Insta360 isn’t just the action camera company anymore. Sure, they’ve built their reputation on those clever 360-degree cams and the tiny GO series that creators love, but lately they’re making moves that would make even DJI nervous. A few months back, they shocked everyone by announcing their entry into the drone space, taking direct aim at DJI’s stranglehold on that market. Now they’re at it again with the Wave, a professional AI speakerphone that signals yet another strategic pivot, this time squarely into enterprise territory rather than just chasing the creator economy.
The Wave’s design immediately telegraphs this shift in ambition. Forget the typical hockey puck speakerphone gathering dust in conference rooms everywhere. This thing stands upright like a sleek cylindrical tower, roughly the circumference of a mini soda can but tall enough to command respect on any table. The matte black finish (there’s also an arctic white option) screams premium, while a thin vertical LED strip runs up the front face, pulsing green for power, red for mute, and various other colors for different modes. It’s the kind of design language you’d expect from a company trying to convince Fortune 500 CFOs that conferencing equipment can actually look good.
Designer: Insta360
The weighted base keeps everything stable during animated discussions, while the USB-C port and power button hide discretely on the back. But here’s where Insta360’s engineering chops really shine: the entire speaker section telescopes upward to reveal a circular touchscreen interface nestled in the base. When you’re done with settings or need to stow the device, the speaker slides back down flush, completely hiding the screen for a clean, minimalist profile. It’s exactly the kind of thoughtful industrial design that separates premium products from generic conference room equipment.
The real magic lives in that 8-microphone 3D array buried inside the cylinder. Those eight mics capture audio at a professional 48kHz sampling rate, with automatic gain control ensuring nobody gets drowned out when the loudest person in the room starts talking. The pickup range extends to 16 feet, which means you can actually move around during calls without sounding like you’re shouting from the next room. Early reviews consistently praise the audio clarity, noting crisp voice reproduction even at distance, though music playback apparently needs more bass response.
But audio capture is just table stakes. The Wave’s real party trick is its AI integration, because of course it has AI integration. The device can transcribe meetings in real-time, identify different speakers, and generate smart summaries using over a dozen customizable templates. Need a quick recap of that brainstorming session? The AI will organize action items, key decisions, and follow-ups into digestible bullet points. You can even create custom glossaries for industry-specific terminology, which should help with accuracy since AI still trips over proper names and niche jargon.
The collaborative features get interesting when you start chaining multiple units together for larger spaces, or pair the Wave with Insta360’s Link 2 webcam for a complete audio-video setup. The system automatically tracks speakers and keeps them in frame, turning any room into a hybrid meeting space without needing a dedicated AV person. Connectivity options cover all the bases: USB-C for direct computer connection, Bluetooth for wireless pairing, and there’s even a dongle option for maximum compatibility.
At $300, the Wave isn’t competing with basic USB speakerphones. It’s targeting the same market as high-end Poly and Jabra units, but with AI capabilities that those legacy players are still scrambling to match. The pricing reflects Insta360’s bet that businesses will pay premium for genuinely useful AI features rather than just buzzword compliance.
What’s fascinating here is watching a camera company successfully translate their core competencies, spatial audio processing, computational photography algorithms, and premium design sensibilities, into completely different product categories. The Wave feels like a natural evolution of Insta360’s DNA rather than a random diversification play. Whether this enterprise gambit pays off remains to be seen, but if the early reviews are any indication, traditional conferencing companies should probably start paying attention. Insta360 clearly has bigger ambitions than just following creators around with tiny cameras.
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