- The Insta360 Go 3S is a thumb-sized 4K action camera that works with the same housing as the InstaGo camera.
- You can use hand gestures or your voice to active video recording or take pictures.
- The Go 3S is waterproof and magnetically mounts to various accessories, making video and image capture much more convenient.
I always thought action cameras were only for those adventurous types who liked extreme outdoor sports… Boy, was I wrong.
The new Insta360 Go 3S action camera taught me a whole lot about video capture in everyday life. For example, who knows that strapping an action camera to a kid could result in such hilarious videos? Or even capturing the steps for how to cook your daughter’s favorite food? I’ll admit, I might have also used it while working in my art studio to capture videos of painting and clay work.
But really, was an action camera necessary? When Insta360 offered up the option to try it, I decided it was a valid question. Here’s what I learned.
The Camera and Accessories
When the Insta360 Go 3S arrived, the box was bigger than I expected. I mean, this is a thumb-sized camera. But the Standard Bundle includes the action bod, a magnetic pendant that you can wear around your neck, a pivot stand, and an easy clip. I also included a Pet Harness mount that includes action mounts and supports. Unfortunately, I have a German Shepherd who has a deep chest, and the largest pet mount currently offered by Insta360 is a medium. So, sadly, I wasn’t able to test that accessory.
Figuring out all the different mounting options was fairly easy, and it wasn’t long before I was playing with the camera. The first thing I noticed is that even at 2.7K, the videos the Go 3S captures are great quality. When you bump that up to the 4K capability (which you have to do in the settings; it’s not the default), that gets even better.
The app and the menus on the camera are easy to use, and getting connected and set up took me a half hour or so. The camera was already well-charged when it arrived, but when I did need to charge it up later, I noticed it charged fast. I went from about 25 percent battery to a full charge in less than an hour. A couple of things of note about charging: the camera has to be in the action pod to charge, and the whole setup gets pretty warm while charging.
Using the Insta360 Go S3
There are some pretty cool features that set the Insta360 Go 3S apart from the Go 3. For starters, the Go 3S is Find My compatible, so if you’re an iOS user, you can add the Go 3S to your Find My network and then quickly locate the camera if you lose track of it. Given that it’s the size of your thumb, that’s a nice feature. The other new feature that I really like is the ability to start and stop recording videos or take pictures using voice commands or hand gestures.
The Go 3S is also waterproof, which was a plus for me. One of the first things I did with it was take it out to the pool to grab pictures of the kids playing in the water. For fun, I let one of the kids wear an included pendant mount while they played in the water. Those videos were a lot of fun to watch. With the new wide-angle lens and MegaView FOV (field of view), the videos even included everyone they were interacting with, which resulted in some cool videos of neat memories.
For capturing videos in the kitchen or the art studio, the pivot stand was useful. It has a reusable adhesive back that you can stick onto a surface, and it adjusts to let you adjust the camera angle up or down so you can capture what you’re doing with ease. One thing I found I loved doing was interval videos. I set the camera to automatically take a snapshot at certain intervals (and you can determine how long it continues to take those pictures). When it’s done, the images are strung together in a time-lapse video. That can be super useful when I’m doing something where the progress is slow, but I still want to show it. It’s also fun when you strap the camera on a kid and just let them do their thing.
The Insta360 App
The Insta360 Software has some interesting AI editing features that can string together multiple videos (or clips from videos) into new Memories videos, including adding music and other effects, but it can also help you edit your clips or add overlays from other connected devices. The Insta360 Studio app is also available for desktop computers, which lets you do more detailed edits to your captures.
It did take me a little while to learn how to export videos from the camera to the app and how to get those onto my desktop computer, but once I figured it all out, I was surprised at how capable the app was. It’s definitely not Premier Pro or CapCut, but it’ll get the job done. And it works on your smartphone, too, which is a plus if you want to edit on the fly.
Is the Insta360 Go 3S Worth It?
The Instal360 Go 3S standard bundle starts at around $400 and ca creep up from there if you choose a different bundle, or if you add accessories to it. If you already have the action pod (which is required to charge the camera), you can buy the Standalone Camera for around $240 for the 64GB version or $270 for the 128 GB version. That puts it in-line with similar action camera bundles.
For me, though, what really set this camera apart is the flexibility it gives me. The magnetic mount and the different mounting options let me choose what’s best for me. Add in the voice and gesture commands, and all of the functionality of this tiny little camera (I barely scratched the surface here), and from my standpoint, yes, this is so worth it. I use this little camera more than I ever imagined I would.
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