DJI Osmo Action 4
Announced August 2, 2023
PixelMeter The PixelMeter is our 1–100 aggregate of reviewer scores from trusted publications and creators. Weighted by source tier — not a raw average, and not PetaPixel’s own review.
Reviewer Consensus
Strong
DJI Osmo Action 4 is a rugged and dependable choice for creators, particularly excelling in low-light environments where it consistently outperforms many competitors. While some users find the initial software activation process cumbersome, its intuitive interface and versatile magnetic mounting system make it a highly practical tool for active shooting.
Weighted from 36 reviewer scores
Pros
- User-friendly interface and touchscreen controls
- Robust battery life and fast charging capabilities
- Highly effective image stabilization
- Versatile and secure magnetic mounting system
- Superior low-light performance thanks to its larger sensor
Cons
- Lacks higher resolution options like 5.3K
- Mandatory app activation and registration process
- Fixed focus distance limits close-up photography
- Incremental hardware updates over the previous model
- Requires physical rotation for 9:16 vertical content
- Launch price $399 (USD)
- Sensor 10MP Smaller than 1-inch CMOS
- Video 4K 120p
- Stabilization None
What the Reviewers Say
All 36 expert reviews, weighted into the PixelMeter score.
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- PetaPixel 8.5/10
I bring the DJI Osmo Action 4 everywhere, and you should too.
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Back in 2019, DJI disrupted the camera sector when it released a feature-packed action camera – the Osmo Action – to take on its biggest rival, GoPro.
- WIRED 8/10
In the end, I think if you have never owned an action camera before, the Action 4 is the better choice for its superior ease of use, thanks to things like the Q menu system and the front touchscreen.
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The DJI Osmo Action 4 is the best compact low-light action camera around, and a credible alternative to the GoPro Hero 11 Black.
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The Osmo Action 4, in some circumstances, can reasonably unseat the famous GoPro's top-of-the-line Hero 11 Black, while lags behind in others. If you shoot in lower light (and that includes overnight timelapses) then DJI have unquestionably moved into the lead.
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The DJI Osmo Action 4 is the adventure-ready camera to get if you're all about low-light recording, though it doesn't push as many pixels or frames as a GoPro.
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This is an incredibly fun and capable camera for your active pursuits and vlogging, and comes highly recommended.
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The DJI Osmo Action 4 offers a lot for action-oriented content creators and vloggers. The video quality is fantastic, internal audio is decent, and there are a range of awesome mounting options.
- Android Police 8.5/10
The DJI Osmo Action 4 is one of the best action cameras on the market and excels in low-light conditions. It's versatile, easy to use, and very competitively priced for its quality.
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While the DJI OSMO Action 4 competes with the GoPro Hero11 Black and the Insta360 ONE RS, its exceptional video and image quality, extended battery life, and innovative RockSteady 3.0 stabilisation give it an edge, at least at present, over the competition.
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The Osmo Action 4 is incredibly easy to use thanks to an intuitive user interface and both front and rear screens. Image quality is excellent overall and the stabilization is incredibly effective, so you won't be disappointed with video footage captured by the camera.
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In most regards, the DJI Osmo Action 4 seems unchanged from its predecessor. That is until the sun goes down, after which this action camera storms ahead of the competition with its low-light performance.
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If DJI had released this camera a year ago at the lower price of £309 I’d have had no hesitation in recommending it as a cheaper alternative to the GoPro Hero11 Black for most people.
- SlashGear 8/10
In some situations, the Osmo Action 4 is so markedly better than the competition in terms of sharpness and realistic natural colors that it will be an easy first choice for many people, and we can easily recommend it.
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Regardless of whether or not it’s the best action cam around, the Osmo Action 4 is a very solid all-round performer with excellent build quality and ‘mountability’ and solid battery life, video performance and image stabilisation.
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[T]he DJI Osmo Action 4 represents good value compared with the competition.
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Despite that, the DJI Osmo Action 4 is an excellent camera in pretty much every way, which means that I can only recommend it.
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[T]he DJI Osmo Action 4 is a worthy purchase for thrill seekers who want to capture the moment.
- MakeUseOf 9/10
The DJI Osmo Action 4 stands out in the action camera market with its superior low-light performance and 10-bit D-Log color profile.
- GadgetGuy 8.6/10
This is a fantastic action camera for outdoor/adventure vloggers and solo content creators that want a rugged, easy-to-use system.
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The DJI Osmo Action 4 is simple, it's reliable, captures incredible footage, and they've added some features that make it very usable and a pleasure to use.
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Because the Osmo Action 4 can churn out impressive footage that competes with the best action cameras on the market, its ease of use is its best characteristic.
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Speaking of functional, I think my overall favorite thing about using the DJI Osmo Action 4 was its dependability, like I knew that no matter what I needed to capture I could reach for this camera and get a good result with it.
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The fourth generation DJI Osmo 4 is an incremental update, which adds a larger sensor and tweaks some of the camera’s capabilities.
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The DJI Action 4 is more of a facelifted Action 3 rather than a completely new camera. However, that doesn’t mean the image quality (especially in low light) isn’t some of the best I’ve ever captured on an action camera.
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It's a fantastic action camera.
- Offroad 9/10
While I have my complaints, in the grand scheme of things, they’re somewhat minor as the DJI Osmo Action 4 has so much to offer, especially for the asking price of £289.
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[O]f course, every camera has its quirks underwater, there's no perfect underwater camera, but I think this one comes really close.
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This is a beast of a camera, and again, it's on sale $299 for this standalone and $399 for the adventure combo.
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So if the downsides I mentioned don't put you off and still considering the DJI Osmo Action 4, especially given the price point that it is now, I still highly recommend it.
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I’m sure there’s a good camera inside the DJI Osmo Action 4 – my small amounts of footage showed me that much. But it’s not a user-friendly experience, and the software doesn’t seem primed for adventurers in the same way the hardware is.
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As soon as I connected the wireless transmitter, all my audio issues were solved, and that's why from now on I'm going to be using the DJI Osmo Action 4 for my helmet talking videos. And if you want to save yourself the hassle, you'll pick one of these up with the transmitter.
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For 299 bucks, this camera is a pretty amazing value and can seriously help you make YouTube videos like this or short edits for your friends and family, which I love.
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I do think there's a definite improvement in the dynamic range of the image quality compared to the Osmo Action 3.
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I think that the DJI Osmo Action 4 was everything that the Action 3 should have been.
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[I]f I just had to pick one camera, it would be this one because this is like my skiing workhorse, so to say. I know I can trust it, I know it's hassle-free, and yeah, that's kind of what matters most to me.
