Review | DJI Osmo Mobile 3 review: smallest smartphone gimbal of its kind, light and folds into your pocket

Strong and more manageable than just about any other smartphone three-axis gimbal, the Osmo Mobile 3 folds to roughly six inches by three inches

Its clever arm design allows it to shoot wide-angle camera modes without getting the arm in the frame

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DJI moved the hinge of the Osmo Mobile 3’s motor arm to the side of the phone instead of in front of it, so phones with wide-angle cameras can shoot freely. Other gimbals’ motor arms tend to obstruct the view of wide-angle cameras. Photo: Ben Sin

Published: 8:00pm, 19 Aug 2019Updated: 12:23pm, 20 Sep 2019

DJI’s latest smartphone gimbal, the Osmo Mobile 3, is unique in two crucial ways: it can fold into pocketable size and its clever arm design allows it to handle wide-angle cameras too – the latter an issue with many other models on the market.

Design and hardware

The gimbal’s construction and design is reminiscent of DJI’s other Osmo products such as the Osmo Pocket and Osmo Action.

It’s almost entirely plastic and grey-coloured, with the usual buttons for controls, including a trigger button, a rubber analogue nub and shutter button.

When the Osmo Mobile 3 is folded in half (right), it becomes much more compact than rival smartphone gimbals such as the popular Zhiyun Smooth 4 (left). Photo: Ben Sin

Even in its full operational form, the device is smaller and lighter than rival smartphone gimbals such as the Zhiyun Smooth 4. It can also fold in half to a size that is smaller than any gimbal I’ve seen. In folded form the dimensions are roughly six inches (15cm) by three inches, which is compact enough to fit inside some of my trouser pockets.