The Ultimate Snoppa Atom vs Osmo Mobile 3 Comparison!

With the excellent quality camera sensors on the latest generation of smartphones its not surprising that more and more vloggers and social media influencers are making the switch over to a smartphone camera for their content needs. Not only can smartphone sensors now offer similar, and in some cases, better content to point and shoot cameras but they are also smaller, lighter, and always in our pockets.

With more and more people wanting the best possible image quality from their smartphones, we have noticed a direct jump in the number of people that we see reaching out for advice on smartphone gimbals. We have lost count of the number of questions we see but one that stands out and has a steady number of people asking each month is based around a dedicated Snoppa Atom vs Osmo Mobile 3 comparison article.

Due to this, we have decided to make this the subject for today’s article as we expect so many of our readers to be curious about these two excellent quality gimbals. In fact, these are actually the two gimbals that we would consider the top of the smartphone gimbal space at the time of writing by a long shot and only see them becoming more and more popular.

The Osmo Mobile 3 is coming from one of the most established brands in the gimbal space that has a large budget and excellent reputation. The Osmo Mobile 2 is one of the most popular smartphone gimbals ever and the Osmo Mobile 3 has improved on it in every way. It has only been on the market for a few months at the time of writing but has already managed to earn a large number of excellent reviews from the community.

On the flip side of this though, we have the Snoppa Atom that is from a relatively new company who crowdsourced a fair amount of their funding. In all honesty, we really never expected much from the Snoppa Atom but we are pleased to say that they have absolutely nailed it and produced an absolutely outstanding gimbal. Since its release, the Atom has only gone from strength to strength and shows no signs of slowing down. It has also managed to earn itself an excellent reputation in the short time since its release too.

Now, as usual, without comparison articles, we have our comparison table below going over some key features of both of the gimbals. Along with our table we have a short breakdown and then throughout the rest of the article, we have our more in-depth look at the gimbals and where they have their advantages.

Comparison Table

Last update on 2023-09-03 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Now, as you can see, both of the gimbals are very similar to each other in their core specs while also having advantages over each other in different areas. In addition to this, the actual performance and image stabilization that each of these gimbals provides is also very similar to each other too. Both of them really are excellent smartphone gimbals and adding either one of them to your smartphone camera accessories would be a solid investment.

Although the battery life and maximum load capacities are different on each gimbal, they both offer enough for the majority of people to get what they need out of them. Due to this, we are going to have to resort to your personal circumstances to decide the better gimbal. At the time of writing, the Osmo Mobile 3 comes in with the lower price tag helping push it ahead if you are on a tighter budget. On the flip side of this though, the Snoppa Atom has a better control interface and user system in our opinion.

We know that it sounds almost petty to have to come down to that level to call the winner but the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 and Snoppa Atom are so similar in so many ways that it really is that close to call. If this has not helped you make your mind up then we will be taking a deeper look at both of the gimbals below as well as showing off some sample video footage from each to show you what you can expect.

Performance And Functionality

Now, the most important factor for any gimbal is its performance and functionality as this is what directly improves the image quality that you are able to capture with your smartphone. Thankfully, both the Osmo Mobile 3 and the Snoppa Atom offer the best performance possible for a smartphone gimbal at the time of writing but as we mentioned above, there are a small number of differences.

The first one is with the maximum load capacities of the gimbal with the Osmo Mobile 3 coming in at 0.5 pounds and the Atom coming in with 0.68 pounds. Although this is a win for the Atom, the 0.5 pounds provided by the Osmo is still enough to meet the needs of most people. With modern smartphones usually coming in with 0.3 to 0.4 pounds of payload weight, the DJI gimbal still has you covered.

Even if you want to mount your smartphone to your gimbal while it is mounted in a protective case while also mounting a decent aftermarket smartphone lens to it, the DJI should still be able to stabilizer the total payload weight of your rig without issue. Off the top of our head, the only real-time the additional load capacity of the Atom would come into play is if you use one of those heavy phone cases that double up as a wallet and you have a bunch of cards in it to increase its weight but this is very rare.

This is why we feel that although on paper the Snoppa Atom beats the Osmo Mobile 3 when it comes to its load capacity, in reality, the additional load capacity provided will probably not be used by the vast majority of smartphone gimbal users anyway. We have seen some people say that the load capacity is needed for anyone who wants to use a third-party action camera mounting plate to mount an action camera to their gimbals but this is wrong too.

At the time of writing, most action cameras, even the premium level ones from the GoPro range come in at around 0.3 pounds or less. The mounting plate can be anywhere from 0.03 to 0.1 pounds depending on the plate and still come in well under what the DJI gimbal is able to provide. This is why we feel that making your choice based on load capacity alone is not the best route to take.

Moving on to the maximum battery life for both of the gimbals we have a similar situation. The DJI Osmo Mobile 3 is able to provide you with up to fifteen hours of battery life per charge whereas the Snoppa Atom comes in at around twelve hours. Again, on paper, the DJI comes out ahead but in reality, the twelve hours provided by the Snoppa is more than enough in our opinion for most people.

Both of the gimbals also support two way charging too allowing you to charge your smartphone from your gimbal battery when mounted to help keep your smartphone going during your sessions if needed. On the flip side of this though, if you are using the two-way charging filter to counter the massive power consumption of recording in 4k video or something like that then the additional three hours from the Osmo Mobile 3 will go pretty quickly anyway.

On top of this, a pretty large number of people who using their smartphone to capture their video footage when out and about are stating to purchase high capacity USB power banks anyway. This allows you to recharge your smartphone on the go and if the output level of your power bank is high enough, you are able to recharge your gimbal with it too. So again, making your choice based on the maximum battery life of the gimbals is probably not the best way to go again.

Moving onto the performance and functionality of both of the gimbals now and all of the clips in the sample video above have been recorded using the Snoppa Atom and as you can see, it really does offer some excellent performance. Until the two featured gimbals were released, we used to always recommend the Zhiyun Smooth 4 to our readers but both the Atom and Osmo Mobile 3 blow it out the water.

As you can see from the clips in the cinematic video footage above, the Atom is able to easily provide you with some excellent butter-smooth image stabilization that can really improve your image quality and help your content stand out against the competition. Considering that Snoppa is a new brand to the gimbal space, they have done an excellent job and blown the competing gimbals from established brands like Feiyutech, Evo, Moza, and even Zhiyun out the water.

Snoppa has come up with an excellent detection and correction system with some next-generation gimbal sensors and gimbal motors that perform flawlessly. The gimbal sensors are very quick to detect even the slightest movement in the gimbal before the movement is processed and then corrected by the gimbal’s high-torque motors. The system is almost identical to what the Osmo Mobile 3 uses but uses Snoppa’s tech instead of DJIs tech.

On top of this, the balancing algorithm that Snoppa has developed for the Atom put much of the competition to shame. We have said for a while none that the Zhiyun and DJI balancing algorithms are way out ahead of what the competition is able to offer. Then you have Snoppa come in pretty much out of nowhere and join these two established brands at the top while competing gimbal manufacturers who have been in the business much longer struggle to keep up.

The footage above has all been recorded with a smartphone mounted to the Osmo Mobile 3 and does a pretty good job of showing off what you can expect from the Osmo Mobile 3. As you can see, the levels of image stabilization it provides are almost identical to what the Snoppa Atom is able to provide for you. After seeing both of the gimbals in action we hope that you can now see why it is so hard to call a winner between the two.

Both of the gimbals offer the standard gimbal modes that you would expect from any modern gimbal too. Although the point of view mode is slightly better on the Snoppa Atom, the tracking mode is slightly better on the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 so again, its pretty much a draw for the supported gimbal modes too. Even if you read independent Snoppa Atom reviews or some independent Osmo Mobile 3 reviews that have been posted by the community, you can see they are both held in such a high regard.

Due to this, we are just going to call it a draw between the two gimbals for the performance and functionality category. Both gimbals perform flawlessly and are in a league of their own when compared to the competition. They can both make a valuable addition to your collection of smartphone camera accessories and are well worth purchasing in our opinion.

User Interface And Control System

Now, when it comes to smartphone gimbals, brands know that the target audience are likely to be entry-level gimbal users who have little to no experience using a gimbal prior to their product. Due to this, the majority of brands produce the easiest possible interface for their smartphone gimbals to ensure that users can get to grips with it as quickly as possible. DJI and Snoppa have stuck to this philosophy for the featured gimbals ensuring that you should be able to learn how best to use them within minutes of getting them out of the box.

The image above is the user interface on the Snoppa Atom and we feel that this is one area where the Atom has a clear win over the DJI Osmo Mobile 3. Although both systems are really just as easy to use as each other, the aesthetics on the Snoppa look better and are slightly easier to use. Again though, this is a little nit-picky difference between the two but as we said, it is so close to call that we have to get a little petty as both gimbals are outstanding.

Both of the control interfaces are very responsive too and ensure you have optimal control of the gimbal at all times. Unlike some of the smartphone gimbals from a few years back, both the Snoppa and DJI units are as responsive in wet or cold conditions as they are in ideal conditions too. If you are brand new to using a gimbal then we are confident that the interface on both systems will be easy for you to learn while also ensuring that you are able to easily get everything you need out of it too.

Build Quality And Design

When it comes to build quality, again, as you can probably expect, we are going to have to call it a draw. Both of the gimbals use the variable gimbal head design to allow you to switch it between portrait and landscape orientation within seconds. Depending on what you are doing with your gimbal this can actually make your life much easier than the old school physical adjusts gimbal heads.

Many vloggers and social media influencers will cross-promote their content on different platforms to get maximum reach. This means that you are able to easily go from capturing some landscape based footage for YouTube and then adjust your gimbal head in a second and capture portrait footage for a site like Instagram. This allows you to capture the same subject or location quickly in the ideal camera orientation for your platforms without having to waste time.

Moving onto the actual build quality of the Osmo Mobile 3 and the Snoppa Atom, both gimbals have put in a solid effort and have produced a small, lightweight, and tough gimbal that is perfect and exactly what you would expect for this day and age. The small size and lightweight make the gimbals easy to pack in your luggage without having to use up much of your baggage allowance and the tough, robust nature of them ensures that they can take any bumps or knocks too.

Both gimbals also have a very comfortable handle on them and we are confident that you will be able to hold them for long periods of time without getting aches and cramps in your hand. Although an often overlooked part of purchasing a gimbal, the comfort level of the handle is surprisingly important as we have seen some gimbals that offer excellent performance that has failed due to poor handle design. Thankfully, this is not an issue with the Osmo Mobile 3 or Snoppa Atom and they are both very comfortable.

Our Verdict

That brings us to the end of our ultimate Snoppa Atom vs Osmo Mobile 3 and like we said, in reality, it is just too close to call as both of the gimbals are great and will make a solid addition to your smartphone camera accessories. The Osmo Mobile 3 is slightly cheaper but the Snoppa Atom has a slightly better interface system. Other than that, both gimbals are tied in almost every area so you can even go as far as purchasing the one that you like the look of more.

If you still haven’t made your mind up then there are a number of independent Osmo Mobile 3 reviews and independent Snoppa Atom reviews online as well as our own ultimate Snoppa Atom review too. Reading some of those can offer a great insight into the products and offer an external opinion into them from people who use them as their go to smartphone gimbal of choice.