Insta360 Nano S

Insta360 is updating its Nano model for 2022. The Nano S ($239.99) is a bit more than expensive, but it also does a bit more than the average 360 camera. In addition to shooting spherical video, it supports a cropped view (first seen in the Insta360 Ane), live streaming, and chat with a new split-screen manner. Nosotros haven't had a chance to exam it yet, only can share preliminary thoughts.

Design

The Nano S follows the design cues of its predecessor. It's an improver camera for iPhones, fitting onto models from the iPhone 6 generation and upward. Information technology connects via the Lightning port and hugs the back of our phone, then you can't use it with a case.

Insta360 is selling the Nano Southward in black or silverish. Its form factor is identical to the original Nano, so it measures about iv.3 past 1.3 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and weighs about 2.5 ounces.

A companion app controls the camera and gives yous access to its total bevy of capture and editing features. Yous can use the camera on its own—it has an internal battery and saves footage to a microSD card—but to do anything with the footage, you demand a phone.

Video Features

The Nano S is a 360-degree video camera, and as such, information technology records the unabridged world effectually yous, at 4K resolution. That'southward an upgrade from the 3K quality offered by the Nano, and nosotros hope it improves the overall wait of the footage. But you have to call up that 4K stretched out to cover the sphere surrounding the camera is not going to expect nearly equally crisp as 4K footage captured with a traditional camera and constrained to a sixteen:9 frame.

Like the Insta360 Ane, released terminal year, the Nano S lets yous do more with the 360-caste footage than simply trim and upload it to YouTube or Facebook for navigable viewing. It supports FreeCapture, which is similar in concept to what the GoPro Fusion and Rylo do. You can ingather into a 16:9 frame, panning and zooming through to directly the viewer to a certain part of the scene. When I tested the feature with the Insta360 One information technology was a bit clunky to use and the finished video was underwhelming in quality, only that was with beta software and hardware. I'll accept a look at it again when the Nano S is available for review to see if the company has made strides in improving the feature.

There's also MultiView, which is a split-screen choice, similar to what we often saw in the Kiefer Sutherland opus, 24. Insta360 says there are five different layouts available to apply in the app, and that MultiView can be used for editing, live streaming, and conversation.

Yes, chat. That's new to the Nano South. Insta360 wants yous to FaceTime your friends, but using its app, and in 360 degrees. The Nano South app can send conversation invitations via text or iMessage, with the recipient using a web portal to view the video feed. You can share a navigable 360-degree frame, or a flat MultiView collage. In improver to calling, live streaming is available for Facebook, Periscope, and YouTube.

The photographic camera too stabilizes video, using your phone's gyroscope to analyze and remove shake from footage. All the same capture is besides available, at 20MP resolution.

Commencement Impressions

On paper, the Insta360 Nano S is an upgrade to the original Nano. Information technology offers more resolution, boosted editing and streaming features, and chat, all absent from its predecessor. It does price more, past nigh $twoscore, and at that place are other cameras on the market that sell for less. 1 of those is our Editors' Pick, the 2022 version of the Samsung Gear 360. We'll wait to test the Nano South to see how it compares.