DJI Osmo Action 6 Review

DJI timed the Osmo Action 6 well. GoPro paused its annual rhythm — no Hero 14, its attention on the Max 2 — and Insta360 released no new Ace Pro in 2025, so this camera arrived on an unusually clear field in mid-November 2025. DJI did not coast on the opportunity. The headline changes are substantial: 8K recording, a new 1/1.1in square-format sensor, and — a genuine first for an action camera — a variable aperture from f/2.0 to f/4.0.

Tested across France and Spain, on hikes and trail runs, this is what all of that amounts to in practice.

After three generations with a strictly identical chassis, DJI has finally reshaped its camera — almost certainly out of necessity, to house the larger sensor and the aperture mechanism. The Action 6 measures 72.8 x 47.2 x 33.1 mm and weighs 149 g, up 3 g on its predecessors. That edges toward the GoPro Hero 13 Black's 159 g while remaining more compact, and stays well under the Insta360 Ace Pro 2's 177 g.

The robust feel of the range carries over, as do the two secured hatches — one for the battery and microSD, one for USB-C — and the internal storage, now slightly enlarged to 50 GB, which remains one of the range's most quietly useful features.

The persistent complaint also carries over: the buttons are still too stiff. In daily use it hardly matters; with gloves on, or with fingers numbed by cold — precisely the conditions action cameras live in — they are harder work than any rival's.

Native waterproofing, without a housing, holds at 20 metres — double what GoPro offers. The built-in pressure gauge returns too, showing altitude or depth in real time and, more usefully, starting and stopping recording automatically as you enter and leave the water.

The two OLED touchscreens, front and rear, remain the best in the business: bright, responsive, and edge-to-edge in a way GoPro has yet to match.

DJI's clearest advantage over GoPro in recent years has been responsiveness, and the Action 6 keeps it. Cold start aside, barely a second passes between pressing the shutter and recording — a comfort that becomes hard to give up.

The Quick Switch button on the left edge cycles shooting modes and, more usefully, your own custom profiles: a "mountain biking" profile at 4K 60p ultra-wide with maximum stabilisation, say, and a calmer "vlog" profile at 4K 30p — switchable on the fly without touching the screen.

The square sensor changes the display logic slightly. By default the feed is cropped, but a 1:1 view shows the full sensor so you can compose for a later vertical or horizontal recrop.

The 1:1 sensor is the change most people will actually use. Shoot once, then decide afterwards whether the final cut is 16:9 for YouTube or 9:16 for stories — from the same clip, without rotating the camera. A new "Natural Wide" field of view also arrives, easing edge distortion without the heavy crop of the linear mode.

8K arrived by firmware update after launch, at 24/25/30p and only in 16:9 — the 1:1 ratio does not support it. Its real value is recrop headroom rather than visible detail, and most users simply will not need it; but with the Ace Pro 2 already offering 8K, GoPro now has little choice but to follow.

The variable aperture is the first of its kind here, and honesty is required: after several days it feels more like a technology showcase than an indispensable advance for the general public. Filming normally in daylight, the camera settles automatically at f/2.8 — exactly the fixed aperture of the Osmo Action 5 Pro. To genuinely exploit it you must enter Pro mode and lock the aperture manually, which makes it a tool for deliberate videographers and vloggers rather than for anyone who wants the best automatic settings and to get on with their sport.

In daylight the image is, unsurprisingly, excellent. Colours in the standard profile are pleasing, and more advanced users can switch to 10-bit D-Log M for grading. GoPro renders slightly more natural images, but only a side-by-side would show a non-specialist the difference. Dynamic range at least matches the Action 5 Pro — filming from inside a car, the camera handled the bright exterior without being caught out, and blown patches of sky in woodland corrected quickly on exiting the trees.

At night the gap becomes a gulf. The night mode and dedicated processing, aided by the f/2.0 aperture, simply outclass GoPro — there is no contest, and DJI (alongside Insta360) continues to widen a lead that was already broad. Caveats: stabilisation degrades in night mode, the mode works only in 16:9, and DJI still offers no creative night modes — star trails, light painting — where GoPro still rules.

RockSteady stabilisation again works wonders, soaking up trail-running shocks into genuinely fluid footage. The real gain this year is horizon lock at 360 degrees now available in 4K, where the Action 5 Pro forced a drop to 2.7K. Watch which functions you stack, though — some combinations produce aggressive cropping. For everyday sport, 4K 30 with RockSteady 3.0 remains the sensible default.

The magnetic quick-release mount becomes bidirectional this year, so the camera clips in facing either way — handy for turning the lens toward yourself on handlebars. GoPro keeps the pure versatility lead, though: the Hero 13 Black builds in three mounting methods natively, while the Action 6 still depends on its magnetic adapter, and there is still no native GPS chip.

Batteries deserve praise: capacity stays at 1,950 mAh, and the cells remain interchangeable with the Action 5 Pro, Action 4, Action 3 and even the Osmo 360. The ecosystem extends to direct connection with DJI Mic 2 and Mic Mini microphones. A subject-tracking mode recrops digitally to keep you centred, but limits recording to 2.7K; pre-record, loop, slow motion, timelapse and the photo modes all return.

DJI quotes 240 minutes at 1080p. Continuous-running tests without airflow returned 160 minutes at 1080p 30 and 112 minutes at 4K 60 — slightly below the Action 5 Pro, but still top-tier for an action camera.

Field results matter more. Across a seven-hour hike with 18 short clips recorded, the battery fell only from 100 to 83 per cent. A heavier day — trail runs morning and evening, 16 minutes of footage — consumed 35 per cent. The technique is exactly that: many short recordings rather than long takes. Charging remains a genuine advantage over GoPro: a full charge takes about fifty minutes.

In the UK the Osmo Action 6 Essential Combo — the base package — is listed on Amazon UK. An Adventure Combo also exists, adding three batteries, the multifunction charging case and a 1.5 m extension rod; it costs meaningfully more but is the package worth recommending to action-camera newcomers.

DJI froze its pricing this generation — the Action 6 launched at the same price as the Action 5 Pro did — while the GoPro Hero 13 Black and Insta360 Ace Pro 2 launched higher, which mechanically makes this the value pick of the current leaders. Do note that last-generation cameras, including the Action 5 Pro itself, frequently appear heavily discounted.

The Osmo Action 6 is loaded with technology — assuredly the best action camera of its moment. The screens are superb, 20 m waterproofing with a working depth gauge is unmatched, internal storage is generous, the interface is the fastest in the category, image quality leads by day and dominates by night, stabilisation is excellent, and battery life pairs with a fifty-minute charge.

The honest asterisks: the 8K and variable aperture will be exploited by a minority, the shutter button is still too stiff for gloved hands, there is no native GPS or screw mount, and no creative night modes. None of that dents the conclusion — the competition urgently needs to wake up.

When did the DJI Osmo Action 6 come out? Mid-November 2025 — arriving on an unusually clear field, with GoPro pausing its annual rhythm and Insta360 releasing no new Ace Pro that year.

Can the Osmo Action 6 take photos? Yes — alongside video, the photo modes return in full, and the square 1/1.1-inch sensor means stills and vertical or horizontal video all crop from the same native frame.

Is the Osmo Action 6 waterproof? Natively to 20 metres without a housing — double what GoPro offers — with a built-in pressure gauge that can show depth in real time and even start and stop recording automatically underwater.

Is it better than a GoPro? On the test's core measures it leads the class: the variable f/2.0–f/4.0 aperture is a first on an action camera, waterproofing runs twice as deep, and 8K arrived by firmware update. The comparison that matters most is price and ecosystem — but on hardware, this is currently the camera to beat.