DJI Osmo Pocket 4 First Look: A Master of Image Quality and Portraits with 14-Stop Dynamic Range

It's hard to believe that even after more than two years, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 remains a top seller in the camera market, with sales exceeding ten million units. It has become the go-to "people's camera" for everything from travel vlogs to event coverage. But as the Pocket 3 approaches its third anniversary, the question on everyone's mind has been: what will the DJI Pocket 4 bring to the table? Would it be a new form factor, superior image quality, or innovative features? We got our hands on the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 a month early, and here is our detailed review. 

Bigger Size, More Buttons, Simpler Operation

The Pocket 4 continues the design language of the series—a gimbal camera with a stick-like handle, featuring a camera, gimbal, and a rotatable screen. While the overall look is similar to the Pocket 3, the Pocket 4 is slightly larger, likely to accommodate a bigger battery for its expanded feature set. Several key changes significantly improve the user experience. The first is a new analog joystick, similar to one on a game controller, allowing for 360° control where the gimbal speed smoothly increases with pressure. This makes achieving silky, cinematic camera movements incredibly easy, even for beginners.

 

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 First Look: A Master of Image Quality and Portraits with 14-Stop Dynamic Range

 

Below the screen, the Pocket 4 adds two new buttons. The left button allows for smooth toggling between 1x and 2x zoom with a single press, and a double press jumps to 4x. The right button is fully customizable for functions like switching between photo/video modes or changing gimbal modes, enabling quick adjustments without looking. You might also notice a row of magnetic contacts on the back of the gimbal, which we'll discuss later. Furthermore, the Pocket 4 now includes 107GB of built-in storage and supports Wi-Fi 6 and USB 3.1, with wired transfer speeds reaching up to 800MB/s, making file management faster than ever.

 

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 First Look: A Master of Image Quality and Portraits with 14-Stop Dynamic Range

 

The Power of Pure Optics: A Challenge to Smartphone Videography?

With flagship smartphone cameras making huge leaps, how does the Pocket 4 differentiate itself? The answer lies in its commitment to "hardcore optics" over computational photography. While smartphone videos often look flat and processed in high-contrast scenes due to aggressive algorithms, the Pocket 4 boasts an impressive 14-stop dynamic range. This is available across popular specs like 4K/60fps and 4K/30fps, offering unparalleled color latitude. In backlit scenarios, it retains highlight details around the sun while preserving clean, textured shadows, creating a natural, three-dimensional depth that truly feels cinematic. For professionals, the 10-bit D-Log mode provides extensive flexibility for color grading in post-production.

The Pocket 4 also introduces two game-changing features. First is an astonishing 4K 240fps slow-motion capability, a feature previously reserved for high-end cinema cameras. This allows you to slow down moments with incredible clarity. Second, the lossless 4K 2x zoom has been upgraded and now works seamlessly with ActiveTrack, enabling creators to use a tighter focal length (around 40mm equivalent) to track subjects and create a compressed, professional look. Finally, still photography gets a boost to 37 megapixels, making the Pocket 4 a more capable hybrid camera.

 

DJI Osmo Pocket 4 First Look: A Master of Image Quality and Portraits with 14-Stop Dynamic Range

 

The New Go-To for Portraits?

A key reason for the Pocket 3's success was its ability to capture flattering portraits. DJI has doubled down on this with the Pocket 4. The camera's underlying algorithm now produces bright, clear skin tones with a natural, healthy glow, even in complex mixed lighting. For more control, new in-camera skin-smoothing filters allow for real-time adjustments to skin texture, brightness, and tone, eliminating the need for tedious post-processing. The true magic, however, comes from a new "physical cheat code": a magnetic fill light. It snaps onto the back of the gimbal, drawing power directly from the device. You can adjust its brightness and color temperature on-screen, instantly eliminating harsh shadows and adding a professional-looking catchlight to the eyes. To top it off, DJI has included six in-camera film simulation LUTs. The "CC Film" filter, in particular, delivers a cool, retro aesthetic with natural, pale skin tones reminiscent of Japanese magazines, perfect for straight-out-of-camera results.

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