It feels like everything is so expensive these days, so anywhere you can save a few bucks is worth pursuing. With any ongoing utility plan — phone plans, internet plans, and energy plans — the worst thing you can do is blindly stick with the same provider, expecting some reward for loyalty. In fact, the opposite is true: the best way to save money on your utilities is to sign up with another provider.
Electricity isn’t cheap, so you stand to gain the most by tackling your energy bills every year. It doesn’t take long to compare your options and make the switch, either. With so much of the process available online, you could slash hundreds of dollars off your annual bills by the end of your lunch break.
But how much can you actually save by changing energy providers? It depends on a few different factors, like which plan you’re currently on and where you live. With a bit of guidance, it doesn’t take long to make the switch and keep more money in your bank account.
Dollars saved by changing energy providers
Some of the most recent data comes from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) regular Electricity Market Inquiry reports. According to the ACCC’s December 2025 report, Australian households with average electricity usage could save between $100 and $250 per year by moving to a cheaper energy plan.
To drive home just how much misguided loyalty costs Aussies, the report also found that households on the same plan for three or more years pay $221 more on average each year than those on new plans.
“Loyalty penalties are alive and well in the retail electricity market, so the very best thing people can do to save money is to switch plans – either moving to a cheaper plan offered by their existing retailer or changing retailers,” said Anna Brakey, ACCC Commissioner, at the time of the report’s publication.
Savings differ between states, too. New South Wales households can potentially save $300 per year by swapping to a retailer’s cheapest plan, according to the report.
Perhaps most damningly, nearly 2.5 million Australian households were found to pay either equal to or more than a retailer’s default offer. Also known as the ‘Default Market Offer’, the default offer refers to the price cap energy providers can charge for electricity, as regulated by the Australian Government.
Default Market Offers aren’t necessarily the cheapest, which is why the Australian Energy Regulator encourages people to shop around for the best deal. When signing an initial contract with an energy provider, it’s usually on a temporarily discounted ‘market retail’ plan. Once this discounted period ends, you often start paying a higher price.
The long and short of it is that you should review your electricity plan every 12 months and either change plans or providers to save the most money.
How to switch your energy provider
One of the best starting points is the Australian Government-run Energy Made Easy website. It provides a quick comparison of electricity plans available in your area, and a checklist of information you need.
When comparing energy providers, it’s worth having one of your previous electricity bills on hand. Mainly so you have easy access to your National Metering Identifier (NMI), a number linked to your current connection that can be used to provide precise comparisons based on your energy usage.
Comparing energy providers is the best way to save on your power bills. Image: Tim Foster on Unsplash
The only main drawback to Energy Made Easy is that you can’t lock in a plan switch directly from the site. Once you’ve done your research, various third-party comparison sites, like Econnex, can help lock in a plan change.
If you want to save money, don’t get complacent. Retailers rely on customers not shopping around, thinking it’s too hard to change. In reality, it’s easy to do a quick market check to ensure you’re not getting ripped off.
If you find out that you’re already paying a competitive price, then at least you know for certain. But if that’s not the case, it’s time for change.
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You may no longer be able to charge a gadget on an aircraft using a power bank, but you can carry one with up to 100Wh (roughly 27,000 mAh) capacity in your hand luggage without needing airline approval. This will be ready to use on your travels as soon as you land. I recently tested the D-Link DPP-201, a 20,000mAh power bank capable of delivering up to 65W of power, enough to charge and power a laptop.
Box contents. Image: Angus Jones.
Weighing in at just over 400 grams and filling your hand (14 x 7 x 3 cm) when you hold it, this product is at the extreme end of pocketable. That said, it will recharge a smartphone up to five times and give you a couple of extra hours on your laptop, depending on the model.
Image: Angus Jones
I have sat here debating whether to take this power bank on an overseas trip, and, to be honest, I decided to take another model with half the capacity. This decision is the power bank’s weight versus how much power you think you might need beyond your gadgets’ built-in batteries. My reasoning is that I just want to ensure I can use my phone. However, if you want a laptop backup or multi-day power, then this is your power bank.
On the top of the bank are three USB sockets (two USB-C, one USB-A) which can charge three devices at once, but you cannot exceed 65W in total. You could use one of the USB-C sockets to get 65W out, but if you plugged in a second socket, the first would drop to 35W, and the second (and third) would each supply only 18W total. 18W is enough to charge a phone, though. You can also charge the power bank from one socket and output power to two gadgets at the same time, which is handy for charging the bank and gadgets simultaneously.
Power specifications Image: Angus Jones
With fast 65W charging, assuming you have a charger of that wattage or more, you will be fully recharged in approximately two hours. To keep track of capacity, an LED display on the front of the unit shows a percentage, activated by a button on the side.
For those who need extra power on the go that still fits in your pocket, the D-Link DPP-201 power bank is available online for $99.95 and stocked by selected resellers.
Choosing a new television in 2026 feels like a minefield of confusing acronyms. From OLED and RGB to QD Mini LED, it’s tough to know which television is best for your lounge room.
Beyond how much screen real estate you can get for your buck, there’s a lot to consider when buying a new television. The right size and display technology for your room, along with the best smart TV apps for your household, can make all the difference.
Which size TV should you get?
Big screens are breathtaking, but it’s possible to go overboard, so think twice before going beyond 65 inches. Vast screens can dominate a small room, although that’s become less objectionable these days.
Opting for a super-slim television to hang on the wall lets you go larger without making the room feel cramped.
Price-wise, the sweet spot for new televisions is 55 to 65 inches, beyond which you’re paying a premium for those extra inches. If you have an eye for detail but are on a tight budget, consider dropping a screen size so you can afford a better screen technology.
When it comes to resolution, at 55 inches and beyond you definitely want a 4K (3840 × 2160-pixel) panel. It’s tough to justify stepping up to 8K at this point. Also look for High Dynamic Range (HDR) to support the best colour and contrast from streaming services, preferably Dolby Vision or HDR 10+.
Opinions vary as to how close you should sit for the perfect viewing experience. The sharper the picture, the closer you might get: you want to be close enough to see the fine detail, but not so close you can see the individual pixels.
You might aim for 40 per cent (2.28m) for a more cinema-like experience, although the suggestion of 62 per cent (1.38m) for truly immersive IMAX-style viewing seems like overkill.
TV technologies explained
All modern television screens are made up of millions of pixels, which quickly change colour to create a moving picture. While there are plenty of acronyms to choose from, they are divided into two main camps: those with a backlight and those without.
The various kinds of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) televisions feature a white backlight. This light shines through a grid of tiny LCD pixels to create an image.
These days, most LCD televisions have a bright but energy-efficient Light-Emitting Diode (LED) backlight, which is why they’re often called LED televisions.
Each LCD pixel is actually made up of a red, green and blue sub-pixel. These coloured sub-pixels filter the white backlight, so adjusting their transparency changes the brightness of their colour.
Combining the light from the three sub-pixels allows the pixel to appear as any colour.
Of course, every sub-pixel needs to completely block the backlight in order to create deep black. This is a big challenge for LCD screens and, if any light leaks through, the blacks look washed out.
It’s important to know what technology a TV uses so you can choose the right one for your needs. Image: Hisense.
Meanwhile, Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) televisions don’t rely on a backlight. Instead, every individual self-illuminating OLED pixel produces its own white light.
This is why traditional OLEDs, from the likes of LG, are technically known as WOLEDs (we’ll get to Samsung’s rival “QD-OLED” in a minute).
Each OLED pixel shines its white light through red, green and blue filters to create colours, plus some OLEDs add a fourth white filter to boost the brightness.
Turn off an OLED pixel, and it’s perfectly black, even if the pixel beside it is brightly lit. This is why OLED produces such deep blacks.
OLED
OLED is considered the gold standard by many television aficionados. The downside is that it’s typically more expensive than all but the very best LED televisions.
OLED’s lack of a backlight lets it produce really deep blacks to deliver great contrast, plenty of detail in the shadows and accurate colours. It is also less prone to motion blur than the budget end of LED.
All of this makes OLED perfect for making the most of HDR content like Dolby Vision, which is often used with blockbuster 4K content. OLED also offers excellent viewing angles, so the picture doesn’t look washed out for people sitting off to the side.
OLED is popular among TV enthusiasts, but it’s usually more expensive. Image: Sony.
To be fair, newer screens like LG’s OLED evo and Samsung’s S90 range are brighter and feature anti-glare technology. Today’s OLEDs are also more resistant to the burn-in issues that plagued earlier models.
Basic LED screens are typically used in entry-level televisions. Budget options rely on a 50Hz refresh rate, but stepping up to 100 or 200Hz smooths out fast-moving action, like live sport.
The price and picture quality of an LED television mostly depend on the backlighting configuration that shines through the grid of LCD pixels.
Many thin LED televisions are “Edge-lit”, meaning the backlights shine in from the sides. Thicker LED televisions tend to be “Matrix-lit” or “Full-array backlit”, with an array of independent backlights sitting directly behind the pixels.
Full-array backlit LED breaks the backlight into independently controlled zones, which is known as “local dimming”. The ability to vary the backlight across the screen provides much better picture quality with greater contrast. The more zones, the better the picture.
You usually find basic LED in budget-level TVs, like LG’s older Nanocell series. Image: LG.
Imagine a zombie movie set in a graveyard, with a bright full moon above. A single-zone backlight is forced to strike a compromise when setting the brightness.
As a result, everything looks a bit grey: the moon isn’t super bright, while details are lost in the shadows. You might also notice an unwanted halo around the moon, as the backlight bleeds through into the dark sky.
Meanwhile, a full-array backlit LED screen can boost the brightness behind the moon but remain dim elsewhere. This ensures the moon looks brilliant while the shadows retain a deep black with plenty of detail, so you can still see stars in the sky and zombies lurking in wait.
These are some of the LED TVs you can get in Australia currently:
As the name suggests, a Mini-LED television improves the picture by breaking the full-array backlight into hundreds or even thousands of miniature LED lights.
This more granular backlighting allows Mini-LED to be super-precise when varying the brightness across the screen. Mini-LED also provides higher peak brightness, which improves contrast for HDR content.
The result is a very bright, vivid image without compromising too much on the blacks. You retain plenty of contrast and detail in the shadows, while the picture still looks good in a brightly lit room.
Keep in mind, those tiny LED backlights aren’t completely independent; they’re still grouped into zones. The number of zones varies considerably between brands and models, having a big impact on price and picture quality, so shop with care.
There’s more to a great LED television than a great backlight, with Quantum Dot technology taking colours to the next level.
Placing a Quantum Dot filter in front of the LCD pixels boosts brightness, while producing more accurate and vibrant colours. This allows the screen to display finer colour shades which would be lost on some televisions.
Some of LG’s older QNED TVs (like the pictured 2023 model) didn’t use Mini LEDs. Now, the entire range uses them. Image: Chris Button.
The technology is often referred to as QLED, while LG’s QNED televisions add a NanoCell filter in front of the Quantum Dots to absorb unwanted light wavelengths and purify colours.
Quantum Dots can be applied to LCD panels with all kinds of backlight technologies. It has even been applied to basic “edge-lit” LED televisions, which is why you’ll see a lot of variation in Quantum Dot prices and quality.
As the name suggests, a QD Mini LED television combines the benefits of a Mini LED backlight behind the pixels with a Quantum Dot layer in front.
As Mini LED becomes more commonplace, it’s becoming rare to find Quantum Dot televisions without it.
TCL’s SQD Mini LED takes things up a notch by using smaller “Super” Quantum Dots and advanced micro-lenses to deliver purer colours, while also boosting the number of local dimming zones in the backlight. It’s the brand’s alternative to RGB LED technology, which we’ll get to soon.
TCL’s new SQD-Mini LED technology is the brand’s answer to RGB LED. Image: TCL.
Aiming to offer the best of both worlds, television makers like Samsung and Sony add a Quantum Dot layer to their high-end OLED panels.
LG’s WOLED panels shine a white light through red, green, blue and white filters. Meanwhile, QD-OLED shines a blue light through red, green and blue filters with a Quantum Dot layer on top.
Depending on the size, some Samsung OLED TVs use QD-OLED technology. Image: Samsung.
The difference allows QD-OLED to boost brightness and increase the range of vibrant colours compared to traditional WOLED. To be fair, the very best WOLEDs have also improved when it comes to brightness and colours.
Samsung’s use of QD-OLED varies even within models. For example, the 55, 65 and 77-inch Samsung S95H use Samsung’s QD-OLED panels, while the 83-inch model actually uses LG’s advanced RGB Tandem WOLED panels.
One of the newest TV technologies, RGB LED televisions go one step beyond Mini-LED by swapping out the small white LED backlights for tiny clusters of red, green and blue LED lights.
This allows the backlight to produce any colour, not just white. This coloured light is still shone through a grid of LCD pixels, each with their own coloured sub-pixels. Together, this allows RGB LEDs to produce 95 to 100 per cent of the BT.2020 colour spectrum used with HDR content, to create a more vivid and lifelike picture.
RGB LED TVs promise deeper colours than traditional LED technology. Image: Samsung.
In comparison, most traditional LED and OLED televisions can only produce around 80 to 85 per cent of the BT.2020 colour spectrum.
The upside is that RGB LED doesn’t require a Quantum Dot layer to boost the colours. The downside is that some RGB LED televisions can experience colour bleed, when different coloured backlights spill into adjacent areas of the screen, but the best models retain clear colour separation and precision.
Combining the best of OLED and LED in one display, up-and-coming Micro-LED screens are considered by some the holy grail of televisions.
Micro-LED does away with the traditional LED backlight and the LCD pixels. Instead of filtering the backlight to create colours, Micro-LED relies on individual self-illuminating red, green and blue sub-pixels to create colour.
True Micro-LED technology is still a while away from entering the mainstream. Image: Hisense.
All of this allows Micro-LED to produce the very bright, vibrant and varied colours of LED, while still displaying the perfect blacks of OLED.
So far, only a handful of Micro-LED televisions have emerged, from the likes of Samsung, Sony and Hisense. As you’d expect, they’re painfully expensive, not for mainstream sale and are still out of reach for most lounge rooms.
Software and connectivity
Check out the smart TV features for streaming content
In the early days of streaming video, the best strategy was to focus on a television’s picture quality and then let your set-top boxes do the heavy lifting in terms of content.
These days, a premium Smart TV experience with all the streaming usual suspects is pretty standard if you stick with a premium brand television running Google TV, Android TV or Web OS. It’s a bit more hit-and-miss with budget models and lesser-known brands, so make sure you read the fine print.
Along with subscription and catch-up streaming services, Smart TV apps often include DLNA and Plex for streaming video around your home. This is more convenient than playing files from a USB stick.
Many televisions also support Apple AirPlay, Google Cast and Wi-Fi Direct for flinging content directly from your computer, smartphone or tablet. This is useful if your smart TV’s app library doesn’t support some of your niche tastes.
Before buying a new TV, check that it supports the streaming apps you want to use. Image: LG.
It’s worth checking how many years of software updates a television will receive. Samsung and LG recently started promising multiple years of updates, similar to phones, which means you’re more likely to get support for new apps, services and standards over time.
Keep in mind, many modern smart televisions collect a lot of data about your viewing habits, such as Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). Like Shazam for video, ACR monitors everything on your screen – even coming from external devices – in order to deliver more targeted advertising.
To disable this kind of tracking, dive into the advanced settings and look for features like Viewing Information Services, Live Plus, Home Promotion and Content Recommendation.
Consider what you want to plug into the TV
While smart TVs have become a one-stop shop for home entertainment, it’s still important to check the HDMI digital video inputs. Especially if you wish to plug in disc players, game consoles, streaming dongles or other set-top boxes.
If you don’t want to rely on AirPlay and/or Google Cast to stream from your handheld devices, you might want to plug a Google TV Streamer 4K, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fetch TV recorder into the television’s HDMI port, so you can access a wider range of services.
Meanwhile, gamers should look for HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. Also look for “Game Mode” Variable Refresh Rate (VVR) and AMD FreeSync, which can adjust the refresh rate on the fly to optimise the picture, plus Auto Low-Latency Mode (ALLM) to reduce input lag.
You only need to worry about old analogue video inputs on your new television, such as composite and component video, if you’re looking to connect older devices like a classic Nintendo Wii. Alternatively, you could buy an analogue-to-HDMI adapter.
Of course, a great picture needs to be supported by great sound. If you want to hook up a soundbar or home cinema surround sound, look for a television which matches the capabilities of your audio gear.
HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) eliminates the need for a separate audio cable when sending sound and video between devices. HDMI eARC is a more “enhanced” HDMI 2.1 feature which can handle the high-resolution uncompressed audio used by some high-end audio standards.
Once again, you only need to worry about older audio ports, like coax and optical digital, if you’re looking to connect older audio gear that doesn’t support HDMI.
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Super-charging your DSLR, action camera or smartphone with AI subject tracking, the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit camera gimbal puts a rock-steady camera crew at your fingertips.
The ability to shoot impressive video on a range of consumer-grade gadgets has opened up a whole new world for would-be moviemakers. Of course, the next barrier to producing professional-looking video is capturing smooth shots and eliminating camera shake.
A motorised gimbal ensures your camera remains upright and steady, automatically compensating for movement to ensure silky smooth video. The $849 Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit camera gimbal takes things to the next level with built-in AI video tracking, so your camera can follow subjects as they walk across the room.
The Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit camera gimbal comes in a sturdy carry case, with all the accessories required to attach different devices and control them remotely.
The gimbal supports easy switching between horizontal and vertical shooting, with a grip for handheld work and a three-footed base which screws into the bottom of the grip when you want to sit the rig on a flat surface.
The supplied paper quick start guide is a bit light on details, but thankfully it includes QR codes linking to detailed video tutorials, explaining how to set up and use the gimbal. Assembling it for the first time is fiddly, particularly if you’re using a hefty DSLR rather than an action camera or smartphone.
The Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit is built around a grip with a three-axis gimbal which can hold practically any device. Image: Adam Turner.
The challenge is that you need to manually balance the camera on the gimbal before you start, to reduce the strain on the motors as they work to constantly keep the camera level. This is where the video tutorials save the day.
Attaching a DSLR is the most complicated. The iSteady gimbal comes with a quick-release plate, which attaches to the tripod mount thread on the bottom of your camera, similar to the quick-release plate you might use to attach your camera to a tripod.
The Pro Kit includes a quick release plate for your DSLR. Image: Adam Turner.
The quick-release plate then attaches to a long, thin plate which allows the camera to slide back and forward through the gimbal’s DSLR mounting base. There are also extra lens support braces to cope with long, heavy lenses.
This long plate lets you slide the camera back and forward to find the centre of balance. Image: Adam Turner.
Once the DSLR is attached, you need to carefully balance the camera on all three axes by adjusting the vertical tilt, horizontal tilt, roll and pan one by one.
With a DSLR attached, balanced and calibrated, the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit is ready for action. Image: Adam Turner.
First, you unlock the tilt axis so the camera hangs free. Next, you make tiny adjustments so the camera is perfectly balanced both when pointing upwards and when pointing forward. Now you can lock the tilt axis and repeat for the roll and pan axes.
It’s a long and fiddly process; making microadjustments is tricky, so you wouldn’t want to be switching between cameras or lenses regularly. Some kind of built-in readout or feedback to help you judge when it was perfectly balanced would be useful.
The iSteady gimbal supports cameras up to 2.5 kg, which should be fine for most DSLRs unless you have a particularly hefty lens. The rig itself weighs another 1 kg, ensuring it’s not too heavy to hold for extended periods.
I ran into trouble attaching an old Nikon DSLR, which is quite top-heavy. No matter how far I slid the gimbal’s adjusters to shift its centre of gravity, it couldn’t quite compensate enough to keep the camera level.
Unfortunately, Hohem doesn’t include counterweights in the box to help deal with this issue, although all is not lost because you can buy third-party counterweights to help balance your camera. This might also be necessary if your camera is particularly front-heavy due to a hefty lens.
Rather than buy counterweights, I MacGyvered a solution by zip-clipping a short length of copper pipe to the front of the base. After some trial and error, it was almost enough to keep the camera level.
The gimbal can supply power to your device via USB-C, plus it supports cable and Bluetooth control for your dSLR, with a list of compatible cameras available online. There’s also a three-speed spot mini motor attachment for automatically adjusting the manual focus/zoom ring on a compatible DSLR, plus an 1/4-inch expansion port on the side of the grip.
Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit specifications and price
Axes
Pan, Tilt, Roll
Compatibility
dSLR, action camera, smartphone
Maximum payload
2.5 kg
Smartphone width
58 to 90mm
Connectivity
USB-C, Bluetooth
Battery life
Up to 20 hours (without AI tracking)
Dimensions
Folded: 216 x 295 x 65mm Unfolded: 338 x 150 x 199mm
Once your camera is attached and balanced to the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit, you can unlock all three axes and see how it sits unsupported. Power up the gimbal and the built-in motors kick in to ensure the camera sits perfectly level.
While the camera would sit level on a flat surface, the motors still struggled to stabilise the camera when moving. Running the auto calibration made a big difference, increasing the motor strength on all three axes for more stable results – helping compensate for the fact the camera’s design made it difficult to get a perfect tilt balance.
At this point you can simply use the iSteady as a handheld gimbal, following around your subject while ensuring the camera remains stable, but it’s capable of much more.
The gimbal holds the camera level and steady as you move the grip. Image: Adam Turner
On the back of the handle grip you’ll find a 1.4-inch full colour touchscreen, which acts as a live viewfinder and also offers access to the iSteady gimbal’s advanced settings.
Keep in mind, the video feed is not actually coming from your camera; instead, it is coming from a lens built into the gimbal’s tilt arm. That’s actually a good thing, because it means you’re not limited by device compatibility, even if your camera won’t play nicely with features like using the handle’s trigger to stop/start recording via cable or Bluetooth.
The tilt arm also features a built-in fill light with temperature options from 2700-6500k, as well as a wide range of RGB colours.
The gimbal’s built-in AI camera and fill light. Image: Adam Turner.
Below the viewscreen is a tiny joystick you can use to manually move the camera. You can also activate configurable pre-programmed manoeuvres such as rotation, panorama, timelapse and tracking between two fixed points.
It’s possible to switch between modes which lock different axes, such as pan follow, which locks the tilt and roll axes for smooth horizontal tracking shots.
Along with a multi-purpose trigger on the front of the grip and action button on the side, you’ll find focus controls on the side and a shutter button on the back with built-in zoom controls. Plus there are A/B buttons to trigger pre-programmed tracking or timelapse shots.
All of this offers an impressive level of control, assuming the device attached to the gimbal is fully compatible, meaning you should rarely need to actually touch your camera. One drawback of the compact design is that you need to memorise multiple button presses and long presses to access some advanced features.
It would take a while to master all the iSteady MT3 Pro Kit’s advanced features, but once you’ve got it sorted, you can plan and execute very sophisticated shots even when you’re shooting solo.
Even more impressive, the display and controls detach from the back of the grip, so you can see the viewfinder and control almost everything remotely. Or you can mount the display on an extra arm extending from the grip, so it’s easier to see during handheld work when you’re not holding the rig near eye level.
The detachable viewscreen controller makes the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit camera gimbal even more useful. Image: Adam Turner.
If all that wasn’t enough, the icing on the cake is the built-in AI tracking, which supports people, pets, vehicles and other objects. You simply double-tap on the object on the viewfinder to engage the AI tracking, which includes facial recognition so it can follow your subject through a crowd.
Tapping to activate the tracking can be a bit fiddly, but once it’s locked in you can walk circles around an object and trust the camera to always be pointed in the right direction.
Dive into the touchscreen’s advanced menus, and you have a lot of granular control of follow speeds and other tracking behaviour. The subject can even enable and disable AI tracking using hand gestures, but it’s a shame a few more features can’t be controlled via hand gestures to make it more useful.
Built-in AI tracking keeps the camera pointed at your subject, even if the camera and subject are in motion. Image: Adam Turner.
One of the great things is that all of this functionality is built into the iSteady gimbal, rather than relying on a smartphone app, which sometimes can introduce lag, disconnections and compatibility limitations.
If you’re shooting with a smartphone on the gimbal, the Hohem Joy app offers access to a lot of advanced features. The app can also act as a remote control if that suits your needs.
It’s worth mentioning the more affordable iSteady MT3 and MT3 Pro models, if you don’t need everything on offer in the Pro Kit.
The $529 iSteady MT3 has a 1.4 kg maximum payload, 0.4-inch display and only supports AI tracking for human subjects. The $699 iSteady MT3 Pro steps up to a 2.5 kg payload, 1.4-inch display with live preview and AI tracking for people, pets, vehicles and other objects.
This $849 iSteady MT3 Pro Kit includes all the features of the Pro but comes with additional accessories such as the Spot Mini Motor for focus/zoom control and Bi-Directional Twist Handle for greater control of the gimbal. It’s designed for side-handle and low-angle shots where you need to hold the rig at different angles.
Who is the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit for?
The Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit camera gimbal is an amazing bit of gear, offering the kind of flexibility that would-be moviemakers and others who shoot video could only dream of a few years ago.
The AI tracking is impressive and, once you master the remote control and programmable shots, the possibilities are limitless. Especially if you’re flying solo and trying to punch above your weight in terms of production values.
The MT3 Pro Kit might be overkill for some people who wouldn’t make the most of its advanced features; you really need to be using a DSLR to make the most of it.
GadgetGuy occasionally uses affiliate links and may receive a small commission from purchased products.
Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit
A rock-steady gimbal with AI tracking, the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit takes the quality of your video to the next level.
Features
10
Value for money
9.5
Performance
9.5
Ease of use
8.5
Design
9.5
Positives
Supports practically any camera
Handheld remote control and programmable shots
AI subject tracking
Plenty of accessories included
Negatives
Fiddly to adjust DSLR balance
No counterweights included for balancing awkward cameras
