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DJI Osmo Action 6 review: An action camera that excels in low light

DJI may be the big dog in drones, but it plays third fiddle to GoPro and Insta360 in the action cam market. To better stand out, the company has launched the Osmo Action 6 with a pair of innovative features. The first is a big, square sensor that boosts video quality in low light, while making it easy to output both horizontal and vertical video. The second is a variable aperture for flexible shooting in both bright and dark conditions.
As DJI’s new flagship non-360 action cam, the Action 6 goes up against GoPro’s Hero 13 and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2. Both of those can capture higher resolution footage, so they’re better for most users in daylight conditions. However, if you shoot a lot in dim or contrasty light, DJI’s Action 6 may be your best option.


Variable aperture
I’ve already gone through the Osmo Action 6’s specs in my earlier news post, so check that to see the full details. As for what’s new, the first key feature is the variable f/2.0-f/4.0 aperture — the first ever in an action cam. This allows for brighter video and improved stabilization when shooting at night compared to the fixed f/2.8 aperture on the Action 5 Pro. It also offers shallower depth of field and more flexibility on sunny days.
The first thing I noticed with this feature was the lack of full manual control. You can only set it to fixed f/2.6, f/2.8 and f/4.0 “starburst” modes, or automatic settings ranging from f/2.0-f/4.0 up to f/2.8-f/4.0. That means f/2.0 isn’t available as a fixed aperture, which is too bad as that would be ideal for portraits.



Still, variable aperture is a highly useful feature. In auto mode, it ramps from one setting to another in fine steps (f/2.1 to f/2.2, for example), so I never saw any exposure jumps. In low light, I could dial the ISO range down to avoid excessive noise, giving me higher video quality. However, I’d love to see full manual control in a future update.
New square sensor
Another key feature is the new 1/1.1-inch (0.56 inch diagonal) square sensor that allows a wide range of resolutions and aspect ratios. The Action 6 supports vertical and horizontal resolutions up to 4K, in either 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios for the latter orientation. The best new setting, though, is Custom, which lets you shoot 3,840 x 3,840 square video.
At 60 fps (a standard frame rate for action videos), GoPro’s Hero 13 maxes out at 5,312 x 2,988 pixels, while the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 can hit 3,840 x 2,880 pixels. That makes the Osmo Action 6 the only current action cam with 4K vertical resolution at 60 fps.
The benefit is that you can film for both horizontal and vertical video platforms like YouTube and TikTok, respectively, with no need to rotate the camera and no loss in resolution. If that sounds familiar, it’s the same reason Apple adopted a square sensor on the iPhone 17’s front camera.
I tested the Custom aspect ratio in DaVinci Resolve Studio and it made exports a breeze. First, I created and exported a standard 4K horizontal timeline, then simply copied the contents to a vertical timeline. After reframing a few shots to keep the action centered, I was able to immediately export a 4K TikTok video. That’s a big time saver for busy editors.
Video quality



Sample image from the DJI Osmo Action 6 in "Custom" mode


Steve Dent for Engadget


With a 30 percent larger sensor, the Action 6 is better for night or interior shooting using 6,400 ISO and up. Compared to the Action 5 Pro, I found nighttime video from the Action 6 to be considerably cleaner. DJI also improved the Night setting itself: video is cleaner, noise reduction is applied less aggressively and everything looks more natural.
The new sensor and variable aperture also help DJI’s Rocksteady 3.0 digital stabilization in low light. If you’re filming from a bicycle at night, for instance, the Action 6 will use a higher shutter speed than the Action 5, so video will be sharper. That helps the stabilization algorithm produce a better result with less pixelation and tearing.
In daylight conditions, the Action 6 delivers sharp, color-accurate video that can be used straight out of the camera — just like the Action 5. However, in contrasty scenarios like a sun-dappled forest trail, the Action 6 has a slight advantage. When I engaged the 10-bit D-LogM setting to boost dynamic range, I noticed that dark shadow areas had more detail and less noise than they did in footage from the Action 5 Pro or GoPro Hero 13.
However, the GoPro Hero 13’s extra resolution is an advantage if you mostly use YouTube and other horizontal formats. With up to 5,312 x 2,988 pixels at 60 fps, it offers sharper 4K video after supersampling and more room to reframe shots in post production without any loss in quality.



DJI Osmo Action 6's "Custom" square format shown with gridlines enabled


Steve Dent for Engadget


If you like shooting wide but hate the distortion, DJI’s Natural Wide field of view is a nice addition. The regular Wide setting tends to distort vertical lines, but Natural Wide keeps everything nice and straight while providing a greater field of view.
Finally, I tested the Action 6’s new Film Tone feature that borrows a trick from Fujifilm’s simulations. It’s a way to get some fun looks straight out of the camera, like “pristine and cool tones” or “classic negative film type.”. The results are great for anyone who doesn’t want to fiddle with color in post-production, though DJI needs to add a few more options like black and white or sepia.
Other updates
With its bigger sensor the Osmo Action 6 is slightly larger than the Action 5 Pro in all dimensions, but around the same weight at 5.26 ounces. As before, it can connect to up to two DJI wireless microphones at once, including the Mic 2, Mic 3 and Mic Mini. And it comes with DJI’s new dual-latch Quick-Release Adapter Mount that can be attached in either direction, but supports all of DJI’s past accessories.
Unlike its competition, the Osmo Action 6 comes with 50GB of internal memory (up from 47GB before) along with a microSD card slot. That means you won’t be screwed if you forget a memory card, as most of us have done at one point or another. DJI also doubled the Wi-Fi transfer speeds to 80MB/s and boosted USB-C transfer rates to 800MB/s.




Steve Dent for Engadget


As before, the Action 6 is waterproof to 20 meters (66 feet) by itself, or nearly 200 feet with DJI's waterproof case. And on top of voice control, the Action 6 supports gestures as well, so you can now wave at the camera to start and stop video (like you can with the new Neo 2 drone). With the same 1,950mAh Extreme Battery Plus as before, shooting time between charges is four hours at 1080p and two hours at 4K.
Finally, DJI has introduced two removable lenses for the Action 6, given DJI some competition in that regard. The first is a macro lens with a minimum focal distance of just 4.3 inches, making it ideal for closeup work and portraits. The other is an FOV expansion lens that boosts the field of view from 155 to 182 degrees.
Wrap-up
With a bigger sensor and larger aperture than the competition, DJI’s Action 6 is now the best action cam on the market for night shooting, delivering clean, sharp video with better stabilization than rivals. It’s also ideal for users who output to both YouTube and TikTok.
For regular daytime shooting, though, the extra resolution offered on GoPro’s Hero 13 might be preferable for some users. All that aside, it may come down simply to the price. DJI’s Action 6 starts at $369 ($439 with extra batteries and a charger), compared to $309 for the Hero 13 Black and $420 for Insta360’s Ace Pro 2. These are all great choices, but if low-light capability is more important than resolution, choose the Osmo Action 6.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/dji-osmo-action-6-review-an-action-camera-that-excels-in-low-light-143027343.html?src=rss