The Insta360 GO 3 is a camera that’s about the size of a human thumb and weighs just 35 grams. This supersedes the Insta360 GO 2 that weighed even less, but the GO 3 is still light and small enough that you can hide it nearly anywhere, and the new Action Pod works as a wireless monitor. If you or your clients occasionally need the flexibility to capture a shot from a perspective that a regular action camera can’t, this might be worth a serious look. Let’s review, through five words.

Tiny

The camera itself — the thumb-sized lozenge-y part — is really, really small and unobtrusive. It’s waterproof, and can be thrown around and probably dropped a few times. When it’s not in use, and sometimes when it is, it sits neatly in the front of its Action Pod, which makes it look very much like a GoPro-style action camera in white. It’s still small, just not as totally svelte as the camera alone. It doesn’t even matter if you mount it sideways or vertically — the sensor is square.

The Action Pod is important: it has a flippable touchscreen, it has a battery that charges the camera, real hardware buttons on the sides, and a USB-C port to connect to a computer or charge the Action Pod. The touchscreen allows you to change all the camera’s settings as well as providing a live view of whatever the camera is seeing, whether it’s recording or not. As with the previous iterations of the camera, you can connect a phone app to change settings if you wish, but I find messing with phone apps can add friction on set. While the app is good, and the editing features are handy for consumers, the Action Pod’s screen is quick and responsive.

Because the camera and the Action Pod don’t need to stay connected, you can pop the camera out, mount it wherever you can fit it, walk away a few meters, and still see the image on the Action Pod’s screen. That’s an excellent feature, and it means you’ll have a much easier time framing your shots than you would on almost any other camera. Even better, finding a spot for the camera is easy, because it’s…

Magnetic

Yep, the back of the camera has strong magnets in it, and matching magnets in the Action Pod mean that when you pop the camera into it, there’s a firm snap. In fact, while the camera is waterproof, and the Action Pod is only splashproof, it’s only splashproof while the camera is actually inserted — so those magnets are important. While the magnets provide an instant lock-in snap, in a change from the GO 2, there is a further locking mechanism on the GO 3. You’ll need to hold a small release switch on the side of the pod to release the camera.

The joy of a tiny camera is magnified when you can set up a weird angle quickly, and you’ll be searching for metal everywhere, just so you can attach this thing and press the button on the front. Want a shot of the fridge door being opened from the fridge door itself? Done. How about a camera mounted on that metal pole? It takes one second to click the camera there.

One of the nicest tricks is that the GO 3 comes with a magnetic necklace pendant (of adjustable length) to be worn under a shirt. The camera sticks securely to your chest, and an included silicon wedge can be magnetically stuck to the back of the pendant to angle the camera up or down. I’ve also used the magnetic accessory from a RØDE Wireless GO (no relation) to attach the camera to frankly ridiculous objects, like a pane of glass, a lampshade or a curtain. No suction cups needed, no time taken. 

As fun and convenient as magnets are, sometimes you need an attachment with a bit more security. Luckily, this camera is certainly…

Mountable

Neither the camera nor the Action Pod include a ¼-20 tripod socket, but it’s still easy to mount. In the box, you’ll find not just the magnetic pendant, but also:

• a magnetic clip-on mount suitable for attaching the camera to a thin surface like a hat’s brim
• a magnetic ¼-20 tripod mount adapter/QR plate that pivots to any angle
• a sticky pad with a ¼-20 screw, suitable for ceiling and wall-mounting

The ¼-20 adapter is actually genius; it not only snaps in magnetically, but includes locking feet at the bottom to hold the camera in firmly — the same mechanism that the Action Pod uses to lock the camera inside.

The really clever part is that the Action Pod itself can lock into the same mount as the camera itself can. So, if you’ve been recording for a while with the camera and you’re running low on charge, you can quickly release it, pop it into the Action Pod, then pop the Action Pod straight back onto the same mount. Brilliant.

If you want more, there’s a range of additional mounting accessories available. There’s a “monkey tail” twisty-grippy-bendable mount for attaching the camera (or Action Pod) to just about anything, a silicon wrist band, a dive case, and the same invisible selfie stick used with Insta360’s range of 360 cameras works really well to extend the reach of the GO 3. You can also buy a slimmer quick release mount, without the swivelling head but with a flip-out GoPro-compatible screw mount. If you’ve invested in a bunch of GoPro mounts already, this one is an easy recommendation — just make sure you’ve clicked the camera in securely.

So if it’s tiny, magnetic, and easy to mount, is it actually…

Capable

Yes, this camera can record images of a similar quality to other small-sensor action cameras, though it’s not 4K and not as detailed an image as the latest GoPro 12 — which is a much larger package. The maximum resolution is 2.7K (2720×1536 in landscape) and while there’s a decent amount of sharpening and color-boosting on board, you can turn all that off if you want to. It’s a small sensor, but it’s a really small camera, and that’s a fair trade.

All storage is on-board (32GB/64GB/128GB) so you’ll need to buy enough to cope with a day’s shooting and offload your footage when done. With a data rate of 45Mbps (that’s “High”) you’ll get just over an hour of full-quality recordings in 32GB. Depending on how much you plan to use it, I’d go for the 64GB or 128GB options. In the highest quality mode, I was able to record for 48 continuous minutes before the camera battery ran out and I had to dock it back into the Action Pod.

While the stabilization is excellent, the more you increase it, the more the image being sent to the Action Pod is delayed. If you’re shooting indoors, be sure to turn on Low Light Stabilization, otherwise the shutter speed can slow to the point where jitters result in a blurry frame. Also remember — it’s a small sensor, and small sensors need light. Stay outside or turn on all the lights for best results.

As is common with action cameras, you can use the default ultra-wide view, or crop and de-fish the image all the way to a regular, linear image. Although the sensor is orientation-agnostic, in the full-quality 2.7K “Video” recording mode, you do have to make your decision before recording — portrait, or landscape? This mode offers the best quality, and a choice of “normal” framerates: 24/25/30fps.

If you want both portrait and landscape at once, or you’re going to be doing extreme sports and need to keep the horizon level at all times, switch to the “FreeFrame” video mode instead. The maximum resolution drops a little (from 1536p to 1440p) as the maximum frame rate increases to 50fps, and the quality takes a slight hit. This mode does let you switch between landscape and portrait and use Horizon Lock, but you’ll need to process FreeFrame clips with either the mobile Insta360 app or the desktop Insta360 Studio. While this process is quick, if you’re planning on keeping the camera level and don’t need to change aspect ratio later, you may prefer to use the regular Video mode and skip processing entirely.

Note that when you do connect the Action Pod to your computer, you’ll see two files for every recording. The files starting with “LRV” are low-resolution previews, and you only need the larger “VID” files.

As well as the main two video modes, there’s slow-mo (1080p120), interval shooting, photo mode, HDR photo mode, timer recording, loop recording (where only the last part of the video is retained) and a few timelapse modes. Playing with time is always fun, and the provided apps certainly include a few special modes for fancy shots — even if most professionals will simply be attracted to this for its size and mounting advantages. For daytime timelapses, I prefer to just record regular video and then speed it up in post, but it’s good to have options.

It’s capable, then. What makes this thing…

Unique

Every camera out there represents some kind of compromise between capability, ease of use, image quality, resolution, frame rate, lens choice, price, size, weight, battery life, user interface and a hundred other considerations. Because no camera is perfect, most of us have developed some kind of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) problem that we can justify because a client needed us to own a piece of gear to capture a specific kind of shot. I might not use my drone very often, but when I need that perfect opening shot, nothing else will do.

Like a drone, the Insta360 GO 3 hits a spot that nothing else quite does — not even a GoPro. GoPros do offer higher resolutions, but they aren’t as easy to use, nor as flexible. I wouldn’t want to mount a GoPro to the front of my talent while they’re presenting a cooking lesson, but a GO 3 on the magnetic chest mount is nearly weightless, and less visually disruptive than a lapel mic. 

The audio quality, at least in lapel-mic position when chest-mounted, is really quite good (lucky, as you can’t attach an external mic) and it hasn’t overheated for me yet. Here’s some sample footage for you, mostly shot with the magnetic pendant mount, with sharpness, color and contrast mostly dialed down, but boosted in the final part of the video:

Previous versions of the GO didn’t include a screen on the Action Pod, and the new wireless-monitor workflows that the GO 3 enables are an important part of the package. Last time, it was just small. This time around, it’s still small, but you can see what it’s doing no matter where you hide it, and without having to use your phone.

Conclusion

This is not your new main A-cam, but it does inspire creativity, capturing fantastic new angles that you’d struggle to shoot any other way. It’s the “look at my hands” angle that doesn’t ruin other simultaneous angles, and which takes little effort to shoot. It’s instantly mountable to any ferrous metallic surface, or, with a magnet, any piece of fabric. It’s a camera that can attach to small pets. It’s an ultra-light selfie-cam you can put at the end of a long stick and poke into hard-to-reach places, without the exposed lenses of a 360 camera. It’s a behind-the-scenes camera for more serious shoots. It’s light enough to live in your kit bag, just in case “what if we…” inspiration strikes on set.

It’s 35g, and a whole new way to think about cameras. Check it out.

Insta360 GO 3: US$379.99

The Insta360 GO3 and accessories were provided for review. No payment was received.