The Ultimate Feiyu G6 vs G5 Comparison!
Although action cameras like the GoPro range have been intended for use to capture your adventures while taking part in extreme sports, their small size, excellent image quality, and lightweight have also made them very popular amongst the vlogging and social media influencer communities too. Other than having the latest version of your chosen action camera for the best possible camera sensor, the next best step to ensure that you are capturing the best possible image quality possible is usually to invest in some sort of action camera gimbal. Due to more and more people choosing to make this upgrade, we are seeing more and more people reach out and ask for a dedicated Feiyu G6 vs G5 comparison article.
Due to this, we have decided to take a deep dive into both of these gimbals in today’s article and go over the various differences between them to help any of our readers who are considering purchasing either of these action camera gimbals. If you have been involved in the action camera gimbal space for a long period of time, you may know that the Feiyutech gimbal range have been the dominant gimbal range in the action camera space for around five years now and judging by what the competing gimbal brands are releasing for the action camera space, we doubt that this is going to be changing any time soon.
Now, as the names of the gimbals suggest, the Feiyu G5 us the predecessor to the G6 and until the release of the G6, it was the dominant action camera gimbal in the space by far. Although the G5 is a great bit of kit, Feiyutech has improved on it in multiple ways with the Feiyu G6 and have managed to produce the best action camera released to date in our opinion. These improvements are all based around the G6 having the best possible detection and correction system with improved sensors, motors, and the best balancing algorithm available in the action camera gimbal space.
All of this has ensured that the G6 holds the top spot and has the majority of the action camera gimbal market share at the time of writing. In addition to this, as you would expect from such a great gimbal, the Feiyutech G6 has managed to rightfully earn itself one of the best reputations for a gimbal that we have ever seen. This ensures that the core customer base of the G6 continues to grow at a steady pace as the months come and go and ensure that Feiyutech manages to hold onto the top spot.
For anyone new to our content, we have our comparison table below that will go over the main features of both of the gimbals in a quick and easy to read format. This helps ensure that anyone who is short on time can quickly see the main points and ready the short breakdown below the table. For any readers who like to know as much as possible about any potential purchase we then have our deep dive into both of the gimbals throughout the rest of the article.
Comparison Table
Last update on 2022-08-22 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
As you can see, both gimbals have a number of similarities but the Feiyu G6 has the advantage when it comes to both maximum battery life and battery recharge time. This helps to ensure that you are able to use your gimbal for those longer sessions without having to worry about running out of juice. The G5 battery tends to have a range of six to eight hours depending on what you are doing with it as well as a longer recharge time.
At the time of writing though, the only real advantage of the Feiyu G5 over the G6 is the fact that it is cheaper due to being a much older handheld gimbal stabilizer. If you are on a tighter budget and want to pick up a source of image stabilization for your GoPro then the G5 can be a solid option even with the G6 being on the market. That said though, the difference in price is usually less than $50 depending on the retailer that you purchase the gimbal from and the improvements that the Feiyu G6 provides for the higher price tag is well worth it in our opinion.
Performance And Functionality
One thing that we would like to point out is that any of the cheap GoPro alternative action cameras like the Akaso Brave range are too heavy for use with any action camera gimbal. This is due to brands like Akaso keeping the costs of their camera range as low as possible due to using cheaper and heavier materials. The comparison table above shows all of the action cameras that the Feiyutech G6 is able to support and work with where as the Feiyutech G5 can only support cameras from the GoPro range.
Moving onto the maximum battery life of the gimbal, as we touched on earlier in the article, the Feiyutech G6 definatley comes out on top being able to provide you with up to twelve hours of battery for each full charge of the gimbal. If you like to go off and spend a whole day doing your action sport of choice then this ensures that your gimbal has plenty of juice available to allow you to capture all of the video footage that you need without issue. Additionally, the G6 also has the advantage of offering you two-way charging meaning you are able to use the gimbals battery to charge your action camera during use too whereas the G5 does not have this functionality.
As we touched on above, the Feiyutech G5 gimbal battery does seem to have a variable battery light depending on what you are doing with it coming in at between six and eight hours per charge. If you are just using your gimbal and action camera for basic vlogging then you can expect closer to the eight-hour mark as the motors will not need much power to stabilize. If you are using your kit for action sports, especially those with lots of rapid vibrations then you will probably be getting around the six hours of battery life per charge mark.
The Feiyutech G6 also recharges back to full in only four hours whereas the G5 takes five and while on paper this does look pretty close, you also have to factor in the maximum battery life of the gimbals. Each hour of charging the G6 provides you with around three hours of usable battery life whereas each hour of charging the G5 provides around an hour and a half of usable battery life at best.
With either of the gimbals, you are able to try and extend your battery life further while away from a regular wall based power outlet by investing in a high capacity USB power bank. This will allow you to top up the charge in your gimbal as well as your action camera and any other devices you have with you such as your smartphone. Just keep in mind that you do have to get a high capacity power bank for this to work as the regular smartphone ones will not be able to charge your gimbal. That said though, with the Feiyu G6 being able to provide you with twelve hours of battery we would imagine that this would be plenty for the vast majority of our readers. If you are looking to go with the Feiyu G5 instead then it will probably be cheaper to just go with the G6 than purchase the G5 with a high capacity power bank anyway.
As we mentioned earlier in the article, the detection and correction system on the Feiyu G6 is second to none for the action camera gimbal space. The gimbal sensors that Feiyutech has used in the G6 are excellent and are extremely sensitive. This ensures that they are able to detect even the slightest, rapid movements of the gimbal head with ease making it ideal for the majority of action sports rather than just vlogging with your action camera.
Although we feel that the DJI, Zhiyun, and Moza balancing algorithms are all better than the Feiyutech system, those brands tend to specialize in gimbals for mirrorless and DSLR cameras rather than action cameras. This means that the algorithm that Feiyutech has developed over the years is the best available for the action camera space and performs very well. It is able to rapidly work out how to best correct any movements that the sensor detects and then send the relevant correction to the gimbal motors.
At the time of writing, the Feiyutech G6 comes with the best gimbal motors available for the action camera gimbal space and we doubt that this is going to change anytime soon. The motors on the G6 are able to quickly and easily correct any movement in the gimbal head as required to ensure that you are getting the smoothest possible video footage during use without overheating.
This is one of the main things that set the G6 apart from its competition, so many action sports involve a number of small, rapid vibrations that can cause issues with your gimbal when it comes to its gimbal motors overheating. Although the Feiyutech G5 did have some minor issues with overheating, they were minimal, especially back when it was released, Feiyutech have perfected the system with the Feiyu G6 though and we have been unable to find a single report of its motors overheating during use.
On the flip side of this though, the detection and correction system on the G5 is a little dated and it definatley lags behind the Feiyu G6 massively when it comes to the level of image stabilization for action sports where there is a ton of movement and vibration. If you are trying to build up a YouTube channel or social media profiles around action sports then we would highly recommend that you spend the extra $50 or so for the G6 as your image quality will be much better than what you could get with the G5.
As we mentioned earlier in the article too, the G6 is without a doubt the most popular action camera gimbal stabilizer currently available at the time of writing and it has a massive customer base. Naturally, as with any great product, many of the users of the Feiyu G6 have chosen to post their own independent reviews of the gimbal online too that show how highly it is regarded amongst the community. If you do have the time available then we would highly recommend that you spend some time reading or at least skimming those reviews as they offer some valuable insight into its performance from third-party owners of the gimbal.
User Interface And Control System
As you can see, it is based around the standard LCD panel, joystick, and button control system that has been proven to be very effective for handheld gimbals. As the Feiyutech G6 is an action camera gimbal, the joystick has been specifically designed to be as responsive as possible even if your hands are cold or wet. This ensures that no matter what your action sport of choice is, you have maximum control over the gimbal and can control the gimbal head without issue.
The LCD Panel is extremely clear and easy to read too, especially in low light conditions so if you do have to use it in a sport like caving where lighting is poor, you can still see exactly what’s happening when you tweak your gimbal settings. In all fairness to Feiyutech, they have done a great job of designing the user interface and control system for the G6 and it is one of the best action camera setups we have seen to date.
When it comes to the Feiyutech G5 it follows a very similar philosophy to the control system on the G6 but the joystick is nowhere near as sensitive in our opinion, especially if your hands are wet or cold. This is simply due to the technology that Feiyutech had available at the time when developing the G5 and we are happy to see that they have improved upon it massively with their G6 setup.
Smartphone App
Thankfully though, the smartphone app is not essential for the use of the Feiyutech G6 or the G5 and you can get everything you need done using the regular physical interface on the gimbals anyway. As Feiyutech’s new range of DSLR gimbal stabilizers are having some major issues, we doubt that they are going to be putting much time or money into fixing the problems with their smartphone app anytime soon. That said though, by the time you read this they may have had the time to correct the issues and their smartphone app may be fully serviceable.
Build Quality And Design
In all fairness though, this is to be expected due to there being around three years of development time between the initial release of the G5 and the G6 allowing for many advancements in the various technologies required for gimbal stabilizers. That said though, with many action sports and even general vlogging, the lighter the gimbal, the better the experience meaning that the Feiyutech G6 takes the win when it comes to the build quality of the gimbals too.
The handle on the G6 offers a higher comfort level to the handle on the G5 too and we feel that this little feature is often overlooked by so many people. Depending on what you are planning to be doing with your gimbal, you may be holding on to it for hours at a time an uncomfortable handle can mean you start getting cramps or aches and pains in your hand early. The comfortable grip on the G6 helps to minimize the chances of this happening and increase the length of time that you are able to hold your gimbal for for any gimbal session.
Our Verdict
That brings our ultimate Feiyu G6 vs G5 comparison to a close and as you can probably guess, we would highly recommend that our readers seriously consider adding the Feiyu G6 to their collection of action camera accessories. It is a much better handheld gimbal stabilizer in our opinion and it is not surprising that it has managed to earn so many excellent independent reviews for itself over the years. Additionally, we also have our own dedicated review of the Feiyutech G6 that you can read too if you wish.
That said, as we mentioned earlier in the article, if you are on a very tight budget then the Feiyu G5 can be a solid cheap action camera gimbal due to being around $50 cheaper than the G5. Although it does not have as many third-party reviews, it does have some as well as our own dedicated review of the Feiyutech G5 too.
