insta360 GO 3S (128GB) Black
insta360 GO 3S – 128 GB White
Whenever I go on an international trip, I inevitably pick up a new camera. Like my DJI osmo pocket for my America trip. My insta360 one r for my holiday in Bangkok and Singapore. Now that I’m travelling to Dubai I needed a new one, something easy to carry around, makes shooting videos easy and should have enough battery life for at least a whole day.
So this is the insta360 go 3s, a portable little action camera which can become even smaller. I purchased it in India and it has an Indian warranty, this is the 128 gig version. Some of the features listed on the side.
Opening it up, we have a quick start guide, using this QR code.
And here’s the camera, it’s so small. This is the 3s, an updated version of the 3 and this camera supports 4k recording, which is quite an upgrade over the earlier model.
What’s in here, quick start guide, warranty card , insta360 sticker, and more paperwork.
Importantly we have the USB-C to USB-A power/data cable.
User guide, under here? Yup, a quick run-through the buttons on the go 3s.
A sticky mount for curved areas like a car dashboard.
Magnetic mount with a quarter inch thread at the bottom, to mount onto tripods. Quite strong, so that it doesn’t lose its angle when going on bumps.
Pendant mount, the camera module being magnetic can stick onto this pendant which can be worn under the shirt.
Clip mount, mostly works with baseball caps and this is magnetic too and the front can be angled up and down for the perfect angle. This works with the pendant mount too.
Now here’s the hero of the video (no pun intended) the insta360 go 3s. This is the mini module, it’s mounted onto the pod.
USB-C port, press this button to remove the go 3s camera.
Display is 2.2 inches. The action pod is ipx4 water resistant only and it should not be dunked into water, it can take some rain or splashes, but keep it away from water. The go 3s camera is ipx8 waterproof and can be dunked upto 33 feet.
On the side have a power button and a quick setting button.
Let’s get the stickers off.
This is the protective lens cap. We have a film on here too.
As we have a sticker here the camera just came off. And here’s how the camera module looks.
This is the action pod, which acts as a charging base, and also a remote display for the go 3s.
We can find the pogo pins here which would connect to the camera.
The camera module by itself is around 39.1 grams. Quite lightweight. The lens focal length is 16mm with an aperture of f2.8.
This is how the back of the module is.
The camera module docks into the action pod, using magnets, and this is just so satisfying.
We have the led in the front light up red indicating that it’s charging. The camera module has a 310 mAh battery and the action pod has a 1270 mAh battery .
To remove the camera you push this button and then pull the module off. Wow the magnets are strong.
It locks here.
Just place it back and it is pulled in by the magnets.
The CPU on this camera is now enhanced with 50% more computing power as compared to earlier models, and it also has a new lens which allows for the 4k video recording capabilities. Camera sensor is actually the same as on the go 3.
The camera on it’s own can record for 38 minutes and when docked onto the action pod it can record upto 140 minutes.
It has a flippy screen, allowing to record vlog style footage.
These are clips that attach onto the magnetic mounting base.
Like so, it attaches via magnets and also clips for double safety. It’s on there, not easy to pull out. Push down on both sides to eject it as it’s locked down on both sides and has button on both sides. We can also dock only the camera module if you need to keep it light or dip into water.
Ok, camera is now on, let me go through the initial setup. Pair it to the insta360 app, which is quite easy.
The display is a touch screen and all the settings can be changed using it. We are taken through a quick tutorial on where to find all the settings.
Ok, camera is now connected to the app, we have a new firmware. Let’s do that first.
We can remote control the camera via the app and also change the settings without needing to touch the camera.
But what I like about the go 3s is its size and for that formfactor we have a 4k action camera.
I had been to Dubai recently and I used the pendant mount extensively.
Outdoor videos and photos were clear and the videos I have released on my travel channel of Dubai especially were shot extensively on this camera.
All this were shot either using the clip mount or the pendant mount. I had them both setup together so could switch as required.
Videos are clear and the exposure is well handled.
The action pod can be used as a wireless display/remote. I have the camera on my cap and I can view the feed on the pod, start stop recording, change modes etc all remotely.
Placing the camera back within the pod allows the go 3s to start charging.
We can change between settings using the action pods touchscreen. Swipe from different edges for different menus. The screen is big enough to interact, with no erroneous touches. There are a lot of shooting modes to choose from, including time-lapse, slow-motion, looping recording, HDR photos and star-lapse. Interval recording is something new which would automatically start/stop the camera at intervals set by you, giving you a kind of video diary of the day.
There is an option for flicker correction, I kept it at auto, and it takes a little time to activate when detected. I should have set it to the appropriate refresh rate manually, but this is the first time I’m using the camera.
Low light is this camera’s kryptonite, making the video grainy, this could be attributed to the small lens and image sensor. But if you are in the bright outdoors or in a well lit area, the videos are crisp and clear. When it gets dark the video also starts to jitter a bit. I have jitter correction and flowstate stabilization on, but maybe due to too many changes in the video it might not be able to track it well.
Being magnetic the camera can be mounted on any magnetic metal, like poles, post boxes , stair metal railings and more. It just needs to be magnetic.
Indoor shots in brightly lit areas are clear too, here are shots from the Burj Khalifa, and it is clear. Even in the dark it was not that bad, we can still see the details fairly clear in the recordings.
There are multiple ways to start and stop recording. One is by turning on the action pod using the power button on the side. The display turns on and so does the camera module. Now we can tap on the record button the start stop the recording. This is the fastest method as the camera is already on and it starts to record instantly.
Another method is while the camera is off, tap on the record button on the action pod, the pod turns on, initiates recording on the camera, we can view the feed on the display. This can be done with the go 3s not being within the action pod too. Tap record button again and the camera and action pod turn off. This is a bit more time taking as both the camera and the action pod need to start up and then record. This is fine if you don’t have any important shots to take, and this mode saves on battery.
Third is to tap the button on the go 3s itself , the camera beeps once when it starts and when you tap it again it beeps twice indicating it’s stopping recording and it turns off. When you do this the action pod doesn’t turn on.
The camera changes between vertical and horizontal orientation by just turning the camera around. How you attach the camera to the pendant mount dictates the orientation of the video.
We have an option for tilt lock on the camera that locks the horizon using information from it’s 6 accelerometers, which is good for most recordings and it does crop in a little to keep the video horizontal. But when we view this dune bashing recording, we don’t feel the angle the car is moving as the tilt lock is active. For this it would be better if the tilt lock was off. I was holding on really tight to not be thrown around in the car, so didn’t check the settings.
4k video can be recorded at 30,25 and 24 fps. 2.7k and 1080p can go upto 50 fps which allows for smoother video.
For me 4k 20 was good enough.
We also have options for free frame video , which records a little more vertically and horizontally making it easy to crop the media for both vertical and horizontal content.
We have multiple modes to select from for video, like action view which is good for action shots like skiing , cycling etc but it would have distortion.
Mega view is suitable for wide shots, this mode reduces distortion.
Ultra view uses the widest fov the camera supports, great if you as much of the scene recorded, there is a slight distortion.
Dewarp, record with minor distortion and a wide FOV.
Narrow mode, zooms in a bit and has no visible distortion.
We also have an option to schedule a time to shoot between if you maybe want a timelapse of the sunrise or sunset.
Gesture control allows taking photos or videos by just gesturing towards the camera, like V sign for taking a photo, palm to start video recording etc.
We can connect the camera to a computer directly to copy files off it. Tap on u disk mode and the camera is available as a drive, and copy the files off it.
It can also be used as a webcam.
So what do I think about the insta360 go 3s, its a great upgrade to the earlier version the 3, as it now has 4k. I used this camera for vacation videos only, so the internal 128 gb storage was plenty at 4k. Using it for the first time out of the box, it was easy to get used to. It’s small size makes it easy to carry around and shoot.
I did get some looks and questions when they notice the camera either on my cap or on the magnetic pendant.
All my videos came out useable and clear and I’m happy with the camera as stayed true to its use case. I didn’t get to use it in water as we were busy everyday visiting Dubai’s attractions.
The battery lasted the whole day and more as i was never continuously shooting, and the 128gb storage lasted the entire 5 day trip. I find something interesting, i click to shoot and a few seconds later stop.
For vacation videos I feel this is more than enough, professional use, storage and battery is too low.
I used this power bank with a USB-C port on the camera, could top up the action pod which in turn charges the camera when it’s docked, which is really cool.
I also had this USB-C dongle which supports micro-sd cards, and I made backups off the camera using my phone. I never deleted the footage, just made a copy. The insta360 one r which has the 360 degree recording is better as you would never miss the shot, but it is bigger, not easy to mount anywhere, so i picked up the go 3s.
For my use case the camera worked like a charm and I would recommend it if you need a small, easy to carry around camera for your vacation.
