I have been lucky enough to test many stabilizers for iPhone, so I have been able to compare them and although I spoil the rest of the article, I have to tell you that the Smooth 4 is the most professional of all of them. Not only does it stabilize well, it also offers a ton of options with which you can create cinematic-quality videos with your iPhone.
Why do I want a stabilizer?
If you have an iPhone that is relatively modern, it may already have optical image stabilization, Apple first incorporated it in the 7 iPhone Plus and it is a function that has led to excellence with the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.
So you may be wondering why do I want a stabilizer if my iPhone already stabilizes very well?
Prices updated on 2026-05-15 at 18:13
The answer is very simple, if you take video recording with your iPhone seriously, a Gimbal or stabilizer it offers you a lot of extra options that will give you absolute control of everything; you will be able to frame in much more creative ways, pan (The camera does not move, attached to a tripod it performs a rotation movement about its vertical axis (horizontal panning) or horizontal axis (vertical panning) much more professional and it will also give you access to a lot of video settings without having to touch the screen of your iPhone.
In other words, a Gimbal is not just a stabilizer, it is an excellent work tool for making videos with your iPhone.
What you should be clear about is which Gimbal to choose, there are many on the market and I think that before buying it you should reflect and think about why you are going to use it and get the most suitable one. He Zhi Yun Smooth 4 is one of stabilizers for iphone more professionals on the market and what more options will it give you to make incredible videos.
Stabilization of the Zhiyun Smooth 4
If this point is not good, the rest is meaningless and that is why I start here. Does the Zhiyun Smooth 4 stabilize the image well?
The answer is a resounding yes.
I have put this stabilizer to the test in very complicated situations and it has always succeeded and offered good stabilization. You can see a small sample just below of what can be achieved. All videos are shot with the iPhone X mounted on the Smooth 4.
You see that the stabilizer achieves its main task without problems.
Something that you should keep in mind when buying a stabilizer is that its motors have enough strength to move and stabilize your iPhone. It is not the same to put an iPhone SE on it to put an 8 Plus or an 11 Pro Max on it. East Zhiyun Smooth 4 can without problems with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which is the heaviest iPhone model to date, although yes, its dimensions mean that you cannot adopt certain positions to record since the stabilizer collides with the engine area.
Zhiyun Smooth 4 controls
If you have never used a Gimbal, it may be difficult for you to get a little used to the movement of one and perhaps a little more with this one in particular, since no joystick. All the turns and frames that you do will have to be with wrist turns or raising and lowering the stabilizer.
The Smooth 4 motors can operate in two modes:
- Tracking mode: In this mode, the gimbal will follow any movement you make, that is, if you turn your wrist to the right, the stabilizer will also move its motors in that direction, but very smoothly so as not to jump that spoils the stabilization.
- Lock mode: In this mode, it doesn't matter if you move your wrist or raise and lower the gimbal, it will keep the frame of the iPhone no matter what. This mode is ideal for tracking where you don't want the frame to change.
On the back of the gimbal there is a trigger with two buttons, by pressing the bottom one the camera will always follow the movement of the hand. The top button is used to accelerate the rotation of the motors to the maximum, this function is great for making quick turns in scenes of action, sports or any other in which you need it.
On the side of the stabilizer there is a large wheel with which you can manage two different things, you must choose between managing the focus or the zoom and since we are talking about recording with a mobile you will almost always choose the focus. In any case, you can change from one control to another with one of the buttons on the front of the device.
As I tell you, you will have to go through a learning process until you master the movements of the gimbal, but once you do, you will get spectacular shots.
The absence of a joystick is justified by the large number of controls that you will find on the front of the gimbal. You will have access to literally everything from these buttons, although yes, you can manage all the parameters of the video recording as long as you use the Zhiyun app.
ZY Play, the application with which you will control everything
A good Gimbal is nothing without a good application, this is so, it does not matter if you have the best stabilizer in the world, if the application fails it is as if you have nothing. Well, maybe not at all, but half yes...
The Zhiyun app is rich in options, you can do a lot of things with it:
- normal videos
- Time Lapse
- HyperLapses
- slow cameras
- long exposure photos
- 3X3 or 180º panoramic photos
- vertigo effect
- etc
Of course you can also control aspects of the video settings such as HDR, white balance, recording resolution and you can even apply live filters to record directly from one of those color settings.
You can manage all this from the keypad on the front, you won't need to touch the screen of your iPhone at all.
The good news is that all these controls work perfectly, the bad news is that the execution of the recording is not the best possible. I have tried to record in all ways and I find two failures in this application.
The first is that for some reason every few seconds it tries to focus, even though what you are recording is perfectly in focus. This constant attempt to focus makes shots shaky and is something that is repeated in all recording modes, including Time Lapse.
Another problem that I find with the application is that everything you record with it seems to come out with less quality than, for example, with the native iPhone camera, even though you are recording at the same resolution and FPS.
I do not know the reason for these two errors in the application, but luckily there is a very simple solution, do not use the Zhiyun application and switch to Filmic Pro.
Zhiyun Smooth 4; compatible with Filmic Pro
Only two brands of stabilizers are compatible with what is undoubtedly the best video recording application on the mobile market, one is DJI and the other Zhiyun with his Smooth 4.
The integration with Filmic Pro solves in one fell swoop all the shortcomings or problems that arise with the official application. Well, actually it's not just that it solves the problems, it's that gives this stabilizer a quality plus that is difficult to match by other gimbal brands.
And it is that on the one hand we have an application for professional use and with continuous updates and on the other which is, in my opinion, the Gimbal for mobile more complete if you want to give it a use that goes beyond recording videos for social networks. It is a perfect combination.
Filmic Pro compatibility allows you to synchronize the gimbal with the application and thus access all its functions through the buttons of the Smooth 4.
Zhiyun Smooth 4; iPhoneA2's opinion
I have several stabilizers at home and although I use them all, I have to confess that I always end up going back to the Zhiyun, especially if the project at hand is demanding.
It is true that at first the lack of a front Joystick to manage the gimbal rotation seemed like an insurmountable obstacle, but as soon as you get the hang of the way of turning with the wrist or the tilt of the gimbal you do not go back, in fact I barely use the lever of my other stabilizers anymore, although it is true that for use with a tripod in the product scenes that I do for my YouTube videos, I do miss it and have to resort to others.
The only thing I find against it is perhaps excessive weight, which is noticeable in long recording sessions.
About the application to record, as I mentioned a little above, although the official one is not good enough, it is more than supplied by Filmic Pro, which I would use even without the problems that I mentioned with the official one. It is worth the investment.
In short, the Zhiyun Smooth 4 is a stabilizer that is very worthwhile if you are serious about your video projects. Also now you can buy for about €130, which represents a very considerable reduction in the original starting price that the stabilizer had a few months ago.