DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro | Review - video Dailymotion

Tom's Guide

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro may not be as big of an upgrade as the 4 was but this $349 packs a new sensor giving you 13.5 stops of dynamic range and delivering smooth footage up to 4K 120fps or 1080p 240fps. It now also shoots 40MP stills. So, is it time to ditch the GoPro?

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00:00Should you buy or skip the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro? I mean, they've added Pro to the name,

00:07so it's got to be good this year, right? Well, this $349 Action 5 isn't as big of an upgrade

00:12as the Action 4 was to the 3, sticking with the same max 4K 120 or 1080p 240, but this year's

00:19model gets a slightly upgraded sensor offering 13.5 stops of dynamic range, and it now shoots

00:2540MP stills, as well as, and this is a big one, a more efficient processor for longer runtime.

00:31Not to mention, it now also has 48GB of internal storage, giving you about 80 minutes, 4K 60fps video,

00:38as well as a few other upgrades, which we'll get into. The Action 5 is undercutting most of the

00:42competition, including the GoPro Hero 13 Black and the Insta360 8 Pro by about $50, so here's

00:48everything you need to know before picking one up. That's a little steep. The first reason you should

00:53get the Osmo Action 5 Pro is that it uses a new 1950mAh battery, which also, as well as a more

01:03efficient 4nm image processor that gives it better battery life, actually the best battery life of

01:09any action camera, period. DJI now says you can get 4 hours of continuous recording, but that's at

01:151080p 30, which honestly I'm never touching because, ew. Disgusting! 4K is really nice, and I don't really

01:20need 4 hour long clips, but it's there if you need it. That said, 4K 60, I get about 120 minutes

01:26outdoors, and when you drop that down to 4K 30, it'll extend by another 30 minutes. And so with a

01:31mix of shorter 2 to 5 minute long and a few 10 to 15 minute long clips, I was able to record all day

01:37without charging it up. And so if you want an action camera that lasts the longest on a single charge,

01:42the Action 5 is king.

01:43The DJI Action Series has always stood out to me as the action camera to get because they

01:49prioritize video quality a lot more than the competition, in my opinion. You can quickly switch

01:54between multiple angles, from their extreme wide 9mm equivalent to 15mm with distortion correction and

02:01stabilization applied. You can also record in either 16x9 widescreen or 4x3 aspect ratio, which is helpful

02:08if you want to get both a widescreen and vertical crop from the same video clip without shooting

02:13natively wide or vertical. But more importantly, you've got three color profiles to choose from,

02:18standard, HDR, HLG, and D-Log M, the latter being what I almost entirely always shoot on.

02:24Because of its larger sensor, which we first saw on the Action 4, unlike most other action cameras,

02:30the Action 5 continues to be half decent in low light, especially when you shoot in that 10-bit

02:35D-Log M profile, and apply a little bit of noise reduction. Although its fixed depth of field won't

02:41trick you into thinking that this is a small pocket camera, and definitely not a DSLR, but it still

02:47offers incredible dynamic range, and lots of room to color grade, and it also matches really well to

02:52DJI's other cameras like the Osmo Pocket 3, which, if you've seen any of my recent videos, you know I use

02:58quite a bit. The Osmo Action 5 Pro includes a front and rear color display, both with touch support.

03:04The square front display is pretty small, measuring just 1.5 inches diagonally, but it has 800 nits of

03:10brightness, so it's easy to see outdoors. You can get all your functions really easily, it's pretty

03:14good. But new for this year, they're packing an even larger rear display, which is now 2.5 inches

03:19diagonally. The screen's also very bright, up to 1,000 nits, and it supports, again, those touch and

03:25swipe gestures as well. The screen is much better than the smaller and dimmer options that you'll see

03:30on the GoPro Hero 12 and even the Hero 13 Black cameras. Especially as a solo content creator,

03:37having these two really large, bright screens that you can easily switch between is great for reviewing

03:42your footage or just making sure your framing looks right. I think another strong point with

03:46the Osmo Action 5 is its connectivity. It has the one USB-C port, which is for charging and data

03:51transfer, and you can actually use this as a webcam when connected to a computer if you want. And even

03:56though this doesn't have a microphone port, you can either use a 3.5 millimeter adapter to connect

04:00a wired mic if you'd like. But even cooler, just like with the Osmo Pocket 3, the Action 5 can directly

04:07connect to the DJI Wireless Mic 2 via Bluetooth, which for 90% of my audio, including making this

04:12video right here, is my go-to choice because of how easy and quick it is to set up. Not to mention,

04:18the audio quality is really good too. So just like with the picture modes, if you already own other DJI

04:23cameras, being in that ecosystem really pays off here because you can use that same hardware for

04:29a really awesome setup. And new for this year, the Action 5 also extends its waterproof rating by an

04:35extra two meters, now totaling 20 meters, without even having a diving case. But what's even better

04:41is they now have a built-in pressure gauge to record and display water depth, altitude, and other data

04:46in real time to give your footage more context and make it feel a little bit more dynamic. In my experience,

04:52it's 4K is plenty of resolution, especially for an action camera. That being said, those who like to

04:58maybe reframe and crop or digitally add movement to their footage a little bit more might find the

05:04extra resolution offered by rivals like the new GoPro Hero 13 Black or the Insta360 Ace Pro to be an omission

05:11here with the Action 5. It's worth noting that this would obviously take a hit to the battery life, not to

05:16mention result in larger file sizes, but yeah, I'm never gonna say no to more resolution if it doesn't

05:22sacrifice image quality because sometimes it could be nice to have that little extra room for editing.

05:28Just like with the Action 4, I think the Action 5 Pro is incredibly reliable and does everything it does

05:33exceptionally well. That being said, it's been a few years since we've really seen anything

05:37dramatically innovative with this lineup. The one easy area that I think DJI should at least try to

05:43explore is offering similar GoPro style lens mods. The ability to add a macro anamorphic or extra wide

05:49angle lens to quickly change the look of your footage or even just quickly swap on an ND filter for

05:55better control over your lighting helps make that GoPro Hero 13 helps make the new GoPro Hero 13 more of

06:04an all-in-one camera that can adapt and help you be a little bit more creative with your shots. I wouldn't

06:09be surprised if DJI is working on something like this behind the scenes, but for now, the Osmo Action

06:14Series hasn't introduced its own niche yet. So tied in with that last point, I think if you've already

06:20got an Action 4, you probably won't see a huge need to upgrade to the Action 5 Pro. With basically the

06:27same sensor, I don't think you're gonna see much of a difference in video quality. Maybe if you're taking a

06:32lot of photos with this, the new 40 megapixel sensor might be enticing, though I don't really think anyone's

06:38primarily buying one of these as a photo taking device, you're probably better off just investing

06:42in a small pocket camera. Now the built-in storage, the bigger rear display and the improved battery

06:48life are definitely great, but if you weren't concerned with them on the 4 and you thought

06:51it was good enough, I don't think this is reason enough to upgrade again. To that point, if you haven't

06:55bought either and you're trying to decide between the two, I think that's an interesting question.

06:59You can't really go wrong with either. I think the $249 price for last year's Action 4 is a great deal,

07:05while spending the extra $100 premium to get the Action 5 Pro might be also a great investment for

07:11a lot of creators if you're going to be taking advantage of those new improvements features.

07:16So buy or skip, the DJI Osmo Action 5 is the standout choice for creators like me who are already

07:22heavily invested in DJI's other camera gear. From matching the color profile to my other DJI cameras,

07:28to pairing and using the mics between them, there's a lot of added value to an already very affordable and

07:34competitively priced action camera. And while I personally don't get to use these action cameras

07:38as much as I like anymore, when it comes to shooting action content, DJI continues to be my top choice

07:44just because of those aforementioned conveniences combined with its excellent video quality,

07:49even in low light. Not to mention, of course, its battery life will keep you rolling for hours long.

07:53It might not be the most exciting or fun action camera to use this year, but it maintains its notoriety

07:59for being reliable day in and day out. But let me know what you think. You can find us everywhere

08:04at Tom's Guide, and you can follow me to see what I'm reviewing next. Thanks for watching, I'll catch you in the next one.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro | Review

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