360 Camera Reviews

2017 Gear 360 Hands-on First Impressions: Everything I know so far

A few days ago, I posted my first impressions of the 2017 Gear 360.  Now here is a video of my first impressions of the 2017 Gear 360, and some new discoveries.

Here is the video.  Warning: it’s long and detailed!

 
Some additional notes:
Sample photos here:
Sample video here:
 
New discoveries:  
Compatibility: The new Gear 360’s 4K video can be stitched on a Samsung S6 at full resolution.  (The original Gear 360 could only stitch at 4K on a Samsung S7.)  However, even with the new app, I could not stitch 4K videos from the original Gear 360.
– Stitching:  the new Gear 360’s photos can be stitched on a desktop with the ActionDirector software from the original Gear 360.  The benefit is that the stitch would be smoother compared to the app.  However, the ActionDirector software could not stitch videos from the 2017 Gear 360.
– Overheating:  At 73.5 F (around 23 C) indoors, I was able to record continuously at 4k for 29 minutes and 37 seconds.  I did not test recording at 2560 x 1280 resolution (Samsung claims 1 hour 30 mins recording time at 1280p).
External power:  The Samsung Gear 360 can be plugged to a USB power source and still be able to record.   It appears that it will not use the battery while plugged in.  Before recording, I saw the battery at 95%. I plugged it in and saw a lightning bolt sign, indicating it was charging.   While it was charging, I could still record.  After 5 minutes of recording, the battery was still at 95%.  I conclude that when plugged in, it doesn’t use up the battery

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Mic Ty

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  • Do you know if the old 2016 Samsung Gear 360 camera could also be kept powered on whilst plugged in to a power source? As you mentioned, it seems the new one can, although it won’t charge the battery – which is ideal as a 360 car dash camera in that case?!

    • Hi Denis. I will check. The Samsung Gear 360 had loop recording but it could overheat, so I don’t think it would be a good dash cam.

      Best regards, Mic

    • The 2016 would not support recording while plugged in, I now have both. I have tested the new 2017 version to see how long it can record in 4K. I is critical, absolutely critical to have a high quality, super fast MicroSD card. I first tried with the MicroSD I had with my 2016 (a U2 capable Samsung EVO +) and the 2016 would overheat after about 30 minutes. I decided to try a new U3 capabile Samsung EVO Select 128 gb card since it stated it support 90MB/s write. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I was now able to record with the camera plugged in until the 128 GB card was competely full. I stopped watching, but I had over 6 hours of 4K video recorded. The battery on the Gear 360 2017 was still at 100% when I was finished. It might make a difference, I used a Samsung Fast charge charger.