The DJI Osmo Pocket 4 had an awkward job: replace a camera that most reviewers, this one included, considered close to perfect. Its answer is not to redesign anything, but to sharpen every specification that limited the previous model.
What is genuinely new
Three things matter. The first is dynamic range — 14 stops, paired with 10-bit D-Log recording. That combination is what separates footage you can grade from footage you must accept as shot. High-contrast scenes, the ones that ruin small-camera video, now hold both the sky and the shadow.
The second is 2x lossless zoom, driven by a dedicated button. It crops into the sensor rather than interpolating pixels, so the tighter framing stays sharp. In use it is closer to having a second lens than a digital zoom, and it is far faster than pinching at a touchscreen while walking.
The third is 4K at 240fps. Eight-times slow motion at full resolution is a genuinely remarkable thing to find in a camera this size, though be honest with yourself about how often you will use it — and remember that very high frame rates are hungry for light.
What carried over, correctly untouched
The 1-inch sensor, the three-axis mechanical gimbal, the rotating screen that flips between horizontal and vertical, and the fast subject tracking all return. This remains the formula: real stabilisation instead of software cropping, a sensor big enough to cope indoors, and the ability to shoot vertical without throwing away half your frame.
The f/2.0 aperture also produces pleasant background separation, so portraits and pieces to camera have depth rather than looking flat.
Is it worth upgrading?
If you already own a Pocket 3, the answer depends entirely on whether you edit seriously. Colourists and anyone shooting in tricky light will feel the extra dynamic range on every clip. Someone posting straight from the camera will struggle to tell the two apart, and would be better off buying the older model cheaper and spending the difference on a microphone.
Coming from a phone or an older gimbal camera, the Pocket 4 is an easy recommendation and the current high point of the category.
Practical notes
Buy a fast, high-capacity card — 4K/240 and 10-bit files are not small. Keep the gimbal cover on in transit, because the mechanism is exposed and precise. And treat rain as a hard limit; for wet and rough conditions an Osmo Action 6 is the right tool.
