Is the lens guard on the Insta360 Ace Pro (and Insta360 Ace) secretly removable? A third-party filter seller claims that it is. UPDATE: Insta360 has responded — see below.
Insta360 Ace Pro is the first 8K action camera and the Insta360 Ace is its small brother with 6K resolution. Check out my review and GoPro comparison here.
Although the Ace Pro has groundbreaking resolution, best in class low light performance, and a flip touchscreen, it has one notable disadvantage: the lens guard is not replaceable, whereas the lens guard on its competitors — the GoPro Hero 12 and DJI Action 4 — are replaceable.
A removable lens guard is an advantage not only because there’s an easy replacement if it is damaged, but also because it makes it easy to use filters.
According to Insta360, they decided to make the lens guard not removable to improve the waterproofing of the Ace and Ace Pro. Instead, Insta360 offers a free replacement for the lens if it is damaged during the first year.
Insta360’s non-removable lens guard has puzzled action cam users and there has been some speculation that the lens guard is actually removable but glued to the camera. Now a third party filter seller claims that it is indeed replaceable with the help of a custom wrench and that you can even use filters for the Ace and Ace Pro.
The seller has a variety of filters including a simple UV filter for protecting the camera.
The seller claims that the Insta360 Ace and Ace Pro are still waterproof when used with their filter.
I’ve asked a senior Insta360 representative to comment on this. I’ll update this post if and when I get a response. Meanwhile, you can order the filter if you want, but you do so at your own risk. I haven’t tried or reviewed this product (this article is not a review – it’s just a heads up about a possible undisclosed feature of the Ace and Ace Pro). If there is water damage and Insta360 finds that the seal on the original lens guard is broken, then the warranty would probably be void. A possible option is to wait until the lens guard is out of warranty before trying a product like this.
UPDATE: Insta360 representative’s response is: “The Ace Pro unfortunately does not offer removable lens guards. This is our official statement. Therefore, we would not advise attempting this. In the future, we will optimize our design for the next generation. Thanks for your feedback!”
Add Comment