For a growing number of Malaysian content creators, the second camera in the bag is not a mirrorless body or a phone. It is a pocket cinema camera small enough to palm, and for the last two years that shelf has belonged almost entirely to one company. That is starting to change.
DJI's Osmo Pocket 3 has been the default handheld video camera for vloggers, travel shooters and small studios here, sold through local retailers such as ShaShinKi, droneskaki and Urban Republic. A credible rival is now on the way, and even though it launches in the United States first, it tells you where this category is heading.
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Dinesh Raj chevron_right
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A new challenger with two lenses
The camera is the Xtra Muse 2 Pro. According to The Gadgeteer, which detailed the specifications in July, it pairs a 1-inch main sensor with a mechanical 3-axis gimbal, the same core recipe as DJI's Pocket line. Where it tries to pull ahead is video: up to 4K at 240 frames per second in a 10-bit X-Log 3 profile, a claimed 17 stops of dynamic range, and a dual-lens design that offers both a 20mm-equivalent wide and a 60mm-equivalent telephoto without swapping gear. Xtra has opened reservations through its US store with a launch targeted for the third quarter of 2026, which it calls a target rather than a firm date, tied to production and certification. It has not announced a price.
Newsshooter, which covers production gear, framed the Muse 2 Pro as a direct answer to DJI's Osmo Pocket franchise. That matters because the pocket cinema camera has been close to a one-horse race. DJI's mix of a 1-inch sensor, a built-in gimbal and a tidy accessory ecosystem has left rivals struggling to match it at the same size and price.
What it means for Malaysian creators
For creators here, the Osmo Pocket 3 Creator Combo sells for around RM2,299 through Malaysian retailers, which is not a small outlay for someone just starting to earn from video. A second serious option in this category is good news even before it reaches our shores, because competition is what tends to move prices and force features. If the Muse 2 Pro lands well in the United States, the pressure on DJI to sharpen its next Pocket, on specification or on price, only grows.
The caution is that none of this is available in Malaysia yet. The Muse 2 Pro is a US reservation with no local distributor, no Malaysian pricing and no certainty on timing, so the practical choice today is still the DJI. What has changed is the direction of travel: a category DJI had almost to itself now has a challenger worth watching.
It is also a reminder that the camera is rarely what separates footage that performs from footage that does not. We recently recreated a music video on a phone for no budget, and it pulled 18,018 views against our previous best of 224. The gear was the cheap part. If you want the technique that does the heavy lifting, whether you shoot on a phone or a pocket camera, that is what our Pocket Cinematic course teaches.
For now, Malaysia's pocket camera of choice remains the one that has held the title. But for the first time in a while, it has something to prove.
Images courtesy of Sunny Young and Kevin Woblick on Unsplash.
