The DJI Osmo Mobile 3 Combo is only £20 ($20) more than the gimbal on its own, but with the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 gimbal only costing £99 ($119), the combo upgrade is another 20% added to the price. So is the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 Combo worth it and should you spend the extra money?
The tripod is quite sturdy but it only has one standing position. You can get a similar tripod for under £10 ($10). You do need a tripod if you plan to use the active track feature with just yourself operating it, or if you plan to use the time-lapse mode. So if you buy the combo or not, get yourself a mini tripod, gorillapod or similar if you plan to use those features.
The hard shell case that you get in the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 Combo is very good quality with a really professional look and feel. The case has the words ‘OSMO’ and ‘DJI’ written on it in a faux embossed style which looks really nice. The back of the case has a net pouch to hold any extras like cables, nd filters etc.
The real drawback and design flaw of the hard shell case for the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 is that the tripod doesn’t fit in the case. Its like they were going to originally sell it with the hard shell case and then created a combo package for an easy upsell. So realistically the hard shell case is pointless unless you just have the tripod separate or clip it in to the net pouch, which is quite impractical.
The gimbal itself has a very nice build quality and the fact that it folds and locks in the moving parts means that it is much less prone to damage. I think unless you put it in your back pocket and sit on it or you drop it on to a hard surface, it will be just fine. The DJI Osmo Mobile 3 already comes with a soft pouch, so DJI clearly aren’t worried about it being damaged. In fact, I think the pouch is only really to stop dust and debris getting in to the USB-C charging port. It seems like a very strange move not to have a cover for that.
Personally I think the combo is a bit of a let down with that case being so badly designed. You could easily buy a cheap hard shell case and alternative mini tripod separately, but if you want that piece of mind of just having it all in one go then the combo may be for you.
This is based only on the combo package, the gimbal itself is excellent value for money and some of the features in it are superb. I especially love the timelapse feature, it works similarly to the one in the Ronin-S, using waypoints. This is a quick example of what I got out of it on the first day. For £100 ($120), you can get some stunning footage using this tool, this was shot using the OnePlus 3T, so by no means the best camera on the market.
