Kandao has fully unveiled the QooCam 3 Ultra, its latest and greatest 360-degree camera that wants to dethrone the Insta360 X4. And it looks like it could do just that, on paper at least.
The QooCam 3 Ultra is stacked with industry-leading features, including 8K HDR video with 10-bit color depth, plus twin F1.6 aperture lenses and larger dual 1/1.7-inch sensors which combined should produce a cleaner image than the X4, especially in low light.
Users can shoot 360-degree video in 8K resolution up to 30fps, 5.7K video up to 60fps and 4K video up to 120fps and easily switch to a single lens mode, meaning the QooCam 3 Ultra essentially doubles up as a regular action camera, especially given it is waterproof up to 33ft / 10m.
Video capture utilizes Kandao’s SuperSteady electronic image stabilization to smooth out on-the-go clips, plus four directional mics for spatial audio capture. Got a Bluetooth mic like the DJI Mic 2 for better audio? There’s support for that, though we’ll need to confirm exactly which Bluetooth mics are compatible.
The quality of 360-degree videos and photos benefits from ‘dynamic stitching’ in the QooCam Studio editor, plus there’s an invisible selfie stick feature that’s pretty much the norm for these type of total-coverage video cameras.
There’s a wealth of shooting modes too that includes long exposure, time-lapse and interval shooting, while built-in GPS can tag location data to your content.
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The QooCam 3 Ultra isn’t just for video. Photographers can make 360-degree photos up to 96MP in both 14-bit DNG RAR format and JPEG.
Build-wise, the QooCam 3 Ultra is chunkier than the X4 and with it’s 2,280mAh battery inserted, it weighs 11.8oz / 336g. It dons a 2.19-inch touchscreen and comes with 128GB of built-in memory, plus it supports additional micro SD storage. You’ll probably need to pick up a memory card given the large 8K video file sizes.
Price-wise, we’re told that Kandao’s QooCam 3 Ultra is $599 / £579 / AU$699 – that’s a twinge costlier in the US and UK markets than our current favorite 360-degree camera, the Insta360 X4.
All hail the new 360-degree camera king?
We highly rated 2019’s QooCam 3, although we felt the editing experience needed refining. Since then, Insta360 has upped the bar with the X4, while GoPro is working on its long-awaited Max 2, meaning competition is heating up.
Four years after the QooCam 3, Kandao says its latest flagship is refined in every single regard, including the editing process. Kandao is also at pains to point out the quality of the QooCam 3 Ultra’s 8K capture, saying it’s the best in town. The sample footage supplied to us by Kandao, some of which we’ve compiled above, is certainly impressive.
We are currently conducting an in-depth review of the QooCam 3 Ultra to see if these impressive specs translate into real world performance, so if you’re in the market for a pocketable 360-degree camera do keep checking in for that review to find out if the QooCam 3 Ultra is indeed an X4 killer.