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DJI’s Osmo Pocket 3 has become a must-have tool for content creators over the last few years. The handheld gimbal camera gained significant attention for being easy to operate and portable while also offering great stabilisation and subject tracking, enabling creators to film smooth footage with minimal fuss while on the go.
Now, DJI has released its follow-up: the Osmo Pocket 4. Building on the Pocket 3’s success, the Pocket 4 makes several changes intended to improve the camera’s operation and performance. But is it enough to make it worth upgrading from the Osmo Pocket 3 to the 4?
DJI Osmo Pocket 4: Build
Left: The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 in its protective case. Right: The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 with its gimbal clamp attached.
Credit: A. Yeo
The DJI Osmo Pocket 4’s form factor remains almost identical to the Pocket 3 at first glance. Even so, there are a few notable changes.
Right out of the box, the most immediately visible difference is the Pocket 4’s redesigned gimbal protection. The Pocket 3 had a hard protective cover that cradled almost the entire camera on one side, protecting both the screen and the gimbal. Unfortunately, this cover was bulky and irritating to carry around, and it made the Pocket 3 too large to fit alongside accessories in its carrying bag.
The Pocket 4 does away with this protective cover, swapping it out for a small gimbal clamp instead. This clamp slides between the gimbal’s moving parts to hold it secure, and easily fits in a jacket pocket when not in use. Paired with a new soft fabric carrying pouch that can fit the entire camera to protect the screen, it’s a noticeably more elegant solution.
Portability was already one of the Pocket 3’s standout features, but the Pocket 4’s changes make bringing it on outings practically a no-brainer. It may not hold up as well if you whack your camera against a wall, but it’s a welcome upgrade for most reasonable use cases.
DJI has added two new buttons for easier control on the fly.
Credit: A. Yeo
Turning to the camera itself, the Pocket 4’s build is slightly larger than its predecessor, though this is only apparent when comparing them side by side. The single-lens gimbal camera still sports a rotatable two-inch touchscreen on its handle (though brighter at 1000 nits compared to the Pocket 3’s 700) and has a USB-C port on the bottom for charging and file transfer.
Where the Pocket 4 differs is in the addition of two new buttons underneath its screen, which only become accessible when it’s twisted into landscape mode. One of these is a dedicated zoom button, which will go to 2x zoom with one press or 4x with two. The other button is customisable, but by default will switch the joystick to control the zoom or the gimbal with one press. This is a welcome addition as it makes the Pocket 4 less fiddly to operate on the fly, the Pocket 3 having managed such functions via its touchscreen.
DJI’s fill light accessory easily attaches to the Osmo Pocket 4 via a magnet.
Credit: A. Yeo
Another notable change is the addition of a magnetic accessory mount point on the Pocket 4. This is compatible with DJI’s new pocket-sized fill light accessory, which easily attaches to offer three brightness and temperature settings.
To the casual user, this may seem like an unnecessary addition, particularly as DJI has also significantly upgraded the Pocket 4’s low-light performance (more on that later). Still, Mashable saw a significant improvement in our test footage when we used the fill light. The light helped the Pocket 4 capture more detail, distinguishing subjects from their background and ensuring they were well-lit without blowing them out. While it’s too small to light a whole scene, it’s a handy boost to ensure you capture your subject in dim conditions, and pulls from the Pocket 4’s battery, so you never need to charge it.
DJI Osmo Pocket 4: Settings and performance
The improvements become apparent once you get hands-on.
Credit: A. Yeo
When comparing the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and 4’s specifications, the upgrades seem small on paper. The sensors are the same size, the gimbals’ ranges of motion are identical, and they share a maximum video resolution of 4K at 60fps. The Pocket 4 can take 8K photos as opposed to topping out at 4K, but the overwhelming majority of Osmo Pocket users will be more focused on its video performance. Here, the Pocket 4 actually cuts a few video settings that were available on the Pocket 3, no longer allowing filming in 2.7K resolution or a 1:1 aspect ratio.
Even so, it’s a relatively minor trade-off considering the Pocket 4’s improved storage capacity. While both the Pocket 3 and 4 use microSD cards, the former relied entirely on them as it had no built-in storage. In contrast, the Pocket 4 has 107GB of built-in memory in addition to accepting microSD cards. This is no doubt a contributor to the Pocket 4 being a little over 10 grams heavier than its predecessor, but that’s still an excellent exchange for the amount of space you get (especially with the global memory shortage driving SD card prices up).
More changes under the hood include the Pocket 4’s larger battery, with DJI stating that the Pocket 4 can run for a maximum of 240 minutes at its lowest video settings compared to the Pocket 3’s 166 minutes. While the Pocket 3 had enough power to see most people through a day of vlogging (especially when paired with its battery handle accessory), no one has ever complained about more juice.
As such, with the exception of its expanded storage capacity, the Pocket 4’s specifications don’t look like a significant upgrade from the Pocket 3. It’s when you get hands-on with the Pocket 4 and can see its image quality that the improvements quickly become apparent.
DJI Osmo Pocket 4: Image quality and gimbal
The Osmo Pocket 4’s gimbal is noticeably more responsive than the Pocket 3.
Credit: A. Yeo
While the Pocket 3 offered decent low-light performance, the Pocket 4 is an unquestionable advancement. The Pocket 4 has doubled the former’s ISO range across photo, video, and slow-motion filming, resulting in images with noticeably more detail and less noise.
As such, the Pocket 4 is able to capture dim environments with greater contrast, its dark scenes appearing richer and more dynamic when compared to footage from the Pocket 3. While the Pocket 4 did capture less detail in shadows when both cameras filmed the same dim scene, overall its image looked more true-to-life than the Pocket 3, which seemed artificially brightened and slightly flat in comparison.
Though the Pocket 4 can lose details in shadows when there is greater lighting variation, its ability to capture detail in generally dark environments is impressive. It handles transitioning between light and dark environments better as well, with smoother automatic exposure adjustment that’s less obvious than in the Pocket 3. Subjects in shadow are well exposed, without overblowing the background. The Pocket 4 captures noticeably more detail in shadow when filming in brighter environments as well.
In fact, the Pocket 4’s footage generally appears more true-to-life than the Pocket 3. While both cameras allow you to manually adjust their white balance, the Pocket 4 performs better out of the box, providing more accurate skin tones in a range of conditions. In low light shooting, the Pocket 3’s footage even seems washed out when compared to the Pocket 4’s richer and more saturated colours.
A screenshot of a video taken with the DJI Osmo Pocket 4. Detail isn’t lost in shadow despite the brighter environment.
Credit: A. Yeo
Interestingly, the Pocket 4 doesn’t offer High Dynamic Range (HDR) video, while the Pocket 3 supports 10-bit HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) video, an open-source HDR format. Despite this, the Pocket 4’s image quality is a definite upgrade overall.
When it comes to controls, the Pocket 4’s gimbal is more responsive than the Pocket 3, offering faster and smoother movement that makes the latter feel practically sluggish in comparison. Mashable’s testing found its subject tracking has improved as well, with the Pocket 4 capable of following subjects in scenarios where the Pocket 3 lost them. This appeared to happen more in low light, which makes sense considering the Pocket 4’s improved low-light capabilities.
Should you buy the DJI Osmo Pocket 4?
The battery handle accessory can help extend the Osmo Pocket 4’s runtime.
Credit: A. Yeo
Unfortunately, getting your hands on DJI products in the U.S. is more difficult than it once was. The U.S. government’s hostile stance toward the company has significantly hindered its business in the country, leaving people unable to buy the Osmo Pocket 4 through the company’s U.S. website. As such, those in the U.S. who want an Osmo Pocket 4 will need to go through an unofficial third party to get one.
While there’s no official U.S. pricing for DJI’s Osmo Pocket 4, the Standard Combo bundle will set you back $AU769 in Australia. This includes a USB-C charging cable, gimbal clamp, wrist strap, carrying pouch, and a handle with a 1/4-inch thread. Upgrading to the $AU959 Creator Combo adds the detachable fill light as well as a magnetic charging cable, wide-angle lens, mini tripod, carrying bag, and a DJI Mic 3 transmitter with accessories. Meanwhile, the top-end $AU1058 Creator Combo Plus includes all this plus a Battery Handle, which DJI states can extend the Pocket 4’s operating time by 150 minutes. That’s a total of 390 minutes of recording time, or six and a half hours.
It’s a noticeable upgrade compared to DJI’s beloved Osmo Pocket 3.
Credit: A. Yeo
Whether the Pocket 4 is worth hunting down depends on your needs. If you already have the Osmo Pocket 3, you may see little point in upgrading. Starting at $AU679 for the most basic bundle, the Pocket 3 remains an impressive, easy-to-operate gimbal camera that will serve many content creators’ needs.
However, if you don’t already have a Pocket 3 and are tossing up between the two models, the Pocket 4 and its accessories provide enough upgrades that shelling out for the latest model feels worth it. With more physical controls, improved tracking, a smoother gimbal, and better low-light performance, the Pocket 4 is even easier to use than its already popular predecessor. You just have to get your hands on it to really feel and appreciate the changes.
Even so, serious filmmakers may want to delay slamming down their credit card. DJI announced the Osmo Pocket 4P in May, an even more upgraded version of its handheld gimbal camera that’s designed for cinematic productions and will offer HDR video. If that’s of interest to you, it may be worth holding off a little bit longer to see what the 4P has to offer.
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