The Acer Holo360 is unlike any other 360 camera I’ve ever tested, and I’ve tested a lot. For one thing, it has a huge screen on the back so you can check framing and manipulate your photos without needing a phone or computer. The camera runs on Android, so it feels more like using a phone than a camera. And also like a phone, it has a 3G SIM card so you can upload your photos from anywhere, without the need for Wi-Fi, though it has that too.
Features are great, but how it all works together is far more important.
Here’s a full review.
Hardware
Despite the 3-inch screen, the Holo360 isn’t much larger than the average 360 camera. Compared to, say, the Insta360 One X, it’s roughly the same height and depth, but slightly wider. It seems larger though, since it’s boxy and lacks the curves of other cameras that fool the eye. It fits in a pocket with ease. This is aided by probably the best case I’ve seen for a 360 camera. It has a denim-like exterior, smooth interior, and is semi-rigid. I wish all 360 cameras came with a case this good.
Though not a big deal, the glossy exterior of the front of the camera will never look as clean as when you first take it out of the box. It will always be covered by very noticeable fingerprints.
Inside the camera are two Sony IMX 298 1/2.8” CMOS image sensors sitting behind 187-degree f2.1 lenses. Photo resolution is an excellent 6992×3496, while video is 4096×2048. This is slightly higher than other 4K 360 cameras, like the Ricoh Theta V, but at a lower framerate of 24. This isn’t a huge issue, since 24fps is the rate at which nearly all movies are “filmed.” However, with fast motion (either the subject or your camera), the video may blur more than with a 30- or 60fps camera. You can drop the resolution to 2160×1080 for 30fps, but that’s far too low a resolution for 360 videos.
In addition to 360 photos and videos, the Holo360 can take traditional 2D photos in either rectangular or super-wide panorama. Maybe this isn’t a feature most people would use, but I love it. If I’m out and about in a situation where I want to take pictures, not having to juggle my phone and a 360 camera is definitely a plus. In fact this, to an extent, reduces the “novelty” factor of 360 cameras and lets you use it as your only camera. To an extent. But we’ll get to that.
Software and Performance
To see the Tiny Planet photos you see below in full 360, check out my Flickr page (as they won’t load in 360 here).
It’s immediately noticeable the Holo360 isn’t a normal camera, even if you ignore the dual lenses. Turning the camera on requires a lengthy boot-up of the Android operating system. It’s not excessive, but it’s definitely longer than most 360 cameras.
The main menu lets you choose the camera mode, be it 360 photos, videos, or traditional 2D. You can swipe over to the next screen and get access to what you’re already shot, a Night Mode, and if you keep going, you can get to the app list just like any Android device.
The Holo360 isn’t big on camera settings and adjustments. You can adjust the exposure in +/- 3 steps, but there’s no specific shutter speed or ISO settings. There is a timer, though, which is good. You can switch camera modes on the fly without having to return to the main menu, which is also good.
Once you get everything ready to go, the big screen’s benefit is immediately apparent. No other 360 camera is this easy to get its placement exactly as you want it. The Holo360 shows the entire photosphere as a circle, what some cameras call a Crystal Ball image. So even though it takes the camera longer to go from off to taking the image (because of the OS bootup), the total time to getting the image you want probably isn’t that much different from other cameras, since you don’t need to connect to your phone to see what the camera sees.
However, the Achilles’ heel of the Holo360 also becomes noticeable at this point. You have to hold it. There’s no tripod mount, which not only means no tripod, but no flexible mounts or selfie sticks. This may not seem like a big deal, but it means your arm and hand are always going to be in every photo. Worse, the design of the camera means it’s awkward to hold even in larger hands, so it’s not just your hands, but weird cut-off versions of your fingers in every image too. This marketing photo from Acer, for example, would result in an image that’s her thumb, a lot of her index finger, and quite a bit of her middle finger as well.
Take a look at the images I shot throughout this review. I’ve been shooting 360 photos for years and typically I’d try to put the camera on a small tripod and move away. In cases where I couldn’t, most cameras have a design where you can balance the camera far enough up your hand that the fingers aren’t quite as noticeable. With the Acer, you can activate the shutter either along the side, only slightly below the horizontal axis of the lens, or on the screen towards the bottom of the back of the camera. But to do that, the camera is very precariously balanced. If you don’t have dexterous fingers, you might not be able to pull it off. Yes, you can set the timer and shuffle the camera a bit in your hand, but this doesn’t work in every situation and is a bit of a hassle.
The bottom of the camera is flat, so in certain situations you could place it upright. But it doesn’t feel very stable, and you’d need a flat surface (obviously). This is not ideal.
The image quality, as you can see, is OK, though not great. Detail is decent, and color saturation is good, if a little over saturated. My personal preference is over saturated to under, but to each their own. Adjusting that is easy. Highlights are a bit blown out, and shadows a little crushed, so the overall effect is one where the contrast adjustment seems like it’s been set too high. It’s a punchy image, but not exactly an accurate one, and one that in certain situations might be hard to adjust/fix after the fact. The image is also a bit noisy. Low light performance is fairly poor, though no 360 camera has great low-light performance.
Of bigger concern is how often the edge of the camera itself is in the shot. This is something possibly fixable with a software update, but regardless it’s pretty inexcusable for a 360 camera in 2018. There’s pretty much always a line along the stitch that is very noticeable.
It’s also worth mentioning that encoding 4K video takes an exceptionally long time and the interface to get 360 or Tiny Planet photos is awkward.
Conclusion
It has been a competitive year in the 360 camera market, with several impressive contenders. The Holo360’s unique features definitely set it apart, but not entirely in a good way. It ends up being a bit weird, and slightly awkward to use. Long startup times are an annoyance, and the lack of a tripod mount is pretty much a dealbreaker.
The photo modes and ease-of-use once you got it running are quite good, but these aren’t quite enough to go head-to-head with the One X, Theta V, or Xiaomi Mi Sphere. If the resulting images and videos were great, that’d be one thing, but they’re nowhere near the leaders in the market.
However, despite an MSRP of $430, the Holo360 has been sitting at $200 on Amazon for a long time. At that price, roughly half the other cameras, it becomes something of a bargain. It’d still recommend other cameras though. The performance just isn’t there.
For me, though, I’m more interested in what Acer will do in the next generation Holo360. That could be cool.
Holo360: $430
Acer.com
