ZHIYUN Smooth-II 3 Axis Handheld Gimbal Camera Mount for Smart Phones up to 7 Screens, Such as iPhone 7, 6 Plus, 6, 5S, 5C, Samsung S6, S5, S4, S3, Note 4, 3, and More (1-Year Warranty) – For Sale – Price

6 reviews for ZHIYUN Smooth-II 3 Axis Handheld Gimbal Camera Mount for Smart Phones up to 7 Screens, Such as iPhone 7, 6 Plus, 6, 5S, 5C, Samsung S6, S5, S4, S3, Note 4, 3, and More (1-Year Warranty) – For Sale – Price

1. 

   Ferrets – 27 February 2025

   This is really a 4.9 Star review – Almost perfect.
   This is really a 4.9 Star review. I just couldn’t give it 4.9 Stars, so I rounded it to 5 Stars and I’ll explain why in a few moments.In fact, I really like the Zhiyun Smooth-II 3 Axis Gimbal. I think it’s probably the best 3 axis smartphone gimbal available… today. It looks and feels like a high quality product. It was shipped exactly as it was described in the Amazon description, with one notable exception. It included a very good (Panasonic NCR18650B) flat-top, Li-ion, 3,400 mAh battery (12.85 wHr), which was not mentioned in the description. This battery is what is referred to as a “bare” battery, in that it contains no over-charge or over-drain protection. However, the lack of a protection circuit is not a bad thing, considering that a gimbal is not a high-drain device. So I give kudos for the included, high quality battery.By the way, this gimbal requires a “FLAT-TOP” 18650 battery. I tried a button top and it did NOT fit. I highly recommend the battery that came with this gimbal (Panasonic NCR18650B Super Max 3.7V 3400mAh Rechargeable Li-ion Battery-Green). It’s not the best high current battery. But for this purpose, it’s ideally suited and quite reasonably priced.My only real complaint about this gimbal is that, like EVERY other 3-axis gimbal, it does not support an iPhone x Plus, without a counter weight that gets in the way and must be removed for storage. That said, Zhiyun does offer a Vertical Shooting Kit Zhiyun Smooth Series Live Vertical Shooting Suite Live Accessories for Zhiyun Smooth-C Smooth-II Handheld Gimbal Live Video Show w/ EACHSHOT Cleaning Cloth for this gimbal, that is supposed to deal with this issue. As I write this review, the kit is priced at $35. This is such an improvement that I have to wonder why they didn’t just include the pieces that make up the kit, in the gimbal. It would make this gimbal the only one on the market that offered a pure vertical shooting option for a Plus sized smartphone. I’m sure that the marketing people had their reasons. But it’s the only thing that keeps me from rating this gimbal a perfect 5-Stars.The Smooth-II came in very clean looking, Apple-style packaging. It made me feel that I was dealing with a stable company, that cared about their long-term image. I removed the battery and charged it in an external charger that I trust to cut off when the battery is charged. I would have charged it in the gimbal, using the included cable, but I’m not yet aware of whether or not there is an internal cut-off for the charging circuit and I was about to go to bed. With a freshly charged battery, I tested the gimbal. It was easy to learn, even without the instructions. I should mention that I did eventually read the instructions and found them to be clear, though somewhat short. I think that most people should be able to understand them and get the hang of the gimbal in just a few minutes.In short, the power switch is on the right. Hold it for 3 seconds to turn it on or off. When connected to the smartphone app, that switch also works as the shutter switch for still photos or start/stop switch for videos, when you press it and immediately release it.The Modes:There are two primary modes that you can switch between with a single press of the joystick.1) What I call the Pan mode: This is the default or power on mode. It is also accessible with one press of the joystick, from the All Lock mode, which I’ll describe. In this mode, the gimbal follows horizontal movement (left and right), but vertical movement is locked and only controlled by the thumb-controlled joystick. In this mode, as you pan the gimbal left and right, the camera remains pointed at the same level. If you had it pointing up at 15 degrees, then it would remain pointing up at 15 degrees, throughout the pan, regardless of the forward and back tilt of the gimbal handle. The only control of vertical angle of the camera is the joystick.2) All Lock mode: This is accessed by pressing the joystick one time, from the Pan mode. This will keep the camera aimed in the same direction, regardless of how much you move the handle, in any direction (within the limits of the gimbal). In this mode, the joystick is the only way you can change the angle of the camera. Up and down movement of the joystick will move the camera up and down. Left and right joystick movement will move the camera left and right, on the horizontal plane. One press of the joystick returns the gimbal to the default mode. NOTE: Alternating single presses of the joystick alternate between each of the two primary modes listed above.3) All Follow mode: This is accessed by double pressing the joystick, from either of the primary modes. In this mode, the camera will follow your movement of the gimbal, but do it much smoother than you can do it in your bare hand. Point the gimbal up and the camera will follow. Turn the gimbal to the left and the camera will follow. In this mode, the joystick has only one function. If you move the joystick left or right, the gimbal will tilt, on the Z axis, to the left (counter-clockwise) or right (clockwise). Pressing the joystick once will return the gimbal to the last primary mode selected.4) Reverse/Inverted mode: This is accessed by triple pressing the joystick, while in either the Pan mode or All Follow mode ONLY. When this mode is entered, the camera will turn around 180 degrees, on the horizontal axis, so that the primary camera is facing you. If you triple press the joystick and the gimbal doesn’t enter the Reverse mode, then just press the joystick one more time, to take it back to the Pan mode and it will remember that you had triple pressed the joystick and enter the reverse mode. This mode is good for either doing selfies, with the primary lens of your smartphone or for inverted shooting. For most inverted shooting, all you have to do is tilt the gimbal toward the ground. But if you are trying to shoot at certain vertical angles, you can hit one of the gimbal’s limits. For this kind of shooting, where you will be pushing the limits of the upright modes, the Reverse/Inverted mode is ideal. Also, although you can only enter the Reverse mode from the Pan or All Follow mode, you can single press the joystick, once in the Reverse mode and enter the All Lock mode. Just remember that to get back to forward facing, you will have to be in the Pan or All Follow mode. As with entering the Reverse mode, if you triple press the joystick and the gimbal doesn’t turn back forward, just press the joystick one more time and it will. Just keep in mind that to enter or leave the Reverse/Inverted mode, you MUST be in the primary Pan mode or All Follow mode. Personally, I can think of very few times that I would need the reverse mode. But it’s there, if you do need it.5) Portrait (Vertical) mode: This is accessed, simply by tilting the gimbal to it’s tilt limit and it will switch to Portrait mode. This is great for portrait format photos. But please, if you are shooting videos, don’t shoot in portrait mode. Videos should always be shot in landscape mode, unless your subject absolutely requires it (such as shooting a video of Angel Falls). The Portrait mode is there. Use it, but don’t abuse it.Other features:There is a micro-USB port on the left side that you can use to charge the battery or to upload firmware upgrades.There is a spring loaded slide switch on the right side, that works only with the Zhiyun app. Pull the switch down for more than two seconds to switch between Photo mode and Movie mode in the app. Push the switch up for more than two seconds, to switch between the front and rear cameras on the smartphone. In either of those modes, push the switch up for a moment to zoom the active camera. Each successive push up will zoom it a little further. Pull the switch down momentarily to zoom out in the same increments.There is a standard 1/4 inch screw hole on the bottom, to allow the gimbal to be mounted to a tripod or extension pole. I bought two extension poles with mine and I can tell you that they give me the ability to get spectacular shots that I could get no other way, except maybe with a drone.Overcoming the sole negative:As mentioned in the beginning, there are balancing issues with all smartphone gimbals, when it comes to large Plus-sized phones. They usually require that you add a counterweight to the end of one of the motors. But this prevents you from being able to fold the gimbal flat, for storage. But even with the counterweight attached, my iPhone 6 Plus is still a little heavy to the left, when I have the thin TPU case on it. Even though the gimbal worked fine, with the iPhone not perfectly balanced, I wanted to balance it perfectly, without the counterweight. The reason for this is because the more out of balance the phone/camera is, on ANY gimbal, the more battery the gimbal will use, keeping the phone/camera level. To get the longest battery life out of any gimbal, you must have the phone/camera as close to balanced as possible. Here’s what I did. This will help with ANY gimbal where perfect balance is not otherwise achiefable.I ordered some sticky-backed lead hobby weights Great Planes Segmented Lead Weights, 6-Ounce and attached them to the arm of the gimbal, in such a way that they would not interfere with the movement of the gimbal. Once I had achieved perfect balance, without the counterweight on the one motor, I permanently secured them with a product called X-Treme tape X-Treme Tape TPE-X36ZLB Silicone Rubber Self Fusing Tape, 1″ x 36′, Triangular, Black. It sticks ONLY to itself, without any sort of glue and is permanent. You should keep some of this around the house, anyway. Now that I have the additional weights attached to the gimbal, I don’t need the screw-on counterweight. This means that I can lay the gimbal flat, with an iPhone 6 Plus attached. It also means that I can remove the iPhone case, attach a clip-on lens, and then use the screw-on counterweight to balance that rig. It gives me the best of both worlds. I just wish they had made the gimbal wide enough to balance a Plus-sized smartphone, without that screw-on weight, to begin with. For that, I’ll ding the gimbal one-tenth of a star.By the way, since the handle of the gimbal is rather smooth, I wrapped some X-Treme tape around it and the grip is now perfect.I’m attaching a photo that shows where I added the weights. The tape looks like electric tape, but it has no glue and only adheres to itself and that stick is permanent. The red arrows show where the weights were added. The one on the clamp was added to balance the phone from side to side.I’ll try to post a video here, in the next few days. In the mean time, I hope this helps. I really like this gimbal.

2. 

   Stephen Smitley – 27 February 2025

   and worst of all the gimbal will spin OUT OF CONTROL …
   Please read this review and understand what you are buying. The product works…I get it…It works right out the box but here is the flaw with the Zhiyun Tech products, especially the company. You are buying a product that works for a limited time! What do I mean by that? Well after a few months of constant use for recording etc. The Gimbal will eventually start giving out on the gears. What does this mean? So the gears basically hold the phone stablized. After a few months the gears will lose control and start spinning, the gimbal will not be able to hold any further, it will start to overheat, and worst of all the gimbal will spin OUT OF CONTROL with your expensive phone and eventually get worst over time. Now here is the part with Zhiyun tech and their PROCLAIMED 1 YEAR WARRANTY. After 5 months once the product goes bad, you try to reach out to this company to honor their warranty. MIND YOU this is not your fault. *I never dropped the product or ever used it for other purposes except for what it was intended for* So back to the company… I contacted them to honor their warranty. What do they do? They ignore my emails, so I reach out to them on facebook. What do they do? They read the messages and ignore the request to honor their products warranty. So basically you are throwing money away for a product to break and not be honored wihtin the warranty time frame! I recommended do not buy this product at all if you are looking at gimbals. I suggest just sticking with DJI and stick to American products if you are in America/Canada. If you are in another country try to purchase from there and you more than likely will have better luck locally!

3. 

   M. Warren – 27 February 2025

   Good concept…just not functional yet
   First things first. It takes practice to learn how to use a gimbal. So right out of the box don’t expect stunning stabilized video. Just sayin.I love the build of this gimbal. It feels solid and ergonomic. It is light and it’s easy to use. The motors are smooth and quiet. You can get amazing panning and stabilized video.But…I went through two of these. The first died after I updated the firmware. With the second one, I played with it for a few days til it needed recharging. I recharged it. After 10 minutes of use, the battery died. Absolutely no power. 10 minutes. I also had issues with the gimbal drifting while in locked mode. The camera would slowly rotate til the side of the camera was facing me. Basically 90 degrees off. I had to move through all 3 modes to get back to locked mode. This happened a lot. Sometimes is seemed like the gimbal was confused as to which mode it was in. If you follow the instructions, one press of the joystick advances you through, the modes. But I would be in, supposedly, pan mode, but it would lock, or vice versa.I submitted a inquiry to the company’s support email and never heard back.I want to love this gimbal…it has so much potential. I am tempted to buy a third…but why press my luck?

4. 

   Michael Daniec – 27 February 2025

   Great starting gimbal for smartphones – reliable and versatile
   Reliable workhorse with great versatiity and battery life. Got me started on loving motorized gimbal stabilizers. Would not do serious video work without one now. A bit underpowered for the largest phones if you use a case so better to get the Smooth III if you have choice but this is a good starting point. Also, light enough to use all day.

5. 

   Paul M. Reagan – 27 February 2025

   Difficult to calibrate. Instructions are almost nonexistent. Calibration …
   Difficult to calibrate. Instructions are almost nonexistent. Calibration tools exist but no indications on how to use them. Can be calibrated manually or with the digital tool. Still haven’t figured it out But it works well otherwiseThere are three fundamental settings available on the joystick. Each of them works well to either hold it steady at a point in space or to move about as you do. The stabilizer will improve the videos you make.

6. 

   Client d’Amazon – 27 February 2025

   Bonjour,Produit très bien!Je voulais juste recevoir ma facture et savoir s’il est possible d’avoir le document de tax free ( car je n’habite pas dans l’UE et je ne suis donc pas concerné des taxes).MerciJuliana Simoes