How To and NOT To Repair an Insta360 One X

Richard October 22, 2024October 22, 2024

In the Spring of 2019, I bought two Insta360 One X cameras with a singular purpose in mind: To ride, review, and document bike paths around the country. It turned out to be an overly ambitious endeavor for my limited skill set and resources, so the project was placed on the back burner.

My two Insta360 One X cameras, however, were not. They saw significant action over the next five years. I often mounted a GoPro to my bike. Even with its wide-angle lens, however, I still had to point it at whatever I wanted to capture. That meant that it often missed things that would happen around me when I was riding. More often, I missed things because I simply wasn’t recording, so naturally, that’s when things happen. Bonnie and I joke that the best way to make sure nothing exciting happens is to hit record.

The ability to record in all directions simultaneously made the Insta360 One X perfect for bike rides. The one thing I didn’t like about it, though, was that, mounted to my handlebar, it recorded me from a very low angle, which is never a good look. When used with the Insta360 selfie stick, however, it brought the camera up to the level of my face for a more natural image.

My Insta360 One X on a selfie stick, mounted to the front of my bike.

Mounting it to the bike was a challenge, though, or at least I made it a challenge. For some reason, I had the idea to weld a 1/4 – 20 screw to my bike frame. Then, I screwed the selfie stick straight onto it. It worked well enough until it didn’t. Without warning, the screw broke off, sending the Insa360 One X crashing to the ground. One lens was badly scratched on the hard concrete just a few months after I bought it.

My Insta360 One X, attached to a selfie stick, laying on the sidewalk after having fallen off my bike.

There Were No DIY Insta360 One X Repairs Back in 2019

Back then, parts for Insta360 cameras were non-existent, so I had little choice but to send it out for repair. With shipping, it was about half the price of buying a new Insta360 One X to have the lens replaced. I wasn’t happy, but I learned a lesson.

The invoice for replacing the scratched lens in my Insta360 One X.

I’m An Insta360’s Worst Nightmare

Unfortunately, I still had other lessons to learn. I generally only used one camera at a time, and I liked to use it with a selfie stick. It doesn’t fit easily into a pocket, but I found a clever way to carry it when I wasn’t recording. My pants had hammer loops on each leg. I know a lot of people don’t like hammer loops, but I do. When I was a carpet cleaner, I found them invaluable. I always had a towel tucked into one of them, and they were great for hanging spray bottles.

A white terrycloth towel tucked into the hammer loop on my pants.

They were also a great place to tuck an Insta360 One X on a selfie stick. Not all hammer loops are equal, though, and I discovered the hard way twice that some are bigger than others. I had one of my cameras tucked into my hammer loop as I walked with my family to the park. It was in its protective pouch, but it slipped right out of both the pouch and the loop.

The damage was far less significant than the last time, but one of the lenses was still scratched. Incredibly, I didn’t learn my lesson, and the same thing happened a short time later. I guess it took me two times to learn that lesson, but I still had one more lesson to learn.

My Insta360 One X attached to a selfie stick, tucked into the hammer loop on my pants.

The Big One

Bonnie and I were running to catch a bus. We were going to miss it if we didn’t hurry. My Insta360 One X was tucked into a pocket on the shoulder strap of my backpack because I had discovered that I could record from the forward-facing lens when I was out in public, and no one seemed to notice and, therefore, were not bothered by the camera.

My Insta360 One X tucked into a pocket on the strap of my backpack.

It worked fine when I was walking, but running jostled it too much, and it was ejected onto the sidewalk, where it bounced, flipped, and skidded along the concrete driveway outside the QuikStop. This was by far the most violent and destructive drop yet. Now, both of my Insta360 One Xs were damaged.

To Fix or Not To Fix?

In another time, I might have just bought a new 360º camera, but this was in the middle of the COVID pandemic, and nobody was coming out with new cameras. GoPro, DJI, Canon, Nikon, and Sony were all stuck in a pre-COVID freeze frame. The newest Insta360 camera I could buy was two years old. I figured new models would be released once all of this pandemic nonsense was over, but who knew when that was going to be? I saw a YouTube video that showed how to fix a crack in an Insta360 One X lens using epoxy, so I tried it, but it didn’t work.

Finally DIY Insta360 One X Repair Is Possible

So, I did some research and discovered that lenses were now available, and for significantly less than the last time I sent one of these out for repair and for a fraction of the cost of a new camera, so I ordered four new lenses from eBay for about $25 each.

I was hesitant to dive into this repair, but once I got the first camera open, it was much less daunting. Getting the camera open took some figuring out, but it wasn’t hard.

How To Replace the lens in an Insta360 One X

Remove the Plastic Insert From the Top of the Insta360 One X
Using a knife or other flat object, pry this plastic insert out of the top of the camera to expose the two screws underneath.
Remove the Two Screws
Remove the two screws in the top of the camera.
Remove the Plastic Insert From the Side
Just like in step one, use a knife or other flat object to pry the insert from the USB port on the side of the camera.
Remove Screw
Remove the screw next to the USB port on the side of the camera.
Remove Screw From Battery Compartment
Open the door to the battery compartment and remove one screw from the latch side.
Remove 4 Screws From the Bottom of the Camera
Remove the four screws holding the plastic insert to the bottom of the camera.
Split Camera Body Apart
The camera comes apart with a little brute force, with all eight screws removed. The trick is to slide something thin and firm in between the two halves of the case to pry them apart. I used the blade of my pocket knife. It was difficult at first, but once I got it started, it came right apart.
Remove the Plastic Ring From Around The Lens
Slide the blade of a knife under the lip of the plastic ring and pry it up.
Remove the Old Lens
The biggest challenge for me was getting the old lens out. I had no idea how it went in and no idea how to get it out. I tried everything I could think of to pry it loose: my pocket knife, the plastic tools that come with a replacement MacBook screen, pliers, and channel locks, but a wood carving chisel ended up being the perfect tool for the job. It worked like it was made for removing lenses.

While applying downward pressure on the edge of the lens with the tip of the chisel, I used the thumb on my opposite hand to apply lateral pressure to the back of the chisel to force the lens out of its seat.
Remove the Lens From The Other Side
One lens can be removed without removing the lens module, but to remove the other lens, the module has to come out. It’s really easy to remove. There are just four screws.
Disconnect Ribbon Cables
To remove the ribbon cables, simply pry up the connectors. I used a plastic tool to avoid damaging the circuitry.
Remove The Lens Module
With the four screws removed and the two ribbon cables disconnected, the lens module will lift free.
Remove The Second Lens
Remove the second lens the same way as the first, but be very careful of the ribbon cables. I got a little too comfortable and, consequently, a bit reckless, and I ended up damaging one of the ribbon cables.
If You Damage A Ribbon Cable
There was no obvious damage to the lens module other than one of the ribbon cables being slightly kinked, but it was enough to prevent the camera from working. It would power on but then freeze. Pushing either button did nothing. All I could do to get off of the frozen screen was to pull the battery out or hold down the power button for a very long time.
I put the lens module in the other camera with the same results, so I was certain the problem was with the lens module and not the camera. The good lens module worked perfectly in the camera from which the bad lens module came, so I was doubly certain.
A New Problem
With all four lenses replaced, I had a new problem. One of the lenses in the good module was blurry.

I figured some dust got underneath the lens when I put the new one in, so I took it apart and cleaned it, but it didn’t help. So, I took it apart again, but this time, I used a 10x jeweler’s loup to make sure everything was clean when I put it back together.

I found some spots on the inner lens, and I was sure that’s what was causing the blurriness.

I cleaned them off, but it was still blurry. I took the lens apart and cleaned it five times, but the blurriness never improved. I even took the whole lens module apart to see if there was something wrong with the sensor, but there was no obvious problem that I could detect.
Putting The Camera Back Together
I decided at this point that I would rather have one working camera than 1 1/2 non-working cameras, so I took both modules apart and then put them back together, but I joined the blurry lens and the lens with the bad ribbon cable, and then I paired up the two good lenses.