DJI Osmo Mobile 6 review: a rock-steady smartphone stabilizer

DJI Osmo Mobile 6: two-minute review

While probably best known for being the market leader in consumer drones, DJI also has a strong pedigree in content creation accessories. That includes smartphone stabilizers, of which the Osmo Mobile 6 is its current flagship model. Designed to keep your smartphone levelled and steady during video shooting, the Osmo Mobile 6 is basically a handle with a 3-axis gimbal (and extendable selfie stick) attached.

Some of the best phone gimbals feel too large and bulky, and therefore awkward to carry around, or too small and fiddly, and therefore hard to hold comfortably, but the OM 6 sits in the ‘Goldilocks zone’ for me: when folded down it’s almost pocketable, but when unfolded with a phone mounted it feels nicely balanced and pleasingly secure in my hand. It also comes with a mini tripod that threads into the standard tripod mount at the base of the handle. Also inside the box is a USB-A to USB-C cable for battery charging, a magnetic clamp, and a soft microfiber drawstring bag to keep everything together.

Whichever phone you're using (the OM 6 is compatible with a wide range of the best Android phones and best iPhones, although you'll want to check DJI's phone compatibility list) is fixed to the gimbal arm via the magnetic clamp: the clamp squeezes across the width of the phone tightly, and the powerful magnet in its center clicks into place on the arm with a reassuring thunk. I never had any reason to feel like my iPhone would detach while using the gimbal, no matter how much I waved it around, while the magnet meant I could quickly take it out of the clamp and use it if I received a call, or when I’d finished filming.

I found that unfolding and refolding the OM 6 took a bit of getting used to, but once I’d mastered the process I appreciated the fact that I could get the stabilizer functioning in seconds. The quick-launch function immediately turns on the power when the gimbal arm is unfolded, as well as automatically launching the Mimo companion app on your phone (assuming you use a MagSafe iPhone, and it’s been paired with the OM 6 via Bluetooth at least once before) when the magnetic clamp clicks into place. That meant I didn’t have to waste much time setting the thing up – I could pull it out of my bag, unfold it, mount my phone, and get filming in a matter of seconds.

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The control scheme is refreshingly simple. The M button can be used to cycle between the gimbal modes, or held down to power the OM 6 on and off. Below it is a video and shutter button. Below that is the Switch button: hitting it once switches between the phone’s back and front cameras; twice flips between portrait and landscape mode; and three times switches between photo and video shooting. To the left of those buttons is a thumb stick, which is used to manually control the gimbal movement. On the left side of the handle is the zoom and focus wheel, new to the Osmo Mobile series; pushing this in enables manual focus, while twisting it zooms the camera view in and out. Finally, a trigger on the front can be tapped twice to reset the gimbal position, or held down to ‘lock’ the view in place.

It might sound like a lot to take in, but I found it easy to grasp while handling most of the most-used controls. Anything else that needs adjustment is covered by the Mimo app’s menus and camera controls.

The stabilization offered by the gimbal is excellent, or at least it was for my iPhone 13. The gimbal auto-levels the phone (it can be quickly recalibrated in the Mimo settings menu if you think it’s off, though), and moves it according to the currently selected gimbal mode. 'Follow' is the general-use mode, with the camera view following the gimbal’s movements while remaining level with the horizon. 'Tilt Locked' is similar, but the view won’t tilt up or down. 'FPV' will pan, tilt and roll the camera view according to the gimbal’s movement, and works well for dynamic moving shots. Finally, 'SpinShot' allows the user to rotate the camera view with the joystick while keeping it pointed in the same direction; it can create some dramatic effects, but probably won’t be anyone’s most-used option.

The gimbal movements feel smooth and, for want of a better word, ‘logical’. By which I mean they didn’t surprise me and, in general, went where I wanted them to go. Coupled with the comfortable, well-balanced grip (which can be extended by screwing in the folding mini tripod), it made for an intuitive, responsive and all-round pleasant experience.

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DJI’s Mimo camera app feels refined and intuitive. The UI layout is simple and easy to get to grips with, with the shooting modes displayed at the bottom and selectable via swipes to the left and right. As well as video and photo modes, Mimo allows the OM 6 to shoot auto-stitched panorama photos as well as slow-motion, hyper-lapse, time-lapse and ‘dyna-zoom’ videos (the latter being Hitchcockian dolly zooms, essentially). It also offers two special modes: Parents&Kids, for automatically capturing family interactions from a static position, and Story, for filming and editing (which includes transitions, music and color grading) short videos to be immediately shared to social media.

The OM 6 also offers ActiveTrack 6.0, DJI’s object-tracking system. This will recognize and track faces automatically, but any object can be tracked by drawing a box around it in the camera view. Then, as the object moves, the gimbal will adjust the camera view to keep it in frame. It’s something that’s great for vlogging, either while walking with the gimbal or with it set up on its tripod nearby, as the vlogger can move around without having to worry about moving out of frame. That being said, the Insta360 Flow Pro’s tracking is faster and smoother, and its design allows it to ‘infinitely’ track a subject as it moves around and around it; the OM 6 will spin to a certain extent but then hit its limit, and be unable to follow if its subject leaves the frame.

In fact, there are a few other areas in which I found the newer, slightly pricier Insta360 Flow Pro a bit more impressive than the Osmo Mobile 6. The Flow Pro has longer battery life (about 10 hours to the OM 6’s 6.5), and a second USB-C port that allows it to act as a power bank, sharing its battery with a phone or other gadget. The Flow Pro also supports Apple’s DockKit framework for iPhones, which means it supports subject tracking not only via its companion app but through the iPhone’s native camera app and 200-plus camera-related apps (including TikTok, Zoom and Blackmagic Camera). For the OM 6, tracking only works through the Mimo app.

The OM 6 does feel more pleasant to use though, with better-placed physical controls and smoother gimbal stabilizer movement. So, it doesn’t feel like a distant runner-up to the Insta360 Flow Pro, but more like a worthy alternative that certain users might prefer.

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DJI Osmo Mobile 6: Also consider

Insta360 Flow Pro
Despite being a relative newcomer to the smartphone gimbal space, Insta360’s compact foldable gimbal feels like the current model to beat – on tech at least. With excellent battery life, a power bank function and the ability to subject track when using third-party iPhone apps (or the native iPhone camera), it’s an impressive all-rounder, and only slightly more expensive than the Osmo Mobile 6.

DJI Osmo Mobile SE
Available for a significantly less than the Osmo Mobile 6, its DJI stablemate offers very similar features in a similar-sized product, including ActiveTrack 6.0 and the magnetic phone clamp. Interestingly, its battery life is slightly better than the Osmo Mobile 6’s, but it lacks the extendable selfie stick and doesn’t quick launch (i.e. immediately turn on when unfolded).

Should I buy the DJI Osmo Mobile 6?

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How I tested the DJI Osmo Mobile 6

• One week of use
• Tested with iPhone 13
• Used for B-roll and vlogs

I spent a week using the Osmo Mobile 6 in a variety of situations with my iPhone 13. I tested out all of the video and photo modes available in the Mimo app in both outdoor and indoor situations, and found the OM 6’s compact size and lightweight build a great asset for on-the-go vlogging.

First reviewed August 2024