This site uses income-earning affiliate links. When you click a link to a product on this website and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.
I told myself I was done buying cameras for a while after I got the much-anticipated Pocket 2 a few weeks ago, but when I saw the Osmo Action on a Black Friday sale for under $200, I really couldn’t resist. After all, my buddy Butler has been talking about how much he likes this camera for a while now, and after getting one, I totally understand why.
This thing is great as a vlog camera or a B camera. Video quality is really good, audio is good, the size is amazing, the front screen is great, everything about it just works really, really well, especially considering the price.
If you want an action camera or a cheap and easy vlog camera, this would probably be my very first choice.
The lens is wide enough that you don’t necessarily HAVE to put it on a selfie stick (unlike the Insta360 One R), and it’s legitimately small enough that you can actually, seriously, just slip it in your pocket. Not slip it in your pocket and look like you’re clearly smuggling a brick around, but like stick it in a jacket pocket and you’ll forget it’s there until you pull it out and start filming.
The front screen is also awesome, and I feel like better implemented than the Hero 9 Black. The Hero 9 tries to run both screens at once, and as a result, is reportedly pretty laggy on the front screen. The Osmo Action lets you switch screens with a quick press of a button, and as a result the front screen is fast.
As you can see in the above picture, it’s trivially easy to just hold the camera in your hand and still have a nice wide view so that you’re in the frame but also showing a pretty decent amount of background, even without any kind of selfie stick or extension pole. The combination of all these things makes this an excellent quick and easy vlogging rig.
The quality isn’t QUITE as good as the Pocket 2 with it’s larger sensor, but it’s still pretty good. If they update the Osmo Action with that larger sensor, that will be an instant-buy for me, but in the meantime, this is still a very solid choice for very little money.
