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Insta360 Luna Pro: Two-minute review
I’ll be honest: my first reaction to the Insta360 Luna Pro wasn’t really about the camera itself — more its price tag. At $599.99/£599.99/AU$859.99, it sits close enough to the flagship Luna Ultra model (at least in the USA and UK) that I’ve been wondering whether Insta360 has left itself room for a proper budget option in this range. The Pro doesn’t offer a significant saving over the Ultra, which I suspect will drive many buyers into opting for the latter simply because it features a second lens for a similar price.
That’s not a knock on the Luna Pro itself, though, because it handles its actual job — smooth, hands-free footage you don’t have to think about — with real aplomb. Popping the touchscreen module free from the body and using it as a standalone remote is a neat trick, and it’s just as handy here as it was on the Ultra. Tracking is another standout feature for me: click the joystick once, or tap a subject on screen, and the Luna Pro locks on and stays locked on, whether I was walking, gesturing or just generally being difficult to follow. But all that is also available on the Luna Ultra.
I did come away with a couple of gripes concerning the Pro (both of which, incidently, one could also level at the Ultra). The little wire tripod tucked into the handle is more fiddly than useful once you’re off a flat surface. Battery life also isn’t quite what Insta360 claims — you can expect closer to 90 minutes than the quoted 240 (for 1080p) if you’re shooting 8K with the screen switched on.
Photos are also an afterthought here — they’re soft and low on contrast, and in most cases a smartphone will do a better job. Video is a much stronger story, particularly once you dip below the headline 8K resolution into the more practical 4K modes, and vertical shooters will get unexpected bragging rights over owners of the Ultra thanks to the Pro’s sharper 9:16 footage. The fact that the Pro has just the one lens does affect things, of course: push the digital zoom past 2x and the drop-off in detail becomes obvious immediately.
So where does that leave the Luna Pro? As a piece of hardware, it’s a likeable and very capable little camera that does almost everything I wanted it to. As a purchase decision, it’s a trickier sell than Insta360 probably intended, sitting just a little too close to its more versatile sibling for comfort.
Insta360 Luna Pro: Price and release date
- Launched on September 10, 2026, priced at $599.99 / £599.99 / AU$859.99
- Only one bundle available at launch
- Costs $170 / £50 / AU$370 less than the flagship Luna Ultra
At $599.99 / £599.99 / AU$859.99, the Luna Pro undercuts Insta360’s flagship Luna Ultra ($769.99 / £649 / AU$1,229.99) by a relatively modest margin, especially in the UK, where the difference works out to less than £50, or $170 in the US. That’s a narrower gap than I was expecting, given the Pro features only one lens while the Ultra has two, and it puts the newer camera in a slightly awkward position; it’s not quite the budget-friendly alternative you might expect a single-lens model to be (like the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 is).
Insta360 Luna Pro specs
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Type: |
Compact video camera |
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Lens: |
20mm, f/1.8 (35mm equivalent) |
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Sensors: |
1-inch CMOS |
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Video: |
8K up to 30p / 4K up to 120p / FHD up to 240p |
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Photo: |
9MP JPEG & RAW / 37MP UltraPhoto mode / panorama |
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LCD: |
2-inch OLED, detachable |
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Memory: |
47GB internal, 1x micro SD (up to 2TB) |
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Battery |
1,550mAh, rated up to 4 hours of 1080p |
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Dimensions |
2.08 x 6.13 x 1.51in / 52.78 x 155.7 x 38.47mm |
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Weight: |
7.6oz / 215g (Cosmic Black), 7.7oz / 218g (Stellar White) |
Insta360 Luna Pro: Design
- Effectively a single-lens version of the Luna Ultra
- Clever detachable touchscreen module, complete with its own built-in mic
- A rubber cap replaces the Ultra’s bulky protective case
Strip away the second lens and the Luna Pro is basically the Luna Ultra all over again. The dimensions and weight between the two cameras are barely different (the Pro is about half an inch shorter and 20g lighter than its dual-lens sibling), so if you’ve read my colleague Tim Coleman’s take on the Ultra’s design, most of the same applies here too: the Pro, like the Ultra, has a stick-like, gimbal-topped body that sits comfortably in the hand, with the option to extend the included handle for a more secure grip.
Its signature design feature is unchanged, too: the entire touchscreen-and-controls module pops free, working as a standalone remote with a 20m range and its own built-in microphone. It’s just as useful here for solo shooting as it is on the Ultra.
One design compromise that did stand out to me during my time with the camera is the thin wire tripod that extends from the handle base — another thing carried over from the Ultra. On a genuinely flat surface, like a tabletop, it holds the Luna Pro upright well enough, but it offers little stability on uneven ground, and it’s fiddly to pull out in the first place. Thankfully there’s a standard tripod thread on the base too, so a proper mini tripod is only ever a few twists away.
The included protective case is also more basic than the Ultra’s: it’s just a rubber cap over the lens and gimbal, which trades some protection for a slimmer profile and much easier removal and replacement.
Insta360 Luna Pro: Performance
- Dual-chip setup (4nm flagship chip plus dedicated imaging chip)
- Sticky, reliable subject tracking, and smooth stabilization whether shooting horizon-level or FPV-style
- Video up to 8K 30fps or 4K 120fps in 16:9 mode, 4K 30fps in 9:16
The Insta360 Luna Pro pairs the same 1-inch sensor and 20mm-equivalent f/1.8 lens found on the Ultra’s main camera with a leaner dual-chip setup — a 4nm flagship chip and a dedicated imaging chip. The Ultra has three chips.
On paper that sounds like a step down, but in practice I rarely found the Luna Pro underpowered or sluggish. Subject tracking is a particular highlight: a single joystick click will pick out people and animals automatically, or you can tap a subject on the touchscreen and even adjust its position within the frame, which is useful if you don’t want it to be dead center. It’s sticky and dependable throughout. Stabilization is equally impressive, delivering smooth, level footage on the move, with the option to switch to a more dynamic FPV-style movement if you want it.
Insta360 rates the 1,550mAh battery at 240 minutes, but that figure is sneakily based on 1080p 24fps recording with the screen and Wi-Fi both switched off, which isn’t how most people will use this camera. Shooting 8K at 30fps with the screen active, a much more realistic scenario, drained the battery in around 90 minutes during testing. That’s still a respectable battery life in my book, so I’m not sure why Insta360 saw fit to base its claims on an underpowered setting.
The camera runs a little warm under sustained use of its more demanding modes like 4K120fps and 8K30fps in particular, but during my testing, it took more than 75 minutes of continuous 8K recording before it shut itself down. What I’d consider normal use never triggered any overheating issues.
The four microphones (three on the main body, one on the detachable module) handle audio reasonably well, and 32-bit recording is on offer for anyone editing seriously. Still, anyone prioritizing audio quality should consider buying an Insta360 Mic Air or Mic Pro, both of which pair directly and add proper wind protection and noise cancellation.
Moving on to image quality, and photos are the camera’s weak point: detail and contrast are both underwhelming, and it’s not a device worth buying for stills alone. Frankly, in most cases you’d be better off using your smartphone for snaps than pulling out the Pro.
Video is a different story: footage looks clean and sharp in good lighting, across Standard, Dolby Vision and I-Log color profiles, though the 120Mbps maximum bitrate (shared with the Ultra) seems quite modest. 8K is the headline spec, of course, but I think 4K is a much more practical everyday choice thanks to its smaller files, greater range of frame rate options (up to 120fps), and the fact it still offers plenty of detail.
Slow motion goes up to 4x at 4K (120fps) or 8x in 1080p (240fps) and, surprisingly, vertical shooters get a genuine edge over the Ultra here: 4K30fps in 9:16 (built from 6K oversampling) versus the Ultra’s ceiling of just 3K. One thing to note about vertical footage though: while the Ultra can hit 60fps in that mode, the Pro tops out at 30fps.
The digital zoom is the clearest trade-off for losing that second lens, and the Pro lacks the reach of its pricier cousin. Up to 2x magnification, Insta360’s “lossless zoom” claim holds up in practice, but push it further and the digital crop shows, with softer detail and muddier edges.
Should I buy the Insta360 Luna Pro?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Insta360 Luna Pro: also consider
How I tested the Insta360 Luna Pro
- Insta360 sent me the Luna Pro’s basic box bundle ahead of launch
- I shot footage and photos at all available resolutions, and tested the slow motion and PureVideo special shooting modes
- I tested battery life and thermal management by running the camera continuously
I was sent a Luna Pro sample ahead of the launch day, allowing me time to test the Luna Pro over a few days. I shot a mix of horizontal, vertical and slow motion video across its available resolutions and color profiles, and put its subject tracking and stabilization through everyday use. I also took photos in and outdoors, in both JPEG and DNG format. I ran the camera’s battery down twice to test its battery life, and tested its thermal performance too, to see how real-world use compares to Insta360’s claims.
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