Hohem iSteady X Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer Review

Hohem Technology, a young company, has brought its gimbal stabilizer design to CES 2020. iSteady X is a very compact and lightweight gimbal designed for smartphones. According to the company, iSteady X is the world’s best handheld gimbal for a smartphone. It weighs only 249g, making it the world’s lightest device of its kind.

The iSteady X is foldable for added convenience. When folded, the stabilizer, which can also act as a tripod, fits in the palm of your hand or in your pocket. The device has several buttons, one of which is used to switch between modes, among which there is a mode of tracking the face in the frame. The stabilizer is designed for devices weighing up to 280 g.

The device has arrived to us a few days ago, and here is a summary of our experience with it.

Technical specs

• Color: black or white
• Weight: 259g
• Dimensions (folded): 179 x 79 x 39 mm
• Battery: 2000 mAh Li-Io / 3.7V
• Angle: swivel 320 °, roll 320 °, tilt: -30 ° to 30 °

Main features

• Ultra-light, Only 259G — iSteady X is the world’s lightest 3-axis palm smartphone gimbal, is as light as a mobile phone based on its size and weight 259G. The foldable design makes the palm-size gimbal able to put in small handbag and feels light to carry for female users.
• Selfie Stick Mode Non-stop Shooting — The Selfie Stick Mode is able to make iSteady X as a selfie stick, the specific design allows you to lock the motors with more possibilities to continue shooting and use the gimbal even it is power off.
• Hohem Pro App — Create cinematic videos with professional skills, by reference to multiple templates where is able to auto add transitions, music, filter and other effects just with Moment Mode.
• Anti-shake Algorithm System — Equipped with enhanced DC brushless motors and the iSteady 3.0 anti-shake algorithm system, iSteady X is compact but powerful to compatible with smartphone weight up to 280g.
• One-Click Inception Mode — Thanks to the simple control buttons and App guide, even beginners can learn to use the gimbal with few steps and just a tap on App screen, to get some cinematic video.

Unboxing

Design

In the smartly packaged case, we find a fabric pouch, a USB to Type-C cable, a small wrist strap, a little paperwork, the gimbal itself and a tripod that is also included.

A 3-axis gimbal for just $69? Well, it seems that Hohem knews how to manufacture a gimbal with low price and high quality. The iSteady X has a lightweight but is made of plastic. Nevertheless, it doesn’t feel too cheap and doesn’t give the impression of disintegrating into its individual parts when first used.

On the gimbal itself there are several bends including corresponding counterparts, which are intended to use the gimbal as a selfie stick on the one hand and on the other hand to be able to transport the gimbal firmly locked in your pocket. When folded, it really fits easily into a pocket or a handbag.

Controls

As controls, we find the joystick on the front for moving the gimbal, plus a power button and the trigger. The two buttons have multiple assignments, so simply pressing the shutter release button means that a photo will be taken and double pressing it will start a video.

The power button is of course also used several times. Long press switches the gimbal on or off. Simple press changes between landscape or portrait view. The LEDs indicate the battery and standby status and there is a zoom rocker on the side.

The respective smartphone is packed into the clamp holder and even large devices can be used with the gimbal without any problems. At first, I was afraid that there might be incorrect presses on the volume rockers of the mobile phone, but the angle of the holder fits and the buttons are not pressed.

Ease of use

A sticker shows how the smartphone must be placed in the holder is present. Also, if you want, you can easily screw on the tripod provided on the underside using the standardized tripod connection. So the tripod stands on straight surfaces.

The iSteady X is charged via the included USB Type-C cable. The battery is in the grip of the gimbal and cannot be changed. The charge is usually sufficient for 5-8 hours of use. Since I never played around with the gimbal for 8 hours straight, I cannot confirm this.

Almost everyone probably has a power bank at home anyway. This would allow you to shoot for a long time with the gimbal even on the go.

Hohem Pro app

The Hohem Pro app follows. Please be careful, there is also a Hohem Gimbal app, but it was developed for other Hohem gimbals. (Android version), (iOS version).

The gimbal should be activated in the app. I don’t quite understand this step, but it is required “for maintenance and customer service”. The setup is completed with the installation and registration in the app.

I like the design of the app itself. On the home page, there are small links to videos that explain certain functions.

The settings exist in the camera view after pressing the gear wheel from the left into the picture. The working mode of the gimbal can then be set here, for example. A long press on the trigger and then either 1,2,3 or 4 presses on the power button will also switch through these modes on the gimbal itself.

The response time of the gimbal can also be set in several steps in the settings. Depending on the situation, the gimbal then reacts faster or slower to movements. The setting for video resolution also finds its place here and in the Hohem camera app there is also the face tracking function.

Functionalities

Firmware updates etc. should also be enabled via the app. This is a great advantage compared to the alternatives because, for the others, the firmware updates can only be done via a PC / Mac.

There are a lot of functions in the app including the Moment mode. Except for the zoom mode, everything worked fine. You can also use the panorama or timelapse functions.

Incidentally, the design of the gimbal is arranged so that parts of the gimbal should not come into the picture even with wide-angle shots.

For low-angle recordings, it is sufficient to tilt the gimbal down. Then the smartphone is automatically turned.

The construction of the gimbal limits the area in which the smartphone can be tilted up or down to a few degrees. You definitely have to keep that in mind!

Conclusion

For the called price of $69, the gimbal is absolutely recommended! If you don’t need it for professional applications, you won’t go wrong with purchasing it.

Buy the Hohem iSteady X Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer

Buy the Hohem iSteady X Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer