Home / Gear / Insta360 X5

Insta360 X5 for cycling: the 360 camera I film my rides on

By Jack, Jack's Coaching Updated 7 November 2026 Filmed on my own rides

Every clip on this page came off my X5. On the road it sits out in front of the bars on an invisible selfie stick. At the velodrome it was front-mounted for a sprint.

Afterwards I reframe the 360 footage to vertical for Shorts and Reels. That's the whole trick: you film once, then pick the angle later.

My take: it's an amazing camera. It's the best way I've found to get every angle without a bulky chest mount or a weird head mount. I set it and forget it, the stabilisation is great, the quality is good, and the battery lasts my normal rides. Reframing in the Insta360 app is quick and easy, and being able to pull different angles out of one ride is what makes it worth it. It's best in good light, not low light.

Below is what the footage looks like, and the answers to the questions riders ask before they buy one: which mount, which settings, battery, heat, rain, and whether the new X6 makes the X5 a bad buy.

My camera

Insta360 X5

The 360 camera I film my rides on. Best when it's well below the X6's price.

US$549.99 at launch See today's price ↗

Best mount

Out front of the bars

You and the road in one shot. Check the bolts every ride.

How to mount it

Start here

5.7K30 or 8K30

Insta360's own recommended settings, plus what road.cc rode with.

Best settings

Is the Insta360 X5 good for cycling?

Yes. It's the camera I film my rides on, because one camera in front of the bars records me and the road at the same time.

A normal action camera points one way. If you want a shot of yourself and a shot of the road, you need two cameras or two rides. With a 360 camera you get both from a single file and choose the angle later.

road.cc's reviewer, who filmed a three-day audax on it, called being able to put it on an out-front mount and get "footage of yourself and the road ahead" at the same time "a huge bonus".

The downsides are real, though. The files are big, you have to reframe before you post, Insta360's own stem mount is rated for smooth roads, and the X6 is now the newer model. All of that is covered below.

What does Insta360 X5 cycling footage look like?

It looks like someone filmed you from a camera floating in front of the bike. Here's a sprint at the velodrome with the X5 front-mounted, reframed between a selfie view and a forward view of the track.

The forward view is the one that surprises people. Point the reframe ahead and the bike disappears, so it looks like a drone flying down the street at bar height. That clip was shot on an overcast day and you can still pick out the cracks in the asphalt.

Which Insta360 X5 specs matter on a bike?

For riding, the specs that matter are battery life, waterproofing, low-light performance and the replaceable lenses. Here's Insta360's spec sheet, trimmed to what matters on a bike.

The 40 °C upper limit is worth knowing if you ride through an Australian summer. That's Insta360's rated operating range, and Melbourne hits it on the worst days.

How do you mount an Insta360 X5 on a bike?

The best mount for road riding is out in front of the bars, on the stem or under an integrated bar, with a short invisible selfie stick. That's how my road footage is shot, and road.cc found it works very well.

I use a ZTTO handlebar mount from AliExpress. It does the job, and it means no chest harness or helmet mount.

Take the vibration warning seriously. BikeGremlin's X5 broke at its mounting point after four months of gravel and city riding on Insta360's own stem mount, with no drops. The small steel plate with the screw thread came away from the plastic base.

Insta360 refused a refund, pointing to the small print on the mount's product page: it's only meant for slow riding on smooth paved roads.

Owners on r/Insta360 report the same type of failure, and their fixes are consistent: put the X5 in a metal cage so the load spreads across the whole body, keep the stick short, and retighten everything after every ride. Some also say a long handlebar stick visibly bounces on rough roads, and stabilisation can't fully hide it.

Is the invisible selfie stick really invisible on a bike?

Mostly, yes. In my handlebar and velodrome clips the stick doesn't show at all, and in the selfie view all you see is the clamp on the stem.

The X5 edits the stick out by default, road.cc notes, so the camera looks like it's floating in mid-air.

road.cc also pointed out the two things that can give it away: the stick's shadow on a sunny day, and a hand holding the stick, which sometimes looks slightly odd. On an overcast day like mine, with the stick mounted to the bike, neither shows up.

What are the best Insta360 X5 settings for cycling?

Start with Insta360's own recommendations: 8K30 in daylight, 5.7K30 with Active HDR when the sky is bright or you're riding into the sun, and PureVideo when the light drops.

The first three rows come from Insta360's X5 manual; the slow-motion and audio rows from Insta360's X5 tips guide. The manual also recommends exporting at 4K with the bitrate set to 50 in the Insta360 app.

road.cc's reviewer mostly shot at 5.7K with HDR, because Active HDR doesn't work in the two top modes (5.7K+ and 8K). road.cc also found the factory settings were "pretty much spot on", so you don't need to dig through every menu to get good footage.

If you don't want to reframe at all, Insta360 says InstaFrame mode records an auto-framed flat video alongside the 360 file, and its Fixed View suits a camera mounted on a bike. In the app, a one-tap Forward or Selfie View exports without manual reframing.

How long does the Insta360 X5 battery last on a ride?

Insta360 rates the X5 at 93 minutes at 8K30, 135 minutes at 5.7K30 and up to 208 minutes at 5.7K24 in Endurance Mode. Those are lab figures at 25 °C.

TechRadar got about 90 minutes of 8K30 on a full battery. Trusted Reviews found 8K recording plus transferring footage to a phone ran the battery down quickly, and thinks the longest claimed run times only apply with the settings turned right down.

In my experience it lasts my normal rides. If yours are longer than that, you have three options: drop to 5.7K, carry a spare battery (it's removable, and Insta360 says it fast-charges to 80% in 20 minutes), or only record the good sections. road.cc notes Insta360 also sells a bigger 2,800 mAh endurance battery.

Does the Insta360 X5 overheat on hot rides?

It can at 8K when it isn't moving, but airflow on a moving bike helps a lot. In TechRadar's test at room temperature, the X5 shut itself down after 47 minutes of 8K30, against just under 30 minutes for the GoPro Max 2.

Owners on Reddit report the pattern you'd expect: still and in direct sun, warnings and shutdowns after 20 to 30 minutes; on a moving bike, one road cyclist reported recording 8K30 until the battery died, with no overheating.

Insta360's manual says it's normal for the X5 to get warm at 8K, and suggests turning off the AI Highlights Assistant and setting a shorter screen sleep time. On a hot day, drop to 5.7K and don't leave it recording while you stop at the café.

Can you ride in the rain with the Insta360 X5?

Yes. Insta360 rates the X5 IP68 and waterproof to 15 m without a case, so rain and road spray are nowhere near its limit.

Insta360's manual lists the checks that matter: the battery door and USB cover seals should be clean and fully closed, with the orange indicator hidden. It also says to remove the lens guards around water, because they aren't waterproof.

Water drops on the lenses will still show in the footage, so give them a wipe when you stop. And if you charge on the go in the wet, Insta360 sells an all-weather USB charging cover for that.

How good is the Insta360 X5 in low light?

Good for a 360 camera, thanks to PureVideo mode. It's the X5's biggest advantage over the GoPro Max 2, though the newer X6 is better again.

road.cc's reviewer made PureVideo his go-to setting on dull days and under tree cover, and called it a big step up from older Insta360s. TechRadar said PureVideo keeps footage "remarkably clean and crisp" in conditions where the Max 2 produces grainy, smeary results.

My road clip was shot on a grey, overcast day, and the detail holds up. Still, in my experience it's at its best in good light rather than low light. For proper night riding, Trusted Reviews and WIRED both found the X6 clearly better.

Does the Insta360 X5 handle wind noise?

Well enough for usable audio, according to road.cc. The X5 has a built-in steel-mesh wind guard and an AI wind noise reduction mode, and road.cc got usable sound straight from the camera even riding fast or into a headwind.

road.cc found audio a bit better with the mic side facing you, which means the screen faces away. On a 360 camera that doesn't matter, because you choose the framing afterwards.

For clean voiceover while riding, TechRadar's advice is an external mic. The X5 pairs with Insta360's Mic Air and other Bluetooth mics.

What happens if you crash and scratch an X5 lens?

You replace it yourself. The X5's lenses are user-replaceable, and The Verge reported a replacement lens kit at US$29.99 at launch.

road.cc ruined a lens at the Brompton World Championships and says "replacing a lens takes a couple of minutes." On older 360 cameras, a scratched lens meant a paid repair or a camera you couldn't use any more.

The X5's swap needs a tool, according to TechRadar; the GoPro Max 2's lenses twist off by hand. Insta360 says the X6's second-generation lenses are cheaper to replace.

How big are Insta360 X5 files, and how long does editing take?

Big. Insta360 lists a maximum bitrate of 180 Mbps, which by my maths works out to roughly 80 GB per hour of footage at that setting.

road.cc's reviewer said their phone "struggled both with processing and with storage at times", and used the desktop app for longer edits. road.cc also found exports above 1440p added file size without much extra detail, unless you're cropping in tight.

How long editing takes depends on how fussy you are. The app's one-tap Forward and Selfie Views, InstaFrame and AI auto-edit are there to cut it right down. My clips on this page are simple reframes to vertical, and I find reframing in the app quick and easy.

Can the Insta360 X5 be a rear safety camera?

It can, but it isn't built for it. The X5 has Loop Recording and Road Mode, which keep recording and overwrite the oldest footage when the card or the space you set fills up, and a 360 file catches what happens behind you as well as in front.

The limits are the same ones covered above: 93 minutes at 8K, heat when you're stopped, and a big camera on a stick that needs checking every ride. Insta360's own loop recording guide suggests its small GO cameras for nonstop cycling POV.

For a daily commute where you only want footage when something goes wrong, a dedicated bike camera that runs for hours makes more sense. Use the X5 for the rides you want to film.

Insta360 X5 vs X6 vs X4 vs GoPro Max 2: which should a cyclist buy?

Buy the X5 if it's clearly cheaper than the X6 and you mostly ride in daylight. Get the X6 for dusk and night riding. The X4 is only worth it second-hand and cheap. The GoPro Max 2 suits riders who want GoPro mounts and built-in GPS.

I film on the X5. The X4, X6 and Max 2 columns come from the makers' spec pages and the reviews I name.

X5 or X6?

The X6 is the better camera, and it costs more. Insta360 says it has 33% more sensor area, 8K50, 140 minutes at 8K30, 20 m waterproofing and built-in storage.

Reviewers agree the gap shows most at dusk and at night. Trusted Reviews says the X5 "remains a brilliant option" if you're budget conscious, and WIRED called the X6's basic video quality "comparable to the X5", with the X6 winning at night. If the X5 is selling well below the X6 when you check, that gap is the reason to buy it.

X5 or X4?

Get the X5 unless an X4 is very cheap. The X5 has bigger sensors, PureVideo, replaceable lenses and 15 m waterproofing against the X4's 10 m. For a camera that lives on a bike, the replaceable lenses alone are worth it.

X5 or GoPro Max 2?

TechRadar picked the X5 overall: longer battery, better heat management, much better low light, better wind noise handling and better apps. The Max 2 won on daylight sharpness, tool-free lens swaps, built-in GPS and its three mounting systems, including GoPro's fold-out fingers.

Who should buy the Insta360 X5 for cycling, and who shouldn't?

Buy the X5 if you want to film yourself riding, mostly in daylight, without a second camera or a friend. Skip it if you mainly ride at night, want a set-and-forget safety camera, or don't want to edit.

Insta360 X5 for cycling FAQ