By skyforbes 
Last Updated on July 2, 2025 by Ced Yong
I’ve owned a DJI Pocket 2 for two years now, but the truth is, I remain sceptical about the need for a gimbal, especially smartphone ones like the new DJI Osmo Mobile 7.
The question of how much I need super-smooth footage with razor-sharp focus is, of course, my fundamental debate. Beyond that, the devices I film with all have some form of stabilisation and even if these do not work well, I can always rely on post-edits like Adobe Premiere Pro’s Warp Stabilizer to clean up the job.
Warp Stabilizer is a hit-and-miss, but as long as I avoid extreme jerks and jumps, it mostly does an A-job.
As for tracking, I rarely, if ever, film scenes that require such a function.
I thus welcomed the invitation to review DJI’s latest smartphone stabiliser over the Lunar New Year break. The curiosity of whether such a filming accessory is beneficial to me aside, I was very keen to compare footage taken with the Osmo Mobile 7’s aid against those shot with other gear like my old DJI Pocket 2, the HONOR Magic7 Pro loan unit I had on hand, and most of all, my brand new Nikon Z6iii, which boasts some of the most advanced stabilisation features released by the Japanese maker.
How did the Mobile 7 fare? Did I combine it’s a piece of gear I need? Please continue reading to find out!
First Impressions, Build, and Battery
Let me start by sharing my first impressions of this gimbal stabiliser and my experience with setup.
As someone who has some familiarity with gimbals but has rarely used anything, I’ll say the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 feels a shade intimidating at first sight, doubly so when it started beeping after I accidentally nudged the arm. The front controls, however, are easy enough to figure out thanks to effective markings. Similarly, the built-in tripod is a breeze to use and keep.
The OM Magnetic Clamp, on the other hand, earned a frown from me. Now, Magneto is one of my favourite X-Men but I’ve never been comfortable with components that attach purely by magnetism. The paranoid pessimist in me always prefers mechanical locks; preferably, double ones!
On the above, I’m pleased to share that I ended up yelping a little when attaching the OM clamp. The magnetic connection is frighteningly strong and robust. Throughout my test period, not once did I get any impression that it might fall off, even when I was jogging with the Mobile 7.
Moving on to ergonomics, the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 is pretty comfortable to hold in either hand and like its predecessor, comes with an anti-slip grip. With a diameter of about 5”, most hands wouldn’t dislike it either.
As for weight, the Mobile 7 is approximately 300g, making it ten percent lighter than the Mobile 6. (The Mobile 7P, which comes with an extension rod, is approximately 368g)
Battery-wise, the Mobile 7 promises up to ten hours of use—some 35 percent more than the Mobile 6. To me, though, such figures are numerically exciting but realistically ambiguous, so I just share that I used my loan unit for two hours, on and off, at Gardens by the Bay and the battery meter was still full.
I only charged it once throughout my loan period and never had to worry about power thereafter.
Operating the DJI Osmo Mobile 7
The Mobile 7 is equipped with Quick Launch. When unused, the stabiliser can be neatly folded “together” for easy pocketing or storage. (As an improvement over the previous model, you don’t need to remove the magnetic clamp before parking) All you need to do to activate it is to unfold the arm, i.e., pull it in the direction of the control panel. If already unfolded, a simple long press on the M button does the same.
To switch off, similarly long-press the M button. These controls are pasted/highlighted on the unit. There is also a QR code for you to access tutorials.
Kinda convoluted for me to explain the above caption so bear with me. If you switch off the Mobile 7 before removing your smartphone from the OM Magnetic Clamp, fiddling with the clamp later could accidentally reactivate the unit—you’ll find it buzzing and the arm suddenly struggling to move away. (It’s alarming) Parking the arm can only be done in one way and one direction, too, and involves clicking into a notch. If you can’t do it, it means you’ve turned the arm the wrong way. To try and force the arm in will certainly result in some sort of damage.
To repeat, practice and patience are required to properly store the Mobile 7. I strongly recommend reading instructions.
Controls
As mentioned, the main controls are easy to figure out—the one with the red dot is obviously the on/off button for filming/pic-taking, while the one with the circular arrows toggles between front and rear cameras.
There’s also a slider at the side for zooms and a click button at the rear for certain functions of the accompanying DJI Mimo app.
In other words, you wouldn’t have any issues with basic camera controls. What will confuse you, instead, are the modes.
There are four in total; toggling between all involves just a quick press of the M button. If you’re familiar with DJI gimbals, you will immediately know what is what, even though the panel only shows icons.
One is obviously the “FPV” mode with all axes unlocked. Another is the “Follow” mode with the roll axis locked. And so on.
Completely newbies will be baffled, though, and it doesn’t help that the box documentation does not even remotely mention the modes. Frankly, despite being a Pocket 2 owner, it took me a short while before I realised what everything was.
In summary, operating the Mobile 7 is intuitive but using it properly requires some reading, if you are completely new to gimbals. You will also need a few rounds of experimentation before figuring out which mode is best for your filming style.
Stabilisation and Shooting Quality
First off, the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 easily connects via Bluetooth to all the smartphones I have on hand. What’s important to know is that you DO NOT need to have the DJI Mimo App installed to connect or use the Mobile 7. Installing the app and using the stabiliser via the app is, instead, to expand your shooting options.
The Mobile 7 also features a 3-axis arm with seventh-generation DJI tech for better stabilisation. According to DJI, this latest tech enhances torque and allows for better stability with awkward shooting angles and movements.
Using this gimbal stabiliser without the app presents a streamlined experience too. Basically, it’s like using a selfie stick that just happens to be a gimbal too. You can toggle between the front and rear cameras, zoom, and adjust angles, and rapidly switch on/off. A quick double-click of the camera toggle button also smoothly switches between portrait and landscape orientations.
Using this gimbal stabiliser without the app presents a streamlined experience too. Basically, it’s like using a selfie stick that just happens to be a gimbal too. You can toggle between the front and rear cameras, zoom, and adjust angles, and rapidly switch on/off. A quick double-click of the camera toggle button also smoothly switches between portrait and landscape orientations.
As for the question I posited in my introduction, the answer is a big yes. The DJI Osmo Mobile 7 significantly improves footage quality; I not just talking about super-smooth, jerk-free captures too. The best smartphone OIS today can at best minimise jerks. By eliminating all but the most aggressive movements, the Mobile 7 superbly assists with autofocus and tracking In a nutshell, I’ve never achieved such clear footage with my Samsung S24+ prior to testing for this review.
In Follow Mode, even while walking across uneven surfaces and through crowded areas, the Mobile 7 effectively smoothed out all tremors and jerks.
A note on the above test footage. Rather unexpectedly, I found the stabilisation of my old DJI Pocket 2 to be somewhat superior to that of the Osmo Mobile 7. (Or perhaps it’s more accurate for me to say, more aggressive)
This is likely because of the different builds; the Pocket 2/3s do not have an extended arm. Vice versa, it’s far easier to control shooting angles with the Mobile 7 because of its 3-Axis system.
If asked to choose, I’ll opt for this mobile stabiliser.
Shooting With DJI Mimo
As long as you have the updated version of DJI Mimo, the Osmo Mobile 7 will quickly connect via Bluetooth. It will even swiftly reconnect after you’ve switched the gimbal off and on.
Shooting via the app offers several benefits. Other than tutorials and templates, you can draw a box on your smartphone screen to enable DJI Active Track, enable smart gestures for activation (useful if your smartphone does not have this), do easy 9-shot panoramas, have fun creating AI-edited footage with the Parent & Kids mode, etc.
Oh, there’s also Dyna Shot, which essentially creates footage where the camera seems to zoom in while you’re moving away. Or vice versa.
Like I wrote at the start of this section, the app expands your shooting options and without it, you honestly wouldn’t be getting your money’s full worth for the purchase. Some features like Active Track are also invaluable.
The above being said, I do have to highlight that DJI Mimo, as of this time of writing, has a couple of weird limitations. It can’t shoot videos at 60 fps; no idea why. The interface occasionally freezes, too, as in I can still control my smartphone with the Mobile 7 but all touchscreen functions of the app cease to work.
I furthermore had some issues with updating, but these could be due to my using a test version instead of the finalised one.
The good news, though, I still managed to use the app for the things I needed to test, over two weeks. I’m hoping that future app updates by DJI will resolve these issues.
DJI Mobile 7P and DJI OM Multifunctional Module
This review is for the “standard” Mobile 7 model but I like to give mention to the 7P “pro” model and the accessories that come with that. I’m sure you’d like to know the differences.
Physically, the pro model differs in two ways. It has an extendable rod. Instead of a slider switch at the side, it retails the dial of the Mobile 6.
Accessories-wise, the Mobile 7P comes with a different OM Magnetic Clamp and the DJI OM Multifunctional Module.
This extra module is what’s most worth paying extra money for. In summary, it functions as an adjustable fill light on top of providing smart capture capabilities. The former means you can adjust the temperature of the fill light with the 7P’s dial; there are eight adjustments. The latter enables filming magic like quick re-focus after someone has exited and reentered a scene.
The Multifunctional Module can moreover be used with the DJI Mic Mini, thus completing your “professional” setup.
Here’s what’s important to note too. Different OM Magnetic Clamp. You cannot use the clamp for the standard model with the Multifunctional Module. If you need the benefit of that, you should get the pro version of this smartphone stabiliser.
Conclusion
I’d like to end by saying the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 is a superb accessory for professional or pro-am smartphone videographers. But the truth is, I greatly enjoyed my time with it and I loved what it did for my smartphone captures. I’ll say you will similarly love it for what it can do for your video memories. It adds that special magic.
Design-wise, this is a well-designed accessory that’s easy to operate, on top of being ergonomic and lightweight. It feels sturdy and durable; no loose, hollow parts, and the like, and feature several improvements over the preceding model. If any, my only complaint is the absence of an extension rod for the standard model. Reserving this for the pro model seems a little, I don’t know the appropriate word, calculative? Other than that, I have no complaints about the design.
The accompanying DJI Mimo app is a grey area. Now, to be clear, it works most of the time and is easy to operate. It presents several editing conveniences too. However, certain weird shortcomings prevent it from truly being awesome. To be honest, I don’t see myself using any of the story templates for content creation either. They are great as inspirations for editing but are too stiff (in time, style, etc.) to fit content creation needs.
All in all, the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 is a great piece of gear for upping anyone’s videography game.
| PROS | CONS |
| 1. Great, latest gen stabilization 2. Reduced weight 3. Easy controls 4. Comfortable to control & hold 5. Great tracking via DJI Mimo |
1. DJI Mimo app has areas for improvement |
Summary
DJI Osmo Mobile 7 Review: Smooth Stabilization & Thoughtful Improvements
Description
The DJI Osmo Mobile 7 offers enhanced stabilization, improved video quality, and smart features for outstanding smartphone videography.
Author
The Scribbling Geek
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