Comparison of Top 5 360 Cameras
honorable mentions
-SOURCE-Scott-Gilbertson.jpg "Best 360 Cameras (2026): DJI, Insta360, GoPro 2")
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
Insta360 X4 for $340: I would recommend skipping it unless you find it on sale for less than $300. The X4 Air is (generally) cheaper, smaller, and more capable, although the If you can find a great deal for under $300, the X4 is worth the buy. Otherwise, though, stick with the X4 Air.
QCam 3 Ultra for $539: It’s not widely available, and we haven’t had a chance to try it out, but Kandao’s QCam 3 Ultra is another 8K 360 camera that looks promising, at least on paper. The f/1.6 aperture is particularly interesting, as most of these are in the f/2 and above range. We’ll update this guide when we get a chance to test Qoocam.
360 cameras should be avoided
Insta360 One RS: Insta360’s interchangeable-lens action-camera/360-camera hybrid was a new idea that hasn’t caught on yet. Now it is a bit old. Video footage isn’t as good as the other cameras in this guide, but you can change lenses and have an action camera in an instant, which is the major selling point. Ultimately I’d say skip it, get the X4 Air and if you want to use it like a GoPro, just shoot in single lens mode.
GoPro Max: You’ll still see GoPro’s original Max occasionally, but even so, there are better options.
Insta360 One X3: Insta360’s older X3 is not worth buying at this time.
Insta360 One RS 1 360 Edition: Although I still like and use this camera, it appears to have been discontinued, and there appears to be no replacement in sight. The These are still available in use, but at exorbitant prices. You’re better off with the X5.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are two reasons why you might want a 360-degree camera. The first is to shoot virtual reality content, where the final scene is performed on a 360 screen, for example, in a VR headset and so on. So far this has mostly been the province of professionals shooting on very expensive 360 rigs not covered in this guide, although the group of amateur creators is also growing. If that’s what you want to do, choose the highest-resolution camera you can get. Either of our top two picks will do.
However, for most of us, the main appeal of a 360 camera is to shoot everything around you and then edit or reframe the part of the scene we want to focus on, or to pan and track objects within the 360 footage, but the result is a typical, rectangular video that is then exported to the web. Video resolution and image quality will never match a high-end DSLR, but the DSLR may not just be in the right place, at the right time. The 360 camera doesn’t need to be pointed anywhere, it just has to be turned on.
This is the best use case for the cameras on this page, which produce primarily HD (1080p) or better video – but not 4K – when reframed. I expect to see 12K-capable consumer-level 360 cameras (that require you to re-frame in 4K) in the next year or two, but for now, these are the best cameras you can buy.
Whether you’re shooting a virtual tour or your child’s birthday, the basic premise of a 360 camera is the same. The fisheye lens (usually two very wide-angle lenses combined) captures the entire scene around you, ideally a selfie stick if you’re using one. Once you’ve captured your 360-degree view, you can edit or reframe that content into content ready for upload to YouTube, TikTok, and other video-sharing sites.
Why is high resolution important in 360 cameras?
Camera manufacturers have been pushing for the highest video resolution for a long time, it feels like a gimmick in many cases, but not with 360 cameras. Because the camera is capturing a huge field of view, the canvas is huge, if you will. To get a traditional video from that footage you have to crop the footage which zooms in on the image, which means your 8K 360 shot becomes a little less than 2.7K when you reframe that footage.
How does “reframing” work?
Reframing is the process of taking the expansive, 360-degree view of the world that your camera captures and zooming in on just a portion of it to tell your story. This makes 360 footage fit into traditional movie formats (like 16:9), but as mentioned above, it means cropping your footage, so the higher resolution you start with, the better your reframed video will look.
If you’re shooting for a VR headset or other immersive tool, you don’t need to reframe anything.
I’ve been shooting with 360 cameras since Insta360 released the X2 in 2020. Early 360 cameras were fun, but the video they produced was not high enough resolution to fit in with footage from other cameras, limiting their usefulness. Thankfully, we have come a long way in the last five years. The 360 camera market has grown and the footage obtained from these cameras is good enough to blend seamlessly with the footage from your action cameras and even your high end mirrorless cameras.
To test the 360 cameras I broke down the process into different shooting scenarios, especially scenes with different lighting conditions, to see how each performed. No camera is perfect, so which camera is right for you depends on what you’re shooting. I paid special attention to the ease of use of each camera (360 cameras can be confusing for beginners), as well as what kind of helpful extra features, HDR modes, and support for accessories each camera includes.
The final element of the picture is the editing workflow and tools available to each camera. Since most people are shooting for social media, the raw 360 footage will need to be edited before posting anywhere. All the above cameras have software for mobile, Windows and MacOS.
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