Update 1/30/24: Insta360 reached out after publication to let us know that a new firmware update has just arrived adding Webcam Mode, as well as a bunch of other features, including Active HDR options! This removes one of our notes Cons, so the review has been updated accordingly. Thank you to Insta360 for the tip!
Generally, when we think of action cameras, the images that come to mind are driven by extreme sports like skydiving, base jumping, or white water rafting. Or less extreme but still intense clips of harrowing snowboarding runs or mountain bike paths. But with the Insta360 Ace Pro, you can do more than push the limits of intensity. It’s not only one of the best action cameras on the market, it’s a remarkably good pick for content creation in general. Whether you’re skiing the high peaks, recording a vlog, or looking for a new angle or moving shot for your YouTube video, it has something to offer.
It’s not perfect, yet, but it’s the most versatile action camera I’ve tried, has great video quality even in low light, and opens creative doors that might otherwise be closed. It starts at $449, and if you're in the market for a new camera, you owe it to yourself to give this a closer look and add it to your consideration list.
Specifications
Current Price: $449.99 (Amazon)
Insta360 Ace Pro - Design and Features
The Ace Pro is the latest action camera from Insta360, following up on the One RS released in 2022. The One RS released in 2022. This new model comes in two different versions, the Ace and Ace Pro, which we’re reviewing today. The Ace Pro features a 2.4-inch flip-up touchscreen for live monitoring your video capture. The Ace retails for $359 and the Ace Pro for $449, but if your budget will stretch, I highly recommend saving up for the Ace Pro. It’s definitely worth it.
The Ace Pro is a top of the line action camera with the specs and video quality to match, but what’s really interesting is that it also manages to work exceptionally well for scenarios outside of normal action camera use. It works wonderfully for intense outdoor footage, but it’s also a particularly useful tool for vlogging and capturing video for YouTube.
Let’s start with tech specs. The camera features a high performance 48MP sensor that measures 1/1.3-inches. That’s large for a action camera and allows the Ace Pro to capture better, less grainy, low light footage. The camera also uses a new 5nm AI-capable chip that supplements the sensor with intelligent brightness and denoising capabilities.
As you would expect, the camera can shoot both stills and video, and can shoot fantastic slow-mo. For video, it can shoot all the way to 8K at 24 FPS or 4K at 120 FPS (16:9, 4:3 UHD caps at 60 FPS). There are no modes in between 4K and 8K, which is an odd omission. For photos, it can capture shots using all 48MP or shrink that down to 9MP resolution.
One of the key differentiators with the Insta360 Ace Pro is how it utilizes that sensor. In standard mode, it combines pixels using a method known as pixel binning. This allows it to have even better low light performance and to optimize the video settings for easy high quality capture. It's also able to capture the entire sensor, if you choose, which allows you to capture in full 8K or use the FreeFrame mode, which allows you to frame in portrait or landscape after shooting.
The large sensor also allows you to take advantage of Clarity Zoom. This function allows you to zoom in without losing detail on the center of the frame. This is important for multiple reasons. Not only can you zoom in on individual shots, but it also means that if you are recording you can crop in closer to the center of the frame and remove any of the visible distortion. What you're left with is a final shot that looks closer to a mirrorless camera.
The other new and impressive feature is the 2.4-inch flip up touch screen. Well it's hardly the first camera to have a front facing screen, it does make viewing your frame much easier and makes this a much more viable option for vlogging or recording yourself. The screen is bright and vibrant while also being quite responsive. You can tap and click through menus easily and reliably. Compared to other action cameras, it's a substantial Improvement and puts it much more in line with a mirrorless camera in that regard.
The camera uses Leica optics. This is another differentiator between the Ace and Ace Pro, as the base model doesn’t include the enhanced lens. The lens is very good and offers plentiful detail. The focus distance is roughly 16 inches and everything beyond that point looks very crisp. Colors or vibrant but not unnatural. I really enjoy the color science here.
The AI features are also quite neat. Using the neural processor, the camera is able to process footage and enhance its clarity. This is especially true for night time shooting where graininess might otherwise creep in. Grain in low light footage is one of the Achilles heels of action cameras, but you really have to push the Insta360 Pro Ace to its limits to experience this. It’s a much more versatile and performant camera for shooting indoors and during the evening when the sun begins to set.
AI also comes into play in other areas. The PureVideo mode mentioned previously leverages this tech for enhancing clarity, detail, and brightness. The camera can intelligently track your gestures for hands-free control, so you can position it and use a gesture to start recording. Voice commands are also an option, if you’d rather tell it when to begin shooting. AI is now used to help remove the selfie stick, if you choose to use one (and I would recommend you do). You can also now leverage an AI Highlights director which will choose the best moments from your video, as it decides, to create a highlight reel for you.
Of course, it also has the action camera staples. It has outstanding FlowState stabilization and can lock the horizon for ultra steady footage. It's waterproof up to 10m (33ft) And is robustly built. Unfortunately there is no swappable lens cover like in the RS1. Insta360 is offering free lens cover replacements for the first 12 months though, so if anything happens, all you need to do is reach out.
You also have a wide variety of modes to choose from, One of which definitely enhances the cinematic capabilities of the camera. You can set the camera to Timelapse, Timeshift or Starlapse, as well as create video loops in a Loop Recording mode. It’s also able to pre-record, so if you’re not entirely sure of the moment you’ll need to record, you won’t miss a shot. Timed Capture is also a creative mode, so if you do know when you’ll need the camera to activate, you can walk away and allow it to record on its own, perfect for outdoor shots when you might be at work or asleep.
The cinematic-enhancing mode is Motion ND and adds motion blur back into the footage. if you're not used to action cameras that might seem like an odd thing to be happy about. But one of the qualities of action cam footage that tells you it was filmed with an action camera is the lack of motion blur. This is generally because you are recording at such high frame rates that it just doesn't occur. If you’re attempting to record footage for a video project that's not action based, however, or even if it is and you’d just like it to look a little more natural, this mode accomplishes that. I found that it's about 90% of the way there. If you look close enough you can tell that it's artificial, but it's a pretty convincing effect overall.
There’s no microphone jack but the onboard audio is good enough for action scenes. If you’re planning on using this for vlogging, however, I would definitely recommend picking up the Mic Adapter. It has a USB passthrough port, so you don’t lose the jack but adds a 3.5mm port for connecting a standard video mic. Wireless lavs are also supported.
One thing I do miss are the standard color profiles. There is no LOG format here. Instead, it comes with standard, vivid, and flat modes. It can also shoot in HDR, which offers a big enhancement to dynamic range and looks quite good. If you’re used to shooting on a mirrorless and prefer editing in a LOG format, flat is as close as you’ll come. For most users, I suspect the three built-in modes will be perfectly sufficient while also providing plenty of room
The Ace Pro is meant to be used alongside the Insta360 app. This app is fantastic. It pairs directly with the camera using its own Wi-Fi connection, so it's exceptionally responsive. It also allows you to do all of your editing and rendering including in 4K, right in the app. By the time you send the footage to your PC it should be ready to drop in, if you prefer to work on the go. It's honestly one of the most full-featured apps I've tried for any camera and is intuitive and easy to use. It’s required for setup, however, so if you're not inclined to use it, just be aware that you will need to load it on your phone at least once.
One thing I was disappointed to see is that the camera can't be used as a webcam, at least not yet. When you try to connect it over USB, it can only be used to transfer data. I do hope insta360 adds this capability in the future, as it has done for cameras earlier in its catalog.
Update 1/30/24: The above comment is no longer true thanks to a recent firmware update (version 1.0.35). The Ace Pro can now be used directly with your PC!
Insta360 Ace Pro - Performance
I’ve been using the Insta360 Ace Pro for about a month. I requested it to try a rather unique use case, at least as far as action cameras go. While I was interested in recording outdoor footage to spice up some of my videos, I was also curious how this would work for more general content creation. Vlogging, product reviews, facecam footage for videos, and other typical use cases outside of active sports. I've always been interested in the ultra-portable nature of action cameras but they could never quite fit the bill for the ones I tried. The Ace Pro has been a game changer.
The big question we begin with is why choose an action camera for this kind of content at all? The answer to that is versatility. When you're creating video content, it's easy to fall into ruts where you're doing the same thing over and over again. Having a camera that encourages you to get out, be creative, and gather different kinds of shots is motivating. At the same time, for more traditional shooting, having to lug around a larger camera is exactly the opposite. I have found that between a photo and video, I am far more likely to leave my larger camera at home and take my phone with me and edit in Photoshop or Premiere after simply because it's easier in the moment.
The Ace Pro lands squarely in the middle. It's incredibly portable and easy to take with you on the go and has video quality that is substantially higher than any I know of. For video, it's easier to capture B-roll on the fly because it's less of a production to simply start recording. Its stabilization is a major benefit and prevents having to use a gimbal. It's a camera that's ready to meet you where you're at for different kinds of content in a way that most recording devices simply are not.
One of the biggest reasons for this is its sensor, how it's utilized in the different modes Insta360 has on offer, as well as how easy editing and refining is on camera and in the app. If I'm going to use an action camera for something other than normal action camera fare, what I pull out of it needs to look closer to a traditional camera. To be frank, when I’m using it in place of a mirrorless, I want it to look as close to a mirrorless camera as possible. That's a tall order for most action cameras because, well, they’re not mirrorless cameras.
The Ace Pro, on the other hand, has that large glorious sensor that can be punched in on with its Clarity Zoom functionality. By doing so, it removes the warping and allows the AI to take over and clean up the footage with impressive, natural looking results. Add in the motion blur filter where appropriate and you have something that's much better than a smartphone, and well not as good as a full mirrorless camera, gets the job done better than its competitors.
My use case isn't atypical. I have a limited budget, especially for hobbies like content creation. When I invest in a device, I need it to serve as many purposes as possible and deliver professional results. Buying an action camera for pure action footage sake is fine, but its use is going to be limited. I’m not on the slopes every day. I am looking for a creative outlet everyday, though. If I can repurpose that camera to allow me to produce more videos, I can tap into my creativity and become inspired.
Since I’ve had it, I have:
- Recorded A-roll shots in different spots around my neighborhood, just to change the scenery
- Recorded biking, scootering, and driving
- Put it on a tripod to get over the shoulder, off-axis, and top-down shots
- Recorded a time lapse of a keyboard build
- Used its stabilization in place of a gimbal for moving B-roll
- Gotten creative and created my own motion shots on products
- Repeatedly thrown it in a bag and taken it to the office, then used it to grab quick footage when an idea strikes
Compared to any other action camera, the value proposition is much, much higher. The Ace Pro’s footage is more easily transformed into cinematic content than any other action camera on the market today. It gives you the best of both worlds: ultra-portability and great video quality. Then it gives you the tools to edit it and share right away or prep it for a larger file.
There is a level of versatility here that extends beyond the typical action camera. Even a classic point-and-shoot like the Sony RXVII, which I also have and love, lacks this level of versatility, easy editing, and low light performance.
And, of course, it's also perfect for normal action camera purposes. The stabilization is fantastic and achieves the flying look that is so iconic to action camera footage. I do lean more toward the Ace Pro than my Hero 12 Black, however. The colors are richer, especially skin tones. The flat profile removes this but makes it fairly easy to color grade yourself, even if it's not a true LOG format. And anything with less than bright lighting, the Ace Pro wins handily every time.
The Insta360 Ace Pro is an outstanding camera that opens up a world of possibilities. If you need a camera that you can take with you and not think about until you need it, a camera that can produce excellent video quality that can be transformed and not look like it came from an action camera at all — or left bold, high resolution, high frame rate for all of your action and slow motion needs, all enhanced with a meaningful application of AI, the Insta360 Ace Pro is the camera for you.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. Some articles may contain affiliate links and purchases made through this will result in a small commission for the site. Commissions are not directed to the author or related to compensation in any way.
