17 Best 360 Cameras — The Ultimate Buying Guide

Probably one of the best 360 cameras for action sports out there. It has motion stabilization keeping the horizon level no matter what you’re doing. It’s easy to attach to a bike, helmet, or any other piece of equipment you might be needing. Although, it is a little strange that the camera itself isn’t waterproof, so you’ll need to get a case.

Seriously high quality 5.7K video with 4 channel audio. Of course it has an integrated GPS, but it’s waterproof feature is great for action videographer as it goes up to 33 feet. It provides internal stitching which is great but only up 4K, and Mac software doesn’t support 5.7K. It’s a solid, well-built camera, but it might be wise to take a look at a few other 360 cameras that provide similar features for a lower price.

The Madv Mini is a smartphone 360 camera. It’s great for anyone looking to take solid 360 footage on-the-go without breaking the bank. It transfers video and photos straight to your phone for a seamless workflow. It has lower resolution comparatively to its competitors, but it’s also in a completely different price bracket.

Theta gives us another awesome option but now for the intermediate action or professional photographer. It’s quickly becoming the go-to for businesses who use virtual tours, and in the video above, you can see why, what the camera can capture. It yields very realistic spherical 4K video, and is equipped with four microphones, which can record sound from four different directions.

Aleta S2C is a 360 degree camera that is exclusively designed for super high resolution 360 photos. It’s especially useful for real estate, interior design, or commercial type photography.  It has 66 megapixels, and can capture a 7 shot exposure bracket with identical stitching.

This camera is a lot of fun. Make sure to watch the video above to see the differences between this extremely affordable 360 camera and one of the best cameras on the market - the Insta360 One X. The Penguin shoots 4k video at 30fps, but it can shoot up to 6K at 12fps, which is awesome. It doesn’t measure up to the stability of the One X, but it’s also almost half the price. The Penguin has one of the best overall values. It also has incredible live streaming capabilities.

This camera can only take pictures. As of the summer of 2019, The Xphase Pro S is the highest resolution 360 camera. It has 25 sensors, each with 8 megapixels, for a total resolution of 200 megapixels.

Semi-pro 360 camera that has great value for not only price but video quality. At 5.7K resolution, it yields some of the best footage ever seen.  It’s not nearly as sleep as its competitors, but at its core, is a solid choice. If you’re looking to shoot more outdoors, be careful as it’s not weather resistant. It also has a tendency to overheat. The 5.7K video must be stitched on desktop software, which is a bit of a letdown. It’s also a fairly limiting software. But again, the camera itself, is pretty incredible.

The Samsung Gear actually comes from 2017, but it’s a 360 camera that belongs as much as everything else! It has made huge improvements from the 2016 version.  It’s one of the best cameras to use pair with your phone, because the app and camera are just so easy to use. Shoot, view, and share in just a few seconds. With built-in internal stitching, you can go live whenever you’re feeling up for letting the world in. It has an easy-to-grip camera body, and you’ll want to take it everywhere you go. It has an external microSD card that can hold up to 256GB of storage. While some action adventurers may often lean towards GoPro, if you’re a beginner or beginner enthusiast, it’s 4K video is perfect for the price point.

Made by an unknown company, Pisofttech, the Pilot Era is a debatable purchase. It’s a VR camera that can record videos and photos up to 8K, can livestream in 4K without a computer, and can even stitch together footage without any extra software. All of which, is pretty incredible. It’s rectangular body allows for four fish-eye cameras, with gyroscope stabilization, but the lenses are low quality. In fact, for the price point especially, the lenses really need an upgrade, and the results just pale in comparison to its competitors. There is a screen on the camera itself, which is nice, but another common downside discussed by users is its perpetual glitchiness.

Quite the upgrade from the Ricoh Theta S, (which I didn’t add to this list) several years earlier, this 360 camera can now capture 4K video, 4K live streaming, and even spatial audio with its four microphone system. It’s Android-based, with WiFi, bluetooth, and competitive battery life compared to other 360 video cameras.

If you liked the sound of the GoPro Fusion, meet the sleeker version of it. You can shoot in 5.6K at 30fps (bumping up the frame rate from the Fusion), now equipped with livestream capabilities. It’s waterproof now up to 16 feet, with all of the dressings as before. It has GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, a gyroscope, and six microphones. The LCD screen allows you to view your footage instantly, unlike the Fusion. The Fusion also needed two SD cards to work, whereas the Max requires only one, making it less of a hassle to use, and slightly cheaper.

GoPro has redefined adventure photography and videography. Capturing 360 video in 5.2K resolution at 30fps upon its original release, it’s since upgraded to 5.6K in 24 fps. It also offers something called OverCapture. OverCapture is an editing feature that allows you to take 360 video and crop it and watch it in traditional fixed-frame video. It creates standard 16:9 from your footage. The Fusion is equipped with GPS, 4 microphones, accelerometer, gyroscope, WiFi, and much more. This came out first, before the GoPro Max, which we’ll take a look at next.

Similar to the Insta360 EVO, the Vuze is able to record both 360 video and 3D VR videos. It has pop-out lenses and shoots video at 5.7K. It’s a really solid camera with competitive image quality, but the biggest downside is its app’s editing capabilities. You can get some great footage, but it’s hard to do anything with it.

If you’re into experimental videography, the Insta360 One has some really fun video modes that can help you stand out. If you’ve ever seen The Matrix, the iconic “bullet time” effect is available. The camera offers this fast frame-rate, slow-mo setting, that has you wave the camera around you on a piece of string. But of course, this video camera can handle standard 360 video and 4K video quality is excellent. It also features something called FreeCapture, which functions the same as OverCapture in the GoPro Fusion, bringing 360 footage into standard 16:9 for regular viewing.

The great thing about the EVO is that it can function as more than a standard 360 degree camera. While it has back-to-back fisheye lenses, it also has a hinge design, which allows for the lenses to sit next to each other. This allows them to shoot 3D VR content with a 180 degree field of view. It’s pretty great, though it’s not nearly as pocket-size as the Insta360, and you do need a solid VR headset to experience the perks of capturing the 3D content. The battery life, like the 360, could be better.

Based on price, resolution, and overall video quality, the Insta360 One X is the best 360 camera available right now. It has the highest resolution possible for this price range at 5.7K, and it’s smooth image stabilization system, makes it one of the most full-featured cameras on the map. It has dual fisheye lenses and some unique time-shift settings only amplified by it’s incredible app editing software.

Up Next

Choosing the Right Camera Lens

No need to worry about lenses with 360 devices, but it’s unlikely you’re only using omnidirectional cameras for everything. So, next up, we have a complete guide to anything and everything lenses, so you can make the most informed decision for you. 

Up Next: Choose the Right Lens →