Zhiyun Smooth 4 Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphone iPhone Android Cell Phone 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal for Vlogging YouTube Vlog TikTok Instagram Live Video Kit Support Cellphone 210g MAX

The media could not be loaded. Researched many YT videos that compared handheld gimbals vs steadicams. Attempting to use more mobile phone shooting moving forward (instead of my DSLR), and wanting an affordable yet effective unit on my first gimbal, and glad ZY Smooth 4 caught my attention. It beat DJI's Osmo due to price point, functionality and availability.I'm glad I picked up the ZY Smooth 4 about a couple of months prior to my first commercial production with it, which was purely unintentional.My local client, who's a speaker, who's also a very active person, felt uncomfortable/nervous sitting in front of a camera. To give her peace of mind, I suggested a walk on the river, while we talked and I would shoot the video on the gimbal. She loved the idea and settled on a date and early morning meetup at the river so we would have less foot traffic at that time.Both of us preferred this "walk and talk" video style. For her, it was natural to do this as an active person, much like speaking to a girlfriend while out for a walk. For me, I knew this would get her blood flow moving, reduce nerves, and the natural morning light (vs afternoon harsh light) was good for the shoot.Believe it or not, we shot 2 videos (one was a Welcome video, and the other was an About video), both only required 1 take each! LOL! We produced the first video walking the river one way, then turned back and shot the 2nd video going the other way 😁Here's some insights on the Smooth 4:- The ZY Smooth 4 build is impressive. Has weight in your hands, but not so heavy to strain your hands/arms on a longer shoot.- The ZY company is consistently working on upgrades to the ZY App, which is good to see- ZY does provide information in the booklet on setup and usage, however, I found most value in YT videos from other users showcasing functionality and use cases- Key Tip: Balance your iPhone in the bracket BEFORE powering on the Smooth 4 unit.- Recent News: Filmic Pro app now works well with the Smooth 4. Check out YT for how to use it with Smooth 4.- Battery life is solid and long-lasting. Since my first charge of the Smooth 4 unit, the battery has held strong. In fact, my iPhone battery dies much faster, naturally due to shooting video. If you can, get the lightning cable to connect your iPhone to the Smooth 4, so you can keep your iPhone charged while shooting video.- I appreciate the screw on tripod legs that come with the Smooth 4, for laying on a flat surface. I'm about to get an Insta360 ONE panoramic camera, and I can envision sitting my iPhone in the Smooth 4 phone bracket, and setting the Smooth 4 on a taller tripod, so I can shoot the 360 away and out of sight. This way, I have both my Pano camera, and my ZY for video shooting if the client calls for that added service.Here's some insights on the videoshoot with the Smooth 4:- Until I started playing with the Smooth 4 video quality settings, I didn't clue in that my iPhone 6S could shoot in 4K.- Tried shooting in 4K, but its a storage hog. Will shoot 1080p next time.- The video footage will store in the ZY app, and you'll need to then transfer it from ZY app to your iPhone's media library. As such, I highly recommend dumping as much "stuff" off your iPhone prior to the shoot for more storage room.- In shooting with 4K, I only had room for 2-3 videos before I ran out of room and phone battery. Hence no B-roll in the above videos.- Had troubles exporting from ZY app library to iPhone Photo Library due to space shortage. After dumping more media and apps, I could transfer 1 x 4K video, import to Macbook Air, delete it off ZY & Photo Library, then transfer/import the next 4K video. May also try shooting 1080p next time. Or a bigger capacity iPhone. 😜- Highly recommend you get the lightning charge cable to continually charge your iPhone while shooting.- Bring along your laptop or external drive to dump footage off your iPhone, so you can continue shooting more footage. Unless you only care about a short shooting window.- My Zoom audio with Sennheisser wireless lav was unusable due to fabric shifting sounds from walking. So what you hear is my iPhone audio, not too shabby.Hope this helps you in your decision whether to grab your own unit of the Smooth 4 :-)

I made this INITIAL review to give a personal account on my recently-purchased Zhiyun Smooth 4 gimbal (BLACK) paired with the iPhone XS Max. I am sure some of you are wondering how it fares with a big phone like that.I have heard in some forums/groups that there are some people experiencing some phone balancing issues especially when paired with the iPhone XS Max. I've been using the Gimbal for 3 days now with my iPhone XS Max with an ultra-lightweight crystal case from RANVOO and so far I have not encountered that mentioned issue. (hoping not to have that).What I think is that perhaps the battery must be strong enough as there are motors that are constantly in check and keeping the horizontal balance of the iPhone XS Max (it may or may not be the case). Nevertheless, I will be observing mine and post away here if it happens (again, I'm really hoping not to encounter that!).Anyway, I am excited with the array of controls offered in this gimbal, which is MUCH more than DJI Osmo Mobile 2 -- (BOTH hardware and software-wise). One notable thing that separates it from the competition is the exclusive Zoom/Focus dial control on the left side. Paired with the ZY app, this is perfect for aspiring mobile filmmakers and adds another dimension of control not offered anywhere else. I would say the app is 99+% usable with just a few trivial bugs that I am sure the Zhiyun app devs will address on a future app version update soon.- - - - - -PHOTOS:1) Zhiyun Smooth 4 Black with mounted iPhone XS Max (with ultra-lightweight iPhone crystal clear case) turned on showing full horizontal balancing.2) Standby mode3) Dial for extending the holder for to help to counterbalance big phones like the XS Max4) Close up shot of the XS Max and case, and how it adheres to the holder grip5) Sample 3x3 Panorama automatically made using Zhiyun's accompanying ZY app- - - - - -MATERIAL QUALITY (5 stars):Material quality is top-notch and I like the matte mapped texture of the gimbal. The tripod fixture is lightweight with rubber-pad tips for better grip on smooth surfaces. One thing I wish it had is a rubber-like texture on the handle part for superior grip to prevent slipping (i.e. similar to the one on inner sides of the phone holder clamps).BATTERY (5 stars):Battery life is great and rated at 12 hours and should be more than enough for a whole day's shoot.I will post here again if it does not meet this declaration.DURABILITY (5 stars):Pretty sturdy and appears to be well worth the money.PACKAGING (5 stars):Even the packaging is good enough.OVERALL (5 stars):I am generally impressed so far with the Zhiyun Smooth 4 gimbal. If you do not have the time to compare gimbals, this is well worth your money and will not break an arm and a leg. And if there is a need for another gimbal for a project, I would not have second thoughts and get another one like this.TIPS:1) The gimbal should be balanced well in power off status before use2) DO NOT turn on the gimbal without manually balancing the phone3) For bigger-sized phones like the iPhone XS Max, there is a dial at the back where you can extend and this helps in the proper balancing4) Try to AVOID rough-sized particles like sand to get inside the crevices as it can interfere with the effectivity of the servomotor/s.