I test 360 cameras for a living, and I'm surprising even myself by recommending this particular budget Insta360 model…

Amazon's Prime Day sale is here (running from June 23 to 26, and exclusive to Prime members), and if a 360 camera has been on your wish list, it's the perfect time to act. Two of Insta360's best models are getting solid discounts in the sale — but the one I'd actually put in my basket might not be the one you're expecting.

I reviewed the Insta360 X5 last year, and its low-light performance was the standout feature for me. It remains, in my view, the best all-rounder Insta360 makes. At 21% off ($434.99, down from $549.99 for the Standard Bundle, a $115 saving), it's a pretty tempting buy in the Prime Day Sale.

But my colleague Peter Fenech has since put the newer Insta360 X4 Air through its paces, and with Prime Day discounts of 25% on the Standard Bundle ($299.99, down from $399.99) and 26% on the Starter Bundle ($324.99, down from $439.99, also a $115 saving), I think it's the smarter buy for most people.

A baby X5, in the best sense

The X4 Air inherits a lot of what made the X5 so appealing. It uses the same easy-to-swap lens replacement system (which can be a real lifesaver if you scrape a lens on the ground), and it's waterproof to the same 15m depth without a housing.

At 165g, it's also noticeably lighter than the X5's 200g. It's not a huge number on paper, but you'll feel the difference after an hour of holding a selfie stick overhead.

The real divergence is in sensor size. The X5 uses larger 1/1.28-inch sensors, while the X4 Air steps down to 1/1.8-inch (still bigger than the original X4's sensors, for context). In daylight, you'd struggle to tell the two apart. It's only once the light fades that the gap opens up, with the X5's PureVideo mode giving it around a two-stop low-light advantage over the X4 Air.

That sounds like a point in the X5's favor, and it is. But I think that the vast majority of 360 footage gets shot in daylight — think travel clips, bike rides, beach days, family get-togethers — and the X4 Air handles all of that with ease. Peter was impressed by its image quality overall, and found its low-light performance better than expected even without PureVideo on board.

On the battery life front, the X5's larger 2,400mAh battery wins out for marathon sessions: its Endurance Mode can run for over three hours at 5.7K, versus around 105 minutes for the X4 Air with the same settings. But at 8K/30fps (the resolution most people will actually shoot in), both cameras land at roughly 90 minutes.

If you're a professional creator, you regularly shoot in low light, or you simply want the best 360 camera Insta360 currently makes, the X5 at 21% off remains an easy recommendation.

But if this is your first 360 camera, or you want something that genuinely disappears into a pocket, the X4 Air gives you almost everything that made the X5 special, for $100 to $135 less. That's where my money would be going this Prime Day.

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Sam has been writing about tech and digital culture for over 20 years, starting off in video games journalism before branching out into the wonderful worlds of consumer electronics, streaming entertainment and photography. Over the years he has written for Wired, Stuff, GQ, T3, Trusted Reviews and PC Zone, and now lives on the Kent coast in the UK – the ideal place for a camera reviewer to ply their trade.