Hohem has been dedicated to making gimbals for filming devices for many years, and previously we have reviewed many of them, overall they are great for everyone, whether you are a professional photographer, or you are just a novice who wants to make better videos with your phone. And when AI started to help with a lot of the tech right now, the gimbal category evolved again. This time we have the newest Phone gimbal from Hohem, the iSteady V3, it has 3-axis stabilization, a Detachable remote control, and most importantly, a magnetic AI tracker to always keep the focus on you. It is only $129, it is a great price for what it can offer, and most likely it is better than others. In this review, we will use an iPhone and Android phone to test its performance of it, hopefully you can have more insights into it.
Unboxing
First of all, the packaging is nice, firmly packed everything inside, and the tape is very easy to be removed, leaving one less job for you to do. There are two colors to choose from, Black and White, either way it is still a good-looking device.
In the package, you have the device, charging cable, a tool, a pouch, and manuals. Fairly simple, but the pouch is a nice touch, since the device is very portable, if you tend to put it in your pocket with other stuff, then a pouch can separate them well. The whole unit weighs about 426g, still quite a manageable weight, and also it says a little about the device that it is built with a better material.
Design & Build
Once you hold it in hand, you can feel the weight and build quality of this device, but it is still a palm size. If we put these two colorways side by side, I would say the white one looks more aesthetically pleasing, as the white, orange and metallic blend better together. One thing to note here is that, the metal axis in the middle is colored differently, to match themselves up with these two colors.
Design-wise, this is a typical phone gimbal, shaped just like a shrank version of the professional camera gimbal, so you can do a lot of moves with perfect stabilization, while maintaining a pocketable size. Especially if you have a high-end phone with really good videography capability, and you want to utilize it to shoot very good videos, but one thing those phones can’t do is have good stabilization. So this is when a gimbal comes into play.
So other than the typical gimbal structural parts, there are two things that are very unique, which are the AI tracker and the removable remote control.
- The AI tracker can help with all the AI-enabled tracking feature, while you are using the phone’s built-in camera app. The tracker has two key parts, a camera and a fill light, they are the perfect combo for selfies. The unit attaches to the body by magnet and two little hooks, the pins help with the power and feature fulfillment, quite an innovative design.
- The remote control is another good design, it also connects to the gimbal through magnets and pins. When it’s on the gimbal, it serves as the control panel, and once it’s not on it, it connects to the gimbal by Bluetooth, that way you can do some filming from a distance. This little piece is very light and small, I wish it had a bit more weight or provided more grip, so if you hold it, it feels more secure.
Other parts are also made with thoughts and quality. Such as the rubber grip at the front, provides a good comfort for you to hold it tight. The axis in the middle is a solid piece of metal, supporting every move very well. The other metal part is the tripod feet, although they look thin, they are actually very strong. The phone holder on the top also has some rubber inside, so your phone will be scratched. If the shooting scene requires you to have extended range, then the built-in stick can do the job well.
One thing you should pay attention here, is since it takes a bit of effort to put the phone on the gimbal, it is recommended to turn on the device after putting the phone on the gimbal, or if you grab the upper part to do it, the bottom part will be spinning, and if you have the tripod out already, you may get hit by it.
Experience
AI tracking
Let’s get into the AI tracking feature first. In normal-use scenarios like tracking casual movements of a person or some objects, it can pretty much do the job really well. In tracking a person’s move, once it’s locked in the mode, it will never lose focus, even if you go at a distance, it will always be in focus; if you hide behind something and then pop out, it will still regain the focus instantly. We also tested its capability in a sports situation, once you turn the tracking speed to high, it can keep up with the paces really well.
During the time trying out the tracking feature. Here are some insights we’d like to share:
- The gesture control can only be activated at a certain distance, it claims 1.64-4.92ft(50-150cm), which means you can not be too close to the camera, or too far from the gimbal camera. In the real test, the minimal distance is just like it says, but the longest distance we tested was about 10ft (300cm), this is a performance beyond our expectations. We also tried to cover the camera on the phone to see if the gimbal have utilized that one to do the job, but it turned out that it does not, which means it is the camera on the gimbal doing an excellent job.
- To activate the tracking feature, you should put your hand just next to your face, and your face should be in the frame, if these requirements are not met, then it can not be activated
- If you want to track some objects, or an animal, you need to manually select it in the frame to be able to do that, whether on your rear camera or front camera.
- The tracking works well on both iPhone and Android phones.
Stabilization
The stabilization algorithm of Hohem has been evolving, and it’s the 8th gen now, I must say it is working really well, not just in the user experience, but also in the speed and accuracy. There are several modes to choose from, to support very slow movements, or really quick movements like some sports scenes. When it’s moving, it does not wobble or anything, even with the heavy iPhone 15 Pro Max on it. So you can really trust the performance out of it.
Fill Light
The other feature built into this tracker unit is the fill light. You can turn it on or off by long pressing the wheel at the side, then double press to change the color temperature, and scroll the wheel to get the right brightness. Once the remote control is detached from the body, you can also use that to adjust the settings, but it seems that it can only change the color temperatures, but not the brightness. There are three color temperatures, you can choose between warm, medium, and cold, to adapt itself to different situations. This can be a really good tool to use for selfies.
Remote Control
Now let’s talk about the detachable remote control. When it is on the device, it is the control panel, but when it is detached from the device, it can work remotely. There are several buttons and a small screen on it. On the screen, you can confirm whether it is connected to the device or not by checking on the Bluetooth icon, and the icons below that one will tell you what mode it is in, then the battery indicator at the bottom. Just on the screen, there are two buttons for you to change the brightness of the fill light. On the right side, there is a joystick button for you to control the movements of the gimbal, and there is the pattern on it for better grip. Moving down, there is the Mode button and record button, they work seamlessly with the device, simply double press or click to toggle through different functions. There is also another button at the side to enable you to do some other stuff, you can read the manual to get to know more, along with some other controls of the remote. So overall, this remote is such a versatile tool, it makes a lot of shots available if you are shooting things alone, or you want some creative shots to be made.
Other Features
Some other features that worth mentioning about this gimbal.
- The tripod stands are quite useful when you are shooting videos from a distance, they blend into the tripod without you even noticing them, but they are really firm when the device is on an even table.
- The 1/4″-20 Screw mount and the extended stick can make more shots possible.
- It claims 13 hours of use when the gimbal is standing on the ground, and 4 hours with all the functions running. In our tests, we did not get to drain the battery though, but such battery life is good enough to support any shooting needs, and you can always charge the gimbal through the type-c port at the side.
Verdict
So these are the features and our experience with the Hohem iSteady V3 Smartphone Gimbal, it is such a versatile tool to use, the AI tracker and remote control are the highlights of this device. You can do a lot of creative things with this device, if you are an individual filmmaker, or livestreamer, this can help you a lot. And if you are looking for your first smartphone gimbal, this is also the best choice.
