DJI Osmo Nano review: High-quality video in a truly tiny action cam

DJI might be an innovative company, but it has been playing catch-up to rival Insta360 in the action cam world. A perfect example of that is its latest product, the Osmo Nano ($299). It follows a path Insta360 paved with its tiny Go Ultra and Go 3S, which let you separate the cam from the display to shoot with the least weight possible. Like those, the Nano’s tiny camera can be detached from the screen and easily worn to record activities ranging from extreme watersports to cat cam videos.

The Osmo Nano isn’t quite a copy-paste of its rival, though. Rather than inserting the camera into the flip up screen housing like the Go Ultra, the Nano’s screen magnetically clips to the bottom of the camera so you can point it forward to capture action or backward for vlogging. While it still lags behind its rival in some areas, DJI’s Osmo Nano is a solid first attempt at a mini-sized camera thanks to its excellent video quality.

A small size designed for daily activities

With its lightweight detachable camera that can be clipped to your head or worn on your body like a pendant, the Nano can be used in everyday activities like hiking or swimming — with the latter possible thanks to its 33 foot (10 meter) underwater rating. It’s also small enough to be attached to kids and pets to create a visual journal of their activities. At the same time, when attached to the Vision Dock that houses the screen, the Nano functions like a normal action camera.

With that in mind, size is key. The Osmo Nano camera is built from lightweight translucent plastic and weighs just 1.83 ounces (52 grams) by itself. That’s about the same as the Insta360 Go Ultra but a touch heavier than the Go 3S. Its capsule-like shape is similar to the Go 3S (but a bit bigger), while the Go Ultra is more rounded. All of that is to say that the Nano is incredibly small and light compared to a GoPro Hero 13 or DJI’s Action 5 Pro — I barely felt it when using the new headband accessory

They attach together in two ways, with the screen facing either forward or backward, using DJI’s magnetic mount that it’s used for a few years now. Together they weigh 4.37 ounces, still less than a regular action camera. The Vision Dock can wirelessly control the camera without being connected, to a distance of 33 feet. The mount also allows the Nano to connect to DJI’s family of accessories, including a new hat clip and lanyard.

Steve Dent for Engadget

During my testing, the camera and module were easy to connect in either direction thanks to the magnets and latches. To switch from vlogging to the front view, though, you need to detach and reconnect the Vision Dock. Insta360’s system is better, as it just takes a flip of the X5’s screen to change modes.

The difference in camera module sizes can be explained by the sensors. Where the Go 3S has a small 1/2.3-inch sensor, both the Nano and Go Ultra have larger 1/1.3-inch sensors that take up more space but work better in low light. As for optics, the Nano uses an ultra wide angle lens with a 143-degree field of view, giving you the ability to switch between ultra wide and dewarped (square) video. The Go Ultra is slightly wider at 156 degrees, while the Go 3S’s FOV is 125 degrees. I found the Nano’s field of view to be an ideal compromise between the two.

Controls and features

The only physical control on the Nano is the record/power button, with the Vision Dock holding everything else. DJI’s typical screen swiping and tapping actions are used to select things like voice control and screen brightness, along with video resolution, frame rate, RockSteady stabilization and D-LogM capture. Once you get used to swiping and tapping on such a small display, these menus are responsive and let you change settings quickly. However, the navigation isn’t particularly intuitive so settings require some time to learn.

As with other recent DJI products, the Osmo Nano has generous built-in memory, with 64GB (transfers at 400 MB/s) and 128GB (at 600 MB/s) options. Note that those speeds don’t affect video quality; they’re only the rates at which you can transfer footage to your PC. This internal memory is convenient as it means you don’t need to dig around for a microSD card and it makes offloading faster. That said, it’s nice to have a microsSD slot as well — the Go Ultra only has a microSD storage option, and the Go 3S only has internal memory.

Each module has its own non-removable battery with 530mAh and 1,300mAh capacities for the camera and Vision Dock respectively. Those allow operating times of up to 90 minutes for the camera alone, or 200 minutes when paired with the screen module, according to DJI. In comparison, Insta360’s Go Ultra camera can run for 70 minutes or a maximum of 200 minutes when docked to the display.

Steve Dent for Engadget

Note that those specs only apply when recording in 1080p at 24p. When shooting with the Nano at a more typical setting of 4K 60p, I found that battery life was less than half that, around 35 minutes for the camera alone. However, that rose to 49 minutes when using DJI’s endurance mode, with RockSteady stabilization enabled but Wi-Fi turned off. I also noticed that when I shot in 4K at 50p or higher with the camera alone, it shut down after 20 minutes of continuous recording due to overheating.

The Nano’s camera has no USB-C input so it must be connected to the docking station for charging. However, the docking station alone can fast charge the Nano camera to an 80 percent battery in 20 minutes. It takes about 20 minutes to charge both devices together to 80 percent, and 60 minutes for a full charge — 20 minutes more than the Go Ultra.

Other key features include voice and gesture control (tapping or nodding) to start recording, timelapse and Pre-Rec to save footage taken just before the record button is pressed. Insta360’s Go 3S does have a couple of features not found on the Nano, namely Find Me for iPhone if it’s lost and Dolby Vision HDR support.

The Nano can also be controlled using the DJI Mimo smartphone app, though the Vision Dock’s remote control makes that unnecessary most of the time. That app also lets you edit video, but Insta360’s Studio app is superior for that thanks to its more complete editing toolkit and Shot Lab AI module that lets you do some neat effects with little-to-no work required. DJI is definitely well behind its rival in this area.

Video and image quality

A big selling point of the DJI Nano is that it produces high-quality video with faster frame rates than rival cameras. You can capture 4K at up to 60 fps, or 120 fps in slow motion mode, compared to just 4K 30 fps for the Go 3s. It also supports full sensor 4:3 4K video at up to 50 fps. The Go Ultra maxes out at 60 fps at 16:9 4K and 30 fps at 4:3 4K.

Thanks to the big 1/1.3-inch sensor, video is bright and sharp straight out of the camera when shooting in daylight. DJI has improved the color performance compared to its older products, with hues that are more natural. Where sharpening was overly aggressive on models like the Action 5 (which makes video look artificial) DJI has toned that down on the Osmo Nano. And if you don’t like the default application, you can change it in the settings.

Like the Action 5 Pro, the Nano can shoot video with 10-bits of color in both D-LogM and regular modes. The latter gives users extra dynamic range without having to mess with tricky log settings. My preference is still to shoot D-LogM then apply DJI’s LUT in post. That yields more natural colors and gives you up to 13.5 stops of dynamic range in challenging lighting conditions, like tree-lined trails on a sunny day.

The larger sensor also makes the Osmo Nano superior to the Go 3S and about equal to the Insta360’s Go Ultra in low light. When I shot nighttime cityscapes and in indoor bars, it delivered clean video with relatively low noise. For even lower light situations, both the Nano and Go Ultra have night shooting modes called SuperNight and PureVideo, respectively. Both work well if you don’t move the camera too fast, due to the fact that they combine multiple frames into one. If I moved the camera too rapidly, it caused motion blur and other issues. The Insta360 Go Ultra is slightly better in this regard.

DJI’s RockSteady 3.0 reduces camera shake in normal daylight shooting conditions, though it’s not quite up to GoPro’s canny smoothing algorithms. When I tested it while walking, stabilization fell apart a bit in night shooting due to the lower shutter speeds, with noticeable blur and pixelization over sharp jolts and bumps. To avoid that, it’s best to boost the ISO level and shutter speed manually. The company’s HorizonBalancing, meanwhile, reliably corrects tilting up to 30 degrees to keep video level.

As with DJI’s other recent action cams, the Osmo Nano connects to the company’s Mic 2, Mic 3 and Mic Mini via its proprietary OsmoAudio direct connection. That offers higher quality and a more reliable connection than Bluetooth, while allowing you to use two mics at the same time for interviews or multiperson action scenarios. The Nano also has dual built-in microphones for stereo recording, but in my testing, the tinny audio was only good enough for ambient sounds and not voices.

Wrap-up

Steve Dent for Engadget

It’s interesting to watch DJI try to catch up to another company for a change. With the Nano, it leaned on its camera experience and mostly matches or beats its main rival in terms of video quality. However, the company is still lagging behind in a few areas, particularly its editing app — something that’s important for many creators.

DJI seems to be aware of that and priced the Nano much cheaper than rivals. The Nano costs $299 (€279 and £239 in Europe) for the 64GB combo and $329 for the 128GB combo (€309/£259), both of which include the Vision Dock, magnetic hat clip, magnetic lanyard, protective case, high-speed charging cable and dual-direction magnetic ball-joint adapter mount. That compares to €429 for the Insta360 Go Ultra, which has no built-in memory and includes fewer accessories, and €400 for the Go 3S with 128GB of internal storage.

Update September 23, 2025 at 8:50AM ET: The review has been updated to reflect US availability. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/dji-osmo-nano-review-high-quality-video-in-a-truly-tiny-action-cam-120040319.html?src=rss