DJI Action 6 review: The best action camera just got better

It’s worth noting that some of what you’ll read here won’t be found in other reviews because 8K 30fps video capabilities weren’t added until near the end of 2025, when DJI introduced a firmware update that enabled 8K video. So, if you saw those initial rushed reviews talking about Google juice, saying that the Action 5 beats 4K, well, they’re wrong now.

The new sensor is a 1/1.1-inch chip and is square in shape, meaning you can shoot once and crop to different formats, including wicked portrait video. One caveat is that shooting in the mode intended to make the most possible use of the sensor and then cropping to 16:9 doesn’t produce shots as good as shooting in 16:9 mode. I can’t figure out why this is, but I’ve run several tests, and it is. The same is probably true for vertical video, but no one cares because all vertical video is bad.

The other better feature of the larger sensor is that the stabilization feature isn’t cropped as much so you get a wider field of view with stabilization enabled than you do with the Action 5. This also applies to horizon leveling, which can now be set to either 45 degrees in either direction, or 360 degrees.

Variable aperture

Probably the most exciting feature of the Action 6 isn’t the new sensor, but rather the variable aperture lens. Yes, DJI has put in very small aperture blades to allow the lens to shoot from f/2 to f/4. The idea is to improve the camera’s low-light capability without sacrificing too much depth of field. So you could use f/2 to shoot while surfing at sunset and then stop at f/4 when you’re back recording video at the hotel, or something like that.

Low-light performance is better, as you’d expect with a wider aperture lens. Video is sharper and sharper than the Action 5 Pro or Ace Pro 2. This is true whether you use SuperNight mode or not. You can really see that D-Log recording, the ungraded footage is much brighter and clearer. I would say it’s brighter.

Unfortunately, there is still a fair amount of noise and the codec shows its limits sometimes. The only way I know of this is to increase the bitrate, which unfortunately is not possible on the Action 6 (the only camera I know of that lets you shoot at high bitrates is a GoPro and this requires the use of the GoPro Labs software). Overall, for most people, the Osmo Action 6 will give you the best low-light performance of any action camera currently on the market.

I think it’s also worth noting that there is a potential risk here. DJI has put a mechanical piece inside the camera that is often positioned through the bell – will the aperture end up failing people in a couple of years? DJI may have done a good amount of testing, but the real world is different from lab testing. I’d be particularly concerned about high-vibration environments like those mounted on a bicycle handlebar, which happens to be my main use for the action camera. I know a lot of people who have ruined cameras just by keeping them in a handlebar bag, let alone mounting them to the actual bike. Unfortunately, only time will tell.