360 Camera News and Info

5 awesome updates for Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere 360 camera!

Here are exciting updates on the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere, the best 360 consumer camera I’ve found under $700 (as of July 2017)!  Reviewed here.

1. First, the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere app is now on the Google Play Store.  In the search bar, just type: 米家全景相機 (mijiaquanjingxiangji).  Got that?  It’s just 6 easy Chinese characters. Just kidding.  Here’s the link.  Thank you very much to Claude Meyer for bringing this to my attention!

Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere app at Google Play Store
Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere app at Google Play Store

Why is this exciting?  Besides making installation and updates easier, you can install both the Xiaomi store version, and the Google Play version on the same phone.  In particular, you can install 1.6.3 from the Xiaomi store (here’s a copy by Michel Mendes) to render videos without stabilization, and then use the Google Play version to render videos with stabilization.

2. Second, Xiaomi engineers said that iOS app version 1.7.1 will allow full resolution video export with iPhone 6S and above!

3. Third, Xiaomi confirmed that will be a PC app, which will allow stitching of photos and videos on your PC, with batch processing!  This addresses the most significant issue of the Xiaomi, namely its workflow.   The PC app was originally scheduled for July 15, but is being delayed a few days to work out some bugs.

4. Fourth, there will also be a Mac app, coming in August.  In the meantime, check out Ben Claremont’s tutorial for stitching Xiaomi videos on a Mac with Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro (sorry, the Dashwood plugin is only for Mac):

5. Fifth, GPS tagging.  For you Street View photographers.  For this function to work, the Mi Sphere has to be connected via Wi-Fi to your phone.

With these updates the Xiaomi addresses what has been its biggest weakness: the workflow, which requires a compatible phone.  Soon, however, you won’t need to use a phone and you can use your desktop instead.  If you’d like to buy the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere, please use this link to Gearbest to support 360 Rumors at no additional cost to you, so I can do more tests and reviews!  (Gearbest ships to 260+ countries all over the world.)

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Mic Ty

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  • +360Rumors.com All good news!!! Looking forward to my new Xiaomi note 4 and the PC/Mac stitching software!!
    Thanks for information!!

  • As an owner:

    Sorry guys, there are too many issues that shall be resolved in both firmware & software levels prior recommending this immature product.

    Horizon drift, stitching issues, color temperature differences between front and back lenses, video quality degradation in the latest software version, buggy and selectively compatible android app, forced image stabilization rendering camera unusable for motorsport application. thermal-like distortions in movies etc etc.

      • I agree, for the price range mijia sphere is by far the best choice hardware-wise , however as usually happens with xiaomi products, there are much to be improved in the software domain.

        From my perspective, and despite being grossly outdated today from hardware specs perspective, ricoh theta s is a pinnacle of usability and smart software design compared to sphere.

        An indicative example: 6 months and N software updates cycles after initial product’s availability and there is still no intervalometer for time lapse photography available … a feature that ought to be implemented straight from the beginning …

        • yes exactly my thoughts…

          they dealing with stabilization which will be a killer feature but for that they first need the stock functions working properly. the last two app versions on android are killing also the photo quality. I show some examples on my blog. Hardwarewise the best for the bucks but software wise the apps are in my opinion only pre alpha versions. Xiaomi could have dominate the market with this camera for that price but as long as they will not get head to head with the other manufacturers in software development this bunch of hardware is nothing worth. I hope a reprenstative of xiaomi will read this and adress it to the right persons… my hope for a working device is not gone but decreasing quicker with every software release.

          • I regret to say it, but given the frequency of new hardware releases in all market segments from xiaomi I am almost sure that mijia sphere will never become mature enough from software perspective.

            Software development needs time and resources, so most probably the next/upcoming release of mijia sphere hardware will be pushed to the market well before current version’s software reach an acceptable maturity status.

            Finally an indicative example of insane xiaomi’s go to market policy is the following: Even xiaomi’s mi pad 2 tablet is incompatible with mijia sphere android app … same manufacturer , incompatible devices …

          • The issue is that the hard and software is not developed by xiaomi itself it is a company called Fengjing Keji Co., Ltd. aka MADV360. They designed the cam and develop the apps.

    • Nick,

      I would have to differ. I’m having a great time with my Xiaomi! Yes, the software can be buggy, but for $250 it’s still a bargain, and I’m getting some great results using V1.6.

      • Hi Mark. The Xiaomi is very good for motorsport because of the stabilization. But if you want the absolute best for motorsports, I think that would be the Garmin Virb 360 because of the G-Metrix (you can overlay information such as speed, etc.). Virb 360 also has several stabilization modes, including Follow mode which will be oriented toward the direction you’re moving, instead of locked into one compass direction. https://360rumors.com/2017/06/garmin-virb-360-unboxing-first-impressions.html

    • Yes except for Google Photos. For some reason Google Photos knows that it’s 360 but can’t view it until you fix the metadata

    • Hi Adam, no intervalometer yet. I couldn’t use a generic bluetooth remote. I know that they will have a selfie stick with a built-in shutter, and if you short the two contact points at the bottom, that will also trigger the shutter.

  • Ben told me that u can do timelapse with this camera, but I’m reading here that it doesn’t have intervallometer?!?!
    And why the f*** on insta nano there’s and on the air there isn’t??? T.T

    • Hi Spillo. Xiaomi has time lapse but it only gives you the video, not the individual photos, so it doesn’t have an intervalometer yet. As for the Air I think they’re working on it. I hope to see it in the next update…

    • Hi Spillo. Good news Xiaomi now has intervalometer. It can work even after the camera is no longer connected to the app.

  • My biggest problem is that App 1.7.1 does not allow me to download HD Video witch LG G4. So I get a Video 1440×720 and no stabilization. App version 1.6.6 was ok with Lg G4. The only funny thing was that the stabilized video always kept the initial aspect even if you turned the camera.

  • Help, i just bought this camera last week, but i have a problem: the only way for me to get stitched photos is to export to phone using the app, when directly downloading from SD card with a usb cable, i end up with a jpg containing the two circular images side by side, just like the unstitched videos in the article above… A colleague of mine uses the exact same camera and gets stitched versions straight from the SD card, we are on the same firmware and app versions… what could be wrong?

    • Hi Maurits. Congrats on getting the Xiaomi Mi Sphere. Don’t worry there’s nothing wrong with your camera. That’s how it normally works – you have to stitch the photos and videos in the app. It’s possible your colleague exported the photos into his SD card (normally the export directory is DCIM/MadvExport

        • Maybe he was looking at the preview file. Every video file has two files – a full reso and a smaller file used for preview. But I don’t recall if the small file is stitched or not. The bottom line is that the Xiaomi doesn’t stitch in-camera (except possibly for preview files).

          • ita actually absurd then… the camera doesnt work without SD card, but if you want a usable file you can only use the storage of your phone??

          • What you would do is transfer the files from your phone to the desktop. Yes it’s a hassle. The coming desktop app should fix that. But meanwhile, many people (me included) put up with it because of the Xiaomi’s photo and video quality.

  • New android android app version 1.7.1.13885 installed and tested. NO substantial bugfixes, no feature enhancements, the overall software status of Mijia Sphere software remains, practically, in “beta-ware” phase.

    Greatly disappointed once more by Xiaomi’s sluggish software development cycle (same old story also applies to their phones and tablets) and already start looking forward for Mijia Sphere replacement.

    Let’s hope that Ricoh tradition on the quality and fast improvement of their software will apply too to Ricoh Theta S successor when it will hit the market.

      • Hi Walter. Xiaomi should be able to connect to an Android tablet as long as the processor is powerful enough (Snapdragon 625 or above).

        Best regards,
        Mic

  • Hi. Firstly congratulations for the excellent blog. Now, I have a problem with the new GPS option. GPS TAG are enabled on settings app, but all the photos are saved without this information. I am using xiaomi mijia 360 with a one plus 3.

    • Hi Gabri! Thanks for reading 360 Rumors and congrats on getting the Xiaomi. I haven’t used the GPS option but my understanding is that to use this option, you must shoot with the phone app ( I also assume you’ve already activated location tagging on your phone?) I recommend joining the Mi Sphere group on Facebook. There are Xiaomi engineers there.

      Best regards,
      Mic

  • Hi all!
    I downloaded the latest pc stitching app for xiaomi mi sphere and it works fine for videos, but i couldn’t get it to stitch photos.. for some reason it doesn’t let me upload them in the software from the sd card. Anyone having the same issue?