DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Camera Adventure Combo

Action cameras are great these days. And if it was my money, I think the DJI Osmo Action 5 Adventure Combo is where I'd be sinking it if I wanted a really capable top-end camera for my cycling (and other) adventures.

DJI is relatively new to the party as far as standalone action cameras are concerned. It's been making camera drones for a long time but the Osmo Action range is only five years old, and so far there's been a new one along more or less every year.

This newest camera, the Osmo Action 5 Pro, has a 1/1.3in sensor that's capable of shooting in 4K up to 120 frames per second, and it boasts an impressive 13.5 stops of dynamic range and the ability to shoot in 10-bit D-Log M for the best picture quality and post-processing possibilities.

You get touchscreens front and rear, a 1,950mAh battery that Osmo claims will give you four hours of shooting time, and new features like in-camera subject tracking. It's waterproof out of the box to 20m without any kind of casing, and it's also natively compatible with DJI's range of microphones. There's a lot going on here. But firstly: what's the picture like?

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro picture: Lots of quality, lots of shooting options

I've kicked off action camera reviews before with the argument that unless the picture's good, there's not a lot else to say. That has in the past led to some quite short reviews. But don't worry, there's plenty to get into here.

Action cameras give their best when it's nice and sunny out and there's plenty of light to fall on what's a reasonably small sensor, and in those conditions the Osmo Action 5 produces crisp, clear footage with lots of definition in the highlights and the shadows; the camera doesn't have a specific HDR setting but the dynamic range of the sensor is such that it doesn't need one. Even shooting directly into the sun you still get some definition in the deep shadows. It's pretty impressive.

At 155 degrees, the field of view (FOV) is very wide. To get the absolute maximum FOV you'll need to turn off image stabilisation, though, and you almost certainly don't want to do that unless you're doing some kind of static shot.

There are three FOV settings within the camera – Ultra Wide, Wide and Standard – and three levels of stabilisation: RockSteady, RockSteady+ and HorizonBalancing. Picking the most extreme stabilisation (which automatically selects the narrowest FOV setting) gives a significantly more cropped image.

You can also digitally zoom up to 2x magnification, but like most action cameras this has a significant detrimental effect on the picture quality, especially in 4K. A push-on wide FOV lens (182 degrees) is available as an optional extra, which might come in handy if you tend to use the higher stabilisation modes but still want a really wide picture.

There are also push-on neutral density filters (3/4/5 stops) for maintaining a slower shutter speed in really bright conditions to maintain the feeling of speed in your videos.

The Osmo Action 5 Pro shoots at a maximum resolution of 4K. Others go higher – the GoPro Hero 13 tops out at 5.7K, and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 goes up to 8K – but in real-life use I haven't found myself wanting a higher resolution than this camera offers. At 4K it will shoot at 120FPS indefinitely, which you can slow down to a quarter speed when editing, or even slower on a 24/25FPS timeline. At 1080p resolution it'll record at 240FPS, which is really useful slomo at bike speeds, and for most other situations too.

2025 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro - rear screen.jpg (credit: road.cc)

Mostly I found that shooting at 2.7K/100 gave me the best combination of usable file sizes and slowable footage if I didn't want to muck about with the settings too much when out and about. When I'm editing I tend to be using a 1080p timeline anyway, so 2.7K still gives the option of a jump cut at a different size from the same file, by zooming in a bit; if you're exporting higher-resolution stuff then your preferred settings will probably be different.

Stabilisation is very, very good. One of the reasons action camera footage is so usable these days is because of the improvements in stabilisation, and the Osmo Action 5 Pro is right up there with the best. The RockSteady algorithm does a great job of cancelling out camera shake on the bike, and even most of the movement when you're walking or running, and the HorizonBalancing will keep the pic level past 30° of tilt. The crop in on standard stabilisation (it needs to crop to have extra data so it can move the viewport about in the frame and keep things steady) isn't that aggressive and still offers a really wide picture that'll be plenty wide enough for pretty much anything. I never turned it off during testing, except to check what the crop was – there's no need to.

The Osmo Action 5 Pro also has a subject tracking mode, where the camera will identify the subject and attempt to keep it in the centre of the frame. Obviously this means cropping into the captured image, so it's not available in 4K. It's quite effective at identifying a rider in front of you when you're out on the bike, and it could be useful on a twisty descent, for example, but I generally find that I'm not riding close enough to other riders for losing them out of frame to be an issue anyway.

It's not always nice out, and the Osmo Action 5 Pro is better in low-light situations than most of the action cameras I've tried; all of them, in fact, with the exception of the Insta360 Ace Pro 2, which uses the same sensor and some quite effective algorithms to give good footage after dark. A 1/1.3in sensor isn't big in the grand scheme of things, although action cam sensors are getting bigger and better all the time.

Let's not get into why it's measured as fractions of an inch because that nomenclature dates back to the days of cathode ray tubes, and is a bit opaque; I find that the most helpful way to think about it is as an area that light can fall on: 1/1.3in equates to around 70 square millimetres of sensor real estate, and you can compare that with 'big camera' sensor sizes such as 35mm-equivalent full frame (860 sq.mm) and the smaller Micro Four Thirds (225 sq.mm) to understand why those cameras can operate better than action cams in dimmer conditions.

The Osmo's sensor is bigger than the 1/1.9in (43 sq.mm) sensor in the latest GoPro Hero 13, though, and in our recent testing the Osmo certainly outperformed that camera once light levels fell. It's not just about shooting at night either: the Osmo handles mixed weather days, and moving from sunlight into shadow, pretty well.

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There's a Supernight mode on the Osmo which restricts you to 8-bit colour and 30FPS shooting, and algorithmically cleans up the noise in the picture to allow you to shoot in the near-dark. It's not great with movement but it does allow you to get footage in much gloomier conditions than previous cameras and it's a useful addition.

All this is to say: you'll still get the best from the Osmo Action 5 Pro when it's nice out, but the range of scenarios where it'll give you usable footage is wider than before.

The Osmo Action 5, like every other action camera, records onto an SD card. None of the packages include one, but a 128Gb card is available as an option for £12. However, the Osmo Action also comes with 47Gb of internal storage, not something you get on any of its immediate competitors. That's not loads, but if you've been dragging files off an SD card and then forgotten to put it back in ahead of your big ride it might be the difference between returning with a video or not, so it's a very welcome addition for me. Not that I'd ever forget an SD card, of course...

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DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro sound: Decent out of the camera with loads of options

Sound out of the camera is decent; there's a three-microphone array – two microphones on the front and one on the base – that records in stereo. As with nearly every action camera, wind noise is an issue, although with the front-facing microphone it's normally pretty good if you're pointing the camera at yourself on the bike, as the camera is out of the wind and pointing towards you. There's a wind reduction algorithm built into the camera and it's reasonably effective at slower speeds, but if you're going fast or pushing into the wind there's only so much an algorithm can do, because the audio just won't be there.

The in-camera microphones capture natural-sounding audio, and it's mostly perfectly usable without having to add anything. DJI doesn't offer any kind of stick-on wind baffle as an option but there are loads of third party ones available; just be mindful that the colour temperature sensor sits between the two mics on the front so you don't want to cover that.

If you're relying on having usable sound, your best bet is to pair the camera with one of DJI's own microphones. I use the DJI Mic 2 rather than the smaller DJI Mic Mini because it also records to the microphone itself, and having that fallback option takes some of the worry out of the process. With either the Mic 2 or the Mic Mini you can pair two microphones to the camera without any additional hardware, which is great if you're doing an interview or chatting to a mate on a bike ride.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro ease of use: Most functions easy to find

The first thing to mention here is that the Osmo Action 5 Pro is the best camera I've used in terms of quick shooting. Most modern action cameras have a single-press-to-record function and that's the case here, but the speed is a real plus: hit the record button and you'll be recording in a couple of seconds, so it's great for bike rides where you sometimes want to get a shot at short notice without stopping. There's a pre-record option too, where the camera's recording all the time, but it's quite battery-intensive.

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Aside from the record button there's one other physical button on the side, which turns the camera on and off and toggles through the shooting modes; you can curate the list of modes it'll pick so you're not having to scroll through ones you don't use.

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Scrolling your finger from the middle of the screen will also bring up the mode list, and pulling in from each side of the screen gives access to the settings menu, the playback of recorded files, the resolution settings and the other camera settings. Once you've got used to where everything is, it's pretty straightforward.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro battery life: Good, especially with the Adventure pack

The 1,950mAh battery in the new Osmo is the biggest of any of the current crop of action cameras. DJI says that you can have a maximum of four hours out of one battery. I didn't get anywhere near that, but its control conditions are very much a best case scenario: a lovely warm 25°C, fairly low-resolution footage and the screen turning off basically straight away.

2025 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro - battery caddy.jpg (credit: road.cc)

In my testing, which was more typical of UK conditions and normal camera settings, I still got over two hours of continuous run-time from one battery. That's good, and the real selling point of the adventure combo we're testing here – for me, anyway – is the fact that you get three batteries, and a battery caddy that acts not only as useful storage and protection for the batteries but also as a charging case with a USB-C connection. Not only that: if you find yourself with a dead phone on your adventure but plenty of action cam battery life left, you can run the juice the other way in an emergency too.

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If you want to extend the battery life even further then DJI offers the Osmo Action Multifunctional Charging Handle, which contains a 4,900mAh battery which extends shooting time to a claimed seven hours. The camera isn't fully waterproof used like that but it does also offer controls on the handle, and a 3.5mm jack input for an external microphone.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Adventure Combo: Good for long shoot times, others offer more mounting options

The Adventure Combo also includes a protective frame for the camera, an extendable stick for a wider range of shots, a helmet mount, a USB-C lead, and two magnetic latch clips. The Action 5 Pro doesn't have a mount on the body itself – you have to use a clip that locates magnetically, and latches into the body, in order to fix it to the various mounts that are available.

2025 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro - magnetic mount.jpg (credit: road.cc)

The DJI clip is OK; other aftermarket clips such as the Smallrig one – which also includes a tripod thread and is better made – are superior.

2025 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro - camera mounted.jpg (credit: road.cc)

If you're planning to use the camera mostly on your bike then the Motorcycling/Mountain Cycling Combo (£388) doesn't include multiple batteries but it does include a good quality chest mount, and an articulated handlebar mount that's really good for getting on-bike footage: it's easy to change between a forward-facing view and selfie view, and with a bit of fiddling you can fix it to other parts of your bike too, for a wider range of shots.

There's also a Road Cycling Accessory Kit which nets you a saddle rail mount for rear-facing shots, a wrist mount and a compact handlebar mount. For £55 that looks like a good way of covering off a lot of on-bike shots. Of course, there are millions of other aftermarket mounts out there that will work fine with the Osmo Action 5 Pro; it's a universal mount, after all.

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DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro app: Usable editing functions and more

Dji's Mimo app allows you to connect to the Osmo Action 5 Pro. You can update the camera's firmware, and you can use the phone as a remote viewfinder and access the camera's settings, which can be useful if you're putting it somewhere inaccessible, like hanging from your saddle rails.

If you've shot a bunch of footage then you can work on edits in the app; there's a basic workflow that doesn't give you much control over the edit, and you can also drill down a bit into the individual clips and change the cuts, or add effects and transitions. It's a pretty decent editor, to be honest. Above is a short cut of a 200km audax I did with the Osmo in my pocket, which took me maybe 20 minutes:

2025 DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro - app2.jpg (credit: road.cc)

You get a lot of control over the shots in the video; it's easy to move them round and add transitions and effects. Lots of music is available from within the app too, and overall the experience is pretty good, although a couple of times my phone decided the app was being slow and kept offering to close it for me, which was annoying. Both times it was trying to add effects to clips, so maybe that's a bit processor-intensive for my three-year-old Google Pixel 6 Pro.

DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro value and overall: Top-of-the-range quality for (a bit) less

At £329 for the bare bones camera, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is undercutting the likes of the GoPro Hero 13 Black and Insta360 Ace Pro 2 – both around £400 – by a fair chunk; reviews of those cameras are on the way.

We've compared all three in the video above, and to be honest they all have their strengths and weaknesses, but from a high base: this is an excellent camera, and so are the other two. For me, this Adventure Combo at £409 is a really good buy: I like the fact that you can guarantee a load of camera time with the battery caddy, and the quality of the footage you'll get will be excellent.

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The sound options are a big plus for me, too. Having the ability to sync two high-quality mics to the one camera opens it up to do stuff like on-bike chats that's much harder when you're dealing with separate audio files and video.

There are some other developments like the auto subject tracking that I really didn't use that much for the kind of filming I normally do, but nonetheless could come in handy.

Overall, I find the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro easy to recommend: it spits out great footage, the sound options are excellent and it's rugged and easy to use. If it was my money and I wanted a top-of-the-range action camera, it's probably the one I'd choose.

Verdict

Excellent action camera with a great picture and a rugged build