MOZA Mini-MI Smartphone Gimbal
Moza is a well know brand in the gimbal market. It offers a wide range of gimbals for professionals and beginners. We tested the action camera gimbal Moza Mini-G a while ago and it got great marks for overall performance.
This time we`ll steer a bit away from the action camera domain and we`ll take a look at the smartphone gimbal – the Moza Mini-Mi.
Moza Mini-Mi Features
- width 61mm to 92mm
- Pan Axis: ±360° continuously
- Tilt Axis: ±165° continuously
- Roll Axis: 310° continuously
- Battery: 2100mAh / 10hrs
- Charging Time3.5hrs
- BLUETOOTH 4.0
- USB/Wireless Charging of your phone
- Dedicated app
Moza Mini-Mi usage
The gimbal comes in a very nice semi-hard case. It has sleek carbon imitation outer shell and soft foam inside to protect the gimbal. Two rubber bungees keep the gimbal in place. Since there is no mold cutouts, rather a very soft porolone that takes the shape of the gimbal you can also throw the mini tripod in the case or a charging cable. The case has two loops to attach a shoulder strap. The material looks nice and hard but has a lot of flex also. You can take it out in the rain, just be careful because the zipper can still leak some water in.
The first setup is easy. Flip your phone in the holder and power the gimbal on from the button on the side. Since the gimbal works with a variety of different phones that come in various sizes and weights you might need to adjust the Adjustment know at the back of the gimbal.
You have to options – either use the phone horizontally, like a normal video camera or if you are a social media addict you probably shoot most of your videos vertically. Moza Mini-Mi can be used in both ways. You can either flip the phone holder by turning the back screw a bit loose, pull the phone holder out 5mm and rotate the clip. This way you can hold the gimbal upright and shoot your vertical videos.
The other option is to just rotate your hand 90 degrees and your phone will flip to vertical mode.
Moza Mini-Mi Controls
The gimbal can be turned on and off from the Power button on the side. A long press turns it on and off and a short press puts it to sleep. The sleep mode is great if you need to adjust some video settings from the camera or need to take a quick break but want to have the gimbal ready for action.
The joystick is nice and responsive and the movements are smooth. I personally prefer the design of the Feiyu-Tech G6 joystick as it is flat against the gimbal, and thus less prone to break or have dirt under it.
Under the joystick, you will find the Dial wheel. The Dial Wheel can be used for smooth zooming to make your footage extra xinematic. The weheel is smooth and works really well. In the center, you will find the Shutter button to take still images. The wheel is also clickable and has four functions.
But most of the controlling gets done from the Moza genie App. You can, of course, use the native camera app or whatever app you prefer but the Moza Genie offers huge amount of control and really makes the gimbal special
The app has some really cool features, some more impressive than the others.
MOZA Mini-Mi App
From the app you can:
- Change gimbal parameters
- Calibrate the gimbal
- Update firmware
- Check battery status
- Check gimbal working mode
- Change video resolution and fps
- Turn on flash (constant video light)
- Switch between video and photo
- Change video modes (slow motion, timelapse, advanced timelapse)
- Zoom in and out
- Use advanced features ( output modes, anti-shake, add frames, manual mode, add filters, add reference lines, sound meter, and live stream)
The most exciting feature of the gimbal and the app is the Object Tracking mode. You turn it on in the Moza Genie app and you are prompted to mark your object. Pulling with your finger across the subject adds a green circle on the screen. This is the are the app tries to follow and track while filming. The area needs to be big enough for the software to handle but not too big.
How does the Object tracking work?
Sometimes it works and sometimes if doesn`t. I have tried it on various situations with more contrasting backgrounds and in situations where the subject blends in a bit more. The tracking feature is rather inconsistent and right now feels more like a work in progress. Faster gestures make the target slide out and the green target area just moves on another object. Although I assume the app is trying to keep the subject of the video in the center it often fails even when moving slow. Your own motion always gets ahead and so the subject can move out of the frame.
In some cases though, when moving slow and in well-lit conditions the Object Tracking can do wonders. Following a bike, in the middle of the road, the target stuck well on the subject and I could move from side to side, pass the other bike while just keeping my hand up and the gimbal turned itself and kept the subject relatively well in the frame. In some situations, this can be extremely helpful, especially when you can`t focus on two things at once – where the subject of the video is and where you are moving. You can just keep the gimbal hand steady and focus on where you are moving relative to the subject and the gimbal will try to cooperate.
You can`t always rely on the Object Tracking feature and in most cases, you are better off controlling the movements yourself. Especially when you need to place the subject in a certain part of the frame. For example, a moving person, in general, need to have more clear space in front of the face. The app will try to keep it in the middle, and in a lot of cases will fall behind so the empty space will be at the back of the person.
MOZA Mini-Mi Additional features
Having the option to charge your devices from the gimbal is nothing special, but the MOZA Mini-Mi has taken an extra step and added wireless charging. Naturally, it works only with smartphones that support wireless charging but having the option to charge your phone while you use the gimbal, with no extra cables is pretty awesome.
The gimbal has two tripod screw mounts, one in the bottom and one on the grip for flashlight mode. You also get a small mini-tripod with your gimbal to rest it upright or for timelapse videos.
Charging is from the standard USB port at the bottom of the handle.
What I love about the MOZA Mini-Mi
- Amazing app with a lot of features
- Great build quality of the gimbal
- Very ergonomic handgrip
- Wireless charging
- Horizontal and vertical mode
- Great hard case for storing and carrying
- Mini tripod included
- Excellent controls on the gimbal
- Works with a lot of phones
- Object Tracking is AWESOME when it works
What I don`t like about MOZA Mini-Mi
- The Object Tracking sometimes fails to track the object
- Rubber bands in the case would be substituted for velcro bands for better usage
Get it from Amazon.com
Get it from Amazon.co.uk
