A decade after its founding, Hohem has crossed a threshold that few consumer technology brands manage: placement inside the trusted, membership-gated world of Costco. The iSteady M7 gimbal — a device that uses artificial intelligence to keep a camera trained on whatever moves through the frame — arrives at $199.99, a hundred dollars below its standard price, as if to say that the tools of professional-looking video need no longer belong only to professionals. It is a small but telling moment in the longer story of democratized creativity, where the gap between the person filming a child's birt
Hohem's AI-Powered iSteady M7 Gimbal Debuts at Costco with $100 Discount
AI tracking works inside your phone's camera, no separate app required
Mark
So this is a gimbal—a stabilizer for your phone camera. What makes the M7 different from what you'd find at Best Buy?
Mimi
The core thing is the AI tracking. Most gimbals stabilize video, but this one watches what you're filming and follows it automatically. You don't need a separate app; it works inside your phone's camera.
Luke
That's the claim. The source says it works "across camera apps," but I'd want to see how that actually performs with livestreaming apps, which can be finicky.
Mimi
Fair. But the touchscreen remote is genuinely useful—you can see what the gimbal sees and tap to tell it what to follow. And you can film yourself without holding it.
Mark
Why does Costco matter for this product?
Mimi
Costco doesn't usually sell tech gadgets like this. It's a membership retailer, so the $199.99 price is a member-only deal. That's a hundred dollars off the regular price.
Luke
Right, but we don't know how many units Costco expects to move, or whether this is a limited-time offer or permanent. The press release doesn't say.
Mark
Who is Hohem, really?
Mimi
A Chinese company, founded in 2014. They claim five million users across seventy countries. They say they invented on-device AI tracking for phone gimbals in 2021.
Luke
Those numbers are from Hohem's own company description. We have no independent verification of the user count or the market share claim.
Mark
So what does this partnership actually mean?
Mimi
It means Hohem is trying to reach mainstream American consumers through a trusted retailer. Costco members are price-conscious but quality-focused. It's a smart channel for a product that costs two hundred dollars.
Luke
It also means Hohem is betting that casual filmmakers—people making family videos, travel content—will buy a gimbal if the price is right and the retailer is familiar. We'll see if that bet pays off.
Le Pouls
- Hohem's entry into Costco is not a quiet shelf placement — it is a strategic leap from niche tech retail into one of America's most trusted mass-market channels.
- The hundred-dollar discount creates real urgency: a flagship gimbal at $199.99 reframes who can reasonably consider owning one.
- The iSteady M7's AI tracking works inside native camera apps rather than a proprietary silo, removing a friction point that has long frustrated casual users of competing devices.
- A detachable touchscreen remote lets users film themselves or direct shots from a distance, dissolving the old boundary between filmmaker and subject.
- With five million users across seventy countries already in its orbit, Hohem is not testing the American market so much as formally announcing its arrival to it.
A decade after its founding, Hohem has crossed a threshold that few consumer technology brands manage: placement inside the trusted, membership-gated world of Costco. The iSteady M7 gimbal — a device that uses artificial intelligence to keep a camera trained on whatever moves through the frame — arrives at $199.99, a hundred dollars below its standard price, as if to say that the tools of professional-looking video need no longer belong only to professionals. It is a small but telling moment in the longer story of democratized creativity, where the gap between the person filming a child's birthday and the person filming a commercial grows narrower with each product cycle.
Hohem has placed its flagship gimbal on Costco.com — the company's first move into U.S. membership retail — offering the iSteady M7 to members at $199.99, a full hundred dollars below its standard price. The discount is deliberate: it positions a sophisticated filming tool within reach of the everyday consumer rather than the dedicated enthusiast.
At the center of the device is an AI tracking system that follows people, pets, and other subjects in real time, operating directly within a phone's native camera or livestreaming app rather than requiring a separate application. A small detachable touchscreen remote — just over an inch across — displays a live feed and lets the user tap to select a subject, freeing them to move away from the gimbal entirely while it continues to follow whatever they've chosen.
The hardware is built for range. An integrated extension pole allows high-angle shots above a crowd or low ones near the ground, while three-axis stabilization smooths out the motion of walking or panning. The gimbal rotates a full 360 degrees without limit and supports phones and accessories up to 500 grams, with mounting points for lights, microphones, and clip-on lenses.
Hohem was founded in 2014 and claims credit for bringing on-device AI tracking to smartphone gimbals in 2021. The company now counts more than five million users in over seventy countries. CEO Chen Min described the Costco partnership as a values alignment: a company that believes capable filming tools should be widely accessible found a natural home in a retail model built around quality at member-only prices. The listing — item number 2091049 — is live now, and it marks a meaningful shift in how Hohem intends to reach American consumers going forward.
Hohem, the smartphone gimbal maker, has landed its flagship product on Costco.com, marking the company's first push into U.S. membership retail. The iSteady M7, normally priced at $299, is available to Costco members for $199.99—a hundred-dollar discount that undercuts the standard market price.
The gimbal is built around a central feature: artificial intelligence that tracks people, pets, and other subjects in real time while you film. Unlike systems that require a separate app, this tracking works directly within your phone's native camera or livestreaming applications. The device ships with a detachable touchscreen remote, 1.4 inches across, that displays a live view from the gimbal's perspective and lets you tap or drag to select what you want followed. The remote also controls the gimbal itself, which means you can film yourself or move freely without holding the device.
The hardware itself is built for flexibility. A built-in extension pole lets you shoot from high angles—above a crowd—or low ones, down to a pet's eye level. The gimbal uses three-axis stabilization to smooth out the shake of walking or moving while filming, and it can rotate 360 degrees infinitely, giving you freedom for tracking shots and sweeping camera movements. It can hold phones and gear up to 500 grams, with mounting points for microphones, phone lenses, and fill lights.
Hohem, founded in 2014, has positioned itself as a company that makes filming accessible. The company pioneered on-device AI tracking for smartphone gimbals back in 2021 and has since expanded beyond stabilizers into a broader lineup of imaging products. It now reaches more than five million users across seventy countries, selling through major retailers and online channels. Chen Min, the company's CEO, framed the Costco partnership as an alignment of values: Hohem believes innovative filming tools should reach more people, and Costco's model of delivering quality at member-only prices matched that philosophy.
The iSteady M7 is positioned for a wide range of uses—family celebrations, travel documentation, vlogs, product demonstrations, and livestreams. The Costco listing carries item number 2091049 and is live now on Costco.com. The partnership signals a shift in how Hohem is reaching American consumers, moving from direct-to-consumer and specialty retail into the membership warehouse channel, where price and accessibility are central to the pitch.
Citations marquantes
Costco's commitment to delivering quality products at exceptional value aligns closely with our belief that innovative filming tools should be accessible to more people.— Chen Min, CEO of Hohem
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