Zhiyun Smooth 5 Combo Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphone, Handheld 3-Axis Phone Gimbal, Portable Stabilizer for Vlogging, YouTube, Tiktok, Live Video Compatible with iPhone and Android

This is a super powerful tool for any content creator. No matter the videos you need to produce this will take them to the next level. The stability is amazing, the app is intuitive and quick to learn, and the quality of the gimble itself is amazing with great weight and beautiful materials.

I used very good

Did not work for me. Was looking for stability to use the 100x zoom on S21 Ultra. Software was limited in zoom functionality. The product has been returned.

Initial impressions of this are that it’s a high quality, well-made piece of gear.Kinda hefty, build is SOLID but it weighs a little more than I expected. Accessories are excellent; great case, nice stand and includes a light with color filters.App actually installed and configured easily for me (iPhone running latest iOS - currently 15.4.1) and prompted me to update gimbal firmware, which went through without any issues. It recognized the gimbal automatically after I connected it to Bluetooth. I just followed the instructions..My iPhone is a 13 Pro, so it’s not exactly small but it’s also not a huge device. I feel it’s pretty representative of the outer dimensions of most phones people will try to use with this gimbal.. and that’s a shame because it’s too big for the gimbal (or rather, the gimbal seems too small).The clamps and balancing, portrait or landscape, were set up and accomplished, so that’s not the issue. The issue is that the adjustable length arm will frequently strike / make contact with the bottom part of the gimbal and cause a self-preservation rotation of another part of the gimbal, ruining the shot. I thought maybe the issue was being in landscape mode but - while that is slightly worse - the issue is still present in portrait mode.There’s almost certainly some user-error involved here and the more I use it, the less it happens but I’m also having to restrict my movements and can’t trust the gimbal to handle sweeping shots because usually it’ll freak out and be pointing at the sky by the end of it.I expected freer rotation on all axis and it’s just not possible due to the size of the arms.The buttons, joystick and wheels all feel great and work pretty well but there’s a definite lag to joystick movements and, even combining wrist twists with simultaneous joystick use, it’s a real struggle to get it to pan smoothly left or right and end up pointing where you want it. The trigger works great for resetting your angle and the triple tap for selfie mode is actually really slick.The auto tracking feature is pretty neat (swipe on desired target onscreen) and works on people as well as obstacles, better than I expected it to but.. sometimes it will be tracking fine and you don’t realize it’s rotating too far until it freaks out and points at the ceiling. Again, maybe user error but I find it pretty hard to track around static objects, never mind moving ones.Haven’t had to recharge it yet but I notice there are 2 charging ports: a top port is to pass-thru charge to your phone (nice) and the port on the main handle is the charging port for the gimbal. I suspect some reviewers may be plugging into the wrong place but time will tell; I’ll update my review if I encounter any charging issues. So far the battery life seems great, as I’ve used it cumulatively for well over an hour on the charge it shipped with.Being locked into a specific app to use the device seems burdensome but.. the app is actually pretty decent. Haven’t gotten to grips with the templates yet, I’m more interested in using it for footage I’ll edit later on another device.Overall.. I want to like this so bad, because it FEELS like such a high quality product but.. the size limitation and resulting limits on rotation is - to me - a design flaw.I’m going to continue trying to get a handle on its quirks and see if I’m rewarded with better outcomes but, for now, I can’t give this more than 3 stars. At this price, there should be fewer issues.

The ISO button does nothing.The DISP button does nothing.The six-side calibration fails 100% of the time.Regardless of mode, the roll axis never locks.The dolly zoom effect doesn’t work.The zoom control works, but the focus control does nothing.The firmware is fully up to date.The documentation is pitiful. There is a QR code that directs you to randos reviewing the device. No useful guidance or training. But the simple things like buttons don’t work, so I can’t imagine it would help.

The media could not be loaded.  This gimbal is really top of its class. With the kit you get the addition of a flash, color filters, a tripod, and a carrying case. Looking at the DGI five before getting this both were pretty highly rated I did like the telescoping feature of the DGI but overall I wasn’t as ecstatic about the mounting system in this one I like the big focus we are on the side. When I went to download the app from the Apple iTunes store had terrible ratings. Most people gave it one star just because they were complaining about it asking to access their photos and their location. I don’t know how many of them have ever used the camera on their film before, but all of their photos have a location stamp on them. Also I don’t know how you would expect a recording device to do the actions it does without accessing your photos. You give access to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat ect… and they actually take your photos and can use them without your permission once you post them. they Zhihum isn’t asking to do that or it’s not going to take photos from your camera roll. The Smooth5 functions flawlessly, get over the fact that everything in the world is tracking you you’re not putting, your credit card information or your Social Security number into it. Quite honestly if you were buying it from their website as opposed to on here through Amazon you’ve already given the company your credit card information, which is way more valuable than anything and you’re uninteresting camera roll I’m sure.

Was able to test functionality briefly off the factory charge but the device would not charge. Tried multiple power adaptors, computer, etc. just won’t charge. Hoping I can get a replacement but after quick search it looks like shiyun has battery issues with multiple products (smooth 4. Smooth x, etc). Oddly this feedback does not appear on Amazon but a google search shows lots of disgruntled consumers. Seems like an issue with their battery provider or QC program needs to be addressed.

Love this thing. It helps take amazing smooth video. And can be used too take great time lapses even if its just a stand for a phone.