickly and easily.
Insta360 also offers a desktop app for PCs and Macs that I find easier to use for editing 360 content and it has more advanced features to tweak any stitching errors that might occur when objects are close by. Both the smartphone and desktop app also let you automatically track a person or object in 3D space using the Deep Track feature which works very well.
Performance
The camera has a ½” 48MP sensor – physically a little larger than the GoPro Hero 10’s 1/2.3” 23.6MP sensor. It can shoot up to 4K 60fps video and 48MP photos. It doesn’t have the 5.3K 60fps and 4K 120fps of the GoPro Hero 10 but it does have a dedicated 6K 25fps widescreen mode that I’ll discuss shortly.
This model is an update to the previous Insta360 ONE R. As well as the larger sensor, it also has a faster processor capable of the in-camera FlowState stabilisation. With the ONE R you had to apply stabilisation in post.
It also has a bigger 1445mAh battery compared to the 1190mAh battery of the ONE R.
Because of the modular design you can mostly use the ONE R components interchangeably. But since the battery is also physically bigger, there’s a new mounting frame with an improved quick release design. The camera won’t physically fit in the old frame with the new battery. But it’s much easier to slide the camera in and out of the new frame even with the large 1” lens mod, if you have it. Before it had to be unscrewed.
And there’s a new built in wind cover for the mic and the design is meant to be better at dissipating heat. I didn’t have any issues with overheating in all my testing. Although that might be different in warmer climates.
You can still use the old battery with the new core and new 4K Boost lens, but in the old frame although there is a slight gap. Or you can use the new 4K Boost lens with the old Core and you’ll benefit from the larger sensor but you won’t get the in-built FlowState stabilisation. Or you can use the new Core with the old lenses and you will get the benefits of the faster processor like the built in stabilisation.
The 360 and 1” lenses haven’t changed – so if you have both or either of those it makes most sense to update to the 4K Edition which includes the new 4K Boost lens, the ONE RS Core, the new battery and the new mounting bracket.
Unlike the ONE R currently you can only record in H264 format but the bitrate is a decent 100Mbps.
Just a quick note before I move on to discuss the test footage which you can take a look at in the accompanying video. Because I’m in the UK which is a 25fps PAL region, I’ll tend to shoot in 25fps or 50fps to match my other cameras. But unless I mention otherwise, 30fps and 60fps are also available.
I started off testing the 4K Boost lens mountain biking at 4K 50fps with FlowState enabled.
I had both the ONE RS and a GoPro Hero 10 side by side on a chest mount. The stabilisation is impressively smooth with both cameras – it’s hard to say one is better than the other. The colours look a little more realistic on the GoPro, in particular the sky. But what you prefer will come down to personal preference. I used the default colour mode on both cameras – for the ONE RS that’s Vivid and for the GoPro that’s their new for the Hero 10, natural mode. The ONE RS does also have a Standard and flat Log colour mode if you prefer.
I also recorded the same trail with in-camera stabilisation turned off to see if there was any difference in applying FlowState in software. Tap on FlowState in the resolution and framerate menu to switch it to Post. Unfortunately you can only shoot up to 30fps in this mode and the footage doesn’t look as smooth. If you turn off stabilisation in the app you can see just what a good job the FlowState does.
You can’t change colour mode even with Post mode on, but you can change the field of view with the option to switch between all the modes the camera offers. In most situations I’d leave in-camera FlowState turned on, especially for faster action footage like this.
To really put the stabilisation to the test I attached the camera to a Traxxas Maxx RC car which gets up to speeds of almost 50mph. This really shows off the stabilisation. Notice how much the front of the car is moving and how smooth the resulting footage is. I had a GoPro Hero 10 attached to my son’s RC car. The image quality looks a little better, but perhaps not quite as smooth as the ONE RS.
Next I tested the cinematic mode which shoots at 6K in 2.35:1 widescreen format but only at up to 25fps with no 30fps or higher option and you have to apply stabilisation in post. And since you’re using almost the entire sensor, FlowState stabilisation isn’t that effective.
But it can be useful for tripod shots, or carefully taken hand held shots. For tripod shots you can get an even wider field of view if you turn off FlowState stabilisation in post. If you’re editing a 1080p or even a 4K video you can use the extra resolution to zoom in on a subject without losing any quality. The quality looks pretty good in decent light if you keep the camera steady, but with its widescreen format you’ll have black bars top and bottom on a standard 16:9 display, unless you do choose to edit in post.
There’s also a new Active HDR mode which is meant for scenes with high dynamic range, to capture more detail in the highlights and shadows. It is limited to 30fps maximum but in my tests did a pretty good job. It’s subtle but you can see the Active HDR mode brings out a little shadow detail in my face and black jersey.
But for action footage a higher frame rate for smoother playback is generally more important to me so I tend to stick with the standard video mode at 50fps.
I usually prefer to use my smartphone to take photos, or grab stills from videos recorded on the ONE RS, but I was quite impressed with the ONE RS’s photo modes. 48MP photos using the 4K Boost lens look good and you can shoot in RAW + JPG if you want complete control in post.
I was most impressed with the HDR mode which is also compatible with the 360 and 1” lenses. You can shoot up to 9 bracketed shots with up to a total of 8 stops of range. These aren’t developed in-camera, but all the shots are saved on the SD card so you can use the Insta360 smartphone or desktop app or software like Adobe Lightroom to develop your HDR photo.
Even with the larger sensor of the 4K Boost lens, low light photography is not its strong point, like most action cameras. There isn’t a dedicated night video mode, but I find shooting at 4K 25fps in manual mode gives the best results when light is starting to fade. I fix the shutter speed at 1/50s and use the ISO MAX setting to adjust brightness.
The 360 lens hasn’t been updated but it’s still a lot of fun to use and works very well for action footage. The FlowState stabilisation, which is applied in post, is even more impressive, and footage looks silky smooth. And so long as you’re happy to do a little editing, it’s very easy to switch between camera angles to get more dynamic clips that would normally require at least two cameras to achieve. For instance riding down this trail I can switch between myself and the trail ahead very easily. In this case the camera is mounted to my handlebars.
And if you mount the camera to one of Insta360’s invisible selfie sticks you can get interesting camera angles that look like they’ve been shot by someone or something else. I’d consider this selfie stick or something similar an essential purchase for 360 footage.
You can see in the accompanying video how stable the footage is even when running, which is challenging for any camera. And you can see how I can switch to a camera angle that looks like I’ve got a drone following me either in front if I hold the selfie stick out front, or behind if I rest it on my shoulder behind me. The camera usually does a very good job with exposure too, which is not an easy feat when it’s capturing an entire sphere. The 360 lens also has Horizon Levelling where you can rotate the camera a full 360° and the horizon will stay level.
With the hinged GoPro mount adapter you have to ensure the camera is exactly vertical, otherwise the selfie stick will show up in the stitch line where the camera dynamically joins or stitches captures from the front and back 180° lenses together.
The ONE RS is thicker than the Insta360’s dedicated ONE X2 360 camera and you will see the stitch line with objects or people closer to the sides of the camera. It’s good practice to try and have one of the lenses facing what you are interested in ideally.
Unfortunately as with the ONE X2 you can only shoot at up to 5.7K 30fps. 60fps would have been nice but it’s the resolution that I would have liked to seen increased in this latest camera. Even though it sounds a lot, this is the resolution of the entire spherical capture. Once you reframe your footage you’re only left with 1080p clips – and if you start zooming in while you’re reframing, the footage can look quite soft.
But I still probably enjoy using the 360 mod more than any other lens with this camera due to its flexibility. And you can also take 360 photos which are easier to share in their native format than 360 videos. You can send an interactive link using Insta360’s own platform and Facebook supports 360 photos too. You also have the HDR mode which is particularly useful with 360 photos where you want everything exposed correctly.
I got around one to one and half hours of battery life depending on the mode I was using and how much I used the touch screen. If you want more battery life try reducing the frame rate and lowering the screen brightness – it can make quite a difference. But a spare battery is definitely worth having and I really like their Fast Charge Hub accessory which provides a compact, neat and quick way of charging their batteries together with the included fast charger. It’s not particularly cheap at £40 or $40, but you need the GoPro SuperCharger to fast charge GoPro’s equivalent accessory – and both these accessories cost a whopping £110 or $110 without a GoPro subscription although you do get an additional battery.
Insta360 advertises the new ONE RS as having faster WiFi and in my tests downloading files from the camera to my iPhone 13 Pro was quick – significantly faster than the ONE R. A 1.1GB file took around 90 seconds which is around 100Mbps. The same file took 160 seconds from the ONE R.
The one significant feature missing from the ONE RS compared to every GoPro since the Hero 5 Black is GPS. Theoretically if you record via the smartphone app the footage will use your phone’s GPS, but that’s rarely practical. It’s a shame since the smartphone app actually has some great features for telemetry overlays like speed and acceleration, if you do record GPS data. The camera has 3 mics and various audio modes.
And there’s a nice feature on Insta360 cameras where you can Bluetooth pair your earbuds and use them as a microphone. It’s only officially supported with AirPods but I found I could pair my Shokz OpenRun Pro too. There is a fair bit of audio delay even with my AirPods Pro but it’s still a useful feature and nice to see. In the accompanying video you can hear how the built in audio sounds and how it sounds with my AirPods Pro connected.
You can also pair an external wired mic if you purchase their mic adapter. Unfortunately my old ONE R mic adapter isn’t compatible.
Conclusions
There’s an awful lot to like about the Insta360 ONE RS. The modular design is well thought out and feels robust. Both the 4K lens and 360 lens capture some of the smoothest footage I’ve seen from any action camera. And the smartphone and desktop apps make it pretty easy and fun to edit your footage.
It’s not a huge upgrade from the ONE R – I really would have liked an upgraded 360 lens. But I am pleased to see Insta360 have honoured the modular design of the original camera. Most components are interchangeable between the two models – so you can upgrade only what you want to, although I would like to see individual modules readily available. For example I can’t see the new Core module available on its own. You need to buy the Core Bundle with the new battery and mounting frame. And for the price of that you may as well just get the 4K Edition with new improved 4K Boost lens. But that’s still a considerable amount of money.
If you’re after an action camera and a 360 camera the ONE RS Twin Edition is decent value at £500 or $550. A GoPro Hero 10 and their 360 GoPro Hero Max would currently cost £660 or $750 with a bundled GoPro subscription – although GoPro’s prices seem to change all the time.
But that subscription does let you upload unlimited footage to their cloud service and provides accidental damage cover. I’d love Insta360 to offer a cloud service to offload all the captured footage.
But if you go the GoPro route you have to carry two separate cameras which is extra weight and both cameras use different batteries. It’s nowhere near as compact as the ONE RS, but you don’t need to mess around swapping lenses and neither GoPros require a mounting frame.
In Insta360’s line you could get their tiny GO 2 action which I reviewed recently and their ONE X2 dedicated 360 camera. I’ll provide a link on screen and down below to my GO 2 review if you’re interested. The ONE X2 is thinner and mounts directly via its ¼” mount without any frame, both handy features for a 360 camera. But the ONE RS Twin Edition is far better value and overall there’s still less to carry.
There’s so much to cover with a camera like this I plan to do a couple of follow up articles soon, so let me know if there’s anything you want me to cover in the accompanying video’s YouTube comments section.
Don’t forget to take a look at my YouTube video at the top of the page, and subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’m releasing videos every week on the latest technology and how to get the most out of it. If you tap the bell icon when you subscribe you’ll get a notification as soon as I release a video, and there’ll be a link to my site here for the written article. YouTube is also the best place to leave a comment. I read all of them and respond to as many as I can!
Insta360 store: https://www.insta360.com/sal/one_rs?insrc=INRT7JX (FREE Free Insta360 ONE RS battery only with this link, valued at £30 for a limited time! This link is an affiliate link which costs you nothing extra and helps support non-sponsored detailed reviews like this.)
Amazon links:
Insta360 ONE RS: https://amzn.to/3veAjjN
Insta360 Invisible Selfie Stick: https://amzn.to/3uzUkCq
Insta360 GO 2: https://amzn.to/3xxrJ2i
Insta360 ONE X2: https://amzn.to/3E8dO4g
Insta360 GPS remote: https://amzn.to/3KHx4YT
Insta360 Battery Charger: https://amzn.to/3KEh1eo
Insta360 Boosted Battery Base: https://amzn.to/3Ea8Js1
GoPro Hero 10: https://amzn.to/3KAzkku
GoPro Max: https://amzn.to/3Epl4sN
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