This is 5 things you should know about this 3-axis mobile gimbal, Hohem iSteady V2 AI. It is very cheap, but extremely universal and handy, has a front lighting, and powerful, but little buggy AI following function. And now – let’s delve into it, shall we?
Hohem iSteady V2 AI video review
Don’t want to read? Watch this instead:
Price
This gimbal costs about $115 for a base set and about $130 for a little more, at least – with a bluetooth remote. In addition to a carrying pouch and basic tri stand.
However, using our link below, You will be able to buy a base model for $15 cheaper, which is even more… epic.
Versatility
Imagine this – you have a gimbal. Which has a lot of buttons. And a lot of those buttons are not even used in anything, besides proprietary camera app, which sucks in quality?
And you need to choose what app to use. Standart for your phone, or something like HedgeCam 2 or FiLMiC Pro, with a highest picture quality.
Or you can use, well, functions on your gimbal, but with a lackluster quality. Sounds familiar? Well, with Hohem iSteady V2 AI it’s not the case. Every button on the gimbal works in the base camera app on at least Xiaomi and Oppo phones. On Samsung, for example, only the capture button works.
But on others – you can also change zoom, even change the used module, you can swap between main and front camera, between landscape and portrait, even auto calibrate without any need to connect to phone.
However, You will need to activate gimbal at least once, using the Hohem Pro app and a phone to connect to. After that – gimbal can be used without connection.
Handiness
Hohem iSteady V2 AI is a 3-axis stabilizer, that supports phones up to 11 mm thick, from 55 to 90 mm wide and up to 280 grams in weight.
It can work upside down, if needed, it can work in four modes and four speeds – all of them can be changed in a Hohem Pro. And it can be used as a powerbank!
The battery inside is 28 00 mAh, and gimbal can either give it away with Type-C to Type-C cable, or work up to 9 hours on one charge – but without… let’s say, additional functions.
Lighting
This is the first additional function of a Hohem iSteady V2 AI. The lighting module is based up on the top, has a small button and can be used in three brightness modes. Or disabled at all.
It is a little less powerful than, for example, DJI OM4’s lighting, but it is of the same quality and it controls better.
AI Follow mode
Yes, the lighting module has a camera inside. Because Hohem iSteady V2 AI uses, well, AI, to follow faces by itself, without use of any proprietary apps.
NPU inside, if to be believed, is about 0.6 TOPS of power. It is about 30 times less powerfull, than NPU in Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, which is VERY good for a such a small priced gimbal.
And AI follow mode uses gestures to start, stop or change orientation of camera capture. By the way, if You’re using AI mode, 9 hours of battery life will become 4. Or 2, with AI and lighting on.
Sadly, AI mode is the worst thing about Hohem iSteady V2 AI. It works, it works very well. In albom orientation it chops forehead, but You can calibrate this stuff in Hohem Pro app, so that’s fine.
No, the worst thing is – two of four gestures to control gimbal are not working, at least for me. They are the least useful by a landslide, the’yre controlling landscape to albom switch, which I’ve never used in my life. But that’s at least some negative.
Finals on Hohem iSteady V2 AI
Simply put – it is phenomenal. It costs pennies, it is universal, it works for a nice time, it has a working AI tracking, which is not a useless gimmick. And it needs no proprietary camera app. Which is brilliant. I really recommend Hohem iSteady V2 AI and I’ll be using it for almost every photoshoot with my phone, believe me.