GoPro Hero – Compact Waterproof Action Camera with 4K Ultra HD Video, 12MP Photo, Touch Screen

GoPro has long represented a great camera to me. I actually got one of the first digital models and was hooked on the brand. I then went on to add more “HEROs” to my collection over time. However, this camera is not living up to what I expect from an action camera from GoPro. I should probably also mention that I have several other brands of action cameras to make my comparisons.

First, the setup process to get the camera running is time consuming (particularly since I was in a poor internet service area). I have never had to log into a computer to get an action camera to work. I was forced to set up an account with GoPro which I didn’t want to do, but had to in order to get the camera to work. The camera then had to do an update. I was angry at this point. It’s a new camera. Shouldn’t it be updated? This immediately gave me a bad experience, and I decided this will be the last GoPro I get unless this setup process is changed. I won’t be held hostage to surrendering information to get a camera to work. At the time, I just wanted to try out my new camera, and not deal with tech issues for an hour. I get that my poor internet service was part of the issue, but I’ve not had to log into the computer to get any of my other action cameras to function. This is unacceptable.

Physically, the camera is well built. The touch screen works well and is very interactive. You have an option of using voice commands. The menus are intuitive and easy to follow. However, I felt like options were limited particularly when compared to other action cameras I own. For example, I couldn’t manually change the camera angle or white balance (or maybe I couldn’t find these options). The lens is the traditional fish eye type. Videos and pictures produced are good quality and colors are good. Focus is good and stabilization is good. The camera is sturdy. I like that it is waterproof and nice and small. One of my favorite features is the collapsible base mount. The battery lasts about the same as any other action camera. The micro SD card is removable.

Since I have lousy internet, I did not want to use the GoPro video program and instead opted to use a program I pay for on my computer (and I don’t need internet to use it).

For the price point and comparing to other action cameras I own, I cannot say this camera is a good value for me. You only get one battery and you must charge it through the camera. I also had to order cards to use with the camera. The setup process was a terrible experience for me, however, once it was running, the camera performed well. I also found the menus to be limited.

I really love this new smaller edition of the GoPro cameras! First off, the camera feels very well made and doesn’t feel cheap. It has a little weight to it for it’s size, but is still very easy to hold and mount as needed. I was actually very surprised by the overall size of this camera. It definitely looks bigger in photos. This camera comes with a few accessories which are all GoPro branded and feel strong and sturdy. There is no case included with this camera, which isn’t a deal breaker by any means, but something to keep it protected when not in use would have been nice.

The camera itself is very easy to use and operate. The built in, bright touch screen really helps with this and is also very responsive and fairly easy to see in direct sunlight. You can also use the app to change settings as needed, too (there aren’t many). The app itself is well designed and also easy to navigate.
There are 3 modes to this camera. That’s it. Because of this, it’s great for beginners or for someone who needs quick, easy to use 4K without having to adjust settings, etc. before shooting.

The 4K/30 FPS video quality is excellent and honestly, the best I have seen on an action camera at this price point, so far. While filming in 4K/30 the camera does get a little warm, but it hasn’t shut itself off yet, at least for me. The quality of the images is excellent and very clear and crisp. Even low light images aren’t terrible on this camera. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not anything like the day time images, however, for an action camera, it’s really not awful. The built in microphones record good audio for an action camera and is extremely usable for most projects.

The electronic image stabilization is excellent and in my opinion, is better then some gimbals. Keep in mind, there is no built in stabilization within the camera. It gets applied when viewed and exported from the app. So each video will need to be “processed” before exporting. To my surprise, this doesn’t take long and it works really well. It’s just another step before the video can used for whatever you might be working on.

The battery life on this is pretty good and it really depends on your settings that will determine how long it will last. Filming in the highest setting (4K/30), the more battery this is going to use. They include the newer enduro battery inside which works better in extreme temperatures and provides more shooting time. The battery is built in and cannot be swapped for another battery. It will need to be charged through the camera itself. It doesn’t take too long to charge and can be charged with a power bank while on the go. It can also be used while charging which helps.

All things considered, I really like this camera and it is priced quite well for the overall quality it provides. It’s one of those cameras you can just grab and go with. It’s quick and super simple to get high quality 4K video in a pretty lightweight and very small package.

This is my third GoPro and I’m extremely unhappy with it after one or two uses so far. Apart from overall size, which is why I bought it, there hasn’t been any reason to use this over my Hero 9. Bad battery life and it constantly loses connection to the app, and video preview from the app with often show up as a blank screen. On top of that, I’m unable to download any videos I’ve recorded to my phone. I’ve never had any kind of issues like this with a GoPro before. I very enthusiastically do not recommend this product.

Antes que eu esqueça: na caixa vem um suporte de superfície com fita 3m.

Antes eu usava a Hero 5, e estou gostando bastante da Hero 4k. Ela se destaca por ser compacta, bem vedada e com uma construção sólida. A impossibilidade de trocar a bateria não me incomodou até agora, mas vou observar como a duração se mantém com o tempo. A recarga via USB-C é prática e funciona bem para o meu uso.

Um ponto positivo é a tela: rápida, com boa resposta ao toque, e a interface é simples e direta. Porém, é importante destacar que todas as configurações são feitas pelo aplicativo, o que pode ser uma vantagem para quem gosta de usar o celular, mas talvez incomode quem prefira ajustes direto na câmera.

No geral, estou satisfeito, mas fico curioso para testar mais os limites de duração da bateria e a resistência em cenários mais exigentes. Até o momento, a experiência está sendo positiva e prática para meu dia a dia.

Pros:
– Premium build quality
– Compact and portable design
– Simple interface with only three shooting modes
– Quik app works well for stabilizing the footage
– App supports H.264 and H.265 mp4 encoding
– Good daylight video/image quality
– Respectable underwater performance

Cons:
– No optical or digital stabilization in the camera
– Non-removable battery
– Lack of manual exposure or white balance control
– No exposure compensation
– Lengthy post-processing workflow
– The mode button feels stiff

The GoPro Hero 4K has a premium build and is smaller than expected around the size of half a credit card. It feels solid and has some weight to it. I like it. Before use, the camera needs to be updated to the latest firmware. Make sure you connect the camera to a stable USB power supply before doing this. My Hero 4K came with only 30% battery charge, and updating firmware at this charge level without a stable external power source can harm your camera. The updates went smoothly with the Quik app. The app allowed me to do everything I needed to do as a guest without registration or subscription. This is great. The camera does not have a removable battery, probably to save real estate, and this is another consideration before buying this camera.

The camera needs at least a V30 SD card to record and will give you an error message if your SD card is not fast enough. The camera has a very simple interface and only offers three modes of operation: 4K 30fps, 2.7K 60fps (slow motion), and 12MP still photos. Exposure is automatic. There is no manual exposure mode. Shutter speed, aperture, ISO, or colour temperature cannot be adjusted. 1080p shooting is possible by selecting the “power save” mode.

The camera lens has a very wide shooting angle, almost 180 degrees. However, it is unfortunate that the lens does not have optical stabilization. I think this is a big miss and I don’t like it. Furthermore, the simple camera design also does not feature any digital stabilization. Missing any image stabilization does appear quite disappointing for an action camera. I think they intentionally did it this way to save device power and therefore prolong recording time with the small built-in battery. Fortunately, GoPro made it up by providing the Quik app to stabilize the footage during post-processing. The stabilization is actually quite good and smooth with the app and I am impressed. However, it takes more time and steps to download the footage to the phone and then perform stabilization. It was surprising that the downloading and stabilization process was quite fast. However, the exporting of the final stabilized footage took a long time, which was not surprising for my 5-year-old phone. It took over 15 minutes to export a 90-second 4K clip. One can transfer the stabilized mp4 file to Windows to perform further editing. The exported mp4 is stored under movies/GoPro-export on the phone.

This is a lengthy post-processing workflow and I was not impressed. There must be an easier way to do everything on Windows without going back and forth on the phone. I finally found a free Windows software that can perform image stabilization based on gyro data. This means that I can do everything on Windows without needing to use the Quik phone app. I just needed to download the original mp4 footage from the camera directly to my Windows computer via a USB cable. Recorded videos are stored in the Hero/DCIM/100GOPRO folder. Then I can perform the digital stabilization and video editing all on Windows. After setting up this new workflow, I am a happy camper and no longer need to be tied to the phone app. This should speed up the post-processing significantly.

The camera’s video quality in daylight is good and sharp, but it is not a low-light camera and therefore image quality may be compromised when shooting indoors. The camera runs warm but not hot, thanks to the full-front heat sink.

In conclusion, this is a really compact and solid outdoor camera with respectable underwater performance. However, the lack of built-in image stabilization makes the post-processing workflow longer. If you are willing to trade post-processing time and complexity for compactness and battery life, this is the camera for you. I have to say I really like how compact and portable the camera is and may just accept the longer post-processing time as I don’t shoot long clips, so it should be fine with me.

Excelente producto! Pero estoy buscando la carcasa para buceo! Saben cuál es?