360 Camera Accessories

Insta360 Power Selfie Stick review: why it’s an excellent VALUE for your One X2, One R, or One RS

Insta360 has released the new Power Selfie Stick, an invisible selfie stick that can power your Insta360 One X2, One RS, or One R while also controlling it remotely.  Here are its advantages and disadvantages, and why I think it’s an excellent value.

Insta360 Power Selfie Stick
Insta360 Power Selfie Stick

Sample video

Here are sample video clips shot with the the Insta360 Power Selfie Stick and the Ricoh Theta X (reviewed here) at Electrify Expo.  Note: in the third video clip, the cable was showing up at times in the stitch line.  That’s because I was using the Theta X.  On the Insta360 One X2 (reviewed here), the USB port is much higher so there would be less slack in the cable, which wouldn’t appear in the video.  Neither would the cable appear in the Insta360 One R (reviewed here) or One RS (reviewed here) because it is thicker, and will hide the cable well within the stitch line.

Advantages and disadvantages

+ Extended battery life: the Power Selfie Stick has a 4500mah battery and two USB Type C ports. The One X2’s battery is 1630mah, and the One RS battery is 1445mah, so the Power Selfie Stick should add about 3x additional battery life to your One X2, One R, or One RS.  It can also power any other camera, such as a GoPro from either of its USB type C ports.

+ Remote control: the Power Selfie Stick can also be used as a remote control for the Insta360 One X2 and in the future, the One R and One RS as well.  I wish it could be used as a remote control for Insta360 Go 2 in the future but there’s been nothing announced about that.

  • Invisible.  You can buy a USB power bank to charge your camera but mounting them to a selfie stick can be awkward, and you’ll have a USB cable that will probably be visible in the shot.  On the other hand, the Insta360 Power Selfie Stick and its cable are invisible to even the slimmest 360 cameras.

  • No 1/4-20 tripod hole: early versions of the Power Selfie Stick had a standard tripod hole but in later versions, they removed the hole.

– Not pocketable: the Power Selfie Stick is a little longer than the invisible selfie stick and can easily fit into a backpack but not in a pants pocket.

– Not waterproof: the biggest drawback of the Power Selfie Stick is that it is not waterproof.  Insta360 cautions that it should never come into any contact with liquids.

Insta360 Power Selfie Stick is excellent for travel or vlogging
Insta360 Power Selfie Stick is excellent for travel or vlogging

Should you buy it?

The Power Selfie Stick can save you time by not having to switch batteries and can make it faster to start shooting, so you won’t miss important moments.   This makes it ideal for travel and for vlogging, when you can come across interesting sights that are fleeting.  And the Power Selfie Stick can be used to power any of your cameras (even non-Insta360 cameras) — you won’t need to bring separate batteries for them.   I also like how it can charge your cameras between shots.  Moreover, it is more convenient to remember to charge just the Power Selfie Stick (you can also connect your camera to it for passthrough charging) instead of charging three or four separate batteries.

At $69, the Power Selfie Stick is more expensive than a typical selfie stick.  But remember that it has about three times the battery life compared to a single battery, which are usually around $29 to $35 each.  It is about half the price of the GoPro Volta ($129), a similar powered selfie stick for GoPro cameras.   For these reasons, I think the Power Selfie Stick is a very good value if you use your 360 camera for vlogging.  The Power Selfie Stick is currently available direct from Insta360.

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Mic Ty

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