Insta360 started out making 360 cameras, as its name might suggest, before branching out into modular cameras like theInsta360 One RS, micro cameras like theGo 3, and even a smartphone gimbal, theInsta360 Flow.
One area the brand had yet to delve into, though, was traditionalGoPro-style action cameras. Sure, the Insta360 One RS is close, but its modularity comes at the cost of durability and waterproofing. If you wanted an action camera that didn’t transform, GoPro and DJI pretty much had the market to themselves.
That all changes with the introduction of the Insta360 Ace Pro and its cheaper sibling, the Ace. On first impressions, it looks compelling, with a large sensor, a flip-up screen and a whopping 8K resolution. The question is, can it compete with the top dogs when it comes to image quality? I was excited to find out, so I’ve been testing the Ace Pro for the last few weeks. Here’s what I learned.
Insta360 Ace Pro
The Insta360 Ace Pro is a brilliant first attempt at a traditional action camera. It provides superb low-light shooting a convenient flip-up screen and is paired with some of the best software around. My only wish is that it didn’t cost quite so much.
Specs, price and availability
The Insta360 Ace Pro was announced on August 21, 2025, and made available on the same day. It retails for $449.99 and can be purchased fromInsta360 directlyor viaAmazonand selected retail partners.
In addition, Insta360 released a cheaper model called the Insta360 Ace, which goes for $379.99. Outwardly, the more affordable model looks quite similar, but it houses a smaller 1/2-inch sensor with a maximum video resolution of 6K.
This pricing makes the Insta360 Ace Pro one of the most expensive action cameras on the market. It’s $50 more than the market-leadingGoPro Hero 12 Blackand theDJI Osmo Action 4, too. Let’s hope that it delivers enough to make it worthwhile.
A rugged chassis with vlogging aspirations
The Insta360 Ace Pro adopts the traditionalGoPro-style form factor, with almost identical dimensions and button positioning to the Hero 12 Black. However, the Ace Pro is noticeably thicker and quite a bit heavier. I think this is primarily due to the inclusion of a flip-up screen on the rear of the camera.
The flip screen works similarly to the one we saw on the Insta360 Go 3, but it’s larger and has a higher resolution. It’s the first time that we’ve seen a screen like this on a traditional action camera, and it’s really handy. It enables you to frame your shots easily when filming yourself and takes the guesswork out of filming low-angle shots.
The crisp and clear screen and the hinge mechanism feel very robust. Of course, moving parts are typically less durable than static ones, so time will tell how this screen holds up to the kind of conditions that action cameras find themselves in, but I’m not too concerned. After all, there haven’t been many reports of damage to the Go 3’s flip screen, and it’s essentially the same mechanism.
Elsewhere, the Ace Pro iswaterproofup to 10 meters without a case, just like the Hero 12, and feels just as solid. It’s worth noting, though, that while the lens protector looks replaceable, it is glued into place, so it might not be as easily repairable if the cover gets scratched or cracked.
The Ace Pro features a latching magnetic mounting system on its base, very similar to the one on the DJI Osmo Action 4. I’m a big fan of this, as if you invest in a couple of extra baseplates; you can switch your camera between your most-usedmountsin a flash. It’s much quicker than undoing a thumbscrew as required by GoPro’s system, and it feels just as sturdy when in place.
The battery is removable and has a 1650 mAh capacity. It’s a touch lower than the capacity of the GoPro Enduro battery, but in practice, it lasts just as long. It’s rated for 100 minutes of continuous recording at 4K30.
The camera has a USB-C port for data transfer, charging and audio accessories and amicroSDcard slot for storage. It charges at up to 30W with theappropriate charger, and that’ll get you from flat to full in just 46 minutes. There’s no charger in the box, just a USB-C to C cable, a basic mount and the camera itself.
App and features
The best software in the business
Insta360’s software has been among our favourites for some time now, and the good news is that the Ace Pro utilises the same excellent smartphone app and desktop software as the other cameras in the brand’s lineup.
The main thing I love about the Insta360 app is how quickly and reliably it connects to the camera, and though the competition has improved, this is still a frequent pain point with both GoPro and DJI cameras.
It’s really nice to be able to tweak and edit your clips on a desktop, too. DJI offers no such utility, and while GoPro has announced that Quik for desktop is in the works, there’s no date set in stone, and you’ll need an active GoPro subscription to use it when it eventually arrives.
Within the app, there’s all the usual functionality that you’d expect, like the ability to monitor your camera remotely, change settings and playback and edit your clips. Insta360 takes things a step further, though, offering some unique templates and effects to spice up your footage.
One of the most intense and unique effects is called AI Warp, and it usesgenerative AIto paint over your footage and create some wild visuals. It’s not something that you’d use very often, but if you want to make a short clip really stand out, it’s sure to garner some attention. In a similar vein, there’s the ability to swap the sky of your clips, so if you want your footage to feature some epic clouds or Van Gough’s Starry Night floating above you, you may have it.
It’s the more subtle effects that I find the most useful, though. My personal favourite is called Motion ND, and it simulates the look of a slow shutter speed, blurring fast-moving objects to give a greater sense of speed - perfect for timelapses on sunny days, especially if you don’t have an ND filter handy.
Like the Hero 12 Black and Osmo Action 4, there’s no GPS built into the Ace Pro, but thankfully, it’s easy to get GPS data into your videos if you want it. So long as the app is connected to the camera, you can toggle GPS on, and the camera will use your phone’s GPS signal, allowing you to add speed and altitude information to your clips during editing. What’s even cooler than that, though, is that the Ace Pro can connect toGarmin fitness trackersor anApple Watchto get GPS data, too.
Unfortunately for me, I’m aWear OSuser, so that I couldn’t pair it with my watch, but using the app worked well - and presumably,Insta360’s GPS remotewill be updated to work with the Ace Pro, too, if you’re a die-hard stats fan.
The Ace Pro can also pair with earbuds, just like the Hero 12 Black. The menu specifically says AirPods, but anyBluetooth earbudswill work; I even got the camera to pair to a Bluetooth speaker - which wasn’t particularly useful but satisfied my curiosity, nonetheless. Unfortunately, the results match what we saw with the Hero 12 Black; the audio quality from Bluetooth buds just isn’t good enough for any serious projects. There are a few niche use cases, but for the most part, you’re better off with the built-in microphones.
Image quality
A large sensor and the highest resolution yet
Now, on to the most important question, does the footage actually look any good? The spec sheet shows plenty of promise: the frame rates are high, the resolution is even higher, and a large sensor matches the size of the current low-light champion, the DJI Osmo Action 4.
I spent a lot of time comparing side-by-side footage from the Ace Pro and the Hero 12 Black, and in daylight, the cameras are quite comparable. They handle colours similarly, offer stellar image stabilisation and have a solid dynamic range - especially at 4K30 and below, where autoHDRkicks in on the Ace Pro.
It really is quite close, and mostly down to preference. Personally, I think the GoPro handles skin tones better and has a slightly more pleasing look overall, but the Insta360 often exposes the scene better, as it has the ability to prioritise faces with its metering.
At night, the Ace Pro is in a different league entirely. As you’re able to see in my test clips, while I was riding around dimly lit streets, the Hero 12 Black could barely capture anything useful, and the result was a dark, grainy mess. The Ace Pro captured so much more detail, to the point where it almost looks like it was filmed at a different time of day.
Obviously, the large sensor is doing the heavy lifting here, but it’s also aided by something Insta360 calls PureVideo. This uses a dedicated 5nm chip to de-noise the footage, increase dynamic range and improve stabilisation. The results are brilliant; if you shoot at night a lot, this is one of the best action cameras.
Another neat feature offered by the Ace Pro is Clarity Zoom. This allows you to punch into a 2x zoom without a huge loss in quality. It definitely comes in handy, but in my testing, I found that the camera skipped a few frames while zooming in, so it’s best used with static subjects rather than fast-paced action.
The Ace Pro can shoot at 8K resolution in 24fps, but unfortunately, this feature has yet to be implemented in my pre-release firmware. Insta360 has assured me that it’ll be available by the time customers receive their cameras, but it gives me the distinct impression that 8K recording on this camera isn’t going to be too impressive.
Is that realistically an issue, though? Probably not. I have no interest in shooting in 8K; the file sizes are far too large, and 24fps is not ideal for action sports, so, for my needs, it’s fairly redundant. I’m more interested in slow motion than high resolution, and there the Ace Pro matches the competition, shooting at up to 120fps in 4K or 240fps in 1080p.
What might prove to be more of a dealbreaker, though, is the colour depth. Both the Osmo Action 4 and Hero 12 Black can capture 10-bit colour and have fairly robust Log profiles, too. The Ace Pro can only capture in 8-bit, and it has a Flat profile, but it’s still fairly contrasty. I can’t imagine keen colourists being satisfied with this model.
I was impressed with the audio from the Ace Pro; the three microphones produce a lifelike sound with plenty of directionality, and voices come through clean and clear. Unfortunately, they’re very susceptible to wind noise, as I’ve found withInsta360’s other cameras. There’s a wind noise reduction option in the software, which does its best to mitigate this, but it’s pretty unavoidable when you’re out and about. Some kind of physical wind muff or an external microphone is probably the only real solution.
The Insta360 Ace Pro is an impressive debut as the brand’s first traditional action camera. It’s the first of its kind to offer a flip screen, which is highly convenient, especially when filming yourself, and it provides image quality that’s comparable with the best in the business. The low-light performance is incredible, and there’s a good possibility it exceeds the capabilities of the DJI Osmo Action 4, though I wasn’t able to test them side by side to confirm this.
The problem lies with the pricing; the Ace Pro costs around $50 more than either of its closest competitors, and that makes it a tough sell. There are things that it does better: the software is best-in-class, and no other action camera offers a flip screen, for example, but whether that’s worth the cost of admission is up to you.
One thing’s certain, though, and that’s that we now have another major player in the action camera realm, and I’m very excited to see where the Ace lineup goes next.
