DJI Osmo Nano review: an action camera that doesn’t weigh you down

Welcome to T3's review of the DJI Osmo Nano, a diminutive stablemate to the industry-leading Chinese company’s burgeoning collection of highly-regarded action cameras, hand-held mechanically stabilised cameras and incredible roster of drones.

Born out of the extreme sports boom of the early 2000s, the action camera craze was designed to capture every heart-pounding jump, dive, swoop and wipe-out without missing a beat. Small and light enough to strap to the head, clip on a pair of handlebars, suction-mount to a car bonnet or mount to the nose of a surfboard, this dinky camera category has single-handedly revolutionised the way we capture action sports from the protagonist's point of view.

GoPro still remains the overall market leader in the best action camera category, but this is a highly competitive arena and other key players like Insta360, DJI and Sony now also hold a significant market share with their own range of similarly-styled products.

Let’s take a close look at this little upstart from DJI and see if it’s worth adding to your gear bag.

DJI Osmo Nano review

Price and availability

UK buyers are advised to head straight to the DJI Store where the Osmo Nano is shifting for a very reasonable £239 for the 64GB version and just £20 more for the 128GB model. Otherwise, try WEX, Jessops or Park Cameras where it sells for the same price.

American shoppers, meanwhile, may have to wait a little longer while DJI optimises its strategy ‘to best serve US customers amidst evolving local conditions’.

Specifications

• Weight: Camera: 52g; Multifunctional Vision Dock: 72g
• Dimensions: 57.3×29.5×28 mm (L×W×H)
• Sensor: 1/1.3″ CMOS
• Max aperture: f/2.8
• Max video resolution: 4K@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
• Max image resolution: 35MP
• Stabilisation: Digital
• Microphones: 2
• Onboard storage: 64GB and 128GB
• MicroSD card slot: Yes
• Running time: Around 50 mins
• Waterproof: 10 metres

Model options & accessories

The DJI Osmo Nano is available with two levels of onboard storage – 64GB and 128GB – and six main combo packages: Running Combo, Vlog Combo, Road Cycling Combo, Car Mount Combo, Hiking Combo and Mountain Cycling Combo.

However, you can also purchase any of the following accessories separately: Magnetic Headband, Dual-Direction Quick-Release Foldable Adapter Mount, Dual-Direction Magnetic Ball-Joint Adapter Mount, ND Filter Set and a Glass Lens Cover.

All variants include a Magnetic Hat Clip, a handy adjustable Magnetic Lanyard, a Dual-Direction Magnetic Ball-Joint Adapter Mount with window sucker and a snap-on protective case.

Design

DJI has a knack for shaking up the camera world and the keenly-priced Osmo Nano is ample proof of that.

Unlike many modern action cams that have their screen monitors mounted to the rear and front of the unit, the Osmo Nano is modular and comprised of two parts: the camera itself and a separate monitor called a Multifunctional Vision Dock that clips, front-facing or rear-facing, to the camera section by dint of two sturdy clips and an incredibly strong magnet for extra security.

Once attached, they are nigh on impossible to prise apart. This innovative modular design is a clear winner in my opinion since it offers amazing versatility and a huge variety of ways to use it.

The camera itself measures just 57.3mm in length, 28mm in height and an extremely svelte 29.5mm in width. That’s tiny by action cam standards!

Furthermore, the camera weighs just 50g against the substantially heavier GoPro HERO13 Black, which tips the scales at 159g. Granted, at 72g (70g on my scales), the Multifunctional Vision Dock increases the Osmo Nano’s full weight to 122g, but even this combo is still 37g lighter than the GoPro and 24g lower than the Osmo Nano’s Action 5 Pro stablemate.

Given that you don’t have to wear this camera with the dock connected – it’s designed to function as a standalone device – it means that you could wear this camera using the optional head strap and completely forget it’s there.

This lower size and weight not only keeps the camera firmly in situ when engaging in some rough and tumble (some heavier cameras can be ripped from their mountings by short, sharp shocks), but it may also be less prone to causing injury during an accident, especially when using it with the head strap.

While the Osmo Nano camera can function on its own to record video and shoot stills, the Multifunctional Vision Dock is an essential component that serves as a screen interface for framing shots, shooting handheld, changing the camera’s settings on the fly and as a means for connecting the whole shebang to the DJI Mimo app for much deeper customisation along with the option to use your phone’s screen as a much larger live view monitor for improved framing and easier exposure adjustment.

The fact that the dock can also be used remotely from over 20 metres away is a major boon in my opinion because it allows you to operate the camera and monitor its viewpoint when shooting from a distance.

Granted, at 5cm (2”) from corner to corner, the dock’s screen is a bit smaller than most of its competitors but I’ve found it very easy to use and of decent size for the tasks it was designed for. Moreover, whenever the dock is connected to the camera, its own larger 1,300mAh battery continually boosts the camera’s lower capacity 530mAh battery to 100%, just like a miniature power bank.

Camera stats

The DJI Osmo Nano might be tiny, but its camera punches well above its weight. At its heart is a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor – the same sensor as used in DJI’s larger action cams – which is paired with a wide 143° f/2.8 lens to produce footage with a rich, detailed look that’s rare for such a small-bodied camera.

This little titch records up to 4K at 60 frames per second for everyday 16:9 widescreen action (or 50fps in 4:3 ratio) and even reaches 4K at 120fps and 1080p at 240fps when shooting in smooth, dramatic slow motion.

And for content creators, it also supports 10-bit colour depth and DJI’s famed D-Log M profile, opening up impressive flexibility for colour grading and post-production. Furthermore, if you flip the camera from horizontal to vertical, it automatically switches to profile mode.

You get five main shooting options with this camera – Photo, Video, SuperNight, Slo and Time-lapse. While the recently added SuperNight mode isn’t available for still photos and is limited to 30fps and 8-bit colour, it’s perfectly good enough to get away with, but I wouldn’t say that it particularly shines in this area.

Nevertheless, when you don’t have much of an option other than to shoot in low lighting conditions, SuperNight mode’s improved noise control will help get the most from the scene. Likewise, Slo mode is also limited to 1080P, but here you get to shoot at 240fps. Just be sure to use slow-motion mode in very bright lighting conditions or the footage may look dark and uninspiring.

Buried within the Pro setting screen, users have the option of adjusting exposure, white balance, glamour effects, colour profiles (Normal 8Bit, Normal-10bit and D-Log M 10bit), three levels of stabilisation (Daily, Sport and Anti Motion Blur) and something called Endurance mode, which isn’t mentioned in the pre-production PDF manual I was sent.

You also get three levels of field of view with this camera – Standard (DeWarp), Wide and Ultra Wide (143° ) – plus two main types of digital image stabilisation – RockSteady and HorizonBalancing. RockSteady image stabilisation keeps video smooth and steady but it is prone to causing a few glitches in the footage during some extreme sequences.

HorizonBalancing, meanwhile, keeps the horizon level even when the camera is tilted by up to 30˚. However, I noticed some jittery artefacts in one of my walking tests which you can read about in the Performance chapter.

Although this camera will ostensibly be used for shooting video clips, it’s also able to capture crisp 35-megapixel JPEG and RAW photos in 4:3 format, replete with a surprising amount of detail, plus bursts of up to 30 images in three seconds. Whether it will replace your phone for shooting photos is a moot point.

The DJI Osmo Nano has two levels of onboard storage – 64GB and 128GB – depending on which model you opt for. However, there is also a MicroSD slot for cards up to 1TB.

In the old days, action cameras weren’t waterproof and required a sealed plastic housing for underwater shooting. But like almost all modern action cams, this one is waterproof to 10m without a case and, what’s more, it even sports an underwater colour correction mode for this purpose.

The dock, however, is only splash proof so, for heaven’s sake, don’t leave it attached when hitting the surf! While the dock’s lack of waterproofness could be considered limiting, the camera's variety of wide angles will easily capture everything within your immediate vicinity without the need to monitor what it's shooting. Just point and squirt.

I’m also a big fan of the variety of loud noises the camera makes whenever you turn it on, hit the record button, press stop or hold the same button in to turn it off. Once you’ve acquainted yourself with all these tones, it’s pretty easy to tell what state the camera is in, and this is especially important when using it without the Multifunctional Vision Dock.

Finally, a big shout out to this camera’s superb twin microphone system which produces a crisp, full and detailed level of sound quality that’s on par with the DJI Mic and others in the field. The camera itself is also compatible with DJI’s range of wireless microphones.

Performance

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A selection of still images taken with the DJI Osmo Nano

I took the Osmo Nano on a scooter bash around my village over rough ground, and I was impressed with the stability of the footage. No, it wasn’t as smooth as the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 I own, but then the Pocket 3 is equipped with a delicate 3-axis mechanical gimbal, which you wouldn’t want to risk using during most high-action-related activities.

In my scooter test, I didn’t notice any deal-breaking anomalies in the resulting imagery, though I did notice some artefacts and image break-up when I switched to HorizonBalancing mode and walked past a local church wearing the camera using the supplied magnetic lanyard.

I now realise that the act of walking while being towed by two Labradors was causing the camera to swing around a bit on its lanyard, and I think that the image stabilisation tech was fighting hard to correct the horizon. I suspect that this mode would be far better suited to smoother sports like surfing, kite foiling, skiing and snowboarding.

All in all, I’ve been very impressed by the footage that this camera has produced. In general, the imagery is nice and sharp with vibrant, well-balanced colours. I can’t say if it’s as good as some of the other big players on the market, but I’d be perfectly content using it for vlogging and personal social media posts.

Perhaps there’s a new update in the pipeline, but as of writing, the MicroSD card that I formatted in the Osmo Nano was unreadable on a MacBook M3. Likewise, the camera was also unreadable when plugged in using a USB-C cable.

The only way I have been able to download footage from the camera is by syncing it with my iPhone 15 Pro, downloading the footage to my Phone’s Apple Photos library and then either waiting for iCloud to send it to the laptop or by performing an AirDrop.

Verdict

The DJI Osmo Nano is a little pocket-sized powerhouse. Its 1/1.3-inch sensor, 4K/60fps video and 10-bit colour depth give it big-camera punch in a tiny and eminently wearable body. Moreover, its modular design makes it as versatile as it is portable. Nice one, DJI.