The Evolution of Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizers: A Comparative Analysis

Around a year ago, I started noticing the increasing popularity of smartphone gimbal stabilizers at conventions like CES and MWC. For those who may not know, these devices are designed to stabilize your camera's movement, reducing shake and blur. They are similar in premise to gimbal stabilizers used for mirrorless cameras but are specifically tailored for smartphones. I decided to investigate how these gadgets compare to the optical image stabilization (OIS) feature found in many modern smartphones.

To test the performance of smartphone gimbal stabilizers, I selected four top Android flagships released this year: the Google Pixel XL, Huawei P10, LG G6, and Samsung Galaxy S8. I also brought along two popular smartphone gimbals, the Zhiyun Smooth 3 and DJI Osmo Mobile. Before diving into comparisons, I briefly discussed the features of these two gimbals. The Zhiyun Smooth 3 is a simple and straightforward device to set up, with minimal adjustments required for balance. The DJI Osmo Mobile also has a user-friendly design, with a focus on ease of use.

To assess the performance of both gimbals, I opted for four Android smartphones: Google Pixel XL, Huawei P10, LG G6, and Samsung Galaxy S8. When it comes to video recording, I kept all settings on automatic mode, shooting at 1080p frame rate with OIS enabled where possible. This allowed me to compare the performance of each smartphone without compromising image quality.

I conducted a series of tests using each phone in conjunction with both gimbals: one with OIS disabled and the other with OIS enabled. The Zhiyun Smooth 3 was my primary gimbal, while the DJI Osmo Mobile was the secondary option. The first segment featured the Google Pixel XL, where I could already see a significant improvement when using the gimbal with OIS enabled compared to handheld shooting.

Moving on to the Huawei P10, I noticed similar results: the Zhiyun Smooth 3 delivered smooth footage when paired with OIS-enabled smartphones, while the DJI Osmo Mobile also produced excellent results. The LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8 followed suit, showcasing the effectiveness of both gimbals in capturing steady footage.

To further explore the capabilities of these smartphone gimbals, I looked into add-on attachment lenses available for purchase on Amazon or other online retailers. One such lens is from Amir, featuring a 3-in-1 system with macro, wide-angle, and fisheye lenses. This allowed me to experiment with different shooting styles and angles.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enaround I'd say a year ago I started seeing these guys being used more and more at conventions like Cs and uh mwc and if you guys don't know what this is this is actually a smartphone gimbal now it's very similar in premise to the gimbal stabilizers you see probably for mirrorless cameras the slor but these are meant for smartphones of course now if you don't know what they do they basically help to steady your camera your movement so it you don't see as much shape and it made me really wonder whether or not this is going to be far more advantageous than just say using the ois in your smartphone's camera and we've seen the improvements made to ois it really gives you a steadier look but how does it really compare against these smartphone gimbals so in this video I'm going to take four of today's top flagships not all of them but just four flagships that have been released this year I'm going to compare their performance against these gimbals the one I have here is the Zan smooth 3 I also have the DJI osmo mobile which are probably going to be the two most popular smartphone gimbals out there so we'll take them out do some test footage and we're going to compare see what happens but before we get into the comparisons I want to talk briefly about the two gimbals that I'll be using here the first one is the Zion smooth 3 and the other is going to be the DJI osmo mobile two of the most popular smartphone gimbals out there and what I like about these two smartphone gimbals is that they're fairly simple and straightforward when it comes to setting it up you just put the smartphone into the Cradle do some minor adjustments and once it's balance you turn it on and that's about it and the other thing I want to talk about here are the smartphones I'll be using so I have four Android smartphones they're going to be the Google pixel XL the Huawei P10 the LG G6 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 and I want to talk about briefly the settings that I'll be using here now I'm going to keep them all on the automatic mode when it comes to video I'm shooting at 1080p because that's where the ois usually kicks in when you do 4K or even Quad HD sometimes the ois feature is not is not allowed so we're going to stick with 1080p at 3 frames per second automatic shooting mode and I'm going to do a couple tests one with ois off another with ois on so you can see the two and then I'm going to put them on the respective stabilizers with both ois on and off just to show you the difference the first phone here is the Google pixel XL and as you can tell already OAS does make a big difference than just using it handheld so this next segment is with the the Zion smooth 3 and already you could tell the difference it's a lot smoother more stabilized especially when you're going up the stairs and with the DJI osmo mobile it's pretty similar except that you notice just a little bit of a rocking motion going up the stairs it's not bad but still the general footage is pretty stabilized here's the comparison between the two gimbals with ois on comparing it with that ois and with just the phone and o on next up is the Huawei P10 and again you can see the difference between using it handheld without ois and then with it turned on I'm not going to go into too much detail about the next Parts because it's the same thing here with the giant smooth 3 you can tell it's very smooth uh it's very stabilized and no problems whatsoever moving on to the DJI osmo mobile same exact thing looks nice and smooth fluid movements and it looks like you're walking on air the LG G6 has some nice sharp looking footage but as you could tell again without ois it's pretty unusable because the amount of shake going on but that of course goes away when you start using these gimbal stabilizers and I do notice that there's just slightly better results when you have ois enabled and are using the gimbal stabilizers and finally we have the Galaxy S8 and no surprise again with ois it really helps keeps things nice and steady looking versus without it at all and the last thing here I want to show you guys is just the comparison between all four smartphones just using it handheld with ois on you could see the difference between all four still for the most part smooth and usable but not as smooth as using the gimbal stabilizers you definitely notice more of a pronounced movement when you're going down the stairs so after shooting all those segments repeating it with all the phones with ois on and off and then the gimbal stabilizers I looked at all the footage compared them all and it's it's just unbelievable what these smartphone gimal stabilizers do because yes they're still better performing than just relying on ois ois though I got to give credit does a better job than just using it handheld without ois at all but the gimbal stabilizers gives you that Walking on Air look and feel with your shots and if you're an Enthusiast an inspiring videographer you will appreciate how fluid it looks versus just relying on ois the biggest thing I saw is just with vertical movement especially going up and downstairs with ois it does a decent job but you could still see just a little bit of a rocking motion whereas with the gimbal stabilizers and with ois enabled that combination delivers some really fluid and smooth looking videos and that's the beauty about them and to add even more of that cinematic quality to your videos using these gimbal stabilizers with the combination of ois and your smartphones you probably want to check out these add-on attachment lenses you can pick them up pretty much anywhere like Amazon this one here is from the company Amir and I use the wide angle lens this is actually a three 3 in-1 lens system it has a macro a fisheye and a wide angle lens I really like the wide-angle one because you could pair it not only with the rear cameras but also with the front-facing cameras so if you're doing some sort of vlogging Style video you get a wider field of view thanks to the wide angle lens and if if you're like a skateboarder or extreme sports type of person the fish ey lines does a great job as well at the end of the day o is great but stabilizers are even better and as you can tell in the comparisons here that I showed you the gimbal stabilizers do a far better job at keeping things nice and smooth and steady now the gimal themselves are going to cost you a pretty penny the Zion smooth 3 and the DJI osmo mobile cost $300 that's not cheap but if you're serious about cinematography shooting professional video these gimal sailers will achieve that especially when you combine the ois feature in today's smartphones you're going to get some really fluid movements and on top of that uh not only do you get the stabilized movement you have also different following modes with the stabilizer you have built-in controls it's a versatile tool if you're an inspiring videographer so there you go guys that is the quick comparison between the oos and today's smartphones and how they compare against the gimbal stabilizers for smartphones if you guys want to learn more about any of the stuff I talked about in this video you can check our website androidauthority.com this is John V signing off\n"