Back in black
GOPRO FINALLY RELEASES A NEW FLAGSHIP ACTION CAM — AND IT WAS ABSOLUTELY WORTH THE WAIT.
GoPro Hero5 Black TINA TURNER WAS WRONG – WE DO NEED ANOTHER HERO.
IN TECH, TWO years is an epically long time for a company to wait between major product updates, but we guess that when you’re the undisputed king in your field — here, that’s action cams — and your products are as damn-near perfect as GoPro’s Hero4 Silver and Black are, you can probably afford to grant yourself a little leeway.
However, as good as those models are, they can also be frustrating, particularly in the way that customers are forced to choose between the Silver’s built-in touchscreen and the Black’s 4K recording capability.
Now, with the GoPro Hero5 Black, the company has combined the best of both worlds, providing an all-round experience that, for the first time in two years, gives Hero4 owners a real reason to upgrade. That it manages to do so while keeping its price lower than either of its previous generation counterparts is just the icing on the cake.
This time around, there’s no Silver edition. Instead, the Black version is able to boast 4K video at 30fps (or 1080p at up to 120fps), as well as a much-needed interactive 2-inch touchscreen. It’ll also capture RAW and WDR (wide-dynamic-range) photos at 12MP.
The touchscreen provides a simplified swipe-based interface that allows users to reach their desired video settings much faster, so you can say goodbye to endless button pushing. Additionally, the Hero5 still has one-button control up top to quickly start recording footage, and an on/off/mode button on the side to power up and cycle through various ways to capture. You can also now command the Hero5 Black to perform simple tasks using your voice alone, such as telling it to start or stop recording — handy for when you don’t have any free hands.
What’s more, this new model is waterproof up to 10 metres without the need for an extra protective case. That it manages to do this without adding much bulk to its naked form factor is impressive. You can add a plastic housing to take it deeper, but by default, it’s ready for a swim.
Speaking of form factor, the latest GoPro takes after the more-squarish Hero Session, with a rather attractive dark-grey matte finish that’s slightly rubbery to the touch. It feels much more resilient than any of the company’s previous flagship action cameras without its protective case, meaning you’ll be more likely to get adventurous with it.
The old GoPro smartphone app has also received a makeover in time for Hero5, with a much simpler and cleaner UI that allows you to watch, share, edit and tweak settings more easily than before. Now dubbed Capture, the app will let you control practically every aspect of your camera right from your phone, including the ability to delete videos from the Hero5’s onboard microSD card. You can also flip through a video frame-by-frame to create photos for sharing.
If there’s one downside to the Hero5, it’s that its battery will still drain relatively fast, recording for a little over 2 hours on a full charge. If you’re planning extended shoots, then, you’ll want to invest in some spare Li-ion batteries, which can easily be swapped in and out as needed. And given the incredibly high quality footage you’re able to capture with this little camera, that shortcoming is hardly worth complaining about...