At just 25mm thick, and around half the height and breadth of an iPhone 6s Plus, the LG 360 Cam is the smallest and lightest camera in this roundup. It is also the cheapest here.
The 360 Cam looks like a smaller Ricoh Theta, but it comes with a protective cover. You can remove this cover and slide it under the camera as a grip during use.
And I recommend using the cover as a grip. Otherwise, the camera is too small to handle.
The 360 Cam has only two buttons - a power button on the side and a shutter release button in front (where the LG logo is sited). I found the placement of the power button niggling though, as I tend to inadvertently press on it each time I put back the cover.
At the bottom of the camera is a tripod mount with a microSD card slot and a USB-C charging port protected by a small flap door.
I think having the more common micro-USB charging port would have been better.
The LG 360 Cam (left) comes with a protective cover (right), which you can remove and slide under the camera as a grip during use. PHOTO: LG
You press and hold the power button to toggle between a 180-degree and a 360-degree image capture. Do the same for the shutter release button to switch between photo and video capture.
But if you want to see what you are shooting, you need to pair the camera with the 360 Cam Manager app (available for Android and iOS) on your smartphone.
The app also gives you more manual controls such as adjusting shooting modes, ISO, shutter speed and white balance settings. For example, you can set white balance within a range between 2,300 Kelvins and 7,500 Kelvins.
You can download the pictures and videos into your phone using the app, to share them on your social-media accounts.
You need to insert the microSD card before you can take a picture, as the camera has no internal memory. While you can see a live preview through the virtual viewfinder, the app does not let you shoot and store images directly to your smartphone.
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TECH SPECS
PRICE: $398, or $298 if purchased with LG G5
IMAGE SENSOR: 2 x 13-megapixel
LENS: 2 x 200-degree f/1.8
CONNECTIVITY: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
WEIGHT: 118g (with cover)
RATING
FEATURES: 3/5
DESIGN: 3/5
PERFORMANCE: 3/5
BATTERY LIFE: 4/5
VALUE FOR MONEY: 4/5
OVERALL: 4/5
The LG 360 Cam uses two 13- megapixel cameras with a 200- degree wide-angle lens each, to deliver 16-megapixel still images and videos with resolutions of up to 2,704 x 1,440 pixels.
The still images are crisp in bright lighting conditions. But there is visible image noise in low lighting conditions. In addition, the stitching lines can sometimes be seen quite clearly.
Videos display some fuzziness, even in bright lighting conditions.
Trevor Tan
- Verdict: The LG 360 Cam might not have the best image quality, but it is compact, easy to use and relatively cheap. Plus, it works with both Android and iOS devices.
