Zhiyun Smooth Q2, 3-axis handheld smartphone gimbal stabilizer for iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, with time-lapse subject tracking

SKU: GW46.0009

  • 100.99
Overall Rating 4.6   31
Reviews
5
Second Zhiyun gimbal to prove a bust!
After recently buying a Smooth 4, and having it turn out to be bust, I thought maybe I'd have better luck with the newer Q2--that perhaps the older, less expensive just model wasn't getting the same level of quality control and care because maybe the company wanted to prioritize the newest thing. Boy, was I wrong.The Q2 I received is either just as poorly manufactured as the Smooth 4 I received last week, or is "correctly" manufactured to the company's tragically low standards. The battery is a dud. After fully charging it, it promptly trained within 30 minutes of test usage. Additionally, the gimbal is incapable of supporting the weight it claims to support. I was testing it with a Galaxy S7, no case. The phone, by itself, was supported fine. But when I attached by external mic, the gimbal immediately flopped to the side. The phone only weights about 150 grams, and the mic plus windscreen comes in at a touch above 50 grams. I weighed it all together, and the total was only 211 grams. So, a mere 80% of the theoretical weight capacity overwhelms this gimbal in practice. Even though this gimbal is supposed to have a higher weight capacity than the Smooth 4, I did not experience this problem with that model.With the phone by itself, the gimbal did seem to hold correctly oriented positions, which is more than I was able to say about the Smooth 4. And it seems to generally do a good job adjusting for your movements, i.e. when moving my arm in various directions the gimbal generally moved, or didn't move, as was expected and desired. There's a trade off between the minimalism and functionality. Having to use one button to iterate through five different shooting mode is less than ideal. And the small size results in a very small angle in which you can swing the handle to the right without the phone tilting over. These amount to a question of personal taste; I could get used to those particular quirks if the gimbal otherwise performed as expected.If it simply lived up to is claims, it could be a great instrument. But sadly, this gimbal does not perform as expected.And seeing as this is the second item in a row from the company, two different models, I received that both turned out to be glorified paperweights, I cannot recommend anything from this manufacturer, and I cannot see myself trying something from them in the future.
11/06/2020
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Gianni Sabattini
5
Manuale esaustivo in italiano ed assistenza a mezz
Ottimo ed esaustivo il libretto in italiano (alcune funzioni minori non sono nell’esatta progressione del software ma si capisce molto bene cosa si sta cercando) superlativo avere un supporto tempestivo a mezzo mail (un grazie sincero ad Amalia).Buona la stabilizzazione dei filmati registrati con la camera fissata allo specchietto sul manubrio.Premesso che il grosso dell’utilizzo lo faccio condividendo tramite la app dedicata Live Dv le riprese su WhatsApp o su Facebook... ritengo non conveniente riprendere in 4K poiché troppo pesante ed anche a 2,7k diventano eccessivamente lunghi i tempi per lasciare un filmato più lungo di 1 minuto. Se anche la visione verrà fatta sui cellulari... il 1080 a 60fps svolge ottimamente il suo servizio.Comodissimo anche il telecomando indossato al polso destro che mi permette con un tocco di attivare e stoppare il filmato senza lasciare la manopola del gas...Forse dal 20k per le foto mi sarei aspettato un po’ di più... ma pensò che sia dovuto al grandangolo da 170’ (problema minimo poiché non la uso quasi mai per fare delle foto)Sono contento così. Apprezzo la gestione e la condivisione immediata dei filmati.
15/11/2022
~My Lovely Me~
4
Almost perfect!
Updated review - August 16, 2019:Nothing has changed from my last review, except that I have ordered a half dozen of these in total so that I have one everywhere! At home, at my ex's place, in my luggage, a spare in case one breaks, and I keep 2 on my truck, and use both every day when I'm sleeping. Partly so it's louder, and partly so I can use two different sounds at the same time. Sleeping around other semis is sometimes very noisy, so these really help to block out a lot of truck stop noise.My previous white noise machine is a thing of the past. I think I tossed it.This is still a 4/5 star product, due to the issues I listed in my previous review, but it is a great little machine!-----Previous review - August 6, 2018:I just received this last week, but I'm really loving it so far!I delayed my purchase for awhile because it didn't have a battery option, and I use my white noise machine when I travel. So I was delighted to see that, though it does not have batteries, it also does not use a standard AC plug, but a USB plug instead. So now I can still use it on my truck!I LOVE SO MANY of the sound choices! The white noise machine I've been using for the last 2 years has a lot of nice options (and some horrible ones too!), but I'm only in love with one of their sounds. But LectroFan has SO many GREAT ones, I had trouble deciding which one to use!Another thing I LOVE about it is that it remembers your selection. I can turn it off when I wake up, and when I go to bed later, I just hit the on button, and it's still on the sound I had selected. The same is true even if you unplug it! With my other machine, it defaulted to a sound of their choice, and then I had to search for mine each time.It gets pretty darn loud - louder than the one I had been using - though I think it could have even gone louder and I would have been happy about that.Here are the only areas I see for improvement:1) Battery backup. Whether to use on the road with just batteries, or in case of a power outage so sleep isn't interrupted.2) Some sort of indication which number selection you are on. Like a small digital window that says "FS3" or "WN7," or the like. Possibly another that says the volume level you're at. Oh! And something that indicates if you've accidentally hit the "60 min" button instead of the power button. Like a timer countdown, or something.3) Bluetooth output. I have purchased 2 different wearable sleeping devices that can play things via bluetooth. One is a pair of earplugs that have tiny speakers in them, and the other is an eyemask that has little speakers over the ears. I would LOVE to be able to pump my white noise machine sound into them.4) AUX output. Because my other white noise machine has an aux output, but no bluetooth option, I plug a bluetooth transmitter into its aux output, so that I can use it with my sleep mask or speakered earplugs. In the case of LectroFan, I can do neither.5) It gets a wee bit warm after being on all night, and that makes me nervous. My other WN machine does not.All in all, I LOVE it so far! And I didn't buy it to use on the road, per se. When this arrived, I put my battery-backup, aux-output, one-sound-I-love, previous White Noise machine permanently into my travel bag. So the LectroFan will stay home with me. I just hope the power doesn't go out! :-)
05/11/2022
Mark Gilden
4
Good for Wear OS, solid hardware
This review is going to be a little bit tricky. I have owned 3 Google Wear OS watches, and I have a love/hate relationship with the platform. It's incredibly powerful and I'm always finding new features that blow me away, but it's also sort of bizarre sometimes and admittedly not for everyone.For the sake of this product review, I think it isn't fair to review Google's watch based OS, but rather this Fossil watch in its own right. I think a lot of negative reviews are coming from people unfamiliar with Wear OS.For that, I have to admit that Fossil did a great job. The fit and polish of this product is top notch, with excellent hardware and features. Aside from the standard functions like pedometer, heart rate and notifications, this one has a mic and speaker built in so that you can take phone calls and even communicate with Google assistant without your phone. In fact, I see there's an Alexa app coming soon for the platform as well. It's really like having a smartphone as a watch rather than just an activity tracker. It also has better battery than the previous generations, however you'll still have to charge it as often as your phone. That's just the downside of having hardware as advanced as your smartphone in a watch. I long for the day that a watch running this OS can go for days on a charge like the cheaper alternatives, it's ironic that an Amazefit or Mi Band can go charging once a month and do most of the core features for a fraction of the price. However, you'll lose out on some of the wow factors that make Wear OS cool. The compromise here is that you should expect to charge it daily.Yes, this watch can install apps and games. Google has a play store variant on it. The directory listing is weird, you have to search for titles to find them, you can't just browse everything like you can on a phone or tablet. That's a fault of the OS and not this watch, however. Games will deplete your battery, but it is still super cool that you can do it. One of the most useful applications of this watch however, is the Google translate app. You can speak a language using the mic, and it will translate it to another- you tilt your watch towards the other person and it automatically displays what you said in their native tongue upside down so that they can read it (right-side up for them). Very cool! There's even some streaming music apps and other cool things you can do, but a lot of them require integrating with the app on your phone. One of the things I like about Wear OS is that technically, it is capable of being independent from your phone. It has its own Wifi and GPS, you can theoretically use it for navigation without your phone (good if you left your phone in the car on a hike), however I could not find an app that worked properly like that. In fact, most of the apps seemed to require your phone to connect to it, which sort of negates a lot of what makes the appeal of this hardware so cool. This is where my love/hate thing comes in... I love the hardware and the potential this watch has, however sometimes I feel like Wear OS is holding it back from being all it could be. It's almost like they can't decide if they want to make this a companion to your phone or a standalone smart device. And that mixed message is apparent all over the operating system.This, however, is not the fault of Fossil. To be honest, considering all the fragmentation that comes with Google's OS, they did a pretty bang-up job making this as good as they can under the circumstances.In a nutshell: Wear OS is a mixed bag. But as far as Wear OS watches go, this is a VERY good iteration with solid hardware. If you're a fan of Google's ecosystem, you will most likely love this watch.
03/09/2022
JS Lee
5
Perfect solution for my needs
This review is for the 2nd generation WiFi Doorbell (PL960). I examined many different doorbell systems. My system needs were:1) Hard line, IP internet capable as my gate was too far from my home to get reliable WiFi signal2) Magnetic gate lock operation3) Key pad4) Connection for conventional wired doorbellThe Ring and Nest doorbells didn't have the functionality I needed and needed wifi. I looked at Doorbird, Grandstream and Axis systems. Doorbird didn't have a keypad and the Axis system that fit these requirements was over $1K. I tried the Grandstream system 1st as it was compariably priced to the GBF. The problem with the Grandstream was that it required a lot more knowledge regarding host servers to get the system up and running. I wanted something plug and play. I returned the Grandstream and purchased the GBF system.For the $, the GBF system is excellent. It has an app that allows the magnetic lock to be disabled remotely. It does everything I needed.The main negatives are:1) There is a delay (5-10 sec) between when someone presses the bell button and the app notification.2) The camera is not very good and has a very narrow field of viewBut for the price, I could live with the negatives.After a year, the bell signal to my wired interior doorbell stopped working. I contacted the manufacturer and they were willing to either replace the 2nd gen system or put 50% of the cost towards their 3rd gen system (PL963). I chose to upgrade to the 3rd gen.The 3rd gen eliminated the two negatives from the 2nd gen. The camera is much better and they have designed a new app that is much more responsive. The app also allows the PIN programming, whereas the 2nd gen you had to do it through the keypad itself.The one negative about the 3rd gen is that the bell functionality no longer works for a wired doorbell. The 2nd gen had a relay connection with no potential that just acted as a contact switch. The 3rd gen doesn't have this. The manual shows a signal Bell connection with an associated ground. But I found no chimes that work with it other than the indoor monitor that GBF sells. I really just want a simple wired bell.Update (March 28, 2021)Speaking with the manufacturer, they have indicated the next variant of the 3rd gen will get back the bell functionality. They thought it would be within a month and said I could get an exchange.The customer support has been excellent. The GBF wifi doorbell is a great value and when the updated 3rd gen comes out with the bell support this will be a 5 star system. For the price, the only other system comparable is the Grandstream but it was too complicated for a non professional.Update (July 12, 2021) Upgraded to 5 StarsThe manufacturer sent me the newest motherboard that has added back the bell/bell connections for traditional wired doorbell operation. The system now does everything I need. The customer support via email has been excellent. The manufacturer really seems to care that their product works and did everything they could to make sure I was happy with my GBF Wifi doorbell. I have upgraded my rating to 5 stars. I haven't see any other system that has all the functionality this system does at this price. Highly recommend the system.
11/08/2022
Lisa
4
Good quality unit
I got this to replace a baby monitor whos screen part had the internal charging port come loose, so it doesn't charge any more. I used it so much I wore it out. I worried that getting another unit that isn't the same as the old one would disappoint me - as so many have poor pictures, especially at night. But this one is working out almost as good as the last one. (Which isn't sold any more). The monitor screen is almost as clear as the old one, but doesn't have as sharp of an imagine as the last one - with it I could clearly see my granddaughters face, with this one I can't see it as well, but enough that I'm comfortable using this Vtech setup. It's really clear during full daylight.Doesn't have but one zoom level, which is fine. Doesn't pan/move, but I didn't need that function. Just need to hear and be able to see what's going on from time to time.Easy to set up. Comes already paired, so you don't have to fiddle around getting that done before you can place the camera and start using the system. Sounds are good, volume pickup is excellent and you can hear nearly everything, and the monitor responds to sounds - ever so slight - immediately, coming back on. So no worries you'll miss anything.For the price ($36.21 in March '21) this is a really good value, and works as well as other much more expensive units.
09/08/2022
Dario
4
Ottimo prodotto qualità prezzo!
Sicuramente comoda e un buon compromesso qualità prezzo! Va ovviamente contestualizzata la camera alla sua fascia di prezzo, non si può paragonare con le migliori go-pro....ma forse con le go pro entry level se la può giocare bene, soprattutto considerando che costa comunque un terzo. Interessante anche il set di accessori che vengono forniti all'interno della scatola, praticamente c'è tutto. Ci sono anche 2 batterie e il case che la rende impermeabile, perfetta per escursioni in acqua o riprese per attività outdoor anche estreme. Il wifi incorporato nella cam è un grosso plus e tramite la app è molto semplice ed estremamente utile l'interazione con lo smartphone, che può essere utilizzato come schermo per visualizzare ciò che si sta riprendendo e addirittura scattare foto.Non entro nel merito delle specifiche tecniche perché non sono un grosso esperto, detto ciò è sicuramente un ottimo prodotto se non se ne deve fare un uso professionale, ossia è perfetto per il 90% degli utenti che cercano una action cam su amazon :) i professionisti vanno diretti sulla go pro.
22/05/2022
Nick Kasoff Nick Kasoff
5
Solid performer at a good price
The first thing that stood out to me about this camera was that it has a solid feel to it. You don't want to put something flimsy out on a tree, and come back to find that it fell apart. There's no concern about the physical quality of this device.Setup was relatively easy. Put in the batteries - it wasn't immediately clear to me from the instructions, but the battery compartment is actually in the door, not on the "business side" of the device. Flip the power switch one click to the left. Then, navigate the menus, which are self explanatory and easy to follow on the nice little color screen. Format the SD card, configure whether you want video or still photos, select resolution, and a few other optional details. It took about 3 minutes to get it ready to go.It comes with a 32 GB MicroSD card. Since it supports up to a 128 GB card, which is only about ten bucks, I upgraded it. I set it for still photos at the highest resolution, and it produced photos of about 6 MB. That means the 32 GB card I replaced would have held more than 5,000 photos. It also came with a set of 8 alkaline batteries, which they claim will last up to 8 months. I'm using it for urban security rather than wildlife, and my guess is I won't get anywhere near that long out of them.Photo quality was decent, though you won't be using it for wedding photos. I've attached a couple of photos I took inside, one in high light, the other shooting into a dimly lit room. The design is to give you a really wide field of view, rather than an artistically correct photograph.Overall, this is a solid performer, and for the price, an excellent value.
19/11/2021
John Elliott
5
Rolls Royce of Car monitors!
Amazon is littered with inexpensive car back seat monitors. Ive actually owned two of them myself. While they worked, they were clunky, had lots of cords, and their display quality rivaled that of a 1970's Tv set. Yes they worked an I could see Junior and if he was still strapped in, but that was about it. And heaven forbid it was dark, than it basically overwhelmed the screen with IR light that made baby look like a glowing orb from that movie cocoon! So needless to say with all the driving were doing we needed something better.So yea we went big and got the most full featured and wireless car monitor you can get. And generally Im as frugal as all get out, but when it comes to the safety of my child I will spare no expense. So let me tell you with absolute certainty that this monitor set stand well above them all. I mostly got it for the wireless bit and not needing to run 6 cords all over my car, but the real shinning thing her its its clarity of picture. When it says HD it means it. The picture is incredibly clear, precise and you can even see some snot dripping out of the nose when its there (which is all the time) Night vision auto adjust so depending on how far the camera is its adjust and lights up the perfect amount to see Jr in the back seat. Mounting is super simple and simply attaches to the headrest in the rear and either a suction cup window mount or a clip for on the dash. I actually found that using the suction cup and fastening it down into my jeeps cup holder worked great and its at the perfect distance and within eye shot to see. All without breaking any california laws about obstructing your window (yea california) Another feature that I knew it had but I never paid much thought too is it records. This may seem trivial, but Jr does most of his talking while in the car so its been awesome to be able to catch several of his first words and play them back for others. Build quality is great and the display monitor actually has a battery in it so it doesnt have to be tethered down or plugged in. There is also a reminder to not forget your baby in the back seat when you shut off your car. So lets move on to the pros/consPros-Top of the line monitor with man features-True HD resolution, superior clarity to anything else-Auto adjust night vision to light up perfectly-Can record to onboard SD card-Monitor can also be battery powered-Easy to mount with multiple options-Much better made than any other car monitor out there-Wireless!! So less wires running about!Cons-It aint cheap, but honestly worth the investment-Rear camera isnt battery powered-Reminder baby isnt changeable (silly thing, but its drives my wife nuts that it displays some random baby when you turn the car off)All in all this is truly the rolls royce, bentley, ferrari of baby monitors. It is worth every penny in my eyes!
21/09/2021
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