DJI Osmo Mobile 8 Review

I thought I had this whole filming thing sorted. Big camera for serious stuff, phone for quick bits, and the occasional acceptance that shaky footage is just part of life. Then along comes the DJI Osmo Mobile 8, and suddenly I am questioning my past decisions like a man who has just discovered heated seats far too late.

This thing is basically the moment you realise your phone has been quietly begging for help. I have been using the Osmo Pocket 3 for ages, and it is brilliant, but there are times when pulling out a dedicated camera feels like overkill. What I actually wanted was that same smooth, cinematic feel, but with the phone already sitting in my pocket. Turns out, this is exactly that. No fuss, no setup ritual, no balancing dance that makes you feel like you are defusing a bomb.

What really got me was how quickly it just disappears as a problem. You clip your phone in, it sorts itself out, and you are filming. No thinking, no menu diving, no moment where you sigh and say, I will deal with this later. It is the sort of product that quietly upgrades everything you shoot without constantly reminding you that it exists. Which, frankly, is the highest compliment I can give a piece of filming gear.

And then you watch the footage back. Walking shots that glide instead of wobble. Moves that look intentional rather than accidental. The kind of clips that make you sit there thinking, oh, so this is what people mean when they say cinematic. I did not think I needed a phone gimbal. It turns out I just had not used one that made this much sense.

What This Thing Actually Is

At its core, the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 is a three axis stabiliser for your phone, but that description makes it sound far more boring than it actually is. This is not some clunky bit of kit designed for people who enjoy reading manuals for fun. It is, in essence, a camera rig that just happens to use your phone instead of a dedicated camera.

Think of it as DJI taking everything they have learned from years of stabilised cameras and shrinking it down until it fits in a jacket pocket. You clip your phone in, the motors wake up, and suddenly gravity and your shaky hands are no longer in charge. Walking looks smooth, pans look deliberate, and even the most casual clips start to feel like they belong in a proper edit rather than a group chat.

What makes it clever is how little it asks of you. You do not need to understand gimbal theory or balance points. You do not need to fiddle with counterweights or spend five minutes trying to get it level. You open it up, it balances itself, and it is ready to go. It feels less like operating equipment and more like turning on a camera.

In short, this is not a gadget for people who want to look technical. It is a tool for people who want better footage without thinking about it. And once you use it for a couple of days, you start to wonder why filming on a phone ever felt acceptable without one.

Setup That Takes Less Time Than Making a Coffee

This is the part where most gimbals lose people. Balancing, tweaking, rebalancing, questioning your life choices. The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 does none of that nonsense.

You drop your phone into the clamp, line it up so the cameras are facing the right way, and snap it onto the gimbal. There are little visual cues so you cannot really get it wrong unless you are actively trying. Once it is attached, you unfold the gimbal, press the power button, and that is it. It wakes up, sorts itself out, and just works.

There is no balancing ritual. No awkward moment where the phone slowly droops to one side while you pretend that is fine. The motors handle everything automatically, which means you can go from pocket to filming in seconds. It feels more like opening a compact camera than setting up a stabiliser.

Even if you are using the multifunction module, it does not complicate things. Clip it on before you turn the gimbal on, let it balance once, and you are good to go. Honestly, the hardest part of the whole process is realising there are tripod legs hidden in the bottom, because DJI have managed to tuck them away so neatly you could miss them entirely.

It is fast, it is intuitive, and it removes every excuse not to film something when the moment pops up. By the time you would normally still be fiddling with settings, this thing already has footage in the bag.

Design Tricks You Only Notice After Using It

At first glance, the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 looks almost too simple. Clean lines, compact shape, nothing screaming for attention. Then you actually start using it, and you realise DJI have hidden a surprising amount of clever thinking in something that looks deceptively basic.

The best example is the tripod. It lives inside the handle, completely out of sight, until you need it. No separate accessory to forget at home, no awkward clip on legs dangling off the bottom. You twist it out, set it down, and suddenly you have a stable little filming station for solo shots, time lapses, or tracking yourself without holding anything.

Then there is the extendable arm. It is not dramatic, but it is incredibly useful. That extra bit of reach lets you change perspective, get a slightly higher or wider angle, or bring a bit of movement into shots that would otherwise feel flat. You notice it most when you go back to filming without it and everything suddenly feels stuck at the same height.

Even the controls are laid out with actual humans in mind. The joystick, record button, and scroll wheel all fall naturally under your thumb, which means you can adjust framing or zoom without poking at your phone screen mid shot. After a while, it becomes second nature, and you forget you are even holding a gimbal at all.

These are not features you get excited about on a spec sheet. They are the sort of details you appreciate after a couple of weeks, when you realise nothing about it has annoyed you. And that, in the world of filming gear, is quite an achievement.

Stabilisation That Makes Walking Look Cinematic

This is the bit that really sells the DJI Osmo Mobile 8, because no amount of clever modes or hidden tripod legs matter if the footage still looks like it was filmed during a minor earthquake. Thankfully, it does not.

Without a gimbal, walking footage on a phone is usually a mess. Little jolts, odd bounces, and that horrible floaty wobble that makes everything feel cheap. Strap the phone onto this thing and suddenly it all calms down. Steps smooth out, pans glide, and movements start to look intentional rather than accidental.

What surprised me most is how natural it feels once you get used to it. You do not need to tiptoe or walk like you are sneaking through a museum. You just move normally and let the motors do the hard work. The result is footage that looks like it was shot on something far more serious than a phone.

Slow the clips down in editing and it gets even better. Those gentle pushes forward, slight rises, and smooth turns start to look like they came from a proper camera rig or one of those fancy crane setups you see on film sets. All from something that fits in your pocket.

It takes a little time to trust it, but once you do, you start pushing shots further. Longer walks, more movement, bolder angles. And that is when you realise the stabilisation is not just smoothing things out, it is actively encouraging you to be more creative.

Gimbal Modes Explained Without the Headache

This is where most gimbals turn simple filming into a theory lesson. Thankfully, the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 keeps things sensible. Each mode does one clear job, and once you try them, they make immediate sense.

Pan Follow

• Follows your wrist movement left and right
• Keeps vertical movement locked for smoother walking shots
• Ideal for casual filming, city walks, and slow reveals

Pan and Tilt Follow

• Follows left, right, up, and down movements
• Gives you more freedom without things getting messy
• Great for landscapes, architecture, and general storytelling shots

FPV Mode

• Allows pan, tilt, and roll movement
• Feels more dynamic and energetic
• Best used sparingly for creative or fast moving scenes

Spin Shot Mode

• Uses the joystick to rotate the camera smoothly
• Creates dramatic motion when moving forwards or backwards
• Perfect for adding flair and cinematic movement to otherwise simple shots

The beauty of these modes is not just what they do, but how easy they are to use. You switch, move, shoot, and carry on. No menu diving, no frustration. Just different tools that let you tell the story a little more interestingly.

The 360 Tracking Mode That Changes Solo Filming

Filming on your own is usually where things fall apart. You either end up with a static shot that feels lifeless, or you are constantly stopping to move the camera like an overworked stagehand. The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 changes that with its 360 tracking mode, and it does it in a way that feels almost unfair.

Once tracking locks onto you, the gimbal does not just politely follow. It commits. You can walk around, turn your back, move side to side, and it will spin and rotate to keep you framed. Full 360 degrees. No blind spots, no awkward moments where it loses you and gives up.

This is where those hidden tripod legs suddenly become essential. Set the gimbal down, step into frame, and you can move naturally while it does the work. It adds motion to shots that would normally feel static, which instantly makes solo footage more engaging to watch.

What really stands out is how reliable it is. Even when you move quickly or change direction, tracking stays locked. It feels less like a gimmick and more like having a very obedient camera operator who never gets tired or asks questions.

For anyone filming alone, this mode removes one of the biggest creative roadblocks. You stop worrying about staying in frame and start thinking about the shot itself. And that is a much better place to be.

Why the Multifunction Module Is the Real Star

The gimbal itself is excellent, but the moment you clip on the multifunction module is when the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 really starts to show off. This small add on is where things go from smooth footage to genuinely clever.

First up, the fill light. It is built into the module and controlled with the side wheel on the gimbal. One press and it is on, twist to adjust brightness, hold again and it is off. Simple. And it gets far brighter than you expect. For night vlogging or indoor shots with poor lighting, it makes an immediate difference without needing extra gear.

Then there is the tracking. This is the big one. The module allows intelligent tracking using the native camera app on your phone, not just within DJI’s own app. That means no matter which camera app you prefer, the gimbal can lock onto your face and follow you smoothly. Set it on the tripod, move around, and it feels like someone else is behind the camera.

Gesture control ties it all together. A simple hand signal starts tracking, another starts or stops recording. When you are filming alone, this is incredibly useful. No running back and forth to the camera, no awkward cuts while you press record.

It even handles more than just people. Pets can be tracked too, and surprisingly well. Fast movements, sudden changes in direction, it keeps up without losing the subject.

This little module turns the gimbal from a stabiliser into a smart filming tool. Once you use it, it is hard to imagine going back without it.

Filming Yourself Without Looking Like an Idiot

There is a very specific kind of awkward that comes with filming yourself in public. Arms locked out, phone hovering at a strange angle, constantly checking the screen to make sure you are still in frame. The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 quietly removes most of that pain.

With the tripod legs out and tracking switched on, you can actually behave like a normal human. Stand where you want, move naturally, talk to the camera without staring at yourself every two seconds. The gimbal follows you smoothly, which means you are not frozen in one spot like a weather presenter waiting for their cue.

This is where solo filming starts to feel less like a performance and more like a conversation. You can pace, gesture, turn slightly, even step forward or back, and the framing stays tidy. It looks intentional rather than improvised, which makes a huge difference to how the footage comes across.

The real win is how discreet it feels. You are not waving a phone around or constantly adjusting angles. From the outside, it just looks like a small tripod and a phone doing its thing. From the footage, it looks like someone else was there helping you shoot it.

And that, really, is the goal. Better shots, less self consciousness, and far fewer moments where you think, I look ridiculous doing this.

Audio Done Properly

Good video with bad audio is still bad video. There is no getting around that. This is where the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 quietly levels up, because it does not just stabilise footage, it plays very nicely with proper microphones.

Using the multifunction module, you can wirelessly connect a DJI Mic 3 directly to the gimbal. No cables dangling everywhere, no awkward adapters, no messing around in Bluetooth menus for five minutes while the moment passes. You press the link button, wait a few seconds, and it is connected.

The difference is immediate. Phone audio is fine in a quiet room, but take it outside, add wind, traffic, or general background noise, and it falls apart quickly. With the mic connected, your voice stays clear and present, even when conditions are less than ideal. Wind noise drops away, levels stay consistent, and everything just sounds more professional.

This matters even more if you are using the front facing camera, especially at night. Image quality can only do so much in low light, so clean audio becomes the thing that carries the video. And in that situation, the mic does a lot of heavy lifting.

Yes, adding a microphone is an extra cost, but it turns this setup into a genuinely capable vlogging rig. Phone, gimbal, mic, done. No excuses, no compromises, and no videos ruined because the sound did not keep up with the visuals.

Battery Life and Weight

This is where the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 quietly earns its keep, because none of the clever features matter if your arm gives up or the battery taps out halfway through the day.

At around 370 grams, it is light enough that you can use it for hours without feeling like you have been doing an upper body workout. This makes a huge difference compared to larger gimbals, which start off manageable and slowly turn into a regret as the day goes on. Here, the weight just disappears after a while.

Battery life is equally sensible. On a full charge, you are looking at roughly ten hours of use. That is more than enough for a full day of filming, shooting B roll, grabbing clips here and there, and still not stressing about finding a charger. If you add the multifunction module, that number drops a bit, but not to the point where it becomes a problem.

What I like most is that it fits the way people actually film. You are not recording nonstop for ten hours straight. You are turning it on, grabbing a shot, switching it off, and moving on. In that kind of real world use, the battery just seems to keep going.

Light, long lasting, and easy to live with. It is exactly what you want from something you are meant to carry around all day.

Who This Gimbal Is Really For

The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 is not aimed at filmmakers with massive rigs or people who enjoy spending half an hour tweaking settings before pressing record. It is for people who want better looking footage without turning filming into a chore.

If you are a vlogger, this makes a lot of sense. Stabilised walking shots, reliable tracking, decent lighting with the module attached, and proper audio support mean you can build a genuinely solid setup around your phone. It is simple enough to use daily and capable enough that the results do not feel compromised.

It is also ideal for solo creators. Anyone who regularly films themselves knows how limiting static shots can be. The tracking, tripod, and gesture controls take a lot of friction out of the process and let you focus on what you are saying rather than where the camera is pointing.

Then there are the people who just want their videos to look better. Travel clips, family moments, social content, even casual cinematic shots for fun. If you have ever looked back at footage and wished it was smoother or more polished, this gimbal solves that problem quietly and effectively.

If, on the other hand, you enjoy the chaos of shaky handheld video and think stabilisation is cheating, this probably is not for you. Everyone else will wonder why they waited so long.

The Verdict

The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 is one of those products that sneaks up on you. It does not shout about specs or demand attention. It just quietly makes everything you shoot look better, and then you wonder how you ever put up with filming without it.

What DJI have done here is remove the usual barriers. No complicated setup, no learning curve, no bulky design that makes you think twice about bringing it along. You open it, clip your phone in, and start filming. The stabilisation is excellent, the tracking actually works, and the multifunction module turns it into a genuinely smart little filming tool.

It is not trying to replace a dedicated camera, and that is the point. It makes your phone a better camera, without changing the way you use it. For vloggers, solo creators, and anyone who wants smoother, more cinematic footage without carrying half a studio, this just makes sense.

Most importantly, it is fun. You use it more because it is easy. You experiment more because the results look good. And that is exactly what a piece of creative gear should do.

Would I Buy It?

Yes. Without hesitation.

The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 earns its place because it actually gets used. It is small enough to carry, fast enough to set up, and good enough that the footage feels like a genuine upgrade rather than a marginal improvement.

If I was filming regularly on my phone, especially for vlogging, travel, or solo content, this would be an easy decision. The stabilisation alone justifies it, but add the tracking, the multifunction module, and proper mic support, and it becomes a complete little filming setup rather than just a gimbal.

More importantly, it removes friction. You are not thinking about gear, you are thinking about shots. And that is usually the sign you have bought the right thing.

So yes, I would buy it. And I would actually take it with me, which is the part that really matters.

DJI Osmo Mobile 8 FAQ

Quick answers, no nonsense.

Is the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 multifunction module worth buying?

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Do you need the DJI Mimo app to use the DJI Osmo Mobile 8?

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How good is stabilisation on the DJI Osmo Mobile 8?

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Can the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 track pets?

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What is the real battery life of the DJI Osmo Mobile 8?

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Can you use DJI Mic with the DJI Osmo Mobile 8?

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