INSTA360 One RS 1-Inch 360 EDITION Review

In 2020, Insta360 began to bet on modular cameras. Instead of replacing its entire system with each product cycle, the company began making cameras that allowed owners to update a single part of the camera they already have. So, despite the fact that the last Insta360 camera, the 3rd edition of 1 inch RS, looks very different from its predecessor, the only RS, is based on the same processor and the Software customers Insta360 that they already have and know. It is an incredibly intelligent approach, but it depends largely on each modification that significantly improves experience in some way.

For this latest release, the company went big: dual 1-inch CMOS sensors. Together with the core of a previous camera, the added sensors combine with a larger battery and mounting case to create the most robust consumer 360 camera Insta360 has ever made. And also the most expensive, at a whopping $799.99.

For how large that sensor — and price tag — is, I was hoping for just as large of a jump in picture quality. Instead, the real jump came in how great Insta360’s software experience is and how great this camera feels to hold.

The One RS 1-inch 360 edition is made up of four parts: a plastic mounting bracket; a battery brick with a USB-C charging port, a ¼” tripod mount, and a USB-C plug to connect to the core; the main core piece with a USB-C port, an incredibly hard to reach micro SD card slot, and very responsive 1.3-inch touchscreen; and the dual 1-inch CMOS sensors and lenses. When all connected and assembled in the plastic housing, you have a 360-degree camera.

The new, larger lens mod creates a bit of a lip from the grip that not only proves to be a great resting spot for my thumb and pointer finger but also provides a perfect location for the power button, with the record button right underneath. There are also plastic side panels that display details about the sensor and the stabilization. It’s a great touch that makes good use of the space needed to hold those large sensors.

At 239 grams, the camera feels robust but is heavy, especially when it holds it in a selfie stick. Insta360 warns that for action sports, such as cycling, any selfie stick of more than four feet is not recommended. And I can feel why. This is the first time I thought your own Selfie stick should come with a wrist strap.

There is a rubber lens, but it still had a constant concern of one of these lenses, which cannot be replaced by the user, be crushed or cracked. The system also has a water -resistant IPX3 rating, which means that it should not immerse themselves in water. I have heard that there could be some lens protections, but for now, I would not deal with this as an action camera.

Insta360 sells a program for $79 that covers a one-time accidental damage repair and the shipping fees for one year after purchase. And for an additional cost, you can add Insta360’s Extended Warranty to cover unlimited free repairs and replacements due to product defects, not user error, for two years. But none of that feels comforting enough for a camera that weighs this much and is geared towards active use. I much prefer GoPro’s $50 per year subscription service that, in most cases, offers two replacements a year along with cloud storage and discounts on gear.

On the inside, there are dual 1-inch CMOS sensors capable of filming 6K 360-degree footage at 30fps or 3K footage up to 50fps. It can also capture 21mp 360 photos. That is the same size sensor that is in Sony’s RX100 line, a camera that many folks, including myself, love.

But it is not the only consumer 360 camera to have 1-inch sensors. Kandao’s QooCam 8k was launched in 2018 and Ricoh’s Theta Z1 in 2019 were equipped with similar size sensors. Both, however, ultimately produced underwhelming results despite their specs on paper and failed to gain popularity on a larger scale.

Insta360 claims that these larger sensors will make for better low light performance and provide more dynamic range than its previous consumer 360 cameras. And in low light, it’s just a bit better when compared to the ONE RS with the 5.7K 360 mod.

There is slightly more detail in the shadows. If we really pixel peep, there is a bit less noise, but the stabilization is absolutely much smoother. It’s not so different from its predecessor that I would rush out to buy it, though. And I was hoping to see a much larger jump in performance given that it has that much larger sensors.

On blue-sky days, though, these sensors really shine. Bright colors, such as the greens of trees or blue of the sky, are punchy and bright. And the image doesn’t feel over processed or too sharp. And, of course, everything is very stable, something I’ve come to expect from Insta360. I also noticed that the quality on the stitch line is a bit sharper than both the GoPro Max and the One RS 5.7K.

The mics on this camera sound great when there is no wind and are usable, though not perfect, when there is a breeze. If you want even better audio, Insta360 has a mic adapter that sits on the side of the camera where it is cropped out of your shot. There is both a ¼” mono mic port and a mount for holding a small wireless mic receiver such as the RODE Wireless Go II.

On the photo side there is an HDR mode that produces balanced images without looking too processed, but the downside is in how long these photos take to capture. You are looking at around 1.5 seconds to take a snapshot. I just ended up recording video and taking screengrabs instead. 

The most impressive thing about this camera, though, is its ability to stay paired to my phone and just how quickly I can review shots. The playback gets pixelated and laggy with long clips if they aren’t downloaded to my device, but for a quick review, it all works well enough. The camera also gets toasty to the touch but never hot enough that it would pose a problem if mounted on someone’s chest.

I gave the application to some people who are not video editors by trade and for those who are not naturally come, and there is a learning curve. The edition of this footage will still take practice, patience and time. Insta360 has not yet solved that problem.

However, the Insta360 desktop application has improved significantly with a better design and much more intuitive icons. The previous versions presented an archaic design that did not inspire me to edit the images. Now you can see miniatures of all your clips and continue editing them even when a clip is exported.

Because of its larger sensor, heavier weight, and polished app experience, the ONE RS 1-inch 360 edition feels like a breath of fresh air in a rather stagnant consumer 360 camera market. But unlike its predecessors, it is not an action camera. Not only does it have lots of glass asking to be scratched, but it also lacks the high frame rates, rugged build, and water-resistance of its counterparts: the GoPro Max and Insta360’s own One RS and One X2.

At $800 for the full system, which includes the core, mounting bracket, battery, and lenses, it is also very expensive. And I don’t feel this system’s minor upgrades in low light performance and resolution is worth almost double the price of what is already available.

For existing One R and One RS owners, the 1-inch 360 lens, battery, and mounting bracket are available for $650. Though, for One R users, I would wait till a bit more testing is done with that older core and this new system. The One R notoriously overheated when recording 360 footage, and I imagine processing this amount of data would cause similar problems.

However, I am excited about this camera. Not only does it feel much more powerful in my hand, but the Insta360 software has become so polished with the launch of each new product. And by putting a larger sensor in a camera that has not only gained significant popularity, but also, for the most part, has been limited to a smaller size, points out that competition in the 360 ​​consumer market is about to be much more exciting.