Zhiyun Smooth Q2 Gimbal Stabilizer Review

By launching an extremely compact Gimbal stabilizer, Zhiyun Smooth Q2 Gimbal Stabilizer will allow you to take great shots…

With the Zhiyun Smooth Q2 review, everything you want to learn about a Gimbal Stabilizer is at your fingertips. Whether you’re preparing for a world-class trip or just want to immortalize a moment.

It may be difficult to have a Gimbal Stabilizer with you every time to stabilize the movement of the phone. For example, if you have a very large Gimbal Stabilizer, you cannot take it out with you every time. Therefore you want to have a more compact one such as Zhiyun Smooth Q2.

Zhiyun is a highly respected company for DSLR and smartphone accessories. It has launched a new model called the Zhiyun Smooth Q2, which is more compact than any other Gimbal Stabilizer on the market. The Zhiyun Smooth Q2 is a great tool to improve the quality of your videos, along with a few basic sacrifices.

Design and Features of Zhiyun Smooth Q2

Aluminium accounts for about 90% of the body of the Smooth-Q2. There are plastic parts on the control panel and part of the telephone connection. There is also a soft rubber coating that covers the handle and covers the inner surface of the arms. They are all incredibly sturdy and feel very elegant. Zhiyun Smooth Q2 is heavier than it looks. But you will not notice that during use.

Zhiyun markets the Smooth-Q2 as a “pocket” Gimbal Stabilizer. This makes it extremely ideal for carrying if you are using cargo pants or a small bag. Regardless, it is the smallest and most portable Gimbal Stabilizer in the market for now. It even exceeds the recently released DJI Osmo Mobile 3.

The base is flat, so the Gimbal Stabilizer can stand upright without attaching a tripod. If you need a tripod or if you want to use an extension pole, the base also has a standard 1 / 4-20 screwing bracket. You can put the levers together to make them locked and not swing when the Gimbal Stabilizer is off. This also puts the Smooth Q2 into sleep mode if the power is on.

It has a 4500mAh rechargeable battery which will go for 16 hours with a charger. The battery is also removable, so you can buy extra for long journeys.

Balancing and Power

To ensure that the motors run as little as possible, all power supplies must be balanced before the operation. This extends battery life, prevents vibrations and reduces prolonged wear. Unlike most Gimbal Stabilizers that use adjustable length levers to achieve the perfect balance, the Smooth Q2 only asks you to balance the phone in the handle until it is straight.

When you have the right balance, you can remove the phone holder by unlocking an arm. This allows you to remove the phone while holding the holder in place. When you reinstall it, there is no need to rebalance. It is worth mentioning that the motor is powerful enough to support very heavy accessories such as moment lenses.

Controls

The control scheme on the Zhiyun Smooth Q2 is not too complicated. That means you won’t need to make a lot of effort to find out. You can steer it like a joystick, or you can switch between tracking modes via the buttons.

Pressing the button twice switches backwards between these modes. The red button triggers the shutter or starts recording video, and then there is a power button to check the battery level and turn it on or off.

Tracking modes include:

• Pan-follow mode (default) – Moves the lever left and right.
• Locking mode – Moves continuously in the same direction.
• Tracking mode – Same as pan-tracking, but moving up or down.
• POV – Same as tracking mode, but also used with handle.
• Vortex mode – You can hold the phone as a flashlight. You can now use the joystick to flip the phone. This is reminiscent of the film Inception.

Also, if you choose not to use Zhiyun’s ZY Play app, the shutter button on the rim can be used to trigger the shutter via Bluetooth in your phone’s default camera app.

ZY Play Application

As with most Gimbal Stabilizers, if all you need is to keep your phone steady, you don’t need to use an app. However, App is necessary if you want any of the advanced features that take control of the Gimbal Stabilizer to make more interesting shots. 

Some of the examples are:

• Motion tracking– Allows you to shoot slowly between programmed times.
• Accelerated– Regular time skip mode
• Object tracking– Select an object in the scene. So the Gimbal Stabilizer follows the subject.

The application is currently in beta stage. In some cases, it may have some issues while working. But in general, the application has modes to meet your every need. There are also options to adjust the motion sensitivity and joystick speed that are missing in the application.

For everyday use, these settings may not be important, but if you’re shooting fast-moving objects during a sporting event or slowing your movements to create very dramatic shots, it’s a bit important. 

General Assessment

Zhiyun Smooth Q2 is a fully developed Gimbal Stabilizer for travellers. It is compact enough to fit things directly into your backpack without removing items from your luggage. It’s also one of the easiest and best Gimbal Stabilizers I’ve ever used.

General controls are easy to use for almost everyone. The application also allows you to make much better adjustments. It stands out as one of the best options for you to shoot great videos on a simple level.

Specifications

Pros

Cons