The Insta360 X4 Air is a smaller, lighter and cheaper action cam
But it's still just as capable of capturing all your most extreme antics
If your criteria when shopping for an engagement ring are smaller, lighter and cheaper, people will accuse you of being a cheapskate, but when it comes to the Insta360 X4 Air those are exactly the qualities that make it stand out.
Compared to Insta360’s flagship X5 it ticks all of those boxes. The X4 Air weighs just 165g and is a touch more compact, but still has a pair of 1/1.8in sensors that can record 360-degree 8K videos at 30fps. You can also put it into single-lens mode, which uses either the front or back lens to shoot 4K video at 60fps.
Most people buy action cams to record evidence of all the gnarly stuff they get up to at the weekends while the rest of us are stuffing our faces in front of the telly, so the X4 Air is waterproof down to 15m and there are over 50 mounts and accessories available that’ll allow you to attach it to your bike, helmet, ski pole or even the dog.
There’s also a selfie stick with gesture controls, which might come in handy when you pop the question at the top of a mountain, and to keep things looking rock solid the X4 Air has FlowState stabilisation and 360-degree horizon lock tech. You also get wind noise reduction and voice enhancement to make sure it picks up every word you say.
The more compact dimensions also mean the battery is a little bit smaller at 2010mAh, but you’ll still get nearly 90 minutes of footage per charge when shooting at full resolution.
Breakages are an occupational hazard of owning an action cam, and the X4 Air is built to survive a bit of mistreatment, but if you do break a lens you can buy a pair of new ones for $40/£38 and easily replace them yourself.
But first you’ll need to find at least $400/£359 for the Insta360 X4 Air, with plenty of bundles on offer that include a variety of those aforementioned accessories. We’ll see you on the slopes.
Tom Wiggins
Contributor 
