Ever since Zhiyun impressed us with its fine-designed Smooth Q2 mobile gimbal last year, we’ve been looking forward to its new gimbal in 2020. And we finally have their latest product, the Zhiyun Smooth X, in for review. Its design is so special that we cannot classify it as a basic gimbal or a selfie stick at first glance. It seems that Zhiyun just created a new market segment, a combination of mobile gimbal and a smart selfie stick. That’s probably the reason why Zhiyun keeps attracting a wider crowd globally: its product design is often unique. But how about its actual performance? Let’s find out the answer.
In addition to the white version we’re holding, there is a gray option for the Smooth X. But the white model is really impressive as there are very few white gimbals in the market in this shade.
Unlike the Smooth Q2’s metal casing, the body of Smooth X is made of plastic material, which is probably out of light weight and convenience concerns. Although we still miss the feeling of metallic solidity on the Smooth Q2, lighter weight should be a higher priority for most people. The smooth X’s physical control includes a mode button, another shutter button, and a joystick on the front face. The side one is for zoom-range adjustment, and the power button is on the right side of the upper arm.
There are other commands for the front buttons as well, like Double click the mode button for changing the phone direction; double click the shutter button for switch photo or video shooting, and press it three times for a switch between selfie camera and rear camera. So, when you use the telescopic rod of the Smooth X, you can control almost all the basic camera settings through the handle’s buttons without touching your phone.
The backside has an anti-slip design, which allows users to place it firmly on a surface. Thanks to the foldable and rotatable mechanism, the pocketable gimbal could be easily stored without taking up much space. But at the same time, it also complicates the unfolding process. So just follow the instruction in the manual and remember the right rotating direction so as to not damage the gimbal.
Even so, as compared to most mobile gimbals in the market, the overall user experience was still quite easy. Before first use, the Smooth X would require a phone connection to activate the gimbal through an official app — ZY Cami. In this app, you will find quite a lot of tutorials teaching you how to use the gimbal appropriately. Even though you may not have prior knowledge about mobile videography, the tutorials should be helpful for you to improve your skill in a short time.
The Smooth X has Pan and roll motors but no tilt motor, which means that it features 4-axis stabilization. But as a gimbal-like selfie stick, the stabilization is already good enough for general users. Especially for Vloggers who use phones to shoot their work, the Smooth X creatively sports a telescopic rod. The rod can extend up to 26cm. So we can call the Smooth X as a convenient selfie stick essentially with gimbal features, rather than a full-featured mobile gimbal. So, as I said, it’s special equipment designed for vloggers and travelers.
Let’s see how good Smooth X is in mobile videography (check the review video above). The Smooth X provides 3 working modes, which are Pan-Follow Mode, Lock Mode, and Roll-Pan Follow. All of them were working pretty well. I have to remind you that unlike 6-axis stabilizers, there is no Tilt option for users, which can be adjusted only by changing their holding angle.
Notably, this time the latest ZY Cami app is working better than ever before, not just for its specific tutorials about mobile filming, but also for its targeted optimization for the Smooth X. For example, the app connection is really smooth and fast. And the interface is much user-friendly and intuitive. Its good to see that the app displays important information in a smart way, including phone battery, gimbal connection, and working mode. And the object tracking also works a bit better than it did on the Smooth Q2. But due to the lack of Tilt motor, there is only Pan follow for the tracking.
The other features like gesture control are also quite useful. When turning on the gesture control mode, the camera could automatically activate the object follow and start filming or capture photos once it caught on to the specific gesture.
The app also supports real-time facial beauty options, but only for 1080P and 720P filming. Besides the basic photo and video shooting, the App features Timelapse, Hyperlapse, Pano, and smart modes. The Smart modes allow users to apply the auto-shooting pattern to your filming. There are five patterns with their sample tapes inside the smart mode, including exploration, Fashion, Life, breathtaking, and Delight shots, which absolutely help you add more fun in your filming.
You can also choose your scene mode in the APP when you’re walking or running. And the Running mode indeed is a bit more stable for the scene of running while holding the gimbal.
Using the Zhiyun smooth X is really a different experience. We used to complain that most gimbals are not flexible enough to find special angles or for selfie filming. But the Smooth X is definitely an innovation to solve these specific pain points.
If we had to mention its drawbacks, it should be the lack of a tilt motor and the small size tripod.
Meanwhile, it doesn’t give up on Zhiyun’s reputation as an excellent and stable mobile gimbal. It’s convenient, easily operated, dual-purpose, and more importantly, cheaper than most good quality mobile gimbals in the market right now.
