In This Review
The Insta360 X4 is the easiest camera we have ever recommended for holidays: shoot first, frame later, and you simply cannot miss the moment. After two weeks carrying it through Bali beaches and Bangkok street markets, it earned a permanent spot in our day bag. It records everything around you in 8K 360°, erases the selfie stick from your footage, and turns chaotic travel days into polished clips with almost zero effort.
We have tested more than 50 cameras on real trips, and most of them demand something from you — framing, focus, a gimbal, patience. The X4 demands nothing but a button press. Below is how it actually performed on holiday, not in a lab.
Key Takeaways
- 8K30 360° video (and 5.7K60) means you reframe after the trip — impossible to miss a shot.
- Invisible selfie stick and bullet time effects look like a drone or camera crew followed you.
- Waterproof to 10m, so beach and pool days need no housing.
- Battery comfortably survives a full sightseeing day at 5.7K; 8K drains it faster.
- Skip it if you mainly film at night — its successor, the Insta360 X5, is far better in low light.
Quick Verdict
Buy it if you want the most fun, most forgiving travel camera on sale in 2026. The X4 is not the sharpest camera we tested, and it is not the best after dark, but it is the one that came home with the most usable footage. On a beach in Nusa Penida we simply held the stick up while walking, and later picked out a dozen perfect angles from a single take — us, the waves, the cliffs, the dog that chased us. No other camera does that.
Score-wise, we would give it 9/10 for travel. It loses points only for average low-light performance and the fiddly process of reframing big 8K files on a phone. If you are still deciding which category of camera suits your trip, our best holiday video cameras 2026 guide compares it against action cams, gimbals and phones.
Design & Handling for Travel
The X4 is a chunky candy-bar — taller and heavier than a GoPro, but it still disappears into a jacket pocket. The big 2.5-inch touchscreen is genuinely usable with wet fingers, which mattered on a longtail boat in Thailand where everything was splashed constantly. The lens guards screw on and off; we kept them on all trip because those twin fisheye lenses are the one fragile part of the camera.
Build quality feels properly rugged. Ours survived a drop onto tiled hotel flooring (heart attack, zero damage) and repeated dunking in the sea. The USB-C port and battery door seal tightly, and the standard 1/4-inch thread plus magnetic quick-release mount meant we could swap it between the invisible selfie stick, a mini tripod and a backpack clip in seconds.
Video Quality in Real Holiday Conditions
Daylight
In harsh midday sun on Kelingking Beach, the 8K30 footage reframed to 4K held up beautifully — crisp enough that viewers assumed we used a "real" camera. Colors lean slightly saturated out of the box, which honestly suits holiday footage. The 5.7K60 mode became our default for anything moving: scooters, surf, kids running. Reframed 5.7K60 still looks clean at 1080p and good enough at 4K for YouTube.
Low Light
This is the X4's weak spot. Night markets in Chiang Mai produced usable but soft footage with visible noise once the sun dropped. The small sensors struggle, and while the PureVideo-style processing helps, it cannot work miracles. If your dream holiday footage is neon-lit streets and candlelit dinners, the newer X5 or the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 with its 1-inch sensor will serve you better.
Stabilization
FlowState stabilization is effectively magic. We ran down a cobbled alley in Lisbon holding the stick at arm's length and the horizon never moved a degree. Because the camera sees everything, the software always has room to correct. For walking-and-talking travel clips it beats electronic stabilization on any action camera we have used.
Audio
The built-in mics are decent for an action-style camera: voices come through clearly in calm conditions, and wind reduction works surprisingly well on beaches up to a stiff breeze. On a windy cliff edge in Portugal, speech stayed intelligible where older 360 cameras turned to mush. That said, it is still a small camera — for sit-down talking segments we paired a wireless mic over Bluetooth, which the X4 supports, and the difference was night and day.
Battery Life on a Full Sightseeing Day
With the standard battery we got through a typical sightseeing day — roughly 90 minutes of actual recording spread across ten hours — at 5.7K60 with power to spare. Switching to 8K30 cut that noticeably, and on one heavy day in Bangkok we needed the second battery by 4pm. Our advice: buy the twin battery kit, keep the camera in the simpler 5.7K mode unless the view truly deserves 8K, and you will never think about power. Charging over USB-C from a power bank during lunch also works well.
Who Should Buy / Who Should Skip
Buy the X4 if: you travel actively (beaches, scooters, hikes, city wandering), you hate framing shots, you want drone-style footage without a drone, or you are a solo traveler who wants to actually be in your own videos.
Skip it if: you mostly film after dark, you want the simplest possible point-and-shoot (the Canon PowerShot V10 is easier), or you already own an X3 and shoot casually — the jump to 8K matters mainly if you reframe to 4K for YouTube.
Insta360 X4 vs Rivals
The obvious fight is against its own successor and the best action camera on the market:
| Insta360 X4 | Insta360 X5 | GoPro Hero 13 Black | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max video | 8K30 360° | 8K30 360° (larger sensors) | 5.3K60 (flat) |
| Low light | Average | Good | Good |
| Waterproof | 10m | 15m | 10m |
| Lens protection | Screw-on guards | User-replaceable lenses | HB lens mods |
| Best for | Value 360 travel | Best 360 quality | Single-lens action |
| Price | Around $400-$500 | Around $550 | Around $350-$450 |
If you want a traditional action camera instead of 360, read our GoPro Hero 13 Black review — it is tougher and simpler, but it cannot reframe after the fact. For most holidaymakers, that reframing freedom is exactly what makes the X4 special.
💰 Where to Buy
Prices shift weekly around holiday seasons — check current deals below. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
FAQ
Is the Insta360 X4 good for travel vlogging?
Yes — it is one of the best travel vlogging cameras we have tested, because you film first and choose your framing later. You never miss a shot while walking through a market or standing on a viewpoint, and the invisible selfie stick effect gives you drone-style third-person clips without carrying a drone.
Can the Insta360 X4 go underwater on a beach holiday?
The X4 is waterproof to 10 metres without a case, so snorkeling, pool clips and rainy city days are no problem. For diving below 10m you need the optional dive case, which also corrects the stitching underwater.
Does the Insta360 X4 overheat when recording 8K?
In our testing it recorded 8K30 for long stretches in warm weather without shutting down, though the body gets noticeably warm. In very hot direct sun we recommend 5.7K60, which runs cooler and still reframes beautifully.
Insta360 X4 vs X5 — which should I buy?
The X5 has larger sensors, better low light and user-replaceable lenses, but costs more. If you mostly shoot in daylight and want to save around $100, the X4 remains excellent value; low-light shooters should read our Insta360 X5 review instead.
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