hey guys welcome back to my channel for those of you who are new here my name is Jordan hetrick and I'm the best line author of books about how to use action cameras including my new book for the insta 360 X4 so in this video I really want to dive into the new insta 360 X4 and look at some of the similarities and differences between the X3 and the X4 to kind of help you decide if it's going to be a good upgrade for you or if you're considering buying this camera if it's going to be the right camera for you so I tried to think of every question you guys have ever asked me and I went out and filmed a bunch of comparisons for you guys to look at so let's check out all the differences and similarities between these two cameras to help you decide if it's going to be worth it fore to upgrade also if you haven't subscribed to my channel yet please hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications because I'm going to have lots of great videos coming out in the near future so now let's check out the differences between these two cameras to find out which one's right for you first let's just look at the X3 and the X4 side by side you'll notice that the X4 is quite a bit bigger than the X3 and I think that's due to the larger battery size on the insta 360 X4 as you look around the camera it's also a bit thicker and it does feel a bit heavier so if size is your major concern then you might actually want to go with the X3 the X4 has a slightly larger screen size of 2.5 in compared to the 2.29 in on the X3 and the X4 is also made out of Gorilla Glass so it's a little bit tougher although I've never had a problem with the glass on the X3 if you are into really extreme sports that might make a difference for you both cameras are waterproof to 33 ft deep but the images won't be clear underwater but they do have this invisible dive case and both cameras have it available so you can get those underwater invisible selfie stick shots as far as protecting those lenses that are really fragile and really important to your image quality the X4 now has removable lens guards it comes with the standard guard in the kit but you can also buy a premium lens guard the sticky lens guards for the X3 can also protect your camera's lens but they're just harder to take on and off and they do affect the image quality somewhat so having these be removable is really convenient on the X4 if you're into using those lens guards as far as mounting the X4 and the X3 have the exact same/ quin-2 mounting stud so you can just screw it onto any tripod stud this allows you to mount it to Invisible selfie stick so you can get those really cool invisible selfie stick shots with either of the cameras now that we've covered some of the physical attributes of those cameras let's take a look at what really really matters which is the video and photo quality and their setting both the X3 and the X4 have the exact same modes except that the X4 has a free frame video mode free frame video mode allows you to record out of a single lens and then reframe your shots after the fact but because the X4 has such high resolution 360 videos I don't really see much of a need for this mode so that's not really much of a difference between the X3 and the X4 first let's take a look at the different settings for 360 video mode since this is going to be the most important mode that you use on either of these action cameras insta 360 really stepped up the resolution on the X4 and added 8K video at 30 frames per second when you record in that 360 video mode the X3 records at 5.7k at 30 frames per second and obviously both of these resolutions sound really high but the trick is since these cameras are recording a full sphere when you want to go and pull out a regular video like a 4K video for example you're only taking a piece of that huge resolution sphere that is being recorded that 8K resolution on the X4 is going to allow your video edits to be higher quality when you reframe it into a 4K video you can also reframe really high quality videos from the X3 when you record in that 5.7k video but you just can't zoom in as far and get as much detail on your shots because you don't have as much resolution to work with the X4 just allows you to zoom in a little bit tighter and still maintain a good enough quality to share your videos to YouTube for example you can also see that they've really adjusted the colors on the X4 so it's got a really even tone throughout it and this is just going to help in those contrasty scenes even out your shots so both of those resolutions are for recording regular speed video now if you want to record slow motion video the X4 records 5.7k at 60 frames per second whereas the X3 records at 4K at 60 frames per second now because that's the full sphere like I told you before when you go pull out a 4K video out of that you're going to be losing some of the quality that extra resolution on the X4 is really going to help you be able to pull out those slow motion shots and still keep really high quality and you can see in these sideb side compar arons that especially at these settings when you want slow motion the X4 is really going to have a huge benefit over the X3 but that ability to play your footage back in slow motion is going to allow you to really create some nice cinematic shots with your X4 both the X3 and the X4 have special settings for recording super slow motion at 100 frames per second however the X4 records that at 4K and the X3 records it at 3K now when you go to pull a video out of that and if you reframe it into a 4K video obviously you're going to be losing some resolution from either of those but you've got a little bit more resolution to work with on the X4 it makes a slight difference it's not a huge one but it's definitely an added benefit both cameras have full 360 Horizon lock so no matter how you rotate your camera you can lock that Horizon for a straight level Horizon as far as low light performance goes neither of these cameras are specifically designed for low light performance however you are going to see better results from the X4 just because of that more even toning throughout the shots in this example here you can just see it's a bit brighter the X4 does have a low light stabilization setting which makes some difference but it's still not going to compensate for recording in really low light scenes but with either of them if you're moving your camera in low light you will get some weird stabilization effects until you set your camera down and get a nice stationary shot and then it does a pretty good job as far as the bullet time shots where you rotate your camera around you and you capture a really cool Scenic shot in super slow motion the X4 records those at 5.7k at 120 frames per second whereas the X3 records them at 4K at 120 frames per second so there's not a huge difference there because these are already reframed into a regular video and you're not having to reframe them out the insta 360 X4 and X3 also have single lens modes where you can just record out of one of the lenses on the X4 you can record at 4K at 60 frames per second and on the X3 you can record at 4K at 30 frames per second the X4 just allows you to slow down your shots and for slow motion just to get a bit more cinematic shots if you want to use that single lens mode the insta 360 X4 and 3 both have a Mode called Mi mode where you can extend your camera out on the end of a selfie stick and it'll erase the selfie stick out of your shots however it won't result in a 360 video it'll actually result in a regular flat rectangular video with the selfie stick disappeared so it's a really fun feature if you want those videos that are ready to go and you don't have to reframe them on the X4 you can record M mode shots at 4K at 30 frames per second or at 2.7k at 120 frames per second for really slow motion on the X3 you can record at 1080 at 60 frames per second so it's a pretty big upgrade on that one for the X4 in time-lapse modes the X4 can now record 11k spherical 360 videos whereas the X3 records up to 8K videos both are really high resolution and you get great shots with either of these settings the 11k is just going to allow you to zoom in just a bit further when you go to reframe those shots so you can create some really cool movement throughout your time lapses and zoom in just a bit further and as far as taking 360 spherical still photos both cameras take photos at up to 72 megapixels which is really high resolution and you can really reframe a lot out of a single photo using this mode for the audio both cameras have the same audio settings except the xport also has an additional setting for auto wind noise reduction so it will just turn it on and off based on the conditions which is pretty convenient if you forget to switch your settings like I often do cuz I'm so concerned about the visual imagery but audio is also very very important for a lot of the shots and that setting really helps out this is an example of the audio recorded on the insta 360 X3 and this is the audio recorded on the insta 360 X4 if you guys are just getting started with the X4 be sure to check out my beginner guide I'll put a link here for it it'll help you get started with your camera and really get you going also be sure to pick up a copy of the book because that's a really valuable resource to have in your hand anytime you need to learn anything it's got it all covered in there so check that out there's also a link in the video description below now let's look at how well the camera works the 360 has really souped up the processor on the X4 it starts up really quickly and it also starts recording really quickly so if you press that record button you'll notice that it starts recording a good few seconds before the X3 now this isn't super important but if you are in action and you need to record a lot of shots quickly this could make a huge difference for you so a question I'm sure a lot of you guys have is will this camera overheat and the X4 records in 8k at 30 frames per second which is really high resolution so overheating is always a concern and the X4 will overheat especially if you're recording indoors with no movement no air flow I tested it quite a few times indoors in the worst situation possible and it went for about 30 to 31 minutes in 8k at 30 frames per second before overheating now if you are recording longer videos on either of these cameras you can record at 5.7k 30 frames per second and it shouldn't overheat before the battery runs out as far as battery life goes the X4 has a muchar charger battery at 2290 milliamp hours whereas the X3 uses a battery that's 1,800 milliamp hours so it's quite a bit larger battery and I think that's the main reason for the larger camera size but of course you're going to get longer recording times with that larger battery in 8k at 30 frames per second you can record for about 70 minutes and at 5.7k at 30 frames per second you can record for up to 135 minutes the X3 records for about only 80 minutes at 5.7k 30 frames per second so it's quite a big difference between the batteries and the two cameras another small difference that I thought I would mention for those of you who like instant gratification is that you can play your time lapses back on the screen on the X4 whereas on the X3 you have to bring them into the app to preview those time lapses next I want to mention a few extra features that they added on the X4 that are not on the X3 the first one is gesture control and this allows you to start and stop recording by just holding your hand up and and this is really convenient if you're skiing or Moto vlogging for example with a helmet on and you can't use voice control or you can't easily reach your camera you can just use that gesture control to start and stop recording you can also hold up a p sign if you just want to take a photo and it'll take a photo no matter what mode you were in previously the X4 also has a AI highlights assistant which is going to help pick out the key moments in your videos and automatically pull those out of your videos for you so that's a pretty convenient feature if you don't like editing as much it's going to kind of help you pick those key moments so you don't have to search through all of your footage another feature that might be really helpful for some of you guys is called timed capture and timed capture allows you to choose a time that you want to start recording you can just set that up and then you can leave your camera and it'll turn on and start recording at your designated time as far as transferring and editing your 360 videos both cameras are going to have a very similar experience on the X4 there is a new icon on the screen so if you're viewing your videos you can actually tap this little icon and if you're connected to the app it will download it automatically to the app if you're transferring your footage over your phone or your tablet D X4 does have faster Wi-Fi so it transfers at 30 megabits per second compared to 19 megabits per second on the X3 it's going to just give you faster transfer times the insta 360 X3 and X4 can both use the same editing tools on the insta 360 app such as the AI editing the pro editing and the quick editing tools and also both of those cameras are going to have the same access to the shot Labs on the insta 360 app which are some really cool predesigned effects that you can create with your 360 cameras so that's really fun to play with and either camera you choose will give you that benefit in terms of price the X4 is around $500 and the X3 is $400 so there's about $100 difference between the two cameras now that I've showed you guys a comparison between the insta 360 X4 and the X3 I just want to share my thoughts on how I feel about this new camera so the insta 360 x x 3 was and is an amazing 360 camera I've gotten a lot of amazing footage with it and I really love this camera however the improvements that they've added on the X4 definitely make this a worthwhile upgrade or if you're buying a new camera it's definitely a better camera than the X3 so if you're just in the market for a new camera and you're trying to decide between the two the X4 is a clear choice however if you don't have enough money for the X4 the X3 is still also a great 360 camera and you can capture some amazing footage with it whichever camera you decide on I know you'll be happy with it but the X4 is definitely a clear winner between these two cameras I really hope this comparison's helped you decide which camera would be right for you if you haven't purchased the camera yet I put some links in the video description below so you can go purchase it through those that really helps out this channel thank you also if you're new to the 360 cameras or you just want to really learn how to use it check out the link for the book in the video description below and it really shows you everything you need to get the best footage with these cameras thank you guys so much for watching have fun with your 360 camera get out out there get creative and I'll see you in the next video [Music]