The 3 Best Android and iPhone Gimbals of 2025

The Insta360 Flow 2 Pro is simple to set up, easy to use, produces extremely smooth video, and has a clever design that includes a small, built-in tripod. The handle can extend to double as a selfie stick. Its app is also excellent, not just to control the gimbal and track a subject, but its editing features are among the best for editing video.

Extensive tutorials help teach you how to use it. All gimbals have a learning curve, and the Flow 2 Pro prompts you with a detailed tutorial when you first connect it to your phone. It guides you through the various buttons and dials on the gimbal itself, as well as many of the features in the app.

It’s simple to set up. Insta360’s phone mount doesn’t require as precise a placement as some other gimbal mounts. The rubber grips hold your phone tightly, but not so much that you can’t reposition it. The mount is magnetic, snapping into place on the gimbal securely.

This makes the gimbal easier to use, as you can quickly remove your phone if you want to check a message or make a post, for example, without unclamping the mount. One pull of the gimbal arm turns on the Flow 2 Pro, and you’re ready to go.

In contrast, our picks from Zhiyun and Hohem require a more elaborate unfolding and mounting process. Even with those models, setup doesn’t take too long, but both are slower than this Insta360.

The telescoping handle extends smoothly, out to a maximum of 8.3 inches, when you need the gimbal to act as a selfie stick.

The battery should last all day. Insta360 claims that the 1,100 mAh battery is good for roughly 10 hours of use, which puts it in the middle of the pack in comparison with the longevity of the Flow 2 Pro’s competitors. How long it lasts in the real world will depend on how you’re using it and the weight of your phone.

One neat bonus is that you can use it like a USB battery pack if you want to charge your phone or a set of wireless earbuds.

The app makes shooting and editing simple. The Insta360 app is a big reason why the Flow 2 Pro is such a joy to use. It’s intelligently laid out, and it has lots of tutorials and extensive editing features. After you record a video, you can add music or text, trim it for length, and more. The app works pretty much the same on both iOS and Android.

But it’s important to note that while the Insta360 app has wider compatibility than most gimbal apps, it doesn’t support every phone, and even on supported phones, not every feature or resolution may be available.

Generally speaking, if your phone doesn’t appear in the compatibility list and is a newer model in a line that’s listed as compatible, it’s likely to be compatible as well (though that isn’t guaranteed). If you’re not sure whether your phone is supported, contact Insta360 directly for clarification.

Video footage is notably smooth. The videos we captured while using the Flow 2 Pro were extremely smooth, even when we were walking or running. All of our picks did a good job of stabilizing video, so the differences weren’t huge.

Its subject tracking is excellent. Dragging your finger across a person or object in the app’s live view selects it, and the Flow 2 Pro then keeps that selection in frame even if you move the phone and gimbal. Insta360 calls this feature Deep Track 4.0.

Not only does this feature do a great job, it’s also smart enough to reacquire the subject after losing track for a moment. Say your subject ducks behind a wall and then returns a few seconds later—the app will in most cases continue tracking. In this situation, most competing apps we tested would lose track of the subject, requiring us to reselect it and potentially ruining the shot.

It has a Free Tilt mode for an occasional wider range of up and down motion. One shortcoming of all compact gimbals is a restricted range of motion compared with the larger, heavier, and typically more expensive gimbals often used by professionals.

The Flow 2 Pro is no different in its normal operating mode but can be converted into Free Tilt mode that gives you a 360-degree tilt rotation. This means you can smoothly transition from very low shots (say, a dog’s-eye view) to an overhead shot with the gimbal above you looking down.

However, you’ll need to physically switch to Free Tilt mode, which takes a few steps, before you can use the additional range of vertical motion. In this mode you’re also trading pan for tilt, so left and right motion will be limited while up and down is not—the opposite of when the gimbal is in its “regular” mode.

For most people needing to occasionally switch modes will be fine, but more advanced users might want to consider a bigger gimbal that inherently has a wider range.

It’s compact and lightweight. The Flow 2 Pro is a little smaller than the Zhiyun Smooth Q4 and roughly the same size as the Hohem iSteady V3 but a little lighter. All three are small enough, and fold flat enough, to fit in a large pocket or small bag. Earlier versions of the Flow were even smaller, which was convenient but had its own limitations. More on that in the Flaws but not dealbreakers section below.

It’s Apple DockKit compatible. The Flow 2 Pro has DockKit compatibility, meaning it can track a subject not just in the Insta360 app but Apple’s own camera and some other iOS apps as well. A potentially convenient feature for those with a recent iPhone (running iOS 17 or later).

It has NFC for easy initial setup. Though you’ll likely use it only once, tapping your phone to the NFC logo on the top of the gimbal will automatically connect it to your phone and Insta360’s app. Assuming you already have said app installed, this makes the initial setup process basically instant.

It has a one-year warranty. Insta360 covers the gimbal with a 12-month warranty, the same length of coverage as on our other picks.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• It’s bigger than its predecessors, but that’s not all bad. One of the things we liked best about the Flow 2 Pro’s predecessors was their compact size. The Flow 2 Pro is still smaller than some competitors but not by much. However, that size trade-off results in a gimbal that’s more capable and more comfortable to hold.
• Its controls are kind of annoying. The small buttons and touch-sensitive controls aren’t as easy or as satisfying to use as those found on the Zhiyun Smooth 5S AI.
• Its tilt range is limited compared with some larger models. That limitation can be an issue when, say, you’re recording at your eye level and then move the phone down to follow a dog at its level. The Flow 2 Pro simply doesn’t make that transition as fluidly as the Smooth 5S AI in its normal operating mode. If you know such a shot is coming, you can switch to Free Tilt mode, which takes a few moments but isn’t difficult. If you think you’ll regularly want to take advantage of a wider tilt range, a larger gimbal like the 5S AI might be a better option.