Fimi PALM vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Comparison Review

Fimi, producer of Xiaomi Mija Action Camera, Xiaomi Drone and FIMI X8 drone, released their latest camera Fimi PALM. It basically looks like DJI Osmo Pocket, a small camera including a 3-axis mechanical gimbal. But it is not the same – FIMI Palm offers some interesting features I was missing on my DJI Osmo Pocket, which I want to point out in my review.
In general I really like this type of camera for travel videos and vlogging. I prefer them over typical action cameras for these activities, but more on that later. Let’s start to compare them:

FIMI Palm vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Comparison Review

Fimi PALM vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Specs

Fimi PALM vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Comparison Review

After using both cameras I’d like to highlight the pros and cons of each device. Let me start with the camera design first and then I go into detail regarding lens, video & photo options.

Fimi PALM vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Body Design

There are a few things that really bother me on my DJI Osmo Pocket and I’m glad FIMI tackled those with their new Fimi PALM. So let’s take a look at the differences when comparing body and buttons.

DJI Osmo Pocket vs Fimi PALM – Body Design

5-way joystick
It is pretty hard to control the head of DJI Osmo Pocket. You can either do so with a virtual joystick or you have to buy the 65 USD Osmo Pocket Wheel Control. Great that Fimi PALM features a 5-way joystick built in.

Fimi PALM Joystick control

Internal / External Microphone
Both cameras offer 2 microphones built into the device and the option to connect an exsternal microphone. For the connection you need a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, so you can use all kinds of microphones. These are the adapters, FIMI Palm offers 2 options. (Interestingly both options for FIMI Palm combined are cheaper than the DJI Connector).

• DJI Osmo Pocket – 39 USD Osmo Pocket 3.5mm adapter
• FIMI Palm option 1: 9 USD USB-C to 3.5mm adapter
• FIMI Palm option 2: 25 USD base with 3.5mm plug and USB-C port – the only option to power the camera while connecting an external microphone. Smart solution.

DJI Osmo Pocket vs FIMI Palm – USB-C to 3.5mm external microphone adapter

Lanyard hole
Doesn’t seem that big of a deal, but I think it is. You can attach the lanyard only to DJI Osmo Pocket’s cover, not to the camera itself. Since the camera is very compact I found myself in many situations I felt the camera is not secured. Great that you can attach a lanyard straight to Fimi PALM.

Mount – 1/4″ thread
There is no option to mount DJI Osmo Pocket you need to get accessories to mount it on a tripod or other gear (I use the PGY mount that also holds a phone and mic.). Great to have a 1/4″ thread built into Fimi PALM, even tough the positioning is not that great.

Phone Connector / Wireless Connection
You can plug DJI Osmo Pocket straight into your phone via the USB-C or Lightning (for iPhones), that’s definitely a big plus as file transfer is super fast. Also great to film with the phone plugged in to use it as a screen. Again the PGY mount comes in very handy. But you can’t remote control Osmo Pocket as it doesn’t have wireless connection built in, you can do with the 69 USD wireless module. Fimi PALM offers bluetooth and wifi built in, but doesn’t have phone connectors. This way you can control the head of the camera or set up a timeplase while Palm is placed on a tripod. On the other hand you can’t download the videos in best resolution to your phone.

Battery
While DJI Osmo Pocket offers a 875 mAh battery built-in, that lasts for 140 min video recording in 1080p with 30fps. Fimi PALM offers a larger 1000 mAh battery that promises 240 min of video recording in 1080p with 30fps.

Fimi PALM vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Camera & Lens

Lens
Both cameras, similar as action cameras, offer fixed lenses – no optical zoom. I also like DJI Osmo Pocket, compared to many of my action cameras, because of its narrow FOV lens. Many users dislike wide angle lenses with its fisheye effect, typical for action cameras, so in that case DJI Osmo Pocket’s 80° FOV videos might be more appealing. This is also gret for vlogging as your face isn’t distorted when you hold the camera close to your face. The narrow angle lens also results in a shorter focal range and that gives you depth of field. In other words you can film yourself while in focus when the background is a bit blurry, which looks more cinematic. Here’s an example:

Screenshot of a DJI Osmo Pocket vlog – notice the blur background

Typical GoPro Fisheye Distortion during a vlog – notice the crooked background (shot with GoPro)

Fimi decided to use a 128° FOV lens, which is not as wide as typical action cameras (around 170°) but still wider than Osmo Pocket. It’s a matter of personal taste and usage which lens, and therefore camera, is better suited. The wider angle lens definitely has some advantages: Stabilization is smoother and you can zoom-in in post production. FIMI put in their description “3x stabilized zoom” but I currently don’t know if this digital zoom will be available in 4K or only at lower resolutions. Here you can see how the lenses compare:

Video Specs

Frame Rate & Resolution
This is a clear win for DJI Osmo Pocket. While DJI Osmo Pocket shoots 4K at 60fps, Fimi PALM can only shoot 30fps in 4K. Also in 1080p DJI offers a way higher frame rate with 120fps, compared to thdissapointing 60fps for FIMI Palm.

Bitrate & Codec
Both cameras offer 100 Mbps bit rate, but Fimi PALM is using .h265 codec while Osmo Pocket is using .h264 codec. Fimi PALM actually offers a lot more detail within the 100 Mbit bitrate.

Time-lapse (Motion Lapse)
I like to do motion timelapse videos and great that both cameras offer this option. You can set waypoints and the camera head moves during the timelapse. But I was very disappointed as I found out both cameras only offer 1080p time-lapse and not 4K.
Update: With the latest Firmware Update of Fimi Palm 4K Motion time-lapse was enabled and the movement of the head is also way smoother.
Motion Timelapse taken with Fimi Palm (auto settings) – before Firmware update:

Motion Timelapse taken with DJI Osmo Pocket (auto settings):

Photo Specs

Photo Resolution
Both cameras take 4000 x 3000 resolution .jpg photos. Due to the different FOV (field of view) lens the framing looks different. Both cameras also offer the option to take .jpg and .dng RAW photos. I noticed an interesting fact: While DJI Osmo also takes 4000 x 3000 RAW photos, the resolution of FIMI Palm is a little smaller with 3840 × 2880 pixel.

Panorama Photos
At first I didn’t pay much attention to this feature, but it is actually a super interesting one, especially on DJI Osmo Pocket. Both offer 3×3 and 4×1 option, that means 9 photos (respectivly 4) are taken and stitched together; that’s done within in app automatically when you download the panorama.
It’s important to know that both cameras do not stitch full resolution photos within the app! As mentioned both cameras take 4000 x 3000 pixel resolution photos. But the results I got within the app were 4294 × 1070 pixel resolution for DJI Osmo and 4740 × 2082 pixel for FIMI Palm. Besides the resolution the FOV is also different. Even though FIMI has a wider FOV lens, the panorama taken with DJI has a wider FOV (you can even spot FIMI Palm in my photo below).
If you want to stitch a panorama in full resolution you have to use another software, DJI offers DJI Media Maker for PC and Mac. But here again another important finding: while DJI Osmo Pocket takes four 4000 x 3000 pixel photos, FIMI Palm only takes four 2704 × 2028 pixel photos.
Conclusion: FIMI Palm gives you a higher resolution stitched panorama photo within the app. DJI Osmo Pocket gets you a lower resolution panorama with the app, but a higher resolution panorama when you stitch it on a computer!
Same results with 3×3 photos: The app stitched photos are 2409 × 1732 pixel with DJI, 3882 × 3735 pixel with FIMI Palm. Individual photos are 4000 x 3000 pixel with DJI, 2704 × 2028 pixel with FIMI Palm.

Below are two examples of 4×1 panorama photos, unedited taken with auto settings, stitched within the app. (click for full resolution):

4×1 Panorama Photo taken with DJI Osmo Pocket (auto settings) – 4294 x 1070 pixel

4×1 Panorama Photo taken with Fimi Palm (auto settings) – 4740 x 2082

DJI also offers this feature in RAW at full resolution (but it is not stitched within the camera). If you use a computer software it allows you to get 8685  ×  5819 pixel – 50MP (!) resolution photos, even in RAW format. I like to print photos as posters for my wall, and that’s an incredible resolution to get great printing results. Below is a preview – click here for the original image (Attention: the orginal file is 30MB data).

DJI Osmo Pocket 3×3 panorama photo (taken in RAW)

Fimi PALM vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Conclusion

Here’s a short overview in a nutshell of my Pros & Cons after using both cameras:

My Conclusion in Detail

So what da I think is important when comparing them?

Lens
I think one of the most important factor for decision making is the lens. It’s not about quality, it’s about the FOV (field of view) it offers. You have to ask yourself: Do I want a wide FOV lens or a narrow FOV lens? It’s a matter of test and future usage of the camera. For vlogs (when doing a selfie recording) I prefer the narrower FOV as it has less distortion. Also for product reviews a narrower FOV might be useful to show details. The narrow FOV also offers a shallow depth of field, which means you get a blurred background that looks more cinematic. But you have to control focus otherwise you end up having unsharp videos! For travel videos and sports the wider FOV of FIMI might be more usefull when being close to the action or for wide angle landscape shots. If you are concerned about the distortion (fish eye effect) remember there is a distortion correction with FIMI Palm. With the wider FOV lens there is no shallow depth of field, but on the otherhand the whole image is in focus, so you don’t need to worry about that.

Price
Second factor is of course the price. DJI Osmo Pocket might be better with some features (higher resolution, RAW panorma,…) and is a bit more stabile when it comes to firmware but remember, FIMI Palm is almost half the price! Given that fact it is even more impressive that it excels DJI with some other features.

Video / Photo Quality
When comparing the photo and video quality there is not that much difference. As stated the biggest difference results from the different FOV lens.

Accessories
Think about the future usage of your cam and what you need for your setup. DJI Osmo Pocket might require some expensive accessories: An expensive adapter if you want an external microphone; an expensive base if you want to remote control the camera, an adapter to mount Osmo Pocket on a tripod or accessories to Osmo pocket,… Most of this stuff is included with FIMI Palm or it’s way cheaper. So the package price you and up for DJI Osmo will most likely be way higher than just comparing the base camera price.

Deal Brakers
As said DJI is more expensive but therefore offers some advanced features. So here are some deal breakers for FIMI Palm that are significantly inferior compared to DJI (to check if they are important to you). Active Track: FIMI Palm offers face active tracking and it is easy to activate – it just doesn’t work that well. With DJI simply mark a face, person or any object and active track works pretty well. Slow Motion: DJI offers 120fps in 1080p and 60fps in 4K so the way better settings for slow motion videos. Motion time-lapse: Even tough FIMI Palm records 4K time-lapses and excels DJI, the motion setting is worse. Many times the camera ended up not doing a smooth motion between the set waypoints.
Are there dealbreakers for DJI? Not really. Or at least none that can’t be fixed with money. Need wireless control -> get the base; Need to mount it -> get accessoires,… The only thing that bothers me is that you can’t record time-lapses in 4K.

Fimi PALM vs DJI Osmo Pocket – Price

DJI Osmo Pocket

is available from DJI Website for 369 USD.
But also check Amazon for frequent discounts given:

Fimi PALM

• Aliexpress: 159 USD (official FIMI store)

• Gearbest: 159 USD
  • Coupon: GB720SALE004

• Banggood: 159 USD
  • Coupon: BGSPBP05
    

• Amazon:

For the latest news, check out the Fimi PALM Facebook Group.