Insta360 blatantly misrepresents the most critical feature of their One X2 camera. There are other major problems with the device, but the misrepresentation is the most egregious.

I bought an Insta360 One X2 to record motorcycle rides. The specifications proudly claim:

Run Time 5.7K@30fps – 80 minutes

This gives the impression that one can record for 80 minutes. One cannot. In fact, the camera will record for only 30 minutes. This would be acceptable if that was the maximum size of a segment, and if it immediately began recording a new segment, but that’s not what happens. Instead, recording stops for an arbitrary amount of time (people report 45 seconds to minutes) before recording begins again.

So, why does it behave in this weird way? Insta360 representatives will give varying nonsensical explanations about needing to flush a buffer (as if it’s not continuously writing) or wanting to reduce the risk of corrupting larger videos, but the reality is that it’s a way to avoid an EU tariff on “video recording devices”. By limiting recordings to 30 minutes, they can claim that the device is merely a camera, not a video recording device.

Additional issues are the absolutely awful wind noise elimination, and, reportedly, security issues.

The noise reduction algorithm will basically prefer wind noise from around 20 mph and up, while also severely muting the sound of the engine. Even when placed behind a motorcycle windshield, enough wind will pass to almost completely mute out your motorcycle engine in favor of the steady whoosh of passing air. It’s wildly inferior to my relatively ancient GoPro Hero 4 Session (released in 2015), and reviews of the Hero 4 Session complained about its sound quality!

Regarding security issues, this Reddit thread details the massive vulnerability in the Insta360 One X2, and comments mention that the mobile app requires permissions that it has no business asking for: https://old.reddit.com/r/Insta360/comments/scsue6/really_cool_insta360_one_x2_hidden_feature/