For a debut in what is already a crowded market, the Insta360 Flow is an innovative and compact alternative to its more established rivals.
The Deep Track 3.0 subject tracking function is particularly impressive. While subject recognition and tracking are hardly breakthroughs for a smartphone gimbal, the Insta360 Flow boasts subject re-identification, all-angle tracking, and tracking recovery.
Now Insta360 cameras use subject tracking to enable you to reframe shots, so it is little wonder that this tried and tested technology has been successfully imported into the Flow.
Simplicity sits at the heart of the gimbal’s design, with deft touches everywhere you look. The Flow is built around a single 180-degree hinge, which means you can set up the gimbal and be shooting with a single action.
The design of the spring-loaded magnetic phone clamp is not too dissimilar to that of the DJI Osmo. However, unlike the DJI Osmo, the clamp can easily remain attached to the Insta360 Flow after it’s been folded down.
The battery pack (located in the arm of the gimbal) boasts a 2-hour charge time and a battery life of up to 12 hours. And thanks to this design choice, an extension pole as well as integrated tripod legs can be found in the handle of the Flow.
Thanks to the inclusion of a 1/4-20 thread at the base, you can also attach the Insta360 Flow to a sturdier professional tripod. The extension arm (selfie stick) has a maximum reach of 215 mm (8.5 inches), with a useful tilting head located at the top.
While the spotlight is adaptable with brightness and colour temperature controls, it is also fairly underwhelming as an independent light source.
The gimbal also supports gesture control, using the same commands as the Insta360 Link webcam. This means that you’re able to activate recording and tracking without needing to touch your phone. The phone flash will trigger, meaning that gesture recognition has been successful and recording has started.
There’s no balancing required when you use the Insta360 Flow. You only need to ensure that the magnetic clamp is secured near the middle of the phone for the gimbal to work. If you attach the clamp either too high or too low to the device, the Insta360 app will prompt you to readjust the clamp before you can successfully start shooting.
The physical controls of the gimbal are built around the SmartWheel, another piece of intuitive design that has a lot in common with the original iPod, where you can work between a physical jog wheel, a joystick, or a swipe / double-tap control on the surface of the SmartWheel itself.
The sensitivity of the joystick doesn’t lend itself to slow panning shots, but the three principal speed modes of the gimbal do somewhat make up for this. The Insta360 Flow's compact design does pose an issue when you're using the pan-follow mode.
While the tilt and roll axes should maintain the phone's level, the tilt axis quickly runs out of adjustment when tilting the gimbal forward for a lower angle or to get closer to the subject.
If you're not familiar with the Insta360 app, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's mothering you, especially when you launch it for the first time. However, it's worth exploring the resources available through the app, particularly if you're looking for a bit of creative inspiration with Insta360's Shot Genie.
The filmmaking tutorials are very detailed, so any beginner could find them very helpful. If you're looking for a quick turnaround on content you can share on social media, you can use the AI-powered FlashCut engine to edit your footage in-app.
FlashCut uses AI algorithms to analyse your footage, picking out highlights and syncing them to music according to a template library.
Insta360 Flow Verdict - 4/5
Overall, there is very little setting apart the iOS and Android experiences on the Flow, which makes for a refreshing change when compared to Zhiyun and DJI, who notoriously strip down the functionality for Android devices to next to nothing at all. Insta360 knows the value of a functional and user-friendly app with their products, whereas DJI and Zhiyun all too often do not.
So while Zhiyun and DJI are the undisputed industry leaders in the smartphone gimbal market, the Flow is a statement of intent from Insta360. And with their reputation for innovation (which goes hand in hand with iteration), I expect the almost inevitable Insta360 Flow2 to build on the strengths and weaknesses of the Flow. It's far from perfect, but out of the box, it's considerably easier to use than the likes of the Zhiyun Smooth Q4 or the DJI OM6.
The Insta360 Flow is available now from the Insta360 store starting at £145 for the standalone unit, or the £199 for the Creator Kit.
