My main phone is the Find X9 Ultra, and my wife is using the Vivo X300 Ultra, so when we go on vacation, we just use our phones to take photos and videos. It's just convenient, and this year's flagships do a magnificent job in this regard.
But I generally prefer using a dedicated device to take photos. In the past, that used to be Sony's RX100 cameras, but I wanted something even smaller, and one that took better videos. That's where the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P comes into the picture; I have several friends in the industry who swear by their Osmo Pocket, and I wanted to see how good it is for myself.
So ahead of its global launch, I got the Osmo Pocket 4P along with a whole lot of accessories, and I used it extensively while attending a destination wedding in Bali, Indonesia. It didn't take long to understand the usefulness of the Pocket 4P; the gimbal system makes shooting videos significantly easier, and there's an immediate difference in stabilization versus what you'd get while shooting handheld with your phone.
The Osmo Pocket 4P has an added advantage: a secondary camera with 3x zoom. The dual-lens pocket gimbal camera has a new f/2.0 1-inch 20mm CMOS main sensor with LOFIC — similar to the Xiaomi 17 Ultra — and 17 stops of dynamic range, alongside an f/1.8 60mm lens with 3x optical zoom. The secondary lens gives the Pocket 4P much greater versatility, and it is a decent enough differentiator even against the standard Pocket 4.
There are three features that stood out the most in my month of testing the Osmo Pocket 4P: image and video quality, how stable it is in challenging situations (like walking around on a beach while shooting video), and just how easy it is to use. You don't need to wade through a dozen settings to get started: just hit the power button, choose the orientation, and shoot.
Video is obviously the main focus, and the Osmo Pocket 4P takes stunning 4K content, going up to 4K240. It shoots 10-bit D-Log 2 color profile, and the quality of the HDR footage in general is much better than I imagined. It did pretty well in low-light situations as well, but the thing that stood out the most is the 3-aixs stabilization — there's no hint that you're using a handheld shooter in the resultant videos. More than anything else, this is where the Osmo Pocket 4P has a clear advantage over phones, and it's no wonder that both OPPO and Vivo are set to be making products to rival DJI.
It does a decent job taking photos as well, with the 37MP images coming out with plenty of detail and accurate color rendition. Another thing I like is the tracking mode; this makes it easy to shoot moving subjects. There's a dedicated low-light shooting mode as well, and with 103GB of built-in storage, you can easily record a few hours of footage without any accessories. There's a MicroSD slot as well (thankfully), and I used Lexar's excellent 2TB MicroSD card with the Pocket 4P.
The 5D joystick makes it effortless to pan around while shooting videos, and there's a dedicated button to switch between the 1x and 3x lenses. The 2-inch OLED panel does a great job as a viewfinder, and the Pocket 4P is astonishingly light considering what it has to offer. It's just 230g, and the small size means you can use it just about anywhere.
Battery life is decent enough, and a 20-minute charge gives you three hours of runtime. Oh, and a new update adds automatic footage transfer to your iPhone, provided you're using the iPhone 16 and above. I would've liked a similar feature with Android devices as well, but that isn't available just yet.
The standard edition of the Pocket 4P costs £529/€599, and then there's a vlog combo that retails at £605/€689. There's no U.S. pricing, because this device isn't available in the region.
The vlog combo is the one I'm using, and if you're eyeing this camera, it is the bundle I'd suggest buying. It comes with the Pocket 4P, a mini tripod, fill light, DJI Mic Mini 2 transmitter and windscreens, a remote viewfinder and shutter button, two carrying bags, and all the associated charging cables. Honestly, it's a lot of stuff, and even after a month, I didn't use all the accessories yet.
Overall, I liked the Osmo Pocket 4P a lot more than I imagined. It's easy to take anywhere, takes great photos and videos, and has a ton of extensibility. If you need a portable camera with a built-in gimbal to use outdoors and the versatility of a 3x lens, the Osmo Pocket 4P gets my recommendation.
Thanks to a new 3x tele lens, the Osmo Pocket 4P has much better versatility than its predecessors, and it is the portable gimbal camera to beat in 2026.
