Unbiased Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review | How it really works for MotoVlogging

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 on review here promises high performance in all light conditions and features a flip-up screen to make it a lot easier to frame shots from in front of the camera, as well as access all the controls.

Available with a single battery for £389.99, or with two for £409.99, I’ve been testing it on various bikes to find out if it’s the best motorcycle action camera by comparing it to the DJI Osmo Action 4, which has been my favourite device for quality and ease of use… Is the Ace Pro 2 really any better? Let’s find out…

PLEASE ENSURE YOU SET THE SAMPLE VIDEOS TO PLAY AT 4K RESOLUTION

Pros & Cons

Why you can trust this review

No manufacturers or distributors ever have any influence on the reviews I write or film, I won’t ever do any paid reviews, and I’ll never agree to affiliate links. All products are tested fairly and equally, and if anything changes over time, I’ll update the written reviews.

Your purchasing choices should always be your own – Bennetts BikeSocial is just here to help ensure they’re informed choices.

One camera, one bike

Testing the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 on the BMW R1300GS

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 can do (almost) everything

The video above was shot entirely on the Insta360 Ace Pro 2, with the camera shooting in 4K resolution at 25 frames per second. Exposure was left in automatic mode, the bitrate was set to high (you need to change this in the settings), and sharpness was at the default medium. The only changes between shots were the viewing angles, with active HDR left turned on.

I edited it in Premiere Pro with a music track from Artlist, which will become more important to know later in the review, and it took me about 45 minutes.

I’m impressed with this camera. In my review of the Action 4 Pro I explained why I was using 360 cameras less (though devices like the X4 are still very good), and having horizon lock on for the shots with the camera off to the side of the bike in the video above meant I didn’t need to worry about the position of it; the same went for the shot of the suspension, which benefitted from making the bike appear to move while you couldn’t see anything else for reference.

Overall image quality is very good (we’ll look at comparisons later), and the magnetic clip fastening is impressive, making it very quick and easy to swap the Insta360 between locations (as long as you have multiple clips). Sadly it’s not compatible with DJI’s quick-release clip.

The camera is only meant to fit onto the clip one way around, but the magnets aren’t massively powerful, so if you’re in a panic and have to get a shot urgently, it is possible to clip the camera on the wrong way around without unscrewing the bracket. The magnet in the base of the Ace Pro 2 isn’t powerful enough to oppose the clip’s magnet when put on back to front, but downside to this is that, unlike the DJI Osmo Action 4, you can’t just stick the camera to a metal surface for stationary shots.

Of course, one of the biggest highlights of the Insta360 is its flip-up screen. Appearing very well-made and solid, this allows you to easily see the full screen and access the controls easily from the front or back. The benefit of this when composing shots shouldn’t be underestimated, and I’ll say now that this will be my first choice for on-the-go pieces to camera and as a second camera, for instance in my videos shot in the garage, as it’s a lot easier to see the framing from a distance compared to the DJI with its small screen on the front.

But it’s not perfect. If the camera’s in a confined space you might not be able to flip the screen up, which can make framing on-bike action awkward, and not allow you to change settings without taking the camera off.

For many situations it’ll be fine, but while it’d add to the cost, this system would be flawless if there was also a touch-sensitive screen on the front that could also show the view in a smaller window, like the DJI. The Ace Pro 2’s front screen is monochrome and displays only the remaining card space, battery level, recording mode, elapsed time and recording status. There is a big LED that shows it’s recording – handy when it’s mounted to your helmet or chest – but checking the framing from this position can be very hard, especially when helmet mounted.

Another very notable inclusion is the removable wind muff – a metal mesh with a foam insert that reminds me of ED-209, and combined with the wind noise reduction (turned on for all the videos in this review), gives very good sound even at speed. You’ll be able to hear the audio quality in the other video samples, and will understand why I used music in the one above later on…

A massive deal for me, and something that put me off the previous Insta360 Ace Pro is the fact that the lens guard is now removable, with replacement Ace Pro 2 covers costing £19.99. Having damaged the surface of several action camera lens covers over the years (weld spatter and angle-grinder sparks), I would never recommend a camera that didn’t have this.

Finally, the Insta360 smartphone App, which is needed to activate the camera, but then only required for firmware updates, to edit footage on your phone or to control the camera remotely, is available on both the iOS and Android app stores. The peace-of-mind of not needing to side-load an app on Android does give Insta360 an advantage over DJI.

There are a huge number of shooting modes available on the Ace Pro 2, including high frame rates for slow-motion footage:

PureVideo is intended for better low light footage, which we’ll look at later. Free-frame shoots a square-format video with guides on the screen showing how the footage will look cropped horizontally or vertically. Choose which you want when editing on the smartphone or the free Insta360 Studio app for Mac or PC.

The dash-cam mode is also very impressive – choose the length of each clip and it’ll record one after the other, deleting the earliest as space is filled, just like a dedicated dash-cam. Where extra thought has gone into this is that you can choose the space allocated on the memory card for the dash-cam (the Ace Pro 2 supports microSD cards up to 1TB), so you can still have plenty of room kept available to film the things you want, while also having it recording all the time.

An alternative to this is the ‘pre-record’ mode, which works up to 1440p resolution and is constantly recording but not storing footage. If something happens that you want to keep, hit the button and up to the last 120 seconds will be recorded, then everything following until you press stop, at which point it returns to its clever standby mode again.

Ace Pro 2 8K test

Comparing the Ace Pro 2 at 8K with the Osmo Action 4 at 4K

8K is NOT just a gimmick

I was sceptical of the value of being able to shoot in 8K resolution, and while the footage above does show the superior clarity compared to the DJI Osmo Action 4 – especially when zoomed in – it’s at the expense of the stabilisation’s performance, which while kind of acceptable, is clearly lacking. The HDR mode also gets turned off in 8K mode, and this can be seen in the burned-out clouds.

Less vibration-prone and fast pitch-changing footage would be better when shot in 8K, but it is surprisingly effective even in these fairly harsh conditions.

Where the Insta360 Ace Pro 2’s 8K mode really excels though is in more static shots, for instance when shooting in my garage…

Ace Pro 2 FoV and resolution test

8K performance excels here

The video above shows all the fields of view available on the Ace Pro 2, and how they compare to the Osmo Action 4. What’s really striking is how much better the Insta360 is for noise, and how far you can zoom in when shooing in 8K mode. The lack of HDR in 8K here didn’t make much difference at all, though if there had been an outside window in the shot it might have been more prevalent.

As before, the wind noise reduction was left on; this review is intended to be for motorcyclists not professional videographers, so I’m keeping everything as automatic and standard as possible.

Something I hadn’t expected was how resistant to over-heating the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is – in a test with no draft at about 19°C with the camera on my desk, it shot 8K 25fps footage for 56 minutes until the battery ran out, with no sign of any overheating. Impressive.

Free Frame mode samples

This clip was shot once, but exported in six different crop formats

Free Frame video mode is brilliant

I’d dismissed this mode as something that I’d never use, but having started to shoot some Shorts videos for YouTube, and with the Bennetts BikeSocial team taking its first tentative steps onto TikTok, I gave it a go and was very impressed.

Shooting up to 4K 60fps, the camera (and GPS Preview remote if you have it) shows guide frames for what you’ll capture in vertical and horizontal crops. In the Insta360 smartphone app, or on the desktop Studio software, you can then decide what crop format you want to save the footage in from the following options:

• 1:1

• 9:16

• 16:9

• 3:4

• 4:3

• 2.35:1

The great thing here is that, as long as you took the time to position your camera carefully, you can capture vertical footage for Shorts, TikTok, Instagram etc, as well as landscape-format shots for standard video, all at the same time.

The footage doesn’t have image stabilisation on as standard but you can switch in on in the app / Studio software, as well as switch between various field of view options, depending on the crop format. Now I’ve got to grips with it, I’ve realised that this is a superb action camera feature for creators.

Ace Pro 2 Standard stabilisation

Compared to Osmo Action 4

The Ace Pro 2 has slightly lazy stabilisation

Have a look at the footage above (and listen to the audio comparisons, filmed on a BMW R1300GS), and you might notice that when coming out of bends the stabilisation – ‘Standard’ on the Ace Pro 2 and ‘Rock Steady’ on the Osmo Action 4 – is a little slow to catch up on the Insta360, leading to a slightly weird feeling of the bike almost swerving at the last minute. It’s not a real deal-breaker, and I assume that Insta360 could iron this out with a firmware update.

Keeping in mind that I’m using standard exposure settings with auto HDR on both cameras, and that both offer flatter ‘Log’ modes for greater refinement during editing, I think that the Insta360 has slightly more natural colours in auto compared to the DJI, and a little less contrast, resulting in fractionally better footage. But the HDR – which can be turned off – produces some distracting edges on the trees at times. Overall it’s very good, though I would be tempted to shoot in Log and tweak this footage later for more important videos.

Ace Pro 2 High stabilisation

Compared to Osmo Action 4

With the Ace Pro 2 set to ‘High’ stabilisation and the DJI to ‘Rock Steady+’, the Insta360’s stabilisation delay when exiting bends becomes more pronounced, especially when exiting the trees at 0:18. Please excuse the bug splat at 2:44.

The edges on some trees remain visible here, but hopefully this is something that could be dialled back a touch with a firmware update in the standard auto modes.

Horizon levelling comparison

Ace Pro 2 vs Osmo Action 4 test

The video above shows the cameras in Horizon Levelling mode. This is great if you’re backflipping off a cliff into the sea, but on bikes I prefer to see the horizon move. Still, where I shot the rear shock with no context of the road in the first video, Horizon Levelling certainly made it more dynamic. The slightly laggy stabilisation is still evident in this mode.

Control over the camera is very good, with plenty of settings available to tweak, as well as full manual control if you want it. The shutter speed can be adjusted from 1/8000 second down to the limit of the frames per second (so 1/25 at 25fps, 1/50 at 50fps etc), which will make for great motion blur outside if you’re using ND filters (I haven’t had a chance to test these). There is an option to add blur in the app, but I’m not all that impressed with the results.

There’s also a setting to reduce jitter, which increases the shutter speed to minimise smaller vibrations in lighter scenes.

Note that the footage I’ve shown in this review was shot using V1.0.10, which was the first full consumer firmware. I also used the Beta firmware pre-release, but this did have some glitches that were ironed out for the launch.

Ace Pro 2 night footage

Shooting in the dark with both cameras

Low light and night footage on the Ace Pro 2 is very good, but not perfect

In the field of view test earlier, I used the standard video mode and found the noise to be incredibly well controlled, especially when compared to the DJI Osmo Action 4, which I’d thought was good already. As the camera was static, I had no need to use the PureVideo mode, which is intended for better low light shooting.

The video above sees the cameras mounted to the nose of the BMW R1300GS, then on the screen facing back, to compare the night time performance...

With both cameras in standard 4K/25 mode, the Ace Pro 2 has the edge in clarity, and stabilisation to a small extent. But switch over to PureVideo mode and the Ace Pro 2 really stands out, details being significantly clearer than the Action 4, and vibration massively reduces. It’s still not as good as daylight footage of course, but it’s very, very impressive. If you need to shoot at night, the Insta360 is the obvious choice.

Note that the audio seems rough on the Ace Pro, which I can only put down to some moisture being left inside the mic port after the water test, which was done earlier in the day.

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 could boot up a little faster

I was impressed with how quickly the DJI Osmo Action 4 can boot up and start recording in its quick start mode compared to the Insta360 X4, but while the Ace Pro 2 is an improvement over its 360 brother, it’s still lacking compared to the DJI…

It should be pointed out that the Osmo Action 4 takes 6.75 seconds to start up from a long period of being off, but once used once, it stays in a slightly more ‘alert’ state for a fair amount of time, which means a subsequent start is a lot faster.

Being able to leave the Ace Pro 2 off, then power it up and start recording with a single press of the record button – and have it turn off when you press it again – is really helpful, but I do find the button (and the DJI’s) to be a little less tactile than I’d like. Granted, accidental filming is less likely in a bag, but with motorcycle gloves on it’s a bit more of a fiddle than I’d like.

One thing to note is that the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 (and X4) has an option to long-press the record button when you finish, which then gives the ability to erase the recording. Handy to save some faffing if you’re walking around filming, but on the bike it can be hard to judge a long press and short press with gloves when you’re riding, so I turned this off in the settings.

The Ace Pro 2 isn’t heavy, but it is bulkier than the competition

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 isn’t so big and weighty that it’s a problem by any stretch, but depending where and how you use it, the size and weight could be worth being aware of. MotoVloggers who have the camera on their helmets might want to consider it (as well as the limitations of the front screen)…

The Ace Pro 2’s waterproofing is good, but…

The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 doesn’t have an IP rating, but the company says it’s waterproof down to 12m without the optional dive case (60m with it). I’ve not had a chance to use it on a long ride in heavy rain yet, but hose and immersion testing has revealed no problems.

The screen will change settings and stop recording due to rain hitting it, but you can lock it by swiping down and selecting the option on the first page, then just swipe the screen to the right to unlock it.

The wind muff has foam inside, so should be removed before use in the wet but if you forget, nothing bad will happen besides your audio being muffled until it dries out. A plain plastic cover with a hole in for the mic is supplied if you remember to use it.

Something I did encounter is misting of the lens cover while shooting with the camera on a tripod at 8K25 on a cold, damp day. It fogged from the inside centre, spreading out, with the heat seeming to radiate from the lens itself. Removing the lens cap saw it instantly clear, and I haven’t had it happen again, but I will keep an eye on it.

The issue I have with the Ace Pro 2 is the microSD card slot being under the same cover as the USB-C port. I don’t really like talking while riding, but MotoVloggers need to be aware that the card slot could be susceptible to water ingress if they’re using a wired mic. I had no problems in heavy rain with the Osmo Action 4 and a wired mic, but I wouldn’t risk it here as a USB-C port can be made water-resistant, but an SD card slot is another matter.

UPDATE JULY 2025: This will also be of concern to those wanting to use the Ace Pro 2’s dashcam mode, but Insta360 has now released a weatherproof charging cover for £19.99, which comes with 1.5m USB-C cable. It's splash-resistant, but not suitable for immersion.

On the subject of the microSD card, it’s a small thing but I’d have liked it to be rotated 180°, so the ridge of the card is easier to get your nail under – as it is, set close to the raised edge of the body, it’s hard to flick out. Having snapped a microSD card in the past while trying to get it out of a GoPro, I like to see them as easy to remove as possible.

AI Editing test

I didn’t do ANY of this!

Artificial Intelligence editing is a bit rubbish

Using exactly the same clips in pretty much the same order as I did to make the first video in this review, the above is what the Insta360 smartphone app came up with. This is AI editing, with the auto AI highlights turned on while filming to give the best chance of making something exciting.

It didn’t.

Sadly, the accelerometers in the camera failed to pick up on what many of us would consider to be the more interesting riding shots, the clip at 0:53 being a great example – this was when I turned the camera on before then riding through a great S-bend.

0:43 shows a random car passing by while I turned the bike around and rode back.

A lot of the clips have been slowed down, making it look like I’m crawling into bends and adding smeary artefacts due to it all being shot at 25fps. If I’d shot at 100 or 120fps, slowing it down would have made some sense.

And as for those captions… I saw no option to change or remove them, so you’re left with the cheesiness. To be fair, there are other templates to choose from, but this was what it chose and it looked the least nasty to me.

Editing is a lot quicker if you download all the clips to your phone, but I left them on the camera and ran the editing software on my Pixel 7 Pro, which took a total of 32 minutes, and resulted in a 1080p export. So all things considered, I think you’re better off editing motorcycle footage yourself.

Auto editing is also limited to a maximum of 20 minutes of clips to make up the short video, and it can't include 8K footage.

This is something that I’m sure we’ll see improve over time, and I’ve no doubt it’d work a lot better for those filming walkabout videos, but for motorcycling at least, I don’t think the AI algorithm has this nailed yet.

What’s also worth noting is that I got a copyright content warning as soon as I uploaded the AI-generated video to YouTube, meaning it can’t be monetised. While the music in the Insta360 app is free to use, it’s only intended for Insta360’s own community. Upload it anywhere else and it won’t be an issue for your own personal use, but if you put any of it in a video you want to make money from, you’ll be out of luck.

Where artificial intelligence, or the machine learning that comes from it at least does seem to work is in the excellent noise control and picture enhancement that we’ve already seen.

Automatic AI highlights can be turned off, which I do in order to reduce the load on the battery, and highlights can be marked manually by tapping the flag on the screen, but this isn’t really convenient when riding. It’d be great of it could be done with the optional remote, but that doesn’t seem to be an option.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 battery life

Shooting in 4K 25fps, the Insta360 Ace Pro 2’s recording time is pretty much identical to the DJI Osmo Action 4. In 8K/25 it’s reduced, but still impressive and more than enough for most of the times I’d be using it…

The Ace Pro 2 stops recording when the 1,800 mAh battery reaches about 4% to ensure the files are correctly saved. Recharging from full takes just over 45 minutes with a 30W charger, and an hour and a quarter with a 5V 3A charger.

I have the dual battery bundle, which adds £20 to the purchase price, or spare batteries cost £34.99 each.

Is the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 MM93 Edition worth buying?

In July 2025, Insta360 released the MM93 Edition that has all the same spec as the standard model, but with a unique shut-down screen, as well as red accents and  graphics on the camera that show it’s the Marc Marquez version.

Perhaps the most tempting reason to choose the MM93 Edition is the exclusive stats overlay, which – when the camera is paired to the app on your smartphone or the GPS remote – can show acceleration, tilt angle, date & time, distance, altitude, pace, route, gradient and speed.

Ace Pro 2 stats samples

Shot using the Free Frame option, these clips show some of the MM93 stats options

The standard camera gives you access to all these stats overlays, but you can only use the MM93 design if you have this camera.

You can choose which to use, reposition and resize the stats, as well as save your own templates in the Insta360 app. At the time of writing the MM93 ones are only available on the Smartphone app, which I do find a bit laborious for longer clips that I then need to edit on the desktop, but they should find their way to the Mac/PC Studio software soon.

The Inst360 Ace Pro 2 MM93 Edition bundle costs £519.99 and includes:

• The uniquely-branded camera and its standard accessories

• Two extra batteries

• 128GB microSD card

• Helmet chin mount

• 2x Flexible adhesive mounts

• Pre-printed Marc Márquez autograph card

The bundle price works out £5 less than buying all the (unbranded) items separately, though keep in mind that the standard motorcycle bundle costs £493 and includes the excellent Heavy Duty Clamp. It is however missing the pair of flexible adhesive mounts, which cost £18.99 on their own (but are superb).

If you’re a fan of Marc Márquez the bundle’s worth having, though I have to say that I don’t really rate the helmet chin mount as it prevents your visor being properly closed and blocks the vent. Also, action cameras can’t be mounted on a helmet at UK track-days.

WIN this Insta360 Ace Pro 2 MM93 Edition bundle

We’re giving away this camera to one lucky winner. Enter using the link below…

WIN the Inst360 Ace Pro 2 MM93 Edition

We’re giving away the very set you see here, so for your chance to win visit the BikeSocial membership site here: https://rewards.bennetts.co.uk/rewards/win-insta-360-ace-pro-2-mm93-edition

The competition is open to anyone in the UK (not just members), and it’s FREE and easy to enter, so click now for your chance to win, then check out the other competitions, discounts and events on the website.

Essential accessories for the Insta360 Ace Pro 2

There are various bundles available when buying, so check them out for a potentially better deal depending on what or how you shoot, but these are my recommendations…

Multi Mount, £49.99 | I can’t stress enough just how brilliant this is! Made by Pgytech, it’s a hugely versatile tripod that can be used to stand the camera at various heights, with a ball-head for 86° of movement. The top is a ¼” tripod thread, but an adaptor is supplied to attach any GoPro-style mount (which of course, the Insta360 mount is).

It also makes a great carry handle when shooting low angles (the Ace Pro 2’s flip-up screen is brilliant here), you can hang it off a door or road-sign, and it’ll extend from 21 to 51cm.

There’s even soft silicone feet moulded into the bottoms of the legs for extra stability, and it

includes a lanyard, which loops neatly around the fasteners to keep it out of the way.

The maximum capacity is 500g, so whatever camera you’re using, this is pretty much an essential. My only tiny criticism of it is that it has a GoPro-style thumb screw with four ridges, which is a lot hard to get purchase on than the excellent two-ridge design adopted by Insta360 and DJI in all their own kit.

Quick Release Mount, £38.99 | This is an extreme version of the standard Insta360 mount, which costs £14.99. Made of aluminium, it has the same magnetic mounting clips in the top, and tabs that drop down for GoPro style mounts, but includes a lock to ensure it’s secure, and included thicker silicone for the top to reduce vibration further (which I fitted).

The real benefit of this mount though is the ¼” socket in the base to screw it straight onto a tripod, and the ¼” threaded adaptor plate that clips onto the top. If you also have a X4, for instance, you can fit this plate to it, then swap the two cameras between the base of this, or the standard mount.

Action Invisible Selfie Stick, £46.99 | An essential for the X4, this is also great for getting shots off to the side of the bike with it strapped down, or using a clamp. The sliding mechanism is very smooth, and there’s even a fine mesh covering the air outlet on the bottom, so the quality and attention to detail make me feel the price is somewhat justified, but cheaper options are available, like the £27.99 Invisible Selfie Stick.

GPS Preview Remote, £149.99 | It wasn’t until I used this compact remote control that I realised it would become an essential piece of my kit.

Supplied with a watch-style wrist strap that has a range of 140 to 210 mm diameter (5.5 to 8.3 inches), or a universal handlebar strap covering 20mm to 35mm, the device measures just 42 x 48.5 x 15.5 mm and is IP68 water-resistant, meaning it can be submerged to up to 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes and will be fine in the pouring rain on your bike, though be warned that heavy rain could mess with the control via the touch-sensitive screen. Four self-adhesive pads are also supplied to hold the remote inside the watch strap more firmly if you’re doing surface watersports.

That little 29 x 32 mm screen gives an extremely valuable (if slightly delayed) view of what the camera’s seeing. Small details are understandably difficult to make out, but framing and checking footage really is easy, especially when the camera’s mounted to your lid or chest.

Most importantly though, it’s a doddle to start and stop recording (and change modes) while the camera’s out of reach – I used to set the camera running then start riding, not turning off again until I was able to pull over, which made for a lot of wasted footage to trawl through and also meant I had to think carefully about where I was going to shoot each clip.

Having its own GPS chip inside, which finds satellites within about 20-30 seconds when outside after booting up, once paired with your camera it’ll allow you to access the full suite of stats overlays including speed and location. You don’t have to buy the remote for that – you can do it by having the app open on your phone – but it’s a lot less hassle.

Insta360 doesn’t state what the screen is made of (and I don’t have a set of Mohs picks to check if it scratches at a Level 6, with deeper grooves at Level 7), but it takes a firm press with a sharp piece of steel to mark the screen.

Range between the remote and camera is said to be up to 20 metres for control and 8 metres for the preview. In my testing I could operate the camera with the house between me and it, and found the claimed distances to be pretty much spot on with a clear line of sight.

If you lose contact with the remote it will re-pair automatically, but it takes several seconds so you can’t really leave the camera somewhere, ride out of range then start recording as you get close. For typical uses though – like operating a camera that’s on the end of selfie stick, outside a car or even attached to a second bike that you’re riding close to – the remote works brilliantly and I now wouldn’t be without it.

If you only have one Insta360 camera to pair the remote to, you might want to turn on the option to boot up the camera when the remote is turned on, but if you have more than one I’d suggest disabling this option.

Once a camera is paired with the Preview Remote, when it’s turned on they’ll connect automatically and the preview will begin on the screen. If you then turn on another paired camera it’ll not connect, but turn off the first and the second will then link up.

You can’t control more than one camera at a time, but it’ll operate whichever was the first to connect.

Something to consider is that, even if the camera’s turned off it’ll lose around 2% of its battery a day while it ‘listens’ for the remote control. There’s an option in Settings/General to disable Bluetooth Wakeup, which will save your battery if you don’t need this feature.

If the camera is off (and Bluetooth Wakeup is enabled on the camera) it takes seven seconds to boot and start recording by pressing the button on the remote and starting ‘quick capture’ (compared to just under four seconds if you press the button on the camera itself). That’s not bad, but it takes a further 20 seconds before the preview is displayed on the remote, and you also can’t stop recording until the preview is shown. This isn’t a disaster, but it’s worth knowing. Fortunately it does mean that if you hadn’t started the camera and it’s out of reach, you can get filming fairly quickly.

You can turn the camera off from the remote by pressing and holding the function button. The screen will then show the option to turn the camera off, turn the remote off, or turn both off. If you continue to hold, the camera will shut down but the other two options will need a swipe of the screen.

Battery life on the remote itself is good – I put it on my wrist at 10.30am with the camera on and sending a preview until that ran out and shut down, then I used the remote as a watch, fiddling around with it through the day, turning cameras on and off and running various trials. It wasn’t until 13:50 the next day – almost 27 and a half hours later – that the remote warned of a low battery. It continued to operate the camera for about a minute, then shut itself down.

Charging the remote is done using the supplied magnetic dock, which plugs into a USB-A port. It’d be nice to have had a USB-A to USB-C adaptor supplied, and it’s worth noting that you can’t charge the remote while it’s mounted to the bike. You can pop the magnetic connector out of the silicone dock and charge the remote while it’s in the watch case though.

Other features of the Insta360 GPS Preview Remote include a time function with your choice of three layouts, a speedo (with record function) and a compass that also gives your location.

One small point I’d like to see improved is that while starting and stopping recording is easy and the function button on the remote allows you to mark footage, I’d love to have the option to set the physical function button to take a photo while video is being recorded (like you can on the camera itself). You can take a photo by pressing the shutter button on the screen, but this is fiddly (especially with gloves on), and can lead to accidental swipes.

Portable Charging Case, £64.99 | With a built-in 10,000 mAh battery, this charging case can keep not just two Ace Pro 2 batteries charged and ready to go, but it can also charge the original Ace Pro, Ace and the X4 and X3, so it’s an incredibly versatile piece of kit. For someone like me that films with the X4 and the Ace Pro 2 at the same time, the fact that you can have one of each of the packs charging together is genius.

While doing some lock testing recently, when the Ace Pro 2 battery was low I knew I had the spare ready to go. Popping the spent one in the charger brought that back up to full charge in just over an hour. The case also acts as a power-bank, with an impressive 5V 3A output, and Power Delivery that can fast charge even my finicky Google Pixel 7 Pro.

Here’s how quickly Insta360 says the case can charge all the compatible batteries:

Output and the charging input is via a single USB-C port, and Insta360 says the case takes 260 minutes to fully charge with a Power Delivery charger – I just leave it on overnight.

If you film a lot, this could be a very worthwhile investment, but if you only want to be able to charge multiple Ace Pro 2 batteries at once, at home, consider the £49.99 Fast Charge Hub. For the extra £15, though the Portable Charging Case is my recommendation.

ND Filter set, £94.99 | Made by Freewell, the set includes ND 8, 16 and 32 filters, which restrict the light hitting the sensor by 3, 4 and 5 stops respectively. For anyone who only captures footage in full-auto mode they’ll be of no use, but ND filters allow you to get more natural motion blur for much more appealing, cinematic footage.

Shooting at 25fps, for instance, a 1/50 shutter speed would give really nice motion blur, but in daylight that’d be impossible to achieve even at the lowest ISO setting as action cameras don’t have an adjustable aperture. By switching to manual mode then locking in the shutter speed yourself, the ISO sensitivity can be adjusted to work with the ND filter. Simply pick the filter that requires the lowest sensitivity at the chosen shutter speed and you’re set. To make life easier, you could use auto ISO, which will help if you’re riding through variable lighting conditions.

It's important to note that the electronic stabilisation will unlikely work with slower shutter speeds like this, so be careful where you mount the camera. The effect though can be stunning. A

s I write this it’s deep winter and there’s no opportunity to get some lovely sunny motion blur shots, but as always I’ll keep this review updated, and do expect to make some good use of these.

The filters simply press onto the existing lens cover – I thought they’d replace it, which would have made for a more secure fit and been less worrying on a fast ride, but they do grip well. If you were using these on track or off-road, you might want to consider a bit of gaffer tape.

Also included in a polarising filter, which reduces the light by 1.6 stops and is claimed to improve clarity in side-lit scenes as well as eliminate reflections on glossy objects. I need to play with this some more as so far I’ve been unable to notice much difference in clarity, or the saturation of colours than some people claim. Reflections are tricky – in some tests I’ve seen them reduced, but it depends very much on the angle of the object being filmed relative to the camera, and of the light hitting it. To effectively minimise reflections, a polarising filter usually needs to be rotated to find the perfect spot; this can only be positioned at 90° angles on the camera. It’ll be most useful for static shots, and while it might help some on-board footage, it’s going to be tricky to get it just right, and for it to stay that way.

This is an expensive set, especially when compared to the DJI Osmo Action ND set at £55 (though that doesn’t include a polarising filter), so make sure you’ll get the use out of them before buying. If you will though, the NDs in particular can transform your footage.

Heavy Duty Clamp, £39.99 | Another accessory that’s ideal for the X4, but also great with the Ace Pro 2 when the selfie stick is screwed into the top as it makes a great clamp for off-bike shots, especially when stabilised across the rear seat with zip ties.

Flexible adhesive mount, £18.99 | These stick really well to any surface, so are a great alternative to standard GoPro-type mounts as they flex to suit the shape. I also trimmed one down to use it as an excellent chin mount on my Arai Quantic while riding in Spain. The 3M adhesive can be replaced if you want to reuse these – I bought a roll of it to avoid buying new mounts.

Helmet Chin Mount 2.0, £19.99 | Designed to give pretty much a rider’s-eye view on a motorcycle, the Helmet Chin Mount would be best suited to motocross helmets used with googles as the visor on a road helmet won’t close with this fitted because it straps right around the inside of the chin section.

I find the mount a fiddle to fit, and you need to use the supplied Go-Pro style extension arm or the Ace Pro 2 will foul against the mount.

The mount will also block your helmet’s chin vent, and I found that it’s not all that stable unless it’s pulled very tight, which can be difficult with some helmets that have chin skirts fitted.
If you have space on your helmet I’d recommend using one of the excellent adhesive flexible mounts – even if you have to trim it down – but I’m sure there will be some people that find this mount works for them.

Is the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 good value?

Ah, now we a big stumbling block for Insta360 when the Ace Pro 2 is compared to DJI’s Osmo Action 4: the price.

Granted, DJI also offers the Osmo Action 5 Pro that’s still cheaper, though it doesn’t offer 8K recording, and I haven’t tested it. On paper, the Ace Pro 2 would be my choice between those two.

Is the Ace Pro 2 worth £101 on top of the Action 4? For general filming on the bike in daylight, I’d have to say no. However, low-light footage is significantly better, the flip-up screen is great for studio work especially as a second camera to my main Canon XA70, and that 8K footage allows me to punch in more if my composition wasn’t great, or I want to add some movement to the shots. The Free Frame mode is also fantastic if you need to shoot in more than one crop format at a time.

Only you can decide whether it’s worth the extra money, and I’d be keen to hear your opinions at the friendly Bennetts BikeSocial Facebook Group.

Five alternatives to the Insta360 Ace Pro 2

While Bennetts BikeSocial is not a dedicated tech review site, I do try to cover things that are of interest to many riders, so have tested a fair few, if not all action cameras. Here are some others to consider…

• Insta360 Ace Pro, £329.99 | Currently reduced, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this previous model in some Black Friday deals this year. I’ve only used one very briefly, and the quality was very good, but the Ace Pro 2 has the edge. More importantly for me, the lens protector isn’t removable, which makes it a hard no for my needs.

• DJI Osmo Action 4, £289 | I used the Action 4 for my ride to Spain and loved it. Compact, easy to use and very high performance, it’s only when comparing with the Ace Pro 2 that some of its limitations – mainly in lower light – become clearer. Still, it’s an excellent camera and one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. Read the full review of the DJI Osmo Action 4 here.

• DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, £329 | The Action 5 Pro doesn’t shoot in 8K, but it does have the ability to auto-centre subjects by shifting the frame within the sensor’s capture area (though only up to 2.7K resolution). I’ve not tested the Action 5 Pro, but footage I’ve seen suggests that the Ace Pro 2 and the Action 4 produce more pleasing footage.

• GoPro Hero 13, £399.99| I’ve briefly used a Hero 12, but otherwise my experience with GoPro stopped at the Hero 7 that I bought many years ago. It’s strange to see what was the father of action cameras as we know them apparently playing catchup with Insta360 and DJI, but the cost and performance – based on what I’ve seen – make this, the most expensive of the single-lens actions cameras, hard to justify for most motorcyclists apart from the 400fps burst frame rate at 720p.

• Insta360 X4, £499.99 | The X4 is not a replacement for a single-lens action camera, but it is an incredible tool. It does have limitations, and don’t be fooled by that 8K resolution (it’s 2.7K maximum once your footage is framed), but the ability to film everything, then choose the shot later is hugely powerful. It takes a little more work to get your shots published, but it’s worth it and this is a tool that’s very useful if you can afford it. Just be careful of the vulnerable lenses, and don’t assume the removable covers are perfect. Read the full review of the Insta360 X4, and its comparison with the X3 here.

These are just five of many alternatives – you can find all the action cameras we’ve tested here and be sure to regularly check for the discounts available through Bikesocial membership.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review - Verdict

If you only want an action camera for shooting on-bike footage during the day, then in many ways I think the DJI Osmo Action 4 has the slight edge, mainly thanks to its more compact form and front screen. It’s also got slightly better image stabilisation when shooting motorcycle footage (for now at least) in daylight. But if you’ll be doing pieces to camera and interviews too – especially if you shoot in vertical and horizontal formats – the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 has some very real advantages. And if you’re shooting at night, the Ace Pro 2 is outstanding.

As single-lens action cameras go, the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is an extraordinary piece of kit, and it truly brings some brilliant features and quality, so you’ll certainly see this being used in a lot of my upcoming videos on the Bennetts BikeSocial YouTube channel.

Do you own this camera, or want to know more about it, or anything else motorcycle related? Join us at bikeclub.bennetts.co.uk.