Zhiyun Smooth-Q 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphone, i.e. iPhone 7 Plus 6 Plus, Samsung S7 S6, Featuring APP Control, Vertical Shooting, Face Tracking

The media could not be loaded.  I am super impressed with this gimbal for getting awesome footage. I was looking for a gimbal that I could use with my phone since I always have my phone with me specially when I am in a vacation and do not want to take a big DSLR camera with me. The two big names in mobile gimbals are DJI OSMO and Zhiyun Smooth. Smooth Q cost less than half the cost of OSMO and they are super similar in look and functionality so I figured I get the cheaper one and I am not disappointed at all. I like that it came with GoPro adapter ans such a sturdy case. Here is my though ton it:- Setting up:The physical setup is super easy. All you have to do is the balance the the phone in the phone mount such that the phone stays perfectly horizontal or vertical (if you are shooting in portrait). There is a horizontal arm that by pulling out or pushing it in you can balance the the phone gimbal with the phone in it. That's all then you can turn it on and the smooth Q will do the rest.- Payload:The gimbal has a payload of 75g to 200g. I was able to use it with my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (with the case). I was also able to use the gimbal with my GoPro Hero 3+ with the LCD attachment and the GoPro Adapter without any issue.- Modes:1) Pan Following Mode: In this mode the gimbal pans left and right smoothly when you turn your hand towards left and right. In this mode the tilt and roll axes are locked. But with the joystick you can manually tilt the phone up and down as well. This is the default mode when you turn on the gimbal.2) Locking Mode: In this mode the camera stays still in the same position as it is when the gimbal is turned on. All the axis are locked (from automatically moving) but with the joystick you can tilt up and down and pan left and right.3) Following Mode: In this mode the camera pans and tilts following the movement of the gimbal. The joystick also allows you to tilt the phone towards left and right.- Portrait/Vertical Recording:In the social media era vertical videos are become more popular than ever (e.g. with snap chat. etc). With Smooth Q I can post vertical videos for social media purposes without any issue. This function is not available with OSMO (where you only can hold the OSMO at a 90 degree to get a portrait footage and that disables the active track)- Battery:The smooth Q Li-ion battery (2x 18650) allows for up 12 hours of continuous use and a USB port that can charge the phone at the same time. Osmo's LiPo battery (980mAh) that on the other hand allows for up to 4.5 hours.- Firmware Update:The first thing I did (as I do with other firmware upgradable products) was to upgrade the firmware by downloading the driver, latest firmware and Zhiyun Gimbal Tools for Windows. After installing the driver I ran the gimbal tools and loaded the firmware and updated the firmware.- Calibration:The gimbal was ready out of the box and I didn't need to do any calibration other than the balancing the phone. But if I needed to do some calibration I could do via the app or the Zhiyun Gimbal Tools for Windows.- APPs:There are 3 apps that the gimbal can connect to and all three are from Zhiyun:(1) Zhiyun Assistant: This is my favorite app. In this app you can see the gimbal battery status and the status and degree of each of the 3 axis as well as control the gimbal, switch between gimbal modes, calibrate the gimbal, and access to all the settings that you can access via the windows software. The camera function in this app has HDR feature, and bunch of settings such as object tracking, photo/video resolution, GPS tagging, stablization, screen highlight, audio control, ISO, white balance, and exposure.(2) ZY Play: This app is good for basic functionalities of picture and video taking.(3) Zhiyun Camera: In this app you can use the Face Tracking feature in both video and picture mode. This feature follows faces.- Object (or Face) Tracking:The gimbal has the object tracking feature so essentially it can be set on a tripod and by selecting (drawing a square on) an object the gimbal can flow the the object and even if the object goes out of the frame as soon as the object comes in the frame again (in a short time only) the camera follows the object again. The face tracking feature follows any face so in the same manner it follows faces without selecting any of the faces.

It almost immediately works straight out of the box. You attach a phone, turn the gimbal on, and it stabilizes the phone no matter how you turn or shake your hand.Are there things that could be better? Absolutely, but at this pricepoint, it's pretty hard to beat.Some of the negatives that other reviewers mention are already solved (like the app not being in English, for iOS, just look for ZY Play).Another issue that was mentioned was that the gimbal 'slammed' their phone and busted the screen...I too ran into this issue, however, my screen is still intact. The speed of impact is not that great, so it's hard to imagine it can shatter an iPhone screen.However I did figure out how to solve this!It only happens when you extend the gimbal to support a larger phone (like the iPhone6/7 plus) and the middle axis is left of the handle (not sure how to otherwise explain this ...)Because the middle axis now extends past the joint with the handle, the gimbal gets stuck there, what you need to do is move the axis back (shorten it), move it over so it crosses the handle, now put back your phone, re-extend the axis and presto, it's balanced correctly again!It's as if the gimbal has a preference for the middle axis to stay on the right side of the handle...As for the handle being made out of plastic, I think it helps keep the weight down, and especially with a larger/heavier phone like the iPhone 7 plus, it can get tiring after a while.Sure some gripfoam would've been nice, but hey, that leaves room for improvement for the next version ;)And perhaps the first axis/arm (the one attached to the handle) could've been made a little bit longer so when you extend the middle one, it doesn't get 'stuck'.One of the features of the app that I liked is the 'motion timelapse' function. It's adds a little bit of extra that makes your timelapses more enjoyable/fun to watch (for example a timelapse of a sunset that pans from left to right).All in all, if you're looking for an affordable gimbal for your vacation shots, or just want to experiment with a gimbal, this is an excellent choice.

Okay, after a lot of reviews I decided to buy thing Gimbal. However I have found one major flaw in the gimbal, where I feel this might be more of an Application problem. That'll be down below. I am going to mention it in a product review because you have to use both to get the fullest effect of the gimbal.The Gimbal itself is fantastic. Super Smooth, works well, and easy to program and learn on. I have no complaints with it what soever. The joystick is buttery smooth, the buttons have tactile feedback and work as you would expect. The case is lightweight but sturdy enough that I feel the Gimbal is protected well. I don't know that I would use it to carry the gimbal while mountain biking but I would have no issues using the case while back woods camping.Once you connect your phone to the Smooth Q through the Zhiyun Play app, you have an option for "follow object" program. Where the Gimbal will lock onto a target and stay focused on it.It doesn't work. I've tried it several times and it works for 5-6 seconds and goes haywire. All of the other features work flawlessly and work as you would expect but the tracking.