Although Kandao has built its reputation on high-end VR filming gear and conferencing equipment, its more popular sellers have always been consumer-facing gadgets like the QooCam range. The company’s latest offering in the series is the QooCam 3, a tiny handheld 360° action camera designed to butt heads with the GoPro Max and the Insta360 X3. With a $349 price tag, the QooCam 3 stuns its competitors with a 1/1.55” sensor and an f1.6 aperture that allows for more light to pass through, helping the camera capture more detail with less light. The result, 360° video at resolutions of up to 5.7K or regular action-camera-style videos at 4K. Oh, and spatial audio to match your spatial videos too!
Designer: Kandao
With its two 1/1.55 inch sensors, the QooCam 3 surpasses the Insta360 X3’s 1/2″ and the GoPro Max’s 1/2.3″ sensors. This, coupled with its impressive maximum lens aperture of f1.6 (compared to the X3’s f1.9 and the Max’s f2.8), greatly enhances its ability to reduce noise and deliver exceptional performance in low-light conditions. The QooCam 3 is capable of capturing 360° video at a maximum resolution of 5.7K@30fps or regular video at 4K@60fps. Additionally, it can produce stunning 62 MP panoramic photos and record 360° 4-channel spatial audio in Ambisonic format, allowing users to focus the audio based on their desired framing direction.
The QooCam 3 shares a remarkable resemblance with the GoPro Max in terms of its physical appearance, although it is slightly bigger and heavier. It has the ability to be submerged in water up to a depth of 10 meters or 33 feet, and its IP68 rating ensures that it is resistant to both dust and water, making it suitable for various action-packed and adventurous situations. On the software level, though, the QooCam 3 shares quite a few similarities with the Insta360 X3, like the invisible selfie stick (the stick doesn’t appear in 360° videos), post-production reframing, video stabilization, automatic horizon leveling, and time-lapse wizardry. Kandao sweetens the deal with a mobile app for creative editing and seamless social media sharing, along with a desktop application for the more advanced post-production enthusiasts.
It seems like Kandao has its sights on the 360° action camera market, with a pretty affordable $349 price tag, undercutting even the GoPro Max by a solid $50. The QooCam 3 is available on Kandao’s website, although it should hit Amazon stores soon too.
