Chinese tech company DJI has revealed a couple of handheld stabilizers at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, one of which has been designed specifically for smartphones. Called the Osmo Mobile 2, the gimbal boasts a lightweight form factor and is backed by a long-lasting battery offering up to 15 hours of operating time. The gimbal connects to smartphones over Bluetooth 4.0 LE and is the company’s first handheld gimbal for smartphones that’s been optimized for the portrait orientation, making it ideal for selfies.
As expected, the Osmo Mobile 2 gimbal comes with dedicated buttons for shutter speed and ISO controls, as well as a new built-in zoom slider. The brushless motor powers a gimbal with three axes of rotation including pan, roll, and tilt, offering a controllable pan range of ±160 degrees, as well as a controllable tilt range (in landscape mode) of ±155 degrees. The unit can rotate at a maximum controllable speed of 120 degrees per second, and it should require 1.2W of electrical current under ideal conditions when the gimbal is fully balanced. Its battery lasts three times longer compared to the original Osmo Mobile gimbal, and the unit has a recharging time of approximately two hours. The Osmo Mobile 2 clocks in at 295×113×72mm, weighs 485 grams, and is compatible with smartphones measuring anywhere between 58.6-85mm in width. Finally, the base of the handheld stabilizer features a 1/4-inch tripod mount which can technically be used not only for tripods but also for selfie sticks and other accessories.
Initially, the Osmo Mobile 2 will launch on pre-order terms exclusively through the Apple store on January 23, however, Android smartphone users who may want to purchase the device directly from the OEM should be able to do so starting next month. The gimbal will reportedly carry a launch price of $129, which is considerably lower than the current price of the original Osmo Mobile of $199 which also used to be $100 higher. Aside from the Osmo Mobile 2 gimbal, DJI’s CES 2018 appearance also saw the announcement of its first single-handle 3-axis stabilizer designed for mirrorless cameras and DSLRs which is set to be released this spring at a still-unknown price point.