DJI has spent years treating the pocket gimbal camera category like private property, but Insta360’s new Luna Ultra arrives with a very direct challenge: a bigger sensor, dual lenses, Leica branding, and a detachable screen that doubles as a remote. On paper, that is the kind of spec sheet that forces DJI’s Osmo Pocket line to stop coasting. In the US, it also lands at a moment when DJI’s retail situation is badly complicated, which gives Insta360 a very convenient opening.
The Luna Ultra is not trying to be a slightly cheaper rival. It is trying to be the one creators point to when they want a pocket camera that feels more ambitious than the usual vlogging stick with a motor on top. DJI still has the stronger legacy in this space, but Insta360 is clearly betting that hardware flexibility and better optics can beat brand inertia.
A detachable screen gives Luna Ultra a real edge
Both cameras use the same basic recipe: a compact body, a gimbal on top, and a tiny built-in display. The difference is in how they handle solo shooting. The Luna Ultra’s 2-inch OLED screen can be detached and used as a remote from up to 20 metres away, which is the sort of feature that saves time for anyone filming themselves without a crew.
DJI’s Osmo Pocket 4 keeps its 2-inch OLED panel attached to the body, though it can flip between horizontal and vertical orientations. That makes it practical, but less playful. For creators who constantly step in and out of frame, Insta360’s approach looks smarter and a bit more future-proof.
Luna Ultra camera specs go harder
The headline specs are the Luna Ultra’s 1-inch sensor paired with 8K video at 30 frames per second. It also adds a dual-lens setup: a wide-angle lens with an f/1.8 aperture and a dedicated telephoto lens with up to 12x zoom, including 6x lossless zoom. Add Dolby Vision recording, 10-bit capture, and up to 14 stops of dynamic range, and you have a pocket camera that is aiming well above basic social-video duty.
That dual-lens setup matters because it gives the Luna Ultra a broader shooting range out of the box. DJI’s standard Osmo Pocket 4 uses a single lens, although a Pocket 4 Pro with a dual-lens system is expected in the coming weeks. Until that happens, Insta360 has the cleaner comparison and the more complete feature set.
Tracking, storage, and battery life are closely matched
On the software side, both companies are leaning on subject tracking to make these cameras easier to use. Insta360 uses Deep Track 5.0, plus Active Zoom Tracking and Smart Framing, while DJI’s ActiveTrack has long been one of the better systems in this category. In practice, both are trying to do the same thing: keep the subject in frame and spare the user from constant manual adjustments.
- Luna Ultra storage: 47GB internal, plus microSD up to 1TB
- Osmo Pocket 4 storage: 107GB of actual usable storage, plus microSD up to 1TB
- Battery life: up to four hours for Luna Ultra, about four hours for Osmo Pocket 4
The storage numbers are a small but telling twist. DJI offers more built-in usable storage, while Insta360 leans harder on feature depth. Neither camera looks like a battery disaster, which is refreshing, but neither one is escaping the tyranny of ”bring a card and charge anyway.”
US buyers get the simplest answer
The Luna Ultra is on sale now for $769 in the US and comes in white or black. The Osmo Pocket 4 is not officially available in the US, after the FCC blocked DJI from receiving equipment authorization in December 2025. That means American buyers would have to rely on unofficial channels, with the obvious trade-off of no full warranty or ecosystem support.
Outside the US, the story is less lopsided: the Pocket 4 launched at around £445 in the UK, and DJI still has a strong global footprint. But for US creators shopping today, Insta360 has done something rare in a category DJI usually owns – it made the alternative the easy recommendation. The bigger question now is whether DJI answers with something sharper than the current Pocket 4, or whether Insta360 gets to keep the spotlight long enough to make this rivalry feel real.