The DJI Osmo, released a little less than a year ago, took the stabilization technology that DJI has mastered with its aerial drones and put it in the palm of your hand. In a smart move aimed at keeping costs down, there wasn't a monitor; you just mounted your smartphone to use as a viewfinder and controller.

The Osmo now stabilizes your smartphone footage.

With the latest iteration, the Osmo Mobile, the next logical step has occurred; the native DJI camera has been removed, and the Osmo now stabilizes your smartphone footage.

With productions like the Sundance hit Tangerine shooting on the iPhone and the increasingly beautiful imagery that device is capable of producing, it makes sense to take advantage of that sensor technology and save on the cost and weight of the platform by removing the integrated camera. If you think about it, every time you shot with the regular Osmo (or the recently released plus), you were shooting with one camera that had another great camera strapped to its side, not capturing anything. 

Dji-osmo-mobile-ifa-8DJI Mobile in your hand.Credit: DJI

That the native camera Osmo came first makes sense. With the native camera, DJI had a known object to stabilize; its weight and balance characteristics were predictable and changed little (if at all) when zooming, so it was a simpler process to stabilize. Considering the various sizes, weights, and balance points of cell phones, it is definitely more work for the Osmo Mobile to create a stable image, and understandable why it would take another year of development for this to hit the street.

Users can select an object onscreen to keep in center frame with a tap.

DJI's ActiveTrack technology allows for users to select an object on screen to keep in center frame with a tap, which can be helpful during complicated action, like following a specific actor or object. Working with the DJI GO app users can live stream the video, which should hopefully lead to smoother Facebook Live streams in the future.

The one feature I'm not seeing is the ability to calibrate for different phones—though considering the prosumer market, it seems likely that the Osmo Mobile has auto-calibration (where the device senses the weight and balance of the camera automatically).

It's available now for $299.

Tech specs

  • Compatible with any Bluetooth enabled smartphone
  • Android and iOs 
  • Camera control from joystick
  • 3.5 hour LiP battery
  • Motion timelapse
  • Automatic panorama
  • 3-axis stabilization accurate to 0.03°
djiosmoiphoneTangerine
Cinematography & Cameras