DJI Osmo Mobile 8P Review: The FrameTap Remote Is a Game Changer

Good day, folks. Shawn here from Air Photography. DJI has done something really interesting with the Osmo Mobile 8P, the Pro version, and that’s the new FrameTap remote. Of all the updates and upgrades we’ve received with the Osmo Mobile series over the years, the FrameTap remote, in my opinion, is probably one of the most important.

As you can see, it’s built right into the handle here. That allows you to use your Osmo Mobile in a more traditional way, handheld, with all the controls right at your fingertips. With this nice bright screen, you can go in and change all your settings easily. But when you detach the remote, that’s when the magic happens. This is going to allow you to use your Osmo Mobile in ways you just haven’t been able to in the past, and it’s going to make it a lot more useful for a lot of creators.

Why a Smartphone Gimbal Still Matters

Smartphone gimbals are one of those devices that not everybody makes use of. Today’s modern smartphones have really good stabilization already built in, so a lot of times stabilizers aren’t really necessary. However, for some people — if you’re a creator, a solo content creator, a vlogger — smartphone gimbals can be a really important tool for your content creation. And this new remote is really going to take things to the next level. It’s one of those new features on a device that make it a really worthwhile upgrade.

Sometimes devices like this, when we get new generations, we just get little incremental improvements. Of course, with the Osmo Mobile series, we’ve had some pretty interesting improvements over the last couple of years, including the ability to use the tracking module, which really changed the way you can track. But the FrameTap remote is definitely a significant upgrade.

All the Controls at Your Fingertips

The FrameTap remote has a nice large touchscreen that we can easily use to change our gimbal modes. We can spin our gimbal 180 degrees, depending on whether we want to use the front camera or the rear cameras. We can go from portrait to landscape, and we can switch back and forth between the front camera and the rear camera. Of course, we’ve got a shutter button there to start and stop recording, or take a photo, depending on what mode we’re in.

This joystick can be used to change the angle of the gimbal — we can move the camera up and down, side to side. And if we tap that button on the side, that will allow us to use the joystick for zooming in, if that’s something you prefer to do. So for solo creators who use their Osmo Mobile for capturing their activities — perhaps you’re using it for live streaming and you have it tracking you — the new FrameTap remote is going to make things a lot easier. There’s no more having to run back and forth to your tripod to start and stop recording, or making sure everything is set correctly. You do that from this remote, and then put it in your pocket while you’re recording.

Live View Right on the Remote

What really makes it a powerful tool is that you can actually get a live view right on the remote. And there are two different ways to get a live view. The first way is swiping from the right-hand side. That’s going to show you a mirrored image from your phone, with all the critical information, and it’s going to allow you to make sure everything is framed correctly. There’s no more guesswork. You can switch the view depending on whether you’re filming in horizontal or landscape, and you can zoom in a bit if you want a closer look.

The other way to get a live view is by using the camera built into the tracking module. We can swipe over from the left-hand side, and this view is now coming directly from the camera built into the tracking module. This way is really convenient because it allows us to start tracking and select subjects right on the screen. All you have to do is draw a box around the subject you want to track. And the nice thing is, it doesn’t have to be a person — you can track pets, people, and now, because of this setup, you can easily track objects just by selecting them. It’s a nice simple way to start tracking without having to run back and forth to your gimbal to make sure everything is set correctly.

Of course, it also supports gestures, which you can use to start and stop tracking. But in my opinion, this is just a much more convenient way, and you know it’s going to be framed correctly and capturing what you want to capture.

Built-In Creative Tools

There are a lot of creative tools built right into it. It allows you to go in and do some creative shots, such as spin shots and surround shots. You can do an A-B path, where you can set different waypoints and let the camera move automatically, allowing for nice smooth shots. And of course, you can also use the FrameTap remote to adjust the brightness of the fill light that’s built into the tracking module. We can turn it on, adjust the brightness up and down, and we can also adjust the color temperature.

The New Version 2 Tracking Module

Something else that’s new with the Osmo Mobile Pro is the new version 2 tracking module. One of the upgraded features is that you no longer need to connect it directly to the clamp in order to utilize it. This is the tracking module from the Osmo Mobile 8, the standard version, and also version 7. As you can see, in order to utilize it, we do have to connect it to the clamp. There’s nothing wrong with that — it actually works quite well — but the problem is that if you have a MagSafe-compatible phone and you want to use DJI’s MagSafe connector, because this thing is actually really convenient, you weren’t able to use this tracking module because there was no way to connect it. So you had to choose between using the clamp and the module, or the MagSafe. You couldn’t use them together.

But the new tracking module actually connects a little bit differently, so we can utilize the MagSafe connector if we so choose. The tracking module now connects directly to the arm of the gimbal, which allows us to use the MagSafe connector with no issue. And just like before, you can reverse it — it is reversible — so you can choose which way you want to track and which way you want the fill light facing.

A More Stable Base and Familiar Extension

The Osmo Mobile 8P also has an upgraded, more stable and secure tripod built into the bottom. As you can see, it has a much wider stance than previous generations, and overall that just makes it a lot more stable. That can be really important when you’re setting your camera down, especially if you have it extended using the extension pole — the wider, more stable the base, the better. Of course, you can also use the quarter-20 on the bottom to attach it to any tripod of your choice.

And just like previous Osmo Mobiles, we have the extension built into it. That’s going to put it at a more comfortable angle if you’re going to be using it for vlogging, or you just want some extra reach. The end of it can be tilted up to put it at a more natural angle, but it can also be tilted backwards, which really makes it useful if you’re doing some really low-down shots. It just puts it at a more comfortable angle.

Who It’s For and What’s Next

As mentioned, a device like this is not going to be useful for everybody, but for some creators, especially now with the FrameTap, this is going to be a very powerful creative tool. And not just for creators or vloggers — even if you’re a person who just likes to film your hobbies, having something like the Osmo Mobile 8P with the FrameTap is like having your own cameraman. You can easily adjust the camera angle on the fly. You don’t even have to be using the tracking capabilities. You can just have your gimbal set up on a tripod filming you performing your activity, then use the remote to easily zoom in if you want a tighter shot, zoom out, change the angling, change the framing. So it could be a valuable tool just for those who want to capture their hobbies and share that on social media as well.

It’s going to be really interesting to see what DJI does with this technology in the future. These removable screens, I think, can be applied across the board to many of their devices, and it will be interesting to see what they do.

Hopefully you enjoyed this video and found it had value. Thanks a lot for watching, and we’ll see you in the next one.

This article is based on a video from Air Photography, produced by Shawn. You can find more of his work on the Air Photography YouTube channel and read more of his articles on his DroneXL author page.