In a market where small gimbals are more common than ever, while at the same time phones are getting better and better at stabilising their shots, where does the Hohem iSteady M7 sit? The answer will depend on what kind of production you’re working on, how much additional equipment you’re willing to take with you, and the kinds of shots you’d like to capture. If you’re firmly in the realm of pro cameras, this isn’t for you, but if you’re happy to incorporate shots from phones or action cameras, it could be.

The pro landscape is changing, so let’s dig in.

Hardware basics

At first glance, the Hohem iSteady M7 looks like a smaller RS3 Mini (intended for lighter mirrorless cameras) rather than a traditional smaller phone gimbal (like the Insta360 Flow Pro, DJI OSMO Mobile 6, or the iSteady X3). This is not a tiny collapsible gimbal that slides into a jacket pocket. Like most larger gimbals, it will take up a fair amount of space in your bag, though it does ship in an attractive, travel-friendly zip-up case.

As with most gimbals, the included front trigger can perform a few tricks when repeatedly pressed, or if held down. Holding it locks the gimbal at its current direction, but if you press it four times to toggle Wide Angle Mode, the M7 performs gimbal gymnastics to send the horizontal arm in front of or behind the mounted phone. This allows you to achieve lower tilting angles than other gimbals, and can be useful.

On the side of the gimbal you’ll find a smooth, well-damped control wheel, and while you can hook this up to focus, this trick only works in the Hohem Joy app, and since there’s no focus peaking in that app, it’s hard to use for this purpose. However, the wheel can also be set to control pan (or tilt, or roll) giving you a smooth way to manually control movement in addition to the joystick.

Opposite the wheel, a ¼-20 socket and a locking pin makes it possible to rig the gimbal up with an added arm, or to accommodate a monitor, a USB hub, or an external battery. Another ¼-20 socket on the top is perfect for attaching a mic receiver without restricting gimbal movement. Like the Insta360 Flow Pro, this gimbal allows full 360° pans, so you can walk completely around it without hitting any limits.

Similar to the RS3 Mini, a separate tripod is included, rather than being built in, though like the smaller gimbals, a selfie-stick-style extension tube is included mid-way up the gimbal — just pull it out from the base. Locks on the arms (again, very similar to the RS3 Mini) do mean that you can keep them stationary during transit, and while balancing is necessary, only one axis needs to be adjusted.

On the downside, because the bottom of a mounted phone needs to slide in as far as possible, if you do want to connect accessories, you’ll probably need a right-angle USB-C adaptor. Switching between portrait and landscape requires powering down and manually rotating the clamp. It’s not hard, but adds friction, and if you switch orientation constantly, that could be a pain.

A heavier, more serious phone gimbal

In terms of weight, the Hohem iSteady M7 sits neatly between lighter phone gimbals and heavier gimbals like the DJI RS3 Mini. While the M7 looks more like the RS3 Mini than the Insta360 Flow Pro, its weight sits in between.

As compensation, the M7’s payload capacity is higher than smaller phone gimbals, able to manage not just a phone, but phone with a few accessories attached. If you want to stabilise your phone with a mic receiver and an SSD attached, you’ll have a much easier time here than with something lighter. Very interestingly, the M7 is also a great choice to stabilize an action camera like the Insta360 Ace Pro, turning an action camera into a larger, more capable DJI Pocket. Anything under 500g that’s roughly the width of a phone should be able to solidly clamp into place, and as the orientation of the clamp can be changed, you can point it any way you need to.

As a comparison, here’s a handy table of the gimbals I have here:

A removable sensor and remote control

Like the previous iSteady M6, the iSteady M7 includes an AI vision sensor that magnetically attaches to the top of the gimbal. By recognizing your hand signals, this sensor enables tracking no matter what camera or phone you have mounted, so you’re free to use any phone app to record. (While the Insta360 Flow Pro’s DockKit support also allows you to perform tracking in any app, it doesn’t allow you to use an action camera.)

The image from the AI sensor can be shown on the gimbal’s display to give you a good idea of what your phone’s capturing, even while your phone’s screen faces away from you. While tracking is usually marketed as a way for a solo creator to film themselves without help, I find it most useful as a way to smoothly orbit around an object. Set the gimbal to track an object, then walk in a circle or along a straight line near the object, and you’ll get great results.

Probably the best upgrade from the M6, and a clear win when comparing this gimbal to the competition, is that the gimbal’s touch screen, along with its joystick and nearby buttons, can be removed to become a wireless remote control. As the on-board record button can trigger recording in any phone app, the M7 lets mobile creators set down their camera, walk away, remotely reposition the shot and/or enable tracking, then start and stop recording.

What if it’s dark? The AI sensor includes not just a camera, but also a fill light, which makes filming at night less terrible. It’s also possible to control brightness, color temperature or RGB hue with the gimbal’s wheel, which opens up a few more possibilities. (Be sure to watch the Hohem Joy app’s tutorial videos to get the most out of all the controls.)

Performance 

How well does this gimbal actually do its job? Well, while it does take a little longer to set up than the Insta360 Flow Pro, the more powerful motors allow for more significant movement to be compensated for. If you’re moving slowly and carefully, either gimbal can work, but running with fast turns is better on the M7. Neither gimbal can counter for bouncy steps, so you’ll still need to walk like a ninja.

Tracking performance is pretty good on both gimbals. You can put either one down, then go for a walk and expect to stay in shot. The Hohem’s more traditional design gives it a wider tilt range, so you’ll be able to pull off a wider range of shots more easily. It also complained a lot less when transitioning to a low angle for a ground level shot, and gave smooth results.

The joystick on the Hohem allows for variable speed movement, so you’ll be able to achieve more subtle control. It’s not quite as nicely damped as the RS3 Mini, but a step up over the fixed speed control on the Insta360 Flow Pro. While I had some issues with panning stability using the joystick, Hohem support was prompt and fixed the problem with a firmware update — it’s good to know help is available if you encounter trouble.

Although a few useful “trick” modes are included, the star is probably the ability to set a start point and an end point for an automatic, repeatable camera move. Simply move the gimbal to one position, then hold the A button to record it. Move to another position, then hold B to record that too. Now, use the touch screen to set the duration of the move and to trigger it. This is quicker and easier to use than similar features on the RS3 Mini, and takes an element of unpredictability out of repeated takes. However, I would like to see more options for the duration, as there’s currently a 15 second minimum.

Conclusion

The Hohem iSteady M7 takes a unique position in a crowded gimbal marketplace. For video professionals who want to add tracking to not just phones but also action cameras, this could be a great option — though it’s probably not a great replacement if you like to end your pans crisply. It will (of course) give you smooth moving shots with any camera under 500g, and with a much lighter total weight than any mirrorless. 

However, on more casual shoots, such as a day out with the family where you might steal a few B-roll shots on the side, a lighter, less serious gimbal might still be the best choice. If the added weight and size of the Hohem iSteady M7 means you wouldn’t take it with you, a gimbal that fits in your pocket might work better — but that’s going to be a personal call. 

You might wonder: if you’re into serious gimbal territory, why not just buy one larger gimbal that can also handle more serious cameras? Besides the lighter weight (of the gimbal and the overall gimbal + camera package) the M7’s AI sensor means it’s much better at tracking and the remote really is useful. The RS3 Mini may be great at smoothing out moving shots and providing fine joystick control, but the RS3 Mini can’t track people on its own, and you may need to add some weight to a light camera to hit the 400g minimum payload. 

To sum up, then: the Hohem plus an action cam or a phone is lighter than an RS3 Mini plus a mirrorless camera, gives you more flexibility about what you mount on it than smaller phone-only gimbals, provides good controls over camera movement, and lets you track people and objects, no matter what app or camera you want to use. If you’re happy to make the space and carry the extra weight, this is a solid, flexible gimbal worth considering.

Hohem iSteady M7 (official product page) MSRP $299 (price updated 2025-02-17)