Do you want to record amazing slow-motion films of surfing, rock climbing, parasailing, or any other daring sport using a little camera that you can carry with you wherever, even underwater? If so, an action camera is necessary. Fast frame rates, high-pixel video, and installation on your body or in confined areas are all supported by these little marvels. Additionally, they stabilize handheld filming, which makes them appropriate for vacation and vlog recordings. The single-lens DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro and the DJI Osmo Action 3-degree recording are the current Editors’ Choice winners. DJI Osmo Action 4 has been evaluating action cameras for decades. However, you can be sure that every one of our selections below is worth checking out. Before making a purchase, make sure to read beyond the list to get a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know.
Table of Contents
- No 1 DJI Osmo Action 3
- No 2 DJI Osmo Action 4
- No 3 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro
Top 3 Best Dji Action Cameras In 2025
No 1 DJI Osmo Action 3
The DJI Osmo Action 3 may the best action camera available, but it could be the best value option for you. It offers superior battery life, a broader field of vision, and a deeper dive than the competition thanks to its 16-meter waterproofing.
The DJI Osmo Action 3 in terms of shooting options and picture quality. Although DJI has certain advantages, its films and images fall short of those of its more expensive competitors. However, the DJI Osmo Action 3 is still a strong choice since it is less expensive than its primary rival and has several obvious advantages, our favorite of which is the fast change mounting method. You can’t dispute that the Action 3 is a much more useful bundle, even if we regret the Action 2’s modular architecture.
The DJI Osmo Action 3 combines the Action 2’s core components with the original Action’s design, but it also has a few special improvements of its own. The body seems to be an action camera by numbers at first sight. Along with a front touchscreen and detachable lens, the device also has a bigger touchscreen around the back.
Sliding doors on the left and right conceal the battery and SD card slot on one side and the USB-C connector on the other. In addition to a Horizontal-Vertical Protective Frame that wraps around the camera to allow tall, TikTok-ready installation in portrait mode, the Action 3 has a magnetic mounting connection at the bottom for landscape mounting.
Although the lens frame does protrude slightly around the edges of the camera, overall, DJI has done a fantastic job of making the Osmo Action 3 seem sturdy. Compared to the GoPro Hero series, which has lenses flush with the top and sides of the camera, this might catch in the heat of the action and become a potential weakness. While the front touch display is cramped at 1.4 inches, the main screen is much more spacious, measuring 2.25 inches. With both screens sporting a pixel density of 326PPI, they’re plenty sharp, and they also get nice and bright for easy outdoor viewing.
The DJI Osmo Action 3 has the same UI as the Action 2, which was steady and fluid last year and is now stable and smooth. Interaction is straightforward thanks to large, finger-friendly symbols, and the menu structure is also rather basic.
Pros
- Incredibly convenient mounting
- Best-in-class diving depths
- Wider FOV than the main competition
- Excellent battery performance
- Handy front touchscreen
Cons
- Poor lowlight performance
- 360-degree horizon leveling caps at 2.7K
- Worse video quality than the best GoPros
- Photography modes aren’t competitive
No 2 DJI Osmo Action 4
The Osmo Action 4 is a great action camera; it’s small, durable, adaptable, and most importantly it produces better images than its predecessor, capturing more detail in difficult-to-reach areas and in low light. The Action 4’s price increase over its predecessor puts it in direct competition with GoPro’s top products, and its fast and easy magnetic installation sets it apart from the GoPros. Highly recommended, this camera is really enjoyable and competent for your athletic activities and vlogging. Additionally, we now have DJI’s D-Log color profile with 10-bit color, which significantly improves picture quality, particularly in terms of dynamic range and color depth, when combined with that larger sensor.
The Action 3 is unable to keep the detail in highlights like brilliant clouds and evening lights, but the shadows seem crisper. Not all video modes support D-Log, but it’s the profile to use if the available frame rates are suitable for the footage you’re shooting. The minimum focus distance is raised from 0.3 to 0.4 meters due to the bigger sensor in a camera with the same size and a 155-degree field-of-view lens.
That may not seem like much, but in practical applications, you’re limited to broad perspectives rather than specifics when using that ultra-wide lens. If not, we get the very effective Rocksteady 3.0+ stabilization. I’ve managed to run, at my admittedly declining best speeds, with a young dog in full stride, and the resultant movie is silky smooth.
The Action 4 won’t need a gimbal, so downhill cyclists won’t have any issues either. We would definitely choose the Adventure Combo over the Standard Combo if you’re a trigger-happy person because it comes with two extra batteries and a charging hub that can hold up to three batteries. You’ll be using it every day on your trips to keep your camera charged.
The 1.5m Extension Rod that comes with the Adventure Combo is a great accessory, too. Fully extended, and coupled with the camera’s ultra-wide field of view, you can shoot drone-like perspectives, and it truly expands your shot-list repertoire. I’d like to see a record button on the extension rod, but there is the moderately reliable voice activation for taking snaps when your hands can’t reach the camera itself.
Pros
- Much improved image quality
- Wider FOV than the main competition
- Excellent stabilization
- Incredibly convenient mounting
Cons
- Minimum 0.4m focus distance
- Middling battery life
- Old-school microSD card limits potential
No 3 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro
The Osmo Action 5 Pro adheres to the standard action camera design: It is waterproof up to an amazing 65.6 feet (20 meters), robust enough to withstand rough-and-tumble handling, and tiny enough to install on a helmet. The camera weighs 5.2 ounces and is around 1.7 by 2.8 by 1.3 inches (HWD), which is almost identical to the GoPro Hero13 Black’s dimensions (2.0 by 2.8 by 1.3 inches, 5.6 ounces).
The Action 5 is billed as a Pro model, while its predecessor, the Osmo Action 4, is not. The new edition has similar recording rates (up to 4K120, 2.7K120, and 1080p240) but comes with a larger rear display, a fresh image sensor and more efficient processor for longer running time, and a useful 48GB of internal storage (plus a microSD slot). The Action 5 Pro’s attachment point is only on the bottom, but the camera ships with a cage that adds a second mount point for vertical orientation recording.
The system has been around since the Osmo Action 3 and is proven secure. Secure enough that GoPro essentially copied it for the Hero13 Black, the first DJI rival to include a similar magnetic clip mount. They’re similar, but not identical—DJI’s clip won’t work with a GoPro or vice versa. The mounts themselves are not like that. Bunny ear clips are an attachment point for both GoPro and DJI cameras. These are tightened with a thumb screw after sliding into slotted connections on suitable mounts.
You may anticipate that if your selfie stick or suction cup mount is compatible with a GoPro, it will also be compatible with the Osmo. In any case, a pair of push-on ND filters for the lens is among the several mounts and accessories that DJI offers for the Osmo. The Osmo Action 5 Pro includes front and rear color displays, both with touch support. The square front screen is pretty small, measuring just 1.5 inches diagonally with 800 nits of brightness.
Even so, it’s not hard at all to navigate its touch functions, as DJI smartly uses large icons for its user interface and makes it easy to get to menus with simple swipe gestures. I especially like that both screens show a large, clear battery charging icon and current charge percentage when you plug the camera in to top off the battery.
Pros
- 10-bit 4K120 video
- Class-leading battery life
- Continuous recording without overheating
- Extremely effective digital stabilization
- Dual touch displays
- Waterproof to 65.6 feet
- Small, mountable design
Cons
- Smartphones are better in dim light
- App features not as strong as GoPro
What Are Action Cameras?
Action cameras are small, lightweight, and sometimes even waterproof. They’re useful because you can mount them to pretty much anything—from skateboards, surfboards, and bicycles to helmets, body parts, and even your pets.
Do Action Cameras Need More Than 4K?
The video resolution of a camera should be taken into account initially. These days, 4K is considered a minimum requirement, and the top models have more than double that resolution. For example, the GoPro Hero13 Black supports 5.3K. You may utilize those additional pixels to trim vertical and widescreen frames from the same clip.
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