Kandao has unveiled its latest and greatest 360-degree camera, the QooCam 3 Ultra, which the company hopes will dethrone the Insta360 X4. And, at least in theory, that looks set to be exactly what it is.
The QooCam 3 Ultra is packed with industry-leading features, including 8K HDR video with 10-bit color depth, twin lenses with f/1.6 aperture, and a larger 1/1.7-inch dual sensor, which combine to produce sharper images than the X4, especially in low light conditions.
Users can shoot 360-degree video in 8K resolution at up to 30fps, 5.7K video at up to 60fps, and 4K video at up to 120fps, and can easily switch to single-lens mode, so the QooCam 3 Ultra can essentially double as a regular action camera, especially considering it's waterproof up to 33 feet / 10 meters.
Videography uses Kandao's SuperSteady electronic image stabilization for smooth clips on the move, and a four-way microphone for spatial audio capture. For better audio, do you have a Bluetooth microphone, such as the DJI Mic 2? There is support for this, but you'll need to check exactly which Bluetooth microphones are compatible.
The quality of the 360-degree videos and photos benefits from the QooCam Studio editor's “dynamic stitching,” plus there's the invisible selfie stick feature that's pretty much standard on full-range video cameras of this type.
There are also plenty of shooting modes available, including long exposure, time lapse and interval shooting, and the built-in GPS also lets you tag your content with location data.
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The QooCam 3 Ultra isn't just for videography: photographers can capture 360-degree photos up to 96MP in both 14-bit DNG RAW and JPEG formats.
Build-wise, the QooCam 3 Ultra is thicker than the X4, weighing in at 11.8oz / 336g with a 2,280mAh battery. It has a 2.19-inch touchscreen and 128GB of built-in memory, with support for additional microSD storage. Due to the large file sizes of 8K video, you'll likely need a memory card.
Price-wise, Kandao's QooCam 3 Ultra will reportedly cost $599 / £579 / AU$699, which makes it a bit more expensive than our current favourite 360-degree camera, the Insta360 X4, in the US and UK markets.
Cheers for the new king of 360-degree cameras?
We thought highly of the QooCam 3 in 2019, but felt the editing experience left room for improvement, and since then, the competition has heated up, with Insta360 raising the bar with the X4 and GoPro working on the long-awaited Max 2.
It's been four years since the launch of the QooCam 3, and Kandao says its latest flagship has been improved in every way, including the editing process. Kandao also highlights the quality of the QooCam 3 Ultra's 8K capture, calling it the best. The sample footage provided by Kandao, some of which we've summarized above, is certainly impressive.
We're currently conducting a detailed review of the QooCam 3 Ultra to see if these impressive specs translate into real-world performance, so if you're looking for a pocket-sized 360-degree camera, be sure to check it out and see if the QooCam 3 Ultra really is an X4 killer.
