Edited 11/09/2018
Ok, so I've had this camera for a while now and I updated it to a 5 star review back in December 2017.
I'd like to give it a 6th star at this point with Rylo's continued firmware improvements. This is NOT the same camera as when I first purchased it due to all of the continued improvements.
As of today - my Rylo now captures in 5.8K as opposed to 4K. Videos look a lot sharper. It's a large improvement and most of all, the upgrade was FREE. Wow. Just wow.
In addition to that, the old app would work fine with either "follow me" or "look here", but if you tried to use both in a single video, it could get a little jumpy. They fixed that with an even better easy to use interface - and the old interface was already easy to use. The learning curve with the new features is about 15 seconds.
Along the way, they also allowed the user to work with the videos on the Rylo itself. An older version only allowed video editing after downloading it onto a phone and that can fill up the phone's memory very quickly. They fixed that too.
I'm almost left with nothing to complain about and I get more impressed with the camera with each free update.
Edited 12/16/2017
Originally a 3 star review and then Rylo updated their app. The more I use this thing, the more I like it.
This device now deserves 5 stars.
Low light performance is now a B. I don't know what they did, but now video in lower light conditions is now acceptable. Not great, but good enough. Huge improvement compared to before the update.
They added a very cool and easy to use "Tiny Planet" mode. GoPro Fusion should be really scared.
Good job Rylo - keep it up.
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I wanted this to replace my GoPro - but I'm not ready to give up the GoPro just yet.
Video Stabilization: A++. OK, they got this part right. A standard GoPro has nothing on this unless you add on an external gimbal. I've bolted the Rylo on the strap on my backpack using a Peak Design capture clip and I took it mountain biking. With the GoPro, the video is shaky and hardly usable - I've been on the fence with getting a gimball for this, but they are all bulky. Even the new GoPro 6 image stabilization is pretty pathetic compared to this. The Rylo was incredible in this regard. The videos are incredibly smooth and outstanding. If you are buying it for this feature - then get this.
Data Transfer: A. My GoPros are wireless but they take a long time to transfer the files. Plus, they get real hot and the battery life is useless so you gotta plug them in for power during data transfer anyways. Rylo took a direct wired approach, which makes the transfer time tolerable, especially when compared to any GoPro.
Low Light Quality: F-. Thinking about using this indoors with dim light? Forget about it. It's horrendous. My kids $20 playskool camera has better low light performance.
Still Pic Quality: F. The camera only has 2 modes: Video and Still Pics. The still pics are useless even in bright light. I have yet to take a single good looking still photo. There is no detail in the photos. Focus is always fuzzy. All the colors are muted and blended together. GoPro's still pics blow this away in all regards.
Build Quality: A. This thing is solid. The aluminum shell is a nice aesthetic touch. The button feel is good and easy to activate. The battery doors and covers are really well designed. No stupid rubber boots like some cameras. I salute the Mechanical and Industrial Engineers that worked on this.
Software: B. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's buggy. The follow me and look here work OK, but sometimes it loses the focus point and gets lost. Once it's lost, the video jumps a bit and it's hard to get it to transition smoothly. Overall, the iPhone software is easy to use.
Ease of Use: A. No messy multi layer menus. Both the camera OLED and iPhone App are very easy to use.
Battery Life: TBD. With my GoPro, I take 3 batteries and I usually end up using all of them. With the Rylo, I have yet to fully exhaust as single battery per outing. I have an extra battery, but I have yet to use it yet. it's better than Gopro, but I'll have to push the device a bit more.
100% convinces this is the best camera on the market for POV video shooting, from action sports to cruising down PCH in the truck this camera takes quality and functionality to the next level. It is simple to use and the app makes working on the clips enjoyable. I mountain bike, like the really rough stuff, and it is insane how much this camera smooths things out. Large hits appear smooth and following a friend is sick becuase now you can see them in the footage. $500 is a lot to pay, but i would rather have this over a GOPRO any day just because of the inerface on the app and the 360 degree viewing.
Keep up the good work Rylo
-Blake
I started using my Rylo in July of 2018, just after the news firmware updates came out solving the brown coloration issue. Thanks, Rylo, for fixing that! I find that the color is fantastic now and video from the Rylo blends well with video taken from my Osmo. It's nice to know that Rylo solved that issue. However, there are still some things that could be improved upon.
-When I first got my Rylo I didn't realize it was preset in low-quality mode, so my first video looks terrible. They were also shot in low-light due to weather conditions, and the Rylo is awful in low light. Once I figured out how to adjust video quality (in the settings section one you hook it up to your phone), quality improved. But I was about to return it after my first video because it was just terrible. I don't even know why Rylo bothers having a low-quality setting. It's painful to watch.
-Yeah, low light sucks. We did a time lapse of a parade and it was a rainy day. I think the combination of the sport case and the terrible low-light quality, to begin with, made it a bad video from beginning to end. I do not find this low-light issues to be exclusive to Rylo alone, however. I have yet to find a 360 cam that performs decently in low-light.
-No desktop app. Seriously, how have they not improved upon this yet? I edit mostly on a 16 GB iPad because I have a camera full of pictures and videos of my kids so I don't have room to be importing the Rylo clips and then saving the edited copy onto my phone. Using the iPad I can usually download two video clips and edit those before I run out of room. Clips are in 9-minute segments, so if I'm editing a 30-minute shoot I'm having to edit, export, and then delete at least twice during editing. This is time-consuming and annoying. Editing on my computer would be much more convenient. Having a phone editing option is great for many, but terrible for others. I'm not a hobbyist. I bought the Rylo to use for work and have a fantastic computer built for editing video. I want to use it!
-Photo quality is terrible. I did buy the Rylo for video, but thought it would also be usable for photos. It's not. At all. Even on a sunny day where the sun position is perfect and there's plenty of light the image is noisy and focus is not sharp.
-Sound is equally worthless. We don't even export the sound, we put music over the videos in post. Not worth the time and effort it would take to clean up the sound in post.
-Poor battery life. We get about 35-40 minutes of continuous runtime on the battery. I would hope for at least 60 minutes. Buying a back-up battery is possible, but when you have the Rylo in a sport casing during a bike race or canoe race, stopping midway to change out the battery just isn't possible. This is also not exclusive to the Rylo as most action/360 cams seem to average 30-40 minutes of battery life. But still, I'd hope for a little more life.
-Having to pick between the Android and iPhone version just because of the little tiny sync cable. Is it really that expensive that you can't just include both in the package? We have both iPhones and Android phones and tablets in our office. We did purchase a second cord, but it should just be included. Don't be cheap, Rylo.
With all that said, I still love the Rylo. We filmed a zip line tour and it turned out great (nice sunny day). We've used it for home tour (Real Estate) quite a few times and clients have really responded well to it. Some other "Pros" include:
-Easy to use. It took three minutes to train other in how to film with it.
-Editing on the phone app is pretty straightforward and quick if you have enough space on your device for multiple edits.
-Time Lapse is great. Since no one wants to watch 30 minutes of a bike race, speeding it up to reduce the time down to 2 minutes was amazing. Smooth and clear.
-Uses universal mounts. No need to buy special mounts. If you already have a mount for a Go Pro you are good to go!
-When the conditions are right, video quality is amazing. Quality also blends in great with Osmo footage, which we often use in combination with Rylo footage. If only picture quality could be improved upon.
-Image Stabilization is amazing. From shooting from the back of a truck to zipping along a zipline- the footage is stable and even in timelapse doesn't show much shaking. I have yet to see the stabilization beat by another 360 cam. Even most action cams don't come close. It's nice to not have to carry along an extra rig to help with stabilization.
All in all, it's a good camera and I'm happy I bought it. I'm hoping the issues we have can be improved with updates and the company finally releasing a desktop app. That alone almost makes me wish I'd bought the Insta360, but then we wouldn't have the action capabilities that I enjoy so much. But, seriously, add a desktop app.
OK, this is the most amazing new tech I've seen in awhile. I'm still amazed it's not getting more press... for a new product from a new company, this is BRILLIANT. I had a GoPro, but it wasn't for me. Tried some other 360 cameras, nope. THIS little guy is amazing. Capture everything, edit later. The software is astounding and firmware updates add improvements constantly.
Think of it like this: usually, you go out and shoot something and you're thinking about the shots and the angle and how to capture the scene is a creative way, right? You can't give your full attention to the experience because you're thinking about the video. With Rylo, you don't do that. Go out, put it on a monopod or whatever and record. Enjoy the experience, knowing that everything is being captured. Then, go home, connect via cable (THANK YOU!!!) and edit the footage on your iPhone or iPad (Android coming soon). You get to design the video and the story AFTER you have all the footage. It's a completely new way to create a story, but it is incredible. Liberating. New. Wonderful.
And the image stabilization is BEYOND anything I've ever seen. Looks like drone footage - no joke. How they do it... must be magic in the code.
I love my Rylo. I take it everywhere. Quality is excellent, audio is even good! Not a single complaint from me - anxious to see what they do next!!!
This camera is not perfect, but it is awesome. It documented my trip without being obtrusive. Angles are amazing, post production is super easy and way better than trying to frame on the spot. I hope they continue to improve resolution and app, but as-is, it is worth the money.
Feature Product
- 360 Video: Capture everything around you in 5.8K 360 video. Create a regular HD video by selecting a traditionally-framed view within the 360 footage, or share a fully immersive video in 5.8K 360.
- Breakthrough Stabilization: With breakthrough stabilization and horizon leveling automatically built in, Rylo makes your videos look like they were shot on a professional stabilization rig.
- FrontBack: Put yourself in the action with a picture-in-picture that shows your facial expression as you capture a moment.
- Points: Control the camera's perspective, after-the-fact, by tapping on specific points of interest in your video. Rylo magically produces a fluidly smooth video that connects each of your points.
- Time-lapse: Create moving time-lapse videos by speeding up Rylo' s stabilized video. Control how fast you want your video to play (up to 16x normal speed) and make professional-looking time-lapse.
Description
First off - This camera is INCREDIBLE. It’s worth every penny and more. You will not find a 360 camera on the market of this quality for the price.
I am a trail runner / outdoor enthusiast / motorcycle rider’s wife. I love documenting adventures and used to often ruin my footage because of the shakiness of my grip on the camera (using a GoPro). The Rylo software is AMAZING and reduces ALL instability.
Things I love: how small it is, the ability to pull footage from 360 degrees of recordings, the amazing software built into the Rylo app, the customer service.
As a content creator and videographer, the Rylo is a game changer. Highly recommended.
I just bought mine week ago and love it . It was between GoPro vs Rylo. I had Rylo website on my computer for few month trying to decide. I know earlier last year about this time in April about rumor that GoPro would release the 360. I waited to come out but out of box it seems to have not perfected the app do the job and stabilization. I also hear new firmware has improved. I had to decide either of two and choose Rylo. I'm not to keen about only smart phone only but app itself is solid like any review on youtube you find. Camera itself is simple to the point but I'm personally okay with that. I'm use in activity like Standup paddling , OneWheel etc. I need quick Power ON, Start and Stop. I agree that low light situation is not great been F2.8. GoPro Hero win thing like that. I do lots of photography and my prime lens are F2.0 so well know how it effects. I'm not needing for low light situation so It wasn't so much of an issues.
Love that Rylo send 16GB card ready to use. Not that I don't have any other SD card because I have two GoPro Here 3+ and 4 still. Having correct card shipping with unit makes quick start for new buyers. Great job for Rylo !
Performance of Rylo and app. I purchased adventure case since I will be using in activity. adventure case just like GoPro does pick up sounds well. If you need to comments I would suggest daily case style so mic has more freedom to record. With latest firmware and app camera still has stitches issues in certain part of video when you mover around with your app. Luckily for me it all came out good without showing or need that area that had some stitchers issues. Overall performance is good. Not perfect and more improvement is need but maybe more firmware release can help and the apps. You can not expect perfect in 360 as many people seems to complain way too much.
I haven't had time to really do color output on camera yet. I was more interesting on how good 360 will work.
App is pretty solid. Took me awhile for few function but Rylo has easy how to guid for app. Use you can portrait or landscape for post production. Only thing you have to remember is if you do your post production in either one it will always export in the way. Meaning if you start post production in portrait and while you doing that change to landscape do not change the orientation for export. I found that hard way spending little time...
BTW, I change to my SD card I used in GoPro works great with higher capacity.
360 finally done right. I can almost see all the challenges of 360 video that the creators tried to tackle. You don’t need your pc at all and don’t have to worry about formats, and downloading and using cumbersome programs, the camera and phone combination just lets you focus on content. It uses a lightening to usb cable, rather than using slow WiFi for transfers, you can transfer your videos directly to your phone in an instant. The magic is in the software, and the stabilization is really the killer feature, it works flawlessly even if you really push it by shaking the camera. One of the problems with 360 video is that it put the audience in the director chair, and they don’t know where to look around. But the rylo software takes care of that and adds some super simple to use tools to make a video with a shoot first and frame later approach. It seems like they are updating software and firmware all the time, so I’m excited to see where they take this product. But it’s an impressive Verison 1 product.
Update: take care of the lens it scratches easily. I had to pay $150 to get it fixed.
I think I’m going to love this camera. It’s immediately obvious the quality is par none. I bought this after buying the Insta360 One, and finding out the hard way that it doesn’t work well as an action camera. The Rylo on the other hand, so far, is IMO the best choice available for shooting video while moving. I am going skiing in 2 weeks and want to bring home some quality recorded memories. My tests thus far reveal that I’ve made the best choice available today. I had retired an old Gopro Hero 2 due to a malfunction, and Gopro was kind enough, even after so many years, to offer me a 20% discount on a new purchase from their store. The only problem was, I couldn’t find a current model that didn’t have issues and wasnt overpriced. I’ve been receiving a bad taste in my mouth with their over-marketing tactics. One downfall I do see to the Rylo is you must download the recorded video to your IOS device before you can view it, and the length of time it takes to download is of course dependent on the length of your recorded video. Still, there is no doubt this is a quality built camera. But I have to say that the image stabilization is absolutely the best out there, and an action camera without adequate image stabilization is just a door stop. To anyone considering buying, I recommend watching the review by “Mic” on YouTube. He’s very thorough and appears to be unbiased.
I've used a variety of action cams over the years to make mountain biking videos of my experiences. And although I've used a variety of mounting solutions, it was difficult to make the videos immersive.
The other huge problem with your typical action cam when it comes to mountain biking is that the angle needs to be *perfect*. 2mm too much down and you're looking mostly at the front tires. 2mm up too much and you don't have a sense of proportion without the handlebars in view.
Rylo has enabled a whole new level where I don't care about angles anymore, I can mount it in all sorts of different places, and being able to smoothly pan the view allows for this really cinematic feel to the videos.
The other thing is with Action Cams with mountain bikes is big problem. You really do need a gimbal to solve that, which adds an extra $200-$300 to the solution.
With Rylo, shaky video is non-existent. It's buttery smooth!
It can also take a beating as I've had a few crashes on my bike while having the Rylo on me.
The next accessory that I'd like to see a wrist strap controller to turn record on and off as it's not convenient to pull out a phone while biking.
I am so thankful to the Rylo team for creating this amazing product. Thanks guys!
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