Ion360 U - Review 2022 - Wright Brev1976

Ion360 U

Pros
Easy to use. App supports social uploads and streaming. Pretty good stitching.
Cons
Expensive. Requires beefy case. Only works with select phones. So-so video quality. Weird audio glitches. App omits video trim tools and Trivial Planet view.
Bottom Line
The Ion360 U camera records 360-degree video on your smartphone, but it's expensive and offers lackluster video quality.

The makers of the Ion360 U ($299) are banking on the thought that lots of people want to record total 360-degree selfie videos with their phones. That's a achieve, only if yous're part of that group, in that location are much better ways to do information technology, for less money. The Ion360 U is easy to use, but requires yous to add together a bulky instance to your phone and nets video that lacks detail, shows overly ruddy skin tones, and has glitchy audio. For a lot less you can become our Editors' Choice Samsung Gear 360, which can operate independently of a phone or in conjunction with whatsoever of the phones supported by the U.

Design

The Ion360 U doesn't require a grade-plumbing equipment case to work, and considering of that it'due south but available for a handful of phones. On the Android front yous can get it for the Samsung S8 and S8+. If yous prefer iOS you lot can get information technology for the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus. Those cases besides fit the latest generation iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models. The iPhone X is non supported.

The instance is plastic, bachelor in gray or teal, and includes its own battery. Information technology connects to the USB-C (Samsung) or Lightning (Apple) port to communicate with your phone. The camera portion is detachable, plugging into the case at the top via USB. It fits snugly, and has a power push on its side. Dual lenses capture everything around it.

If you're an Apple tree user, there'southward some bad news. The instance has its ain micro USB port. Information technology supports pass-through charging, but not audio (and the supported iPhones lack headphone jacks). That means y'all absolutely need to upgrade to Bluetooth headphones if y'all want the Ion360 U to live on your phone at all times. That'south not a trouble for Galaxy owners—the example lets you plug headphones in.

You need to download the Ion360 U app from the Apple tree App Store or Google Play. It'southward easy to use, merely that'southward because it doesn't offer a lot of options. You can cull between video, withal, or live video streaming to Facebook or YouTube. That'south information technology. Once a prune or image is captured you lot tin can view it, salvage it to your camera scroll, or upload it, just you don't get video editing or image adjustment tools. The Ion360 U doesn't support Piddling Planet projections either, which is surprising as it's a popular way to share 360-degree content.

Video and Epitome Quality

The U records video at 4K (iii,840 by 1,920) quality at 30fps. That's par for the class for 360 cameras. Nosotros've seen a couple on the higher end of the price spectrum suspension the 5K barrier—notably the GoPro Fusion, Garmin Virb 360, and YI 360 VR. Resolution is important with 360-degree video as pixels aren't constrained to a tight 16:nine frame. Instead, they're stretched out into a virtual sphere for playback.

Because of this, the 4K video captured by the U doesn't look as good as what you're used to from the resolution. Information technology doesn't even look equally good as 1080p; it's more similar standard definition. Close-up subjects, like your confront, show acceptable detail, but distant objects are blurry. Stitching is actually quite practiced; every bit long as you don't get too close to the side of the lenses there are no visible seams.

A lack of resolution, inherent to 4K 360 footage, isn't the only trouble I saw. My face looked unnaturally red in exam clips, and there were random sound glitches throughout the soundtrack—yous can hear them when viewing our test clip.

And, because the Ion360 U is a handheld device by nature, you are limited to selfie videos. Yes, you can get a telephone clip and tripod, but that's a cumbersome contraption. You're improve off with a freestanding device with a standard tripod socket, like the Gear 360 or Ricoh Theta V, and then you tin do more than but record yourself.

Images are essentially frame grabs from video, matching it in resolution, nearly 7.3MP. The aforementioned quality issues that apply to moving footage applies to still imaging. This is in contrast to other 360-caste cameras, well-nigh of which offer higher even so image resolution than video for more than detailed shots.

Conclusions

I can't recommend the Ion360 U. At $299, it's simply as well expensive. Video quality isn't great, there are audio problems, and its design is clunky. You need to add together a bulky instance to your telephone to use it, and considering it'southward a phone add together-on, using it with a tripod is a tricky proposition. If you want a 360-caste photographic camera and you lot already ain (or are buying) any of the phones supported past the U, become the 2022 version of the Samsung Gear 360 instead. Information technology sells for less than $200, works with the same phones, and boasts a standalone form factor that lets y'all do more than than just record yourself.

Jim Fisher Senior Analyst, Digital Cameras

Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Establish, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his male parent's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007.

He honed his writing skills at retailer B&H Photo, where he wrote thousands upon thousands of product descriptions, blog posts, and reviews. Since then he'due south shot with hundreds of photographic camera models, ranging from pocket point-and-shoots to medium format digital cameras. And he's reviewed virtually all of them. When he's not testing cameras and gear for PCMag, he's probable out and about shooting with ane of his favorite vintage movie cameras, which include the Hasselblad, a Rolleiflex Automat, and a Leica M3.

In his spare fourth dimension, Jim posts his own photos to his blog, daguerreotyping, where he besides writes a bit well-nigh antiquarian cameras and picture show.