REVIEW: Insta360 ONE R Action Camera

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Action cameras are getting better and the once dominant market leader has received some serious competition. One of these formidable competitors is Insta360 from China. They have released a new modular action camera called ONE R and we got one for testing. Of course, we took it to the shooting range, but more on that later.

The Insta360 ONE R is the new action cam taking on GoPro. What's special about this camera is that the lens can be changed in no time, effectively making it two cameras in one.

In the Twin Edition, there is a battery, the CPU camera core, a cage, and two different lenses included. The battery has 1190 mAh and lasts up to 70 minutes of recording time. The power source can be quickly replaced. As expected from a good action camera, the ONE R is waterproof up to five meters. For those who want to go deeper, there is a diving case.

Assembling the individual parts is simple, as you can see in our video. Here, the ONE R is configured as a classic action cam.

The wide-angle lens faces forward, and the touchscreen is directed towards us. Adjusting works quite well with it, but for a better overview, it should be done through the app.

For those who prefer to film themselves, the ONE R can be quickly converted into selfie mode. The handling is overall simple, but you need to familiarize yourself with the many setting options and recording modes.

Here we have an overview of the basic functions for our tech nerds out there. Why two columns? The left side is the "normal" wide-angle lens, while the right column shows the technical data for the 360° lens.

360° lens? What is that? That was the question we initially had as well, and it was new territory for us.

The 360° lens has two extreme fisheye lenses on both sides, capturing (almost) everything. With it, you can create 360° videos, filming in a sphere around the camera simultaneously. It sounds a bit confusing at first, and it is.

A 360° photo looks quite strange when unfolded, as you can see. The left and right edges seamlessly merge. With special software, the photo can be made scrollable. We admit that we don't have much experience with spherical photos yet, but we will definitely continue to explore this.

Unfortunately, the Insta360 ONE R has one drawback: the file format. You get all images as .INSP and videos as .INSV files. A normal editing program cannot work with them. Therefore, you need the app to edit and add effects, and then export the video as .mp4. There is also a PC app, which is less functional than the app but easy to use. There has been an update to the apps every month to expand functionalities. It's a somewhat cumbersome editing process, but it allows you to make the most of your 360° videos.

However, the ONE R also has a major advantage: it is compatible with many GoPro mounts, so you don't have to buy everything anew.

Mounting on the shoulder provides a very interesting perspective. Thanks to 360°, everything is always in view. The camera also features voice control for start and stop recording, but currently only in English.

Funny and interesting perspectives can also be achieved with the Invisible Selfie Stick. The app on your phone always provides you with some inspirations.