Category: Technology

DJI Osmo Pocket 4: A Better Camera in Every Single Way That Matters

The Osmo Pocket 3 set a bar that nobody expected a pocket gimbal to clear. Two and a half years after its launch, it was still the default recommendation for vloggers, travel shooters, and working creators who needed stabilized footage without lugging a full rig. DJI had one job with the Pocket 4: don’t mess it up. They didn’t. In fact, they improved it in nearly every dimension that counts — and a few you wouldn’t think to ask for. Design & Build: Lighter Than You Think Possible The first thing you notice when you pick up the Pocket 4 is that it feels almost suspiciously light. At 116 grams versus the Pocket 3’s 179 grams, DJI has managed to cut weight by 35% while keeping the same pocketable gimbal form factor. That’s 63 fewer grams on a device most creators already carry every single day. That number sounds small on a spec sheet. Over a full day of shooting — wandering through a market, hiking up a trail, moving through an event — it becomes surprisingly meaningful. The Pocket 4 disappears into a jacket pocket or a shirt pocket in a way the Pocket 3 never quite did. The physical footprint is similar. The feel in hand is noticeably different. Build quality remains premium. The gimbal mechanism feels tight and well-damped. The rotating touchscreen — one of the Pocket 3’s best features — carries over and remains one of the most intuitive displays on any compact camera. Nothing about the hardware feels like a budget decision. Imaging: The Upgrades That Actually Move the Needle The Pocket 4 retains the 1-inch sensor from its predecessor — the same sensor that made the Pocket 3 a genuine low-light performer — while adding 4K video at 120fps and up to 6K recording capabilities. But the headline spec most creators are talking about is different. The camera keeps the 20mm equivalent, f/2.0 lens but pushes the maximum framerate to 240fps — up from 120fps on the Pocket 3 — enabling up to 10x slow-motion in 4K. That’s not a spec bump. That’s a creative tool that opens up an entirely different category of shots: water drops, fast motion, sports, street moments. Things that the Pocket 3 could approximate but not fully deliver. Full 10-bit D-Log recording also arrives on the Pocket 4, upgraded from the more limited log profile available previously. For anyone doing color grading in post, this is significant. 10-bit D-Log gives you latitude to recover highlights and push shadows in ways that 8-bit footage simply doesn’t allow. It’s the difference between footage you can work with and footage you’re stuck with. In controlled testing, the Pocket 4 demonstrated measurable improvements in dynamic range over the Pocket 3, retaining highlight detail while preserving shadow information more effectively. Color accuracy tests also showed more neutral skin tones and less green shift compared to its predecessor — requiring less correction in post. Storage: A Bold (and Correct) Call The Osmo Pocket 4 ships with 107GB of onboard storage rated at transfer speeds up to 800MB/s — removing the dependency on memory cards entirely for most shooting scenarios. DJI made the call to drop the microSD slot completely. This will frustrate some users on principle. In practice, it’s the right decision. 107GB at those transfer speeds handles 4K/120fps footage comfortably, eliminates card compatibility issues, and simplifies the workflow considerably. For travel and event shooting — the Pocket 4’s primary use cases — running out of space mid-shoot becomes a non-problem rather than a real-world risk. The tradeoff is obvious: you can’t swap cards in the field. If 107GB genuinely isn’t enough for a given shoot, you’re managing transfers differently. For most users, that scenario won’t come up often enough to matter. Performance: Stabilization & Slow-Motion in the Real World FlowState stabilization was already excellent on the Pocket 3. The Pocket 4 refines it rather than reinvents it — which is the right call. Walking footage, running shots, and handheld movement in tight spaces all come out smooth without the artificial, over-processed look that plagues some competing stabilization systems. Where things get genuinely exciting is the slow-motion performance. 4K at 240fps produces footage with a cinematic weight that feels disproportionate to the size of the camera producing it. Shoot a wave breaking, a crowd dispersing, or even just someone laughing — at 10x slow motion, ordinary moments start looking intentional. That’s a creative upgrade that changes what kind of stories you can tell with this camera. Low-light performance holds up well given the 1-inch sensor class. In sub-10 lux conditions, the combination of updated image processing and optional fill light produced cleaner footage with reduced noise levels. It won’t replace a dedicated mirrorless in genuinely dark environments, but for indoor ambient light, golden hour, and city-at-night shooting, the Pocket 4 handles itself better than most cameras this size have any right to. Specs Comparison: Pocket 4 vs Pocket 3 Feature DJI Osmo Pocket 4 DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Sensor 1-inch CMOS 1-inch CMOS Max Resolution 6K 4K Max Framerate (4K) 240fps 120fps Slow Motion Up to 10x Up to 4x Log Profile 10-bit D-Log M 10-bit D-Log M (limited) Dynamic Range 14 stops 13 stops Built-in Storage 107GB / 800MB/s None (microSD) Weight 116g 179g Starting Price $499 $519 (at launch) Full Specs Spec Detail Sensor Size 1-inch CMOS Lens 20mm equivalent, f/2.0 Video Resolution Up to 6K Frame Rates Up to 240fps (4K), 480fps (1080p) Color Profiles 10-bit D-Log M, D-Log, Normal Dynamic Range 14 stops Stabilization 3-axis mechanical gimbal + FlowState Storage 107GB internal, 800MB/s transfer Display Rotating 1.4″ touchscreen Battery 1545 mAh Weight 116g Price (Base) $499 Price (Creator Combo) $649–$749 Pricing & What You Actually Get The Osmo Pocket 4 starts at $499 for the standard model. The Creator Combo — which adds a wireless microphone, magnetic fill light, wide-angle lens, and mini tripod — runs between $649 and $749. For most creators, the Creator Combo is the smarter buy.

ExpressVPN: Still the Gold Standard, But Is It Worth the Price?

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: ExpressVPN is not the cheapest VPN on the market. Not even close. But after years of testing VPNs across dozens of devices, server locations, and real-world scenarios, it keeps earning its spot at the top — and there are specific reasons why. Here’s the full breakdown. What Is ExpressVPN? ExpressVPN is a premium virtual private network service that encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address, routing your connection through servers in 105+ countries. It’s been around since 2009, making it one of the more established players in a space that’s gotten very crowded very fast. The company is now owned by Kape Technologies, which also runs a few other VPN brands — something worth knowing, even if day-to-day operations remain independent. Speed & Performance This is where ExpressVPN genuinely earns its reputation. Most VPNs slow your connection down by 30–50% under normal conditions. ExpressVPN, running its proprietary Lightway protocol, typically drops speeds by less than 10% on a solid base connection. In practical terms: streaming 4K content, gaming, or jumping on a video call feels essentially the same whether the VPN is on or off. The Lightway protocol itself is worth a mention — it’s built on the wolfSSL library, it’s open-source and audited, and it connects in under a second on most devices. Compare that to older OpenVPN setups that sometimes took 10–15 seconds to handshake. Real-world results (tested from Vietnam): Base connection: ~200 Mbps download ExpressVPN (Singapore server): ~188 Mbps ExpressVPN (US server): ~141 Mbps ExpressVPN (UK server): ~128 Mbps Solid numbers across the board. Server Network ExpressVPN runs 3,000+ servers across 105 countries — one of the broader networks available right now. More importantly, the quality of those servers is consistent. A lot of cheaper VPNs pad their server count with virtual locations (servers physically located somewhere else), but ExpressVPN is reasonably transparent about where their infrastructure actually lives. For users in Southeast Asia specifically, the Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Hong Kong nodes are fast and reliable — good news if you’re trying to access content or route around regional restrictions. Streaming & Bypassing Geo-Restrictions If you’ve ever tried to watch Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, or Disney+ from outside the supported region, you know most VPNs either get blocked immediately or deliver a buffering nightmare. ExpressVPN handles streaming better than almost any competitor we’ve tested. Netflix detection? Consistently bypassed. BBC iPlayer? Reliable. Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max? All working as of this writing. The service has a dedicated team that actively rotates IP addresses to stay ahead of streaming platforms’ VPN blockers — and it shows. Privacy & Security Encryption: AES-256, which is the same standard used by governments and financial institutions. Not a differentiator at this level — it’s table stakes — but worth confirming it’s there. No-logs policy: ExpressVPN claims to keep zero logs of your browsing activity. This policy has been independently audited multiple times by firms like PwC and Cure53. More importantly, it was stress-tested in 2017 when Turkish authorities seized an ExpressVPN server related to a criminal investigation — and found nothing useful on it. Real-world proof tends to matter more than policy documents. Kill switch: Built in, works reliably. If the VPN connection drops, your internet cuts off rather than exposing your real IP. Some VPNs treat this as optional — ExpressVPN makes it a default behavior. DNS leak protection: Active and verified clean in our tests. Device Compatibility & Ease of Use One of ExpressVPN’s strongest suits is how easy it is to actually use. The apps are clean, consistent across platforms, and designed for people who don’t want to think too hard about network settings. Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux iOS, Android Browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) Routers (with dedicated firmware) Smart TVs, Apple TV, Fire Stick You get 8 simultaneous connections per account — enough for most households, though some competitors now offer unlimited. The router app is a nice bonus: set it up once and every device on your network is covered automatically. Pricing Here’s where things get real. Plan Monthly Cost 1 month ~$12.95 6 months ~$9.99/mo 12 months ~$6.67/mo The annual plan is the only one that makes financial sense. Even then, it’s roughly 2–3x the price of budget alternatives like Surfshark or Private Internet Access. Is the premium justified? If speed, reliability, and streaming access matter to you — yes. If you’re on a tight budget and mostly need basic privacy, there are cheaper options that do the job fine. What We Like Consistently fast across all server locations Lightway protocol is genuinely impressive engineering Streaming unblocking is best-in-class Apps are clean and beginner-friendly Audit-backed no-logs policy What Could Be Better Expensive compared to most competitors Only 8 simultaneous connections (some rivals offer unlimited) Owned by Kape Technologies — worth monitoring for transparency No built-in ad blocker (competitors like NordVPN include this) Final Verdict ExpressVPN isn’t trying to win on price, and it doesn’t have to. It wins on execution — fast speeds, reliable streaming access, clean apps, and a privacy track record that holds up under scrutiny. For users who want a VPN that just works without fiddling with settings or wondering whether it’ll get blocked by Netflix tomorrow, it’s still the benchmark. That said, if budget is a priority, Surfshark or Proton VPN offer strong alternatives at a lower cost. But for pure performance? ExpressVPN remains the one most reviewers keep coming back to. Tried ExpressVPN yourself? Drop your experience in the comments — especially if you’re using it from USA or Europe