For a decade now, Insta360 has been making some of the best 360-degree cameras around, turning what was once a niche gadget into a mainstream accessory for creators and adventurers alike. It’s no stretch to say the company has helped shape the 360-camera market as we know it today. And while DJI and GoPro have brought some serious competition to the table of late, Insta360’s X-series has remained the benchmark, reportedly commanding well over 60 percent of the market.
With the new X6, Insta360’s annual refresh packs in a bunch of hardware upgrades alongside the company’s increasingly clever reframing tricks that let you point first and worry about composition later. The catch? At ₹81,990, the X6 is inching into a price segment that’ll give the average buyer pause.
How the design holds up
The basic premise of the X6’s design remains the same—using two large lenses to capture an 180-degree field of vision on opposite sides simultaneously, which is then stitched together to help the footage appear as if it was captured as one continuous 360-degree sphere. Yet, for the first time in several generations, the X6 forgoes the tall, candy bar aesthetic that had become synonymous with its 360-degree cameras. Instead, the X6 opts for a shorter, wider (3.9 x 2 x 1.6 inches) and more inconspicuous look, that nearly passes for a regular action camera from a distance, making it easier to mount in cramped spaces or on riding/biking helmets.
The squat design dispenses with the two physical buttons below the screen, placing them on the pressure-sensitive display and on the side so they can be pressed even when wearing gloves. Speaking of, that extra width affords the X6 a brighter, more responsive 2.32-inch OLED screen that bests the X5’s LED and adds a new always-on mode.
It’s no less rugged than before, and feels built to last—all the ports are sealed, allowing the X6 to dive down to 20m underwater without any housing (or 60m with an additional dive case, far outclassing the competition).
The lenses are five times more scratch resistant, plus easier and cheaper to replace if you do manage to damage them. As with the X5, the X6 retains compatibility with the magnetic mount system, but four contacts for pogo pins means new accessories—including a selfie stick with a battery that hasn’t launched as yet in India—could add new capabilities over time.
Yet, the biggest upgrade is on the inside, with new dual 1/1.1-inch square sensors on each side, up from the 1/1.28-inch sensors in the X5. This results in higher frame rates in 360 degree mode, all the way up to 8K/50 frames per second (the X5 topped out at 30fps), and 120MP/42MP still photos in 360/flat modes. For more advanced creators or filmmakers, the X6 also offers 10-bit colour i-Log shooting mode, plus support for Dolby Vision video capture for high-dynamic range content. There’s a generous 47GB of usable built-in storage, but you will need a high-capacity microSD card soon enough.
Improved video capabilities
Shooting in good light, the X6 films visually strong footage and sprinkles in some AdaptiveTone 2.0 tech onto it, which captures two exposures per frame, resulting in better colours and contrast. Yet, it’s the low-light performance where the X6’s new sensors do their bit, cutting down noise noticeably, even in dark areas with poor lighting.
The camera’s PureView low-light mode activates automatically in dim settings and shifts to higher ISO settings, but with so much extra light being taken in every frame, the denoising manages to remove a lot of the grain.
Rounding off its video chops is the new 360-degree windproof mic array, which capture better audio no matter where your subject is, although I did find the built-in wind filter struggling occasionally, and a dedicated Bluetooth mic paired to the X6 will almost always be a better choice.
Aimed towards vloggers
Broadening its appeal beyond 360-degree and action camera audiences, the X6 is positioned to a third, altogether new audience: vloggers. The vlogging mode does a legitimately good job of mimicking a gimbal-mounted vlogging camera, keeping a chosen subject framed, horizon-levelled and stabilized regardless of how the X6 itself is positioned.
New to the X6 is a software feature called AI Director, which quietly edits your footage into a rough vlog draft overnight on the X6 itself while the camera charges, ready to review and refine in the morning. I’ve long maintained Insta360’s big differentiator is its software, and this is yet another example.
I do have to note that while the phone app continues to do its core job of importing and editing 360-degree video rather well, it is getting cluttered and somewhat overwhelming with a glut of features.
The X6's 2600mAh Xtreme battery is rated for 140 minutes of continuous 8K/30fps recording, and I regularly saw the X6 go past 2 hours of recording my child’s piano practice sessions before it gave up. That’s a solid 30-35 minutes more than the X5, and I never had the X6 overheat enough for it to halt recording. Take a 25-minute break and the battery fast charges to 80%, so you should be able to manage with just the single battery.
Verdict
For most folks, the X6 will deliver on the promise of replacing an action camera, a pocket camera and of course, a 360-degree camera, all with one device. For the price-conscious, the X5 and the X4 Air offer much of the same possibility for a lot less.
Tushar Kanwar is a tech columnist and commentator, and tweets @2shar.