Garmin Announces The Virb 360, An Action Camera That Shoots 5.7K Spherical Videos

Garmin has announced the Virb 360, its very first 360-degree action camera. The Garmin Virb 360 is able to shoot 5.7K spherical videos and will be available in June for $799.

The Garmin Virb 360 comes with two 12 megapixel CMOS sensors, and both cameras are equipped with 8-element f/2.0 fisheye lenses. Since this is being marketed as an action cam, the Virb 360 is also waterproof down to 33-feet.

Users will be able to record 5.7K resolution videos at 30 frames-per-second. In terms of quality, images may come out very pixelated, but is still better than other 360 cameras that are only limited to recording 4K resolution spherical videos, as pointed out by WIRED.

In order to make it easier for a lot of users, the Virb 360 will stitch the images together automatically so that users will be able to share what they’ve captured instantly. The camera also has a built-in stabilization software that automatically makes videos less shaky.

The only real setback in recording 5K resolution spherical videos is that it takes up a lot of storage, and the Virb 360 can only support SD cards up to 128GB. However, users will have to option to shoot at 4K resolution or lower if they need to, as pointed out by Forbes.

The Garmin Virb 360 action camera is also able to record 360-degree audio. The camera comes with four built-in microphones that should record 3D sound to match the 360-degree videos.

The upcoming 360 action cam is also capable of live streaming directly to YouTube or Facebook Live. The only hitch here is that the Virb 360’s battery can only last for around an hour, and that also depends on what mode a user is shooting in, as pointed out by The Verge.

Users will also be able to shoot 15-megapixel spherical photos with a maximum photo resolution of 5,640 x 2,816. The Virb 360 comes with a burst mode for capturing several images at once, and users can also shoot time lapse videos as well. The camera comes with what Garmin calls Travelapse mode where the Virb 360 will snap a photo every 0.01 miles. Those photos will then be stitched together to create a 360-degree time-lapse video.

The Virb 360 is comes with a built-in GPS, barometer, accelerometer, gyroscope and a compass. What’s with all the built-in sensors? Users will be able to create data overlays on their spherical videos and photos, a feature that Garmin first introduced with last year’s Virb 30 4K action camera.

The Virb 360 is able to measure speed, altitude, distance traveled, jump height and hang time. All that data can then be used as an overlay on a video or photo. Users will be able to customize where the data overlay is placed.

On the software side of things, the Virb 360 comes with a companion app for iOS and Android devices. Users will be able to control the camera with their smartphone through the app. The app will also be used for sharing videos instantly. Garmin is also including a desktop video editing software for more precise and professional edits, according to ZDNet.