DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review: The best battery life an action cam can get

GoPro is the go-to when it comes to action cams, but DJI has been slowly but surely putting out quality alternatives for a while now. The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is the latest and greatest of these, and it looks to bring some heat to the new GoPro Hero13 Black.

The Osmo Action 5 Pro has a big screen on both the front and the back, a large sensor that can capture 10-bit 4K video at 120 fps, and waterproofing to up to a relatively deep 20 meters. Is it the new champion in the world of action cams?

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro specs

Strong build and stunning battery

It’s hard to get around the “action cam design.” We’ve all seen them, and to a certain extent, they all look the same — rugged rectangles with a display on the back, and in the more premium cases, on the front too, next to the camera lens. But, while the Osmo Action 5 Pro doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it still looks like a nice action cam.

It’s also relatively small and portable. It’s perhaps not all that much smaller than other modern action cams, but it’s easily portable enough to fit in a bag. When facing the rear display, there’s the power button and USB-C port on the left-hand side, along with a door to access the battery and microSD card slot on the right-hand side. The capture button is on the top.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

Those displays look excellent. They’re crisp and detailed and easily bright enough to see outdoors. That’s good news considering the fact that this camera is able to capture relatively high-quality video, so you’ll get a good preview of what you’re capturing before you do so.

One of the big selling points of the Osmo Action 5 Pro is its battery life, which is excellent for an action cam. The Osmo Action 5 Pro is available in two bundles, one of which comes with only one battery. The bundle we’re reviewing, however, comes with three batteries and a charger for those three. The Osmo Action 5 Pro is said to be able to record for four hours in a day on a single charge, which is stellar and head and shoulders above the competition. I didn’t quite reach those heights, but I was able to record for over three hours on a charge at lower resolution settings. This is up to 50% more than most of the competition — and if you get the bundle with three batteries, expect to be able to record all day without issue.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is compatible with a range of accessories, many of which you’ll get as part of the adventure combo. Accessory support on the camera is very good. The accessories connect magnetically, making them easy to attach in the right spot. They snap in place decently well, and while I did find that the mount was a bit finicky at times, I got used to attaching it to things.

Simple interface and easy navigation

Generally speaking, the user interface built into the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is well-designed and easy to navigate. The display on the front of the device is small, but I still found that the touch targets were large enough to press accurately, not to mention those on the back, which were easy to see. The device supports a range of swipe gestures too.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The camera has a physical button that allows you to switch between modes, called the Quick Switch button, and it is located on the left side of the camera. lets you cycle between photo, video, slow motion, subject tracking, time-lapse, hyper-lapse, and playback. However, you can un-check options from that list if you find that you don’t use those modes, and you can cycle through them by swiping, too.

Different buttons dotted through the main screen let you access different settings. You’ll get a button that lets you change the resolution and frame rate at the bottom of the interface, along with a stabilization settings button on the right of the interface. On the left-hand side, you’ll get a button that allows you to see previously recorded photos and videos.

The DJI Mimo app is easy to use

The Mimo app is mostly easy to navigate, though you will have to reconnect to the camera through Wi-Fi each time you open it. That can be a little annoying, but it’s not a big issue.

Once you’re connected, the app offers access to a range of new features. You’ll be able to access and download images and videos captured by the camera. The app also has an editor built straight into it that can remove the need to transfer files to a computer or to use another app if you plan on editing them. Not only that, but there’s a live view feature that lets you remotely control the camera from your phone, which can come in handy.

Again, it’s easy to navigate, and while it’s not necessarily the most full-featured app out there, most will get used to how it works and what features it has on offer quickly. That said, I do wish that the app offered features like automatic uploads, the ability to highlight, and the ability to store footage in the cloud if desired.

Stunning video with vibrant highlights

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro offers a range of video features to help you capture the best shot. As mentioned, the camera offers a resolution of up to 4K, which isn’t quite as high as many of GoPro’s recent high-end models that can reach a 5.3K resolution. In 4K, you’ll be able to record video at up to 120 frames per second; however, lower it to 1080p, and you’ll get up to 240 frames per second.

On top of the basic video mode, you can also switch over to the slow-motion mode, which automatically switches to 1,080p at 240fps, or to timelapse mode, which uses 1,080p at 30fps.

As expected, the camera offers DJI’s RockSteady stabilization tech, and you’ll get a number of settings related to it. You can turn off Rocksteady entirely, which will provide you with the widest field of view. Alternatively, enable RockSteady, and you’ll get built-in stabilization, with the wide option resulting in some warping and the standard option cutting in a little to de-warp the image. There’s also a Rocksteady+ mode, which offers the narrowest field of view but results in even smoother stabilization.

The camera supports three color profiles for video recording, including Standard, HLG, and D-Log M. Standard can be used with both 8-bit and 10-bit color, and if you’re planning on using video for anything other than personal casual use, you’ll want to use 10-bit color for better highlights and a higher dynamic range. That said, you can’t use Super Night mode with 10-bit enabled, so you’ll have to drop down to 8-bit when you’re recording in low light conditions. If you plan on using the camera for professional settings (or you just want the best video quality), HDR HLG mode is recommended. Lastly, D-log M offers low contrast and saturation and can result in excellent low-light footage (even better than Super Night Mode) for those who are willing to make some edits to the color. To be clear, low-light footage isn’t anywhere near as good as a modern smartphone, so don’t expect it to be. If you’re looking to capture action shots and light just happens to be poor, it’ll do.

Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

Generally, the video quality offered by the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is excellent, especially with the higher dynamic range modes enabled. I prefer using Rocksteady in standard mode and don’t mind the fact that it cuts off some of the field of view to achieve that stabilization and de-warping. It’s nice that it’s still an option to get the ultra-wide 155-degree field of view. Overall, colors are bright and vibrant, and the dynamic range is very good when you’re using 10-bit recording.

Of course, you can also use the camera to capture photos, which are 40 megapixels and can be captured in RAW or JPEG. Both looked great, and the JPEG photos with HDR enabled provided detailed shots overall, with good performance in the highlights. Creatives with access to the right tools will still probably want to capture in RAW, but it will take some extra work to get those RAW shots looking as good as the JPEGs processed by the camera itself. I found that the camera struggled to capture movement in medium and low lighting, though. It was no match for my 9-month-old baby, as she tried to grab the camera from my hands, curious about the bright display — and the result was generally fuzzy shots.

Conclusions

The DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro may not offer quite the resolution of the more expensive GoPro Hero 13 Black, but it still captures stunningly vibrant video thanks to 10-bit recording, and its ability to capture 4K at 120 frames per second will be more than enough for the vast majority of users. Beyond that, it offers some features that GoPro doesn’t, like a much longer battery life and an app that is a little easier to navigate, albeit with fewer features. At this price, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is the best action cam right now, and if battery life is of paramount concern to you, then it’s the best action cam, period.

The competition

The top competitors to the DJI Action 5 Pro come from GoPro. The new GoPro Hero 13 Black is more expensive than the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, but you’ll get a higher resolution, support for GoPro’s new lens system, and a more full-featured app. That said, not everyone needs those features. In the same price range as the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, you can get the Hero 12 Black, which also offers a higher resolution and more features in the app, but doesn’t come close to the battery life that DJI offers, nor the same dynamic range.

Should I buy the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro?

Yes. It’s the best action cam in its price range and has the best battery life of any action cam, period.