DJI’s newest handheld gimbal is the OM 4. In case you’re wondering, the predecessors were called the Osmo Mobile 3/2 etc. The naming convention has been shortened to “DJI OM 4”. I like shorter names, but if you’re unfamiliar with DJI’s mobile phone stabilisers, it might be confusing to know what it is, or what came before.

I have the DJI Osmo Mobile 2, which is what I can compare to physically. It’s not a device you upgrade very often, and I don’t think I even tested the 3. This is probably a gadget that will last you a few years, and the good news is that the OM4 is actually a great one to start at if you’ve never used one before.

The gimbal is aimed at those who shoot primarily on smartphone, like me – I don’t have a DSLR or mirrorless; and it brings the extra stabilisation when making videos. I’d say it’s good for content creators, live streamers and smartphone videographers. But the OM4 is more than that. I’m going to highlight in bullet points the things you should know about it below.

Quick spec look:
The OM4 gimbal weighs 390g; magnetic phone clamp weighs 32.6g and the ring holder is 11.4g. Unfolded it is 276 x 119.6 x 103.6 mm and folded it is 163 x 99.5 x 46.5 mm. It promises up to 15 hours of usage one a single charge in ideal conditions, but if you’re a content creator, it will last you a full day/well into the night. It takes up to 2.5 hours to charge full on a 10W charging plug and works with the DJI Mimo app. Note: It supports phones up to 290g.

Before I get into it, here’s what you get in the box:

As you can see above, you get the gimbal, mini tripod, magnetic phone holder, magnetic grip with padding and swabs to clean your phone and place it accurately, a wrist strap and a USB-C charging cable. It also has a USB port.

Here’s my bullet point review:

1. It is compact, foldable and easier to carry around. Like the Osmo Mobile 2, it also comes with a carry case, but take note of the size now. I love that you can pop it into a medium bag and off you go. The Osmo Mobile 2 was a bit too long and I struggled to toss it into a bag.

2. It features a new magnetic design with a phone clamp attachment that holds your phone in place, or you can stick a ring at the back of your phone. I’m not that committed to have it stuck on my cover so I use the attachment as needed. I find it easier to use when I remove my phone cover.

3. The magnetic attachment has a white dot on it so when you attach it to the gimbal, both need to be lined up. This means you don’t have to worry about levelling it. This is nifty; you won’t struggle while shooting and wonder why it’s not aligning properly.

4. The DJI OM4 gimbal itself has a lot of buttons that you need to get familiar with. The main M power button can also be tapped when it’s off so you can quickly check battery life by the light counter. You single press it to toggle between camera and video mode. You double press it to rotate between portrait or landscape mode.

5. The main record button is self-explanatory. The joystick button next to it is for you to control the gimbal and tilt it to however it suits you. To the side there is an elongated button to zoom in or out.

6. At the back is another button when you double press it aligns the camera back to normal position. When you hold it in while shooting, your smartphone will hold its position and not move. When you triple press it toggles between the front and back cameras.

7. Once you connect the gimbal to your smartphone, you fire up the DJI Mimo app. It has Bluetooth pairing and you should see a prompt to pair to your phone. This process is seamless; I had no issues on an iPhone 11 Pro with the latest software updates.

8. The DJI Mimo App is packed with cool features. It does basics like photo; video; pano (more below); slow motion; dyna-zoom (dramatic moving in or moving out); timelapse; hyperlapse; and story (more below).

9. The Pano mode lets you take three different types of panos – one 3×3 grid; a 240 degree angle and then a super cool ‘clone me’ feature. The latter automatically tilts the phone to where you need to be, and there’s a 5 second timer to frame yourself. You can get really creative with this one. I absolutely love this feature.

Clone Me Pano

10. Story mode is basically pre-selected templates with times for you to shoot and insert into. You get to approve or reject the video you just shot before proceeding. There are themes you can follow. It adds texts, music and transitions. But there are two things you need to know: you can’t edit the text (I like the Travel template but not the wording that appears – boo) and it only shoots horizontally. I can’t believe it doesn’t support portrait videos for IG stories.

11. Settings for camera is extensive. You can add glamour effects (smooth, enlarge, bright, rosey etc – not my vibe); add a 3/5/7 second timer; adjust camera settings manually; choose a ratio for the frame (1:1, 3:4, 16:9, 18:9); selfie flip; use a grid; control stick speed or direction; zoom speed or use sport mode.

12. Settings for video mode on my iPhone 11 Pro goes up to 3840×2160 and you can shoot up to 60fps. It also has controls mentioned above for control stick/directions.

Gesture Control

13. It has Gesture Control and Follow & Shoot. This is extremely useful for content creators who work solo and shoot content without the help of others. Even if you have another person with you, it acts like your cameraperson. Trigger it with hand gestures for pics or videos. And for vids, the Follow & Shoot is incredible. You can walk or move around and it will stay locked on you – provided you select your face prior as the focal point.

Active Track

14. SpinShot lets you make cool videos but rotating your phone if you’re staying on spot. It works in video, hyperlapse or slow motion mode.

If you want tutorials how to use the various modes, DJI does a good job explaining, you can take a look at their post here: https://store.dji.com/guides/dji-om-4-tutorials/

FINAL THOUGHTS

The DJI OM4 is the perfect accessory for mobile content creators in whatever field you’re in. It stabilises your footage, provides a bunch of extra cool features, acts like your camera person, helps you create stories without prior video editing knowledge, and has nifty controls that need getting used to. It’s compact enough to carry in a bag and not bulky.

I absolutely love this gadget. I was provided one for review and I’m sold; I will be getting one for myself as you all know I shoot primarily on my smartphone.

The DJI OM4 Combo is available at the iStore for R2699. Bizarrely, the Osmo Mobile 3 combo is more expensive at R2799.