I’ve had the privilege of testing Insta360’s X series of 360 cameras from its very beginning , and while I’ve always called the cameras my “must-carry” item when going on holiday, they were ultimately cameras that I used purely for fun, shooting casual videos for Instagram.

But with the new Insta360 X6, image quality has improved to a point that the X6 has become a work tool: in the past month of reviewing the camera, I shot two “real work” videos with the camera.

And so, the Insta360 X6 has become not just my must-carry item when I go on vacations, but it has become my must-carry item almost every work day too.

Here’s a quick rundown of how the Insta360 X6 works for those unfamiliar with 360 cameras: the X6 uses a pair of ultra-wide cameras (each covering 180-degrees field-of-view) to capture a 360-degree view of the world. This means everything – above, below, left, right – are being captured all at once.

The X6 improves on last generation by using a pair of brand new Sony sensors that Insta360 says were custom-built exclusively for the X6. The new Sony sensors measure 1/1.1-inch in size (that’s nearly a 1-inch type sensor), which is a 33% increase over last generation X5’s 1/1.3-inch. The larger sensor allows better light intake and dynamic range (up to 14.5 stops in the X6).

Like the X5, the X6 is powered by three chips – two imaging chips and one Qualcomm 4nm chip – and Insta360 says the Qualcomm chip is an updated version. The new silicon and larger sensor bring improved image quality that I noticed immediately as I booted up the camera. More on this later.

The overall body and shape of the X6 has also changed: it’s shorter and wider; the “face” of the camera offers a larger 2.3-inch OLED panel that’s bright, vivid, and features a precise haptic engine underneath. The haptic engine is needed because the physical buttons located below the screen in previous generations have been removed in favor of touch-screen buttons. I was initially concerned, because physical buttons offer more tactile feedback, but Insta360 did a tremendous job with the on-screen buttons. They’re large, and when pressed, there’s a very satisfying haptic feedback that recreates the feeling of pressing a clicky button

There are still two large clicky buttons on the side of the camera for easy touch access to shooting for those who still prefer traditional buttons.

The removable battery is larger at 2600 mAh, which allows the camera to shoot 8K 360 footage for up to two hours. There’s also built-in internal storage for the first time in an Insta360 X camera, while the 47GB is not a lot, it is still better than nothing. With previous Insta360 X cameras, you had to before the camera is even operational.

The X6 can shoot 360-degree video at up to 8K resolution. But there really are not too many places to watch 360 videos, so the best use case for the X6, like before, is to shoot an 8K 360 video first, and then reframe that video later into a traditional 4K video. Because the 360 video captures everything, you don’t have to worry about framing or where to point the camera until after you’ve finished shooting, and you’re doing the reframing in post-production.

The below image is a collage of five screenshots, all taken from the one 360 video shot by the X6. I had placed the X6 in the middle of the table while my friends and I were doing a leather workshop. That one video clip captured everybody at the table.

The improved visuals should immediately be noticeable, footage is sharper, with less artifacts and noise, even when cropping into the frame to focus on our faces. If I tried to do this with an older 360 camera, the zoomed in images on our faces would look soft in details and maybe full of distortion. Below is another sample. Look at how detailed the individual framed shots look – almost as good as flagship phone quality.

The X6 being able to record everything at once and then allowing the user to find a frame they like and turn into a photo or video that actually looks like it could have been shot with a flagship phone or compact camera makes the X6 highly versatile. I recently shot a video of an electric vehicle using just the Insta360 X6, without turning to my “real” Sony camera (that costs $2,700) at all. The footage is below.

I chose to use the X6 because not only were the 360 capabilities highly suited for filming inside a car cabin, but also because the X6 was versatile enough for me to get multiple quick shots in succession.

I could have technically shot the same video with an older 360 camera, but I would not be satisfied with the footage after I’ve cropped into the frame. The improved details and light intake matters a lot.

There’s also a new mode called InstaFrame, which allows me to put the camera down on a surface, and the camera will track me as I move around, reframing the video in real-time. I’ve used it for multiple gym workout videos as I moved across the gym.

The Insta360 X6 really is a do-it-all camera. If an aspiring content creator asks me what the first piece of equipment they should buy, I would recommend the X6 over anything else. Because the X6 can be a credible walk-and-talk vlog camera, it can capture background footage, and since you can crop into a human face and keep details, it is a solid talking head A-roll camera too.

The camera is also waterproof, has a rugged hard shell body and the lenses are interchangeable if they were to get scratched. So the X6 is also a camera I will take with me on every vacation, to every spot that looks visually interesting.

The Insta360 X6 is priced starting at $670 (for the camera, one battery, and a carrying pouch), there’s a pricier $800 set that includes all the earlier items plus a second battery, a selfie stick, a rubber lens cap, and a fast charging case. Honestly, most people would be fine with the entry level package. I think for anyone who makes videos as a hobby or more, the X6 is definitely worth considering.