Rylo 360 Camera: Specs, Example Videos & First Impressions

The Rylo 360 Camera is a newly announced 360 camera that focuses heavily on the re-framing 360 video into standard HD format. The 4K camera is able to create ultra stabilised footage which leads to a cinematic experience. It’s one of the more unique cameras to come onto the market and has been developed by ex Apple and Instagram employees.

Re-framing 360 video into a HD video looks set to be one of the primary uses of 360 cameras going forward, and the Rylo has been developed to make doing this as easy as possible. The camera is already available to order, but is currently only available for iPhone (android coming soon). Lets take a look at the specifications as well as some example footage of what the camera can do.

See Also: Read My Rylo Hands On Review

 

Rylo 360 Camera Specs

FeatureRylo
Number of Lenses 2 x f/2.8
Video Resolution 4K @ 30fps
Photo Resolution 6K Panoramas
360 Live-Stream No
Stabilization Built in stabilization and horizon correction
WaterproofYes - with added case
ShockproofYes - with added case
MemoryMicro SD up to 256GB
Battery830 mAh (up to 60 minutes)
Other FeaturesRe-framing software in App, 16x timelapse
Price$499
Where to BuyAmazon

The Rylo has many features commonly found in other 360 cameras; two wide angle lenses, 4K video resolution, 30fps frame rate. This camera doesn’t offer much in the way of more advanced hardware, instead it focuses heavily on new software to make the process of creating amazing video as easy as possible.

The most distinctive features of the Rylo are the image stabilization (said to be nearly perfect at stabilizing video) and the editing features of the App, which allow you to manipulate 360 video to create cinematic HD video in a flat format we are more used to viewing.

These kinds of features have been promised in other 360 cameras, but most have failed to live up to the hype. Why should this be any different? Well for a start the engineers behind the Rylo are former Apple and Instagram employees who already have a lot of experience in developing new tech and creating stabilising software.

A few features, or lack there of, do concern me slightly. There seems to be no tripod adaptor, which means you can only use this camera with a GoPro like attachment. I think this is further evidence that the team at Rylo don’t really intend for you to use this to capture video in the 360 format, which would require a tripod so your hand isn’t in shot. Of course you can capture normal 360 video and photos with this camera at 4K resolution, but this isn’t the primary purpose of the camera.

rylo 360 camera specs

The optics inside the Rylo are custom made, which hopefully means they’ve been optimised to create the most accurate stitch. This is actually a very good thing, because a lot of 360 cameras use optics found in cheap webcams, resulting in pretty poor video. Hopefully Rylo can prove that it’s worth investing in better optics.

This video shows off what the Rylo can do, and the type of video you can create with it.

Bare in mind this is a marketing video, so we’ll have to wait till the general public get their hands on the camera before we know if this type of video is possible. What makes the Rylo special, according to its creators, is the near perfect stabilization which allows you to use the Rylo pretty much anywhere without having to worry about vibrations making the footage unusable.

Shoot First, Frame Later.

The whole point of the Rylo is to remove the need to frame your shot before you take it. In other words, you just need to press record without actually worrying about where your camera is pointed. The Rylo will capture stabilised 360 video of the entire environment surrounding it, you’ll choose where the camera points and what the focus is after your shoot, using the editing features on the app.

No Live View

There’s another feature of the camera that separated it from the pack, but not necessarily in a good way. The Rylo has no Bluetooth or live view, meaning you need to connect your camera to your phone via USB every time you want to transfer files. Apparently this is to remove the need to set up the connection and make shooting even quicker, which I can kind of understand (sometimes these connections are very unstable and take a while), but I’m sure it’s got a lot more to do with saving battery life.

rylo 360 camera

See Also: Ultimate 360 Comparison Table 

4 Editing Modes

The Rylo app is where the magic happens, it’s where you become the director and decide what your final video will look like, what the image will focus on and in what format it will be delivered. There are a range of editing modes that allow you to manipulate the 360 video in different ways.

FrontBack: Put yourself in the action with a picture-in-picture that shows your reactions as you capture a moment. Rylo’s dual lenses make sure you never miss a moment, including those behind the camera.

Follow: Rylo’s follow feature lets you track the action with just a single tap in the app. Follow an object and Rylo automatically adjusts the camera’s orientation to keep the action in the frame.

Points: Control the camera’s perspective, after-the-fact, by tapping on specific points of interest in your video. Rylo automatically produces a smooth video that connects each of your points.

Timelapse: Create moving time lapse videos by speeding up Rylo’s stabilized video. Control how fast you want your video to play (up to 16x normal speed) and make cinematic time lapses without a gimbal or tripod.

Now to be fair these editing modes, or something similar to them, can all be found in other 360 camera, like the Insta360 One. What seems to make this camera different, according to the examples videos at least, is just how perfectly stable they look and the complete lack of a steam line where the stitching takes place. Whether this is actually possible with the Rylo or if its due to heavily edited marketing material remains to be seen.

Video Examples

First Impressions

Obviously I’ve not used or even seen the camera first hand, and I’m basing this opinion purely off the videos I’ve seen and that everyone else can see, but I’m quietly optimistic baout this camera. Some may claim it’s a clone of the Insta360 One, but I disagree. This camera is designed purely for re-framing 360 video, where as the Insta360 One had that feature, but it was more of a side feature.

The pedigree of the team behind the Rylo speaks for itself. Alex Karpenko and Chris Cunningham, the Co-Founders and CEO’s, have developed and launched software for both Apple and Instagram. This gives me great confidence that the team know how to create user friendly and bug free software, which has been the bane of many new 360 cameras released this year.

Can this camera break into the mainstream? It still seems like a long shot, there are so many 360 camera out now and consumers aren’t buying the 360 trend as much as analysts expected them to. Still, there is a huge amount of potential to create awesome looking content with this camera, and if anyone can convince the people it’s worth their time and money, it’s ex Apple and Instagram employees.

Price and Release

The Rylo will set you back $499, which puts it in the middle to high end of 360 cameras. More expensive than the Insta360 One, but cheaper than the upcoming GoPro Fusion. The Rylo is only available for iPhone as or now, but the Android version is coming in early 2018. You can order the Rylo camera from Amazon right now

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The 360 Guy

The 360 Guy

Owner of threesixtycameras.com. Writer, photographer and videographer. You can see my YouTube channel for guides of how to shoot 360 video. I've written for The Times, Digital Photography School and Sunday Express. 

2 Comments
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  1. Is this available now? I’ve only seen two uploaded Rylo videos on YouTube and honestly, the quality doesn’t seem so good. The official Rylo videos seem to have a lot of post processing to enhance the quality.

  2. Not launching with Android support is kind of non-starter for me. Bummer. This is usually an indication of a “we’ll get to Android when we can, but our development team is better at Apple things” approach. Hopefully I’m wrong though. Look forward to seeing a few hands-on reviews of the camera.

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