6 Pocket Gimbal Alternatives to the DJI Pocket 2 Action Camera

Interested in buying the latest pocket action camera gimbal by DJI, the DJI Pocket 2. If you want to see the comparison table, just head to the bottom of the article where you can compare all features and specs of the pocket gimbal cameras.

You've probably heard of this camera and the original pocket gimbal, the DJI Osmo Pocket. But did you know there are 5 other pocket gimbal style action cameras now on the market. All with different features and all come in cheaper than the DJI choices.

Before you make that purchase, here are a number of alternatives to the DJI Pocket 2 that we think you should consider before making your choice.

In this comparison article we look at the following alternatives to the DJI Pocket 2:

• Xiaomi Fimi Palm
• DJI Osmo Pocker (original pocket gimbal by DJI)
• Snoppa Vmate
• Keelead P6A
• Morange M1 aka the Xiaomi TikTok Action Camera
• Feiyu Tech Pocket

All 5 of these action cameras are very similar, hand-held pocket gimbal style cameras which all utilise a 3-axis motorised gimbal which pan, tilt and roll to stabilise the footage of the camera as you move.

Differences Between a Pocket Gimbal and Regular Action Camera

The difference between these and an action camera like GoPro is that the image stabilisation is done physically by the movement of the camera. The GoPro uses electronic image stabilisation where software in the camera works around the movement of the person holding the camera, crops the image and video in so that extreme shakiness can be avoided.

We believe that the pocket gimbal style action camera is without a doubt the superior camera for image stabilisation. For action shots, specifically when running or when the user filming is doing a lot of movement, the pocket gimbal will always create smoother footage than that using electronic image stabilisation, but for how long? The GoPro Hero 9 and other action cameras have incredible electronic image stabilisation now and for some movements nad activities, they could create similar footage to that of the pocket gimbals.

If or when the regular style action camera does improve upon the likes of the GoPro 9 image stabilisation, the gimbal style pocket action cameras can also utilise electronic stabilisation as well to further improve the smoothness of the footage, but that's a future query we're yet to get to with the current tech.

Pocket Gimbal Image Stabilisation

In a pocket gimbal, the stabilization is done by another piece of camera, the 3-axis motors, what the camera can see is not edited or manipulated in any way. Whereas the action camera like a GoPro or DJI Osmo Action will have to manipulate the video footage in a number of ways (like cropping), to get the stabilisation to work as the video is recording.

That is why you end up with accessories like the GoPro Max mods and wide angle lenses for the GoPro Hero 9 Black, because you can't have your cake and eat it.

In this scenario, you can't film in the widest field of views and use stabilisation at the same time, because the stabilisation works by cropping.

How does a pocket gimbal work? Imagine a pocket gimbal is like multiple tools, it's a camera on a mini-gimbal.

This does though mean, that although it's great for some action filming, it isn't entirely a do it all action camera, like that of a GoPro.

You can't take it underwater or film in wet environments. It definitely makes some action and sports filming easier and better, imagine mountain running on a fast descent with a pocket gimbal, you'll get fantastic footage compared to other action cameras.

But imagine trying to take it surfing, unless you know you aren't going to get wet and fall off your board, a pocket gimbal is not for you or for that sport.

Object and People Tracking

One other area these types of action cameras have over regular action cameras is that of object or people tracking.

For anyone who has used a camera drone before with smart tracking will know that this is a fantastic feature.

With this, you select the object or person you want to track, and as you move around, or the person your tracking does, the camera will follow them. The pocket gimbal is sat on a tripod mount, stand, or in your hand, you don't need to move, the camera will do that for you.

It does this by using the camera in collaboration with the 3-axis motors to pan, tilt, and roll which moves around to follow the person or object.

This is not possible with a regular action camera but is completely possible and just incredible for pocket gimbal cameras.

Differences Between The DJI Pocket 2 Alternatives

Even though these are all pocket gimbal action cameras and look almost identical, even up close, there are a number of differences between the alternatives.

Which Pocket Gimbal Has the Best Field of View

The Xiaomi Fimi Palm has the largest field of view of any pocket gimbal action camera at 128degrees.

If you're looking for the widest field of view of any alternatives to the DJI Pocket 2, this is the camera for you.

The DJI Pocket 2 has a field of view of just 93 degrees, this is a 13 degrees improvement over it's original but still much smaller than the offering of the Fimi Palm.

Which Pocket Gimbal Has The Best Price

The DJI Pocket 2 is the most expensive out of all the pocket gimbal action cameras at $399 brand new.

The Feiyu Tech Pocket, Fimi Palm and Keelead P6A are all about half the price of a DJI Pocket 2 at around $180 to $220 depending on sales and offers you can find online.

Pocket Gimbals With Slow Motion Video

If you're looking for slow motion footage and slow frame rates for your videography, here are some alternatives to the DJI Pocket 2 which can do 60fps, 90fps, 120fps and even slower frame rates.

The DJI Pocket 2 actually offers 1080p video at 240fps, are there any others that can do this?

Yes, there is! The Snoppa Vmate also offers 1080p at 240fps, so if this is a major requirement of yours, give this a look.

The original DJI Osmo Pocket and the Morange M1 (TikTok Pocket Camera) both can do 120fps at 1080p video resolution.

Which DJI Pocket 2 Alternative Has the Best Battery Life

If battery life is important to you, here are the two best pocket gimbal alternatives with the longest battery life.

The Feiyu Pocket has an incredible 270minutes battery life, which is 130 minutes, that's over 2 hours longer than the DJI Pocket 2 offers, with a battery life of 140 minutes.

The second best battery life is that of the Fimi Palm which offers a massive 240 minutes, 100 minutes more than the DJI Pocket 2.

The Smallest Pocket Gimbal

If you're after the smallest pocket gimbal alternative to the DJI Pocket 2, which has a size of 142cm cubed.

There are two smaller pocket gimbal action cameras than the DJI Pocket 2.

They are the Fimi Palm and the original DJI Osmo Pocket, if you're after a smaller alternative, give these a look.

If you are looking for a truly pocket action camera which has a motorised 3-axis gimbal on it, the Fimi Palm is one of the best on the market.

Pocket Gimbals With 4K Video Recording

The DJI Pocket 2 can record at 4k at 60fps, there are a number of other cameras that can record this too.

The Feiyu Tech Pocket, the original DJI Osmo Pocket, Snoppa Vmate and Morange M1 can all record at 60fps and 4k video resolution.

None offer any higher video resolutions than 4K though.

Controlling the Direction of the Camera

There are two ways you can do this, manually, with a thumb stick control and with smart tracking.

The original DJI Osmo Pocket did not come with a thumb stick control, which is a tactile moveable button which can move over 4 directions.

With this button you can actually control and aim the camera in the direction you want.

This is something that the DJI Pocket 2 improved upon and came with.

There are other pocket gimbals which can do this too, the Fimi Palm and the Morange M1 both have thumb stick controls.

This is a feature you will see on all professional camera gimbals and it's great to see it on a pocket action camera gimbal too.

Smart Object and People Tracking

The second direction control of the gimbal is smart and object tracking. The DJI Pocket 2 now has this feature, which means, when you select a person to track and follow, the camera will simply and smoothly follow the object at all times.

The other pocket gimbal to do this is the Morange M1, using it's phone app you can select the people or objects you want to follow and keep track of the important things you want to record.