Review: Zhiyun CQ5 Smartphone Gimbal (with AI)

As I have mentioned a few times in the past, lots of companies like to whack the “AI’ moniker on their products these days, and in reality – well I think so anyway – more often than not, they don’t contain any such thing.

I guess it depends on your definition, and to my mind, ‘AI’ means that a device can make a decision to do something based on certain conditions. Somewhat akin to thinking as after all, the “I” stands for “Intelligence” right?

So, if this is the criteria, then a new-ish gimbal from Zhiyun, as elsewhere it has been around for a little while, the CQ5, does not have AI as is suggested. Or does it?

Easy Setup

Designed for smartphones, unlike its bigger counterparts for dSLR and mirrorless cameras, there is no need to go through the rigmarole of balancing the smartphone when inserted between the jaws of the holder. As long as the phone is roughly centred and not overly biased towards one side or the other, you are pretty much good to go.

And you can use the CQ5 from that point, simply by operating the controls on the handle for changing the type of gimbal operation you want such as Follow, POV and so on.

But to get the very best this gimbal offers, and it is a lot, download the Zhiyun Cami app. Woith this, you have complete control over the camera in the phone including switching modes (photo, video, timelapse, panorama etc), changing from main camera to the selfie one, getting access to templates for videos and shutter release or record start / stop.

But you can also control deeper camera settings such as ISO, shutter speed, EV, zoom level, resolution, frame rate, white balance, grid lines, HDR etc.

Further options are for gimbal settings such as joystick and zoom speed, what Zhiyun call scene mode where you let the gimbal know if you are physically just walking or moving faster, the gimbal mode (Lock, Follow, Pan Follow, POV, Vortex and Go) and to recalibrate the gimbal as needed.

Finally, there is a section to set a timelapse configuration for the CQ5 including interval and the gimbal movement during timelapse such as clockwise, anticlockwise or a custom path you have pre-configured.

Gesture and Voice

But now it all REALLY gets interesting as the ‘Combo’ version of the CQ5 comes with a tracking sensor that magnetically clips onto the main body.

And suddenly, my definition of AI, at least when it comes to the CQ5, becomes a little blurred.

Yes, I know it is still based on a mathematical algorithm that maps out the space around an object, say a face or an item or animal that is preprogrammed for generalities, but it does this very well. And yes, it also requires the identification of hand gestures or voice controls – also done well in the main although a few of the hand gestures needed a little bit of training to pick up my own nuances it seemed.

And no real decisions are made; for example, it cannot work out which direction I might change to, when tracking and pre-empt that, but it is still very impressive, especially for a gimbal at this price point.

With hand gestures, you can enable / disable tracking, switch from landscape to portrait and vice versa, start / stop filming or take a photo an d finally, enable customised tracking by selecting an object in the field of view.

Voice gestures allow a lot more with over 25 command available for gimbal movement, gimbal tilt,  gimbal modes, tracking, recording control and finally, to control the camera light or the magnetic light if you have the Combo kit.

One really nice feature of the Zhiyun CQ5 is the extendibility of the main shaft, effectively giving you a gimbal-based selfie stick. The rotary section can also be tilted further enhancing the flexibility.

Conclusion

There are some items that remain permanently in my day-to-day backpack. I have always kept a small first aid kit in there, a small notepad and pen, a DJI Action 4 camera and a small zip up holder for SD cards for example.

Lately I have also kept the DJI Neo drone on tap and the RØDE Wireless Micro.

Added to this now will be the Zhiyun CQ5. I can safely say I can be ready for almost any photographic / video situation with that combination of gear without having to lug copious kilos around.

The Zhiyun CQ5 costs around $119 for the base unit that includes the gimbal, tripod base and USB cable and $209 for the Combo version which includes the magnetic tracker unit and light.