I tested the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro, and its AI tracking is still the one to beat

The Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro is a three-axis camera gimbal built around a 2.5kg payload and, more to the point, a built-in 2MP AI camera that handles subject tracking. That AI sensor is the heart of the thing; it locks onto and follows humans, pets, vehicles and objects, and it does so without any phone connection or app in the loop, which is the part that sets Hohem apart from most of the competition.

It comes in three different options: the standard MT3 at £329.99 tracks humans only; the MT3 Pro at £449.99 adds object tracking and the Spot Mini motor for focus and zoom control; and the MT3 Pro Kit at £549.99 bundles in the accessories. The Pro is the one that makes the most sense for anyone shooting a variety of subjects, and it’s the version I’ve been testing. On top of the tracking, there’s a detachable magnetic remote with a 1.4-inch touchscreen, a magnetic fill light, and Hohem’s latest iSteady 10.0 stabilisation with a claimed 40 per cent bump in motor torque.

It’s aimed squarely at solo creators and small teams, the travel vloggers, wedding and event shooters, estate agents and content creators who need the camera to follow the action while they get on with everything else.

With a compatibility window of up to 225mm depth for the camera and lens, it happily supports a full-frame mirrorless setup, as with the A7 IV that I’m using in this test, and the 4-in-1 design means it’ll switch to a phone, compact, or action camera without needing to assemble extra parts.

Maximum payload: 2.5kg (5.5lbs)
AI camera: built-in 2MP AI vision sensor
AI tracking: humans, pets, vehicles, objects (no app required)
Remote: detachable magnetic, 1.4″ LCD touchscreen, 10m range
Focus/zoom: Spot Mini motor via side wheel (Pro/Kit)
Stabilisation: iSteady 10.0, +40% motor torque
Follow modes: Smooth Follow, Tight Follow, 1-100 speed per axis.
Vertical switch: 2nd-gen fast vertical (Quick Release 4.0)
Fill light: magnetic, CCT + RGB, stepless adjustment
Expansion: 6 x 1/4″-20 threads + NATO port
Modes: side handle, briefcase, monopod
Bluetooth: shutter control + PZ zoom
Camera compatibility: height <=118.5mm, width <=149mm, depth <=225mm
Gimbal weight: 1,070g
Price: MT3 £329.99 / MT3 Pro £449.99 / MT3 Pro Kit £549.99

The first thing that struck me when lifting the MT3 Pro out of the box was how small and light it is. For a gimbal rated to carry a maximum payload of 2.5kg, it’s remarkably compact, and that immediately makes it an interesting proposition, as that compact size and light weight will mean that it’s something you’ll actually take out with you rather than leave at home because it’s a faff to carry. At 1,070g for the gimbal itself, it feels light enough in the hand, and while the handle and grip don’t quite have the ergonomic design of the DJI or Zhyin, it’s not far off.

The build is good and solid, and I’ve no real complaints about how it holds together, but if I’m being honest, it doesn’t have that high-end product design as mentioned before. There’s a slightly more functional, less premium quality to the materials and the finish; nothing that actually affects how it works, but at this price, it’s the one area where the competition still has the edge. It’s the difference between something that feels engineered to impress and something that feels engineered to do the job, and Hohem is still firmly in the second camp.

Balancing is all easy enough, and sliding the axes back and forth, even with this fresh out of the box unit, the adjustment is smooth enough, aided no doubt by the Teflon interlayers on the axes. The Quick Release 4.0 system and the second-gen vertical switch are all fast to kick in, and as you flip from horizontal to vertical, you can do this without taking the camera off. Setting up the Sony A7 IV in its SmallRig cage took a matter of minutes, including making sure filters and mic were attached to ensure correct balancing.

Running the Rode Wireless Micro Camera Kit and a Lee Filters Element VND 2-5 Stop on the rig through the test, the six 1/4-inch threads and the NATO port meant there was never a shortage of places to mount accessories, which, for a working video setup, matters more than you might think.

The AI tracking is the reason to buy this gimbal, and it’s where Hohem’s talents for tracking really show. The built-in 2MP AI camera means the tracking runs entirely on the gimbal, with no phone clamped to the side and no app connection to drop out at the wrong moment. To start tracking, there are three ways: a double-tap on the touchscreen, framing the subject and pressing the trigger, or an OK gesture to the camera for selfie work. All three take about a second to lock on, and in use, it just works.

I’ve now used most of the AI gimbals on the market, and while DJI and others have genuinely excellent tracking, the MT3 Pro still has the edge for me in both ease and accuracy. It holds a subject in the frame like glue, and if that subject hides and then reappears, it reconnects with the subject tracking quickly. It also handles other tricky tracking scenarios, such as when a subject turns away, moves fast, or something as simple as changing the distance from the camera. This gimbal and its AI tracing just seem to work. What impresses me, as with the other AI gimbals, is that it can do all this without an app; it removes a whole layer of faff and a whole category of things that can go wrong.

The detachable remote is the other feature that I really like; it’s something Hohem again innovated with a year or so ago, and others have followed. It pops off magnetically, gives you a 1.4-inch live-feed touchscreen, and lets you frame and control the gimbal from up to 10 metres away. For solo work, being able to set the camera down, walk into the shot, and still see and control the frame from your hand is enormously useful, and it’s the kind of feature that genuinely changes how you can work on your own.

The Spot Mini motor on the side wheel handles focus or zoom, letting you pull off rack-focus shots and controlled zooms single-handed, and the magnetic fill light is a nice inclusion, with stepless CCT and RGB control from the wheel or touchscreen for a bit of atmosphere or a lift on a subject’s face if the light is a little low.

Other notable features include the Bluetooth shutter and PZ zoom control, the three physical modes (side handle, briefcase and monopod), and the adjustable 1-to-100 follow speeds, which round off the feature set.

I started the test with the usual unboxing and set-up, loading the gimbal with the Sony A7 IV in its SmallRig cage. As I have found with previous iterations, the MT3 Pro balanced easily enough and held everything rock-steady once switched on.

The latest update to the iSteady stabilisation, now on version 10.0, enables extra motor torque, which comes in handy with walking shots, panning moves and the faster orbit shots that all came out smooth, and even with a decent lens on the front, a 24-70mm f/2.8, I never felt the motors straining or hunting to keep up. For a gimbal this compact, the stability on offer is impressive.

The tracking, as I’ve said, is the standout feature here, and as I found in practice, it’s what makes the MT3 Pro such a well-balanced option. Setting it down to track myself walking into frame and following a moving subject on foot, it did all of it without issue; all I had to do was hold and roughly point the gimbal in the right direction, and it did the rest. There was no doubt that the footage instantly takes on a more cinematic feel due to the smoothness of the movement. It is possible to do a per-axis speed adjustment, which is probably handy for fine-tuning the gimbal’s response, but I just didn’t feel that this was needed through the test.

Battery life was solid, comfortably covering a shoot without me thinking about it, and the whole thing charges over USB-C, so I could easily charge it with the Bluetti Elite 300.

When I was filming myself carrying out a review, the small remote worked incredibly well, it’s just the case that you have the live feed on the little screen and you can control the camera and gimbal from afar.

If there’s a limitation in use, it’s simply that at the full 2.5kg, you’ll want to be a little more careful about balancing and about some of the faster moves, as you would with any gimbal near its limit. But with a sensible full-frame setup like the A7 IV, there is a little headroom, and the MT3 Pro just worked reliably through the test, especially when it came to the tracking, which is simply superb.

The Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro does the thing I most want an AI gimbal to do, and it does it better than almost anything else out there. The tracking is fast, accurate and, best of all, app-free, and the detachable live-feed remote makes solo shooting easier in a way that’s hard to give up once you’ve used it. For travel, events, vlogging and any kind of one-person video work, it’s a hugely capable piece of kit in a package that’s far smaller and lighter than the 2.5kg payload would suggest.

What I liked about this gimbal is the fact that it’s small and light, packing neatly into a backpack, and when you need it, the app-free setup means that you can have a tracking camera up and running in seconds. It’s just fast and incredibly reliable.

The one issue that bugs me is the build. It’s perfectly solid and works without fault, and genuinely there’s nothing inherently wrong with the build or the materials, but it just doesn’t have the premium, engineered-to-impress feel of a DJI or Zhiyun, and if that kind of finish matters to you as much as function does, it’s worth handling one first. The kit price also climbs once you’re into the Pro Kit territory, so it’s worth being clear about which version you actually need.

But on the thing that matters most on an AI gimbal, the tracking, Hohem is still, to my mind, the one to beat, and the MT3 Pro is proof that the company’s years of experience in this area count for a great deal. If AI tracking is the reason you’re buying a gimbal, and for a lot of solo creators it should be, this is the one I’d point you towards.