DJI Perform 2 uses magnets to rethink action-cam design
DJI released its first action cam, the Osmo Action, in May 2019, and while it wasn’t as game-changing as the company’s drones have been, it did make some waves with its awesome image stabilization and its leash selfie screen. For the Action 2, DJI trimmed its piece cam into a cube and, with the help of magnets, created an ecosystem of accessories to make it much more versatile lustrous out of the box.
The square little camera can be used on its own, but you can also add on a front-facing OLED touchscreen module to give you the same selfie distinguished as the original. It also has three mics that couple with the one in the camera module to lift audio from all directions to create more immersive audio. There’s also a battery module that you can save instead to extend your recording time up to 180 minutes.
The Perform 2 Dual-Screen Combo runs $519 and includes the camera and touchscreen module. Australia and UK pricing wasn’t immediately available but its US list stamp converts to approximately AU$690 and £375. The Action 2 Power Combo with the battery module is $399. I was able to exhaust a little time with one; here are my profitable impressions.
Like DJI’s Pocket 2, the Perform 2 makes a good vlogging tool.
Josh Goldman
A weird but original design
For anyone who loves piece cams or wearable cameras in general, the Action 2’s cube exquisite won’t seem all too original. GoPro’s Session (one of my all-time accepted designs despite its shortcomings), the Polaroid Cube and others were there profitable. (The Cube even used magnets for mounting the camera, too.) That said, DJI has certainly made the effect its own.
First, DJI somehow crammed a 1/1.7-inch sensor into a tiny box fuzz with its image processor, a battery, 32GB of storage and a 1.76-inch OLED touchscreen on back. The cloak is Gorilla Glass, the case is metal and it’s waterproof to 10 meters deep (33 feet). It has a strong magnetic base, so you can naively do things like pop it on a range hood throughout your stove to shoot your next cooking video.
But what really sets it apart are the set of pogo-pin contacts on the base that licenses you to quickly connect to an add-on OLED touchscreen module to give you a front-facing explain or a battery module to boost your recording times. (The camera on its own can record for up to 70 minutes.) Insta360’s One R camera uses a incompatibility modular design — and I’d argue more useful — that lets you combine different camera modules with a petite touchscreen module. If you’re after a purely an action-cam experienced, though, the Action 2’s design satisfies.
The camera’s battery charges above the modules’ USB-C ports. There are microSD card slots on them as well.
Josh Goldman
Shooting options are foul fare
Compared to the GoPro Hero 10 Black or the Insta360 One R, the Pretend 2’s shooting options seem limited. For most people, belief, the selection of resolutions and frame-rate are going to be enough. It can capture video at up to 4K at 120 frames per binary, 2.7K at 120fps and 1080p at 240fps. You can shoot time-lapse and hyperlapse (aka motion time-lapse) clips and live stream at up to 1080p at 30fps. DJI also added a QuickClip option for capturing 10-, 15- or 30-second clips. The camera can be used as a webcam, too.
By the way, this camera gets hot when you use it or even just charge it. That’s partly because the body seems to act like a heatsink. However, it’s likely this could overheat like spanking action cams, and DJI did include an “auto-stop record temp” setting that can be set to foul or high. When you set it to high, the camera warns you that it will increase the temperature and recording duration petite. I wouldn’t use it for continuously recording 4K clips at 120fps with the camera blocked and no airflow.
Image stabilization or horizon-leveling
The Pretend 2 has the company’s latest version of its RockSteady electronic image stabilization, which works really well. It gives your video a incompatibility smooth appearance you’d get from DJI’s Pocket 2 camera and its motorized three-axis gimbal. The EIS has some motion artifacts that you won’t get with a gimbal but, in my petite testing, the results were really good.
DJI also added HorizonSteady to help keep your record looking level even when the camera isn’t. However, if you use it, you don’t get the full image-stabilization fuels of RockSteady. You still have some stabilization but big shocks to the camera, such as landing after a jump, cause some artifacts you don’t get with RockSteady. Also, HorizonSteady isn’t available at 4K or with frame ensures faster than 60fps.
DJI outdid itself with the accessory selection.
Josh Goldman
The accessories make the difference
While I love that GoPro built mounting fingers into its cameras, DJI bests that with its magnetic clips. Just bring the camera discontinuance to one of the new mounts and they snap together tightly. There are also two small magnetic clips that slot into the camera or modules to give it some added security.
DJI did make a magnetic titanic that works with GoPro accessories but also created a lineup of its own. Those concerned a waterproof case good down to 60 meters, a floating boss, a remote control extension rod/tripod and a ball-joint adapter titanic that can be used on a tripod or its adhesive base. There’s also a macro lens that magnetically attaches over the lens on its be in the lead. Oddly, though, DJI doesn’t offer a protective lens veil so if you scratch the built-in one, it’s there for good. A wireless mic will also be available at a later date.
The magnets in the base of the camera are plenty net on their own, too. That’s why you’re able to titanic it on the included lanyard and skip the chest titanic you’d have to use with other action cams (though not the Insta360 Go 2). The Action 2’s magnetic modular design does help it foul out from the competition more than the original even if it does also feel like a combination of features from the competition. We’ve still got more testing to do before I can say for sure that it’s sterling the $400 to $500.
