Zhiyun Smooth 5S Review - PCMag

The Zhiyun Smooth 5S ($169) is an upgraded mentation of the Smooth 5, adding a built-in capable airy for signaling successful acheronian scenes. With its multitude of features, it's an precocious instrumentality for stabilizing your smartphone video and adding instrumentality shots on the way. While it's good suited to nonrecreational and adept videographers, the somewhat cheaper, easier-to-use DJI Osmo 6 ($159) remains our Editors' Choice for smartphone gimbals.

Buttons and Controls to Spare

While DJI scaled the Osmo 6 for portability, Zhiyun made its apical smartphone gimbal larger, with much features for cutting-edge filmmaking. It tips the scales astatine 1.38 pounds, which is rather a spot heavier than the Osmo's 0.75 pounds. In presumption of carnal size, it measures 12.24 by 6.61 by 2.04 inches (HWD), which is noticeably larger than the 10.9 by 4.4 by 3.9 inches of the Osmo 6.

The gimbal is disposable successful some achromatic and gray. We received a grey exemplary for testing, and portion it looks nice, the achromatic exemplary surely does popular a small more.

(Credit: Dave LeClair)

The gimbal's buttons, wheel, and joystick are top-notch. The buttons person a pleasing tactile feel, which makes controlling your shots casual and accurate. The zoom wheel, which is larger than astir different models we've tested, is peculiarly impressive. The other size makes it easier to zoom successful and retired successful tiny increments.

While the joystick is inactive tiny, it feels bully and makes panning the gimbal easy. The optional dilatory mode lets you make beauteous dilatory pans. There's besides a jog instrumentality that's utilized to brighten oregon dim the capable airy (more connected this below), which tin assistance rapidly change the lighting successful your scene. The instrumentality is smooth, accurate, and casual to marque precise adjustments.

On the front, you'll find the Mode button, which changes whether you're moving connected POV, follow, oregon immoderate of the different disposable shooting modes. There's besides a Menu fastener that opens the settings connected your smartphone. Finally, there's the Record button.

(Credit: Dave LeClair)

The powerfulness and Fn buttons are astir the close broadside of the gimbal and you'll find the trigger connected the rear. The trigger serves a fewer functions, specified arsenic turning connected the taxable pursuing mode. The horizontal axis fastener power and the USB-C larboard for charging are besides connected the rear. Another USB-C larboard connected the limb of the gimbal tin beryllium utilized to complaint your telephone if you privation to usage the gimbal arsenic a powerfulness bank.

Build prime is rather good. The Zhiyun Smooth 5S feels sturdy and solid. The dense integrative worldly of the gimbal doesn't consciousness cheap. The grip of the tripod is heavy and covered successful a rubberized grip worldly that helps solidify the gimbal successful your hand. Even the tripod, which is included with some the basal 5S and the Combo kit, feels solid.

The gimbal's artillery is rated for up to 24 hours of seizure time, which is substantially longer than its competition. It besides supports accelerated charging. With a 15W charger oregon higher, it tin recharge successful arsenic small arsenic 2 hours. A cablegram is included successful the box, but a charger is not.

Could Be Smoother

Setting up the Zhiyun Smooth 5S is somewhat clunkier than I'd like. While the DJI Osmo 6 has you spot the telephone connected the gimbal and go, the Smooth 5S requires you to unlock each of the 3 motors and equilibrium your telephone earlier you tin commencement filming.

(Credit: Dave LeClair)

To equilibrium my smartphone (an Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max), I had to determination the gripping slider astir each the mode over. With the grip acceptable truthful acold over, the gimbal can't beryllium closed down for stowing successful the carrying lawsuit without unlocking it. This necessitates rebalancing the gimbal each clip you usage it. If you person a smaller, lighter phone, this shouldn't beryllium an issue. The Osmo 6, by mode of comparison, has you equilibrium the telephone by simply moving the magnetic clip, which you tin permission connected the telephone betwixt uses if you'll beryllium filming regularly. Simply put, the Smooth 5S requires much steps that marque it little grab-and-go friendly.

Then determination are the apps (yes, determination are 2 apps). The Zy Cami and StaCam apps are disposable to some Android and iOS, though Zhiyun says the Android apps don't enactment each the features disposable to the iPhone (it doesn't specify which).

The Zy Cami app is the simpler of the two, designed for amateur videographers who don't privation to fiddle with each the settings and modes. StaCam is for those who privation to fine-tune their videos with everything from LUT presets, to ISO, to lens choice. The occupation is that neither app has the astir accessible idiosyncratic interface, making them little pleasant to usage than DJI's Mimo app. Moreover, the apps are sometimes poorly translated to English, with confusing phrasing. Of course, you tin ever skip the apps wholly and trust connected your phone's autochthonal video camera app.

There are plentifulness of modes disposable wrong the apps, however, that assistance with filmmaking. For example, successful the Zy Cami app, you tin take to seizure basal video, panoramic photos, dilatory motion, dolly zoom, timelapse, and hyper-lapse shots. With the much precocious StaCam app, you suffer these modes but summation the quality to customize each item of your shots, allowing you to make your ain modes and presets.

(Credit: Dave LeClair)

Last, you person to power betwixt representation and scenery modes manually. The Osmo 6 has a fastener that rotates the telephone and video for you automatically. With the Smooth 5S, you person to crook the gimbal disconnected and set the telephone successful its holder to power orientations. This is simply a clip killer.

While thing astir utilizing the Zhiyun Smooth 5S oregon its apps is inherently bad, determination are conscionable a fewer kinks that marque utilizing them, well, little than smooth.

Lighting Up the Feature Set

The Zhiyun Smooth 5S includes a wide scope of features that marque it much precocious than immoderate competing models.

(Credit: Dave LeClair)

For example, the gimbal allows for afloat 360-degree rotation. Many competing models cannot rotation each the mode around. If you're looking to make shots wherever you cookware retired and rotate successful 360 degrees, the Zhiyun Smooth 5S tin grip them.

Another happening that makes this gimbal amended for professionals is the quality to enactment heavier phones (up to 0.66 pounds) acknowledgment to stronger motors. Whereas the DJI Osmo 6 struggles to enactment a weighty telephone similar the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the Smooth 5S holds it easy without taxing the motors during movement.

One of the astir important upgrades implicit the older Zhiyun Smooth 5 is the built-in capable light. The gimbal features a airy built into 1 limb to assistance illuminate adjacent subjects. This tin beryllium combined with up to 2 optional magnetic capable lights that connect to either broadside of the telephone clamp, allowing for up to 3 lights astatine once. With each 3 capable lights turned connected the gimbal generates 2,040 lux astatine peak. It's nary dedicated lighting rig, but it tin assistance erstwhile the prima goes down.

Finally, you tin usage the Zhiyun Smooth 5S and its 2,600mAh artillery to recharge your phone. Because signaling video is 1 of the fastest ways to drain your phone's battery, having the other powerfulness from the gimbal could beryllium the quality betwixt getting the day's shots successful and having to halt for a recharge.

(Credit: Dave LeClair)

One happening the Smooth 5S lacks? An extendable selfie stick, which is 1 of our favourite features of DJI's offering.

Ready for the Big Screen

The Zhiyun Smooth 5S isn't perfect, but it's inactive adept astatine its superior job: helping you seizure silky creaseless footage utilizing the almighty video camera connected your smartphone. Between its robust enactment of modes, built-in lighting, and superb controls, the Smooth 5S is casual to urge to anyone who's funny successful a sturdy, feature-filled gimbal. However, if you similar a much straightforward acquisition that inactive creates stunning footage, the DJI Osmo 6 is our Editors' Choice victor for being smaller, lighter, easier to use, and $10 cheaper.