The Hero 7 Black is GoPro’s most advanced camera yet

GoPro has announced a new range of cameras, headlined by the £380 Hero 7 Black – “the GoPro we’ve all been waiting for,” according to company founder Nick Woodman. The new camera will allow you to live stream your near-death experiences to friends and family – a feature not found on any previous GoPro to this date.

Speaking of previous GoPros, the last two have both been excellent, so the Hero 7 will do well to outperform them. So, what can we expect to see? Below we’ve outlined everything you need to know about the new GoPro Hero 7 Black.

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GoPro Hero 7 Black: Everything you need to know

GoPro Hero 7 Black price: How much will it cost?

The £380 starting price of the Hero 7 is a significant decrease on the initial £425 price tag of the Hero 6. Although the Hero 6 is a better all-round camera than the £340 Hero 5, we thought the latter was much better value for money. Will GoPro’s latest effort be worth the extra money, or will the Hero 5 remain the better option? We’ll have to wait and see.

Completing the new lineup, GoPro has also announced the Hero 7 Silver (£280) and Hero 7 White (£180), which will be aimed more at entry- and mid-level users than bona fide action men (and women).

Naturally, GoPro are running a gimmicky competition to coincide with the launch, and this time it’s the Hero 7 Black Million Dollar Challenge. GoPro is challenging Hero 7 Black users to submit their best footage in an attempt to win – yep, you guessed it – $1,000,000.

Of course, you have to purchase the Hero 7 Black in order to enter the competition, so in reality the prize money is closer to $999,620. Probably not worth doing, really.

GoPro Hero 7 Black release date: When you will you be able to buy one?

You’ll have to wait to enter, though. All three cameras in the Hero 7 range will be available internationally on 27 September. If you just can’t wait, however, then head over to GoPro’s website to preorder yours today.

GoPro Hero 7 Black specs: What’s inside?

• 12-megapixel camera
• 4K, 60fps video
• 8x slo-mo
• Dimensions: 62.3mm x 44.9mm x 33mm (WHD)
• Weight: 116g
• Battery: 1220mAh lithium-ion rechargeable
• USB Type-C, microSD
• UK price: £380
• UK release date: 27 September 2018

GoPro Hero 7 Black features: What makes it special?

GoPro claims this is its most advanced camera yet, with a wealth of new and improved features including ‘HyperSmooth’ stabilisation – supposedly the best in-camera video stabilisation ever featured in a camera. The California-based firm says it will work in situations where regular motorised gimbals fail, such as underwater and in high winds, providing “gimbal-like stabilisation without the gimbal”. If the Hero 7 Black can deliver on this promise, then GoPro has a serious product on its hands.

Other headline features include TimeWarp, which applies stabilisation to time-lapse videos in order to make them smoother. Live streaming will allow you to share your videos while simultaneously saving them to your SD card, and SuperPhoto will intelligently analyse scenes and edit them accordingly, saving you a big chunk of guesswork when shooting photos.

Of course, given that we live in the age of social media, there’s also a portrait mode – native vertical capture will allow you to easily share your photos and videos via Instagram, Snapchat and more.

Here’s a full list of the £380 GoPro Hero 7 Black’s features:

• HyperSmooth Stabilisation – Gimbal-like stabilisation without the gimbal
• Live Stream – automatic sharing as you live it while saving your streamed videos to your SD card in high definition
• TimeWarp Video – Super-stabilised time lapse ‘magic carpet ride’ videos of your experiences, up to 30x speed
• SuperPhoto – Intelligent scene analysation for professional-looking photos via automatically applied HDR, Local Tone Mapping and Multi-Frame Noise Reduction
• Portrait Mode – Native vertical-capture for easy sharing to Instagram Stories, Snapchat and more
• Enhanced Audio – Re-engineered audio captures increased dynamic range, new microphone membrane reduces unwanted vibrations during mounted situations
• Intuitive Touch Interface – 2-inch touch display with simplified user interface enables native vertical (portrait) use of camera
• Face, Smile + Scene Detection – HERO7 Black recognises faces, expressions and scene-types to enhance automatic QuikStory edits on the GoPro app
• Short Clips – Restricts video recording to 15- or 30-second clips for faster transfer to phone, editing and sharing. Great for new users and children.
• Photo Timer – Countdown timer for convenient selfies and group shots
• Stunning Image Quality – 4K60 video and 12MP photos
• Ultra Slo-Mo – 8x slow motion in 1080p240
• Rugged and Waterproof – Waterproof without a housing to 33ft (10m), goes everywhere your phone can’t
• Voice Control – Verbal commands let you go hands-free in 14 languages
• Auto Transfer to Phone – Your photos and videos move automatically from camera when connected to the GoPro app for on-the-go sharing
• GPS Performance Stickers – Track speed, distance and elevation, then highlight them by adding stickers to videos in the GoPro app
• Touch Zoom – Frame your photos and videos with just a touch

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GoPro Hero 7 Black: Early verdict

We thought the Hero 6 and Hero 5 were both excellent, so it’ll be interesting to see if GoPro can build on the success of its predecessors. The improved stabilisation is particularly exciting, as it could potentially save you from spending £100 on a gimbal.

GoPro doesn’t seem to have addressed a number of concerns we had with the Hero 6, however. We would have liked to have seen improvements to the app, which we have found difficult to pair with the camera in the past. There was also no discernible difference in image quality between the 5 and 6, and it looks like that trend will continue with the 7.

Nevertheless, we will wait to see how the Hero 7 performs. It’s likely to be the best product of its type on the market, but will it be worth buying?