The DJI OSMO Mobile 6 is a fun and effective way to take your smartphone camera experience to the next level. Its sleek design makes it easy to carry and its buttons and dials are comfortably placed whether you're left or right handed. The DJI Mimo app gets the most out of the device with updated tracking, video editing, and easy sharing. If you're thinking of a getting a smartphone gimbal, you should strongly consider this one.
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Design
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Ease of use
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Performance
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Battery
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Value
One of the best parts about smartphones is the ability to make content. If you’re looking to take your content creation to the next level, upgrading your phone’s camera with accessories is an affordable option worth considering.
The DJI OSMO Mobile 6 is comfortably one of the better – if not the best – options when it comes to phone gimbals. Its removable phone mount, unique hardware, and DJI software make it a very tempting purchase but can you achieve the same thing with a really sturdy hand?
Was that in your pocket the whole time?
When it comes to phone gimbals, dynamite needs to come in small packages. The OSMO Mobile 6 ticks this box, by comfortably fitting into larger pockets or a handbag/satchel. The 304g gimbal was light enough for us to mistake for a phone on certain occasions although it’s lightweight without feeling cheap. A rubber grip and slick metal phone clamp put it on the higher end of phone gimbals.
Adding to its portability is a felt pouch, a mini tripod stand, and the phone clamp which has its own smaller pouch as well. We’d choose this pouch over the case seen with the OSMO Mobile 3. Its softer shell and stings make it easy to take along on spontaneous trips and planned shoots alike.
The DJI OSMO Mobile 6’s design looks as good as a 6th iteration should. Minor changes from the DJI OSMO Mobile 5 are its mode screen and the dial on its left. The foldable and twistable elbow is convenient, aesthetic, and intuitive and we also enjoyed the removable, magnetic phone clamp.
Besides being easy to set up, it’s just as easy to adjust – if the clamp presses your phone’s lock button, for example. If your phone is on the higher end of the gimbal’s 170g – 290g payload rating you can add a counterweight (sold separately) for balance behind the clamp’s magnetic mount. The arm’s base can also be extended and becomes a 25cm selfie stick, providing extra reach.
The DJI OSMO Mobile 6’s buttons and dials are also a highlight for right or left-handed users. The M (Mode) button toggles between modes and doubles as the power button. The dial on the left can be used for zooming or for manual focus. You can switch between the two with a single press. The trigger activates the “new and improved” active tracking feature that’s a lot easier to activate than trying to make a block on the screen while you’re recording. The record and camera switch buttons are straightforward and once again easier to use than tapping the screen. 
It’s what’s on the inside that counts
To get the most out of the DJI OSMO Mobile 6 you need to download the DJI Mimo app from DJI’s website. Once installed, the set-up involves simply switching on the gimbal, mounting the phone, and pressing the camera button to pair the two.
DJI offers a plethora of guides for first-time users in the app. After putting our pride aside, we’ll admit that we found some of the tips useful (even if the volume was a bit much). The video guides would also pop up while we were shooting which was equal parts useful and annoying.
The DJI OSMO Mobile 6 comes with many of the same functions we saw in previous models. The active tracking feature has seen minor improvements from previous OSMO gimbals. As a result, it more effectively tracks subjects after they’ve moved behind objects.
This does, however, bring mixed results. In some cases when our initial subject left the frame, the OSMO started tracking a new subject. This could work out in your favour if that’s what you were going for, but other times it feels like the tracking forgot the assignment.
Other functions that made it over to the DJI OSMO Mobile 6 include panorama, dynamic zoom, time lapse, and hyperlapse. Panorama stitches together nine pictures in a 3×3 orientation which results in a wide-angle picture that’s less distorted around the edges with fine lines where the pictures are stitched together. Dynamic zoom is fun to play around with for dynamic profile shots but has no major use beyond that. We struggled to make the most of the timelapse feature as the video would sometimes stop recording without us knowing. The hyperlapse video feature was pretty cool but we found better results when we were moving and our subject was static, not so much the other way around.
The DJI OSMO Mobile 6’s 1,000mAh battery doesn’t sound like much but it gets the job done. You should be able to get up to 6.5 hours per charge, but we never had an instance where the battery died on us. Add to that a charge time of 1.5 hours to go from 0% to 100% and you are able to shoot with minimal fuss.
DJI OSMO Mobile 6 Verdict
The DJI OSMO Mobile 6 is a fun and effective way to take your smartphone content creation experience to the next level. Its sleek design and comfortable form factor are its biggest strengths. Buttons and dials are comfortably placed whether you’re left or right-handed and the hidden selfie stick was a pleasant surprise.
The DJI Mimo app gives you access to features like active tracking and story mode which are great but need a little more polish. It may be on the pricier side of current smartphone gimbal offerings with its R3,000 price tag, but if you’re going to spend anything less you might as well just use your arms.
