GoPro Hero4 Black review: No longer top dog

While video and image quality is roughly the same, for roughly £50 more than the Hero 4 Black you can pick up the Hero 5, with Electronic Image Stabilisation, wind noise reduction and a far greater microphone. The Hero 4 Black is still a fantastic action camera and one of the best, but the Hero 5 slightly edges ahead thanks to its wealth of fancy new features. All that being said, you can check out my original GoPro Hero 4 Black review below.

GoPro Hero 4 Black review

At first glance, there’s not a lot to separate the GoPro Hero4 from its predecessor, the GoPro Hero3 Black Edition. This is mostly a good thing, as it means compatibility with a wide array of accessories and mounts; the camera’s incredible popularity means it’s easy to find all manner of compatible kit from GoPro itself and aftermarket manufacturers.

The Hero4 is available in two versions: Silver (£279) and Black (£359). The Black model has a faster processor and can shoot in either higher resolution or higher frame rates. The Silver has a built-in touch display, which is handy for framing your video and photos, and for providing a more intuitive method for changing settings. An optional LCD Touch BacPAC accessory (around £60) brings similar features to the Black edition. The Hero4 isn’t waterproof without its separate casing, so you’ll lose any touchscreen functionality as soon as it’s enclosed.

If you’re after a smaller action camera, then you might want to consider the GoPro Hero4 Session. The newer diminutive cube-shaped camera is considerably smaller and lighter than both the Silver and Black and also benefits from 10m of waterproof protection without the need for a separate case. The Session does lack some of the higher resolution and bit rate settings of the Silver and Black, however. It also has an integrated, non-replaceable battery, which could also prove a problem for those out on long shooting session who are used to swapping batteries in the field.

Still, now that it’s officially available for a reduced £249 it’s a valid option if you prefer a less bulky action camera. If you’re only after an entry-level camera or have a tighter budget, you can buy a Hero+ LCD, which is limited to Full HD resolution and doesn’t have the same spread of features. GoPro itself has stopped selling these on its website, but you can pick up one at Amazon for around £220, but the price savings aren’t big enough to warrant choosing this over a GoPro Hero Session.

The casing for the Hero4 Black is the same as previous GoPro cameras, using the same spring-loaded buttons that still take a bit more effort than I’d like to press. You still have to remember each button’s action for navigating the menus, too.

You get two case back doors, with the standard door providing waterproofing to 40m. The skeleton backdoor doesn’t protect from the elements but the open back allows for better audio capture. There are mounts for flat, curved and vertical surfaces included in the box, but you’ll need to put the Hero4 in its case to use them.

A mini USB, a micro HDMI connection and a microSD slot are all hidden behind a cover. Annoyingly, the cover detaches completely and is small, making it easy to lose whenever you charge the camera. A hinged flap would be preferable as this was a problem I had with the Hero3 as well. GoPro has since acknowledged the issue with its newer cameras, with the Session and Hero range now all using hinged flaps that don’t get lost so easily. The mini USB port can be used for charging, copying images and footage to a computer or used with an optional 3.5mm microphone adapter.

If you’re mixing and matching GoPro cameras with newer models from the Session onwards, it’s worth noting that newer GoPro cameras now use Micro USB for syncing and charging, which is preferable. It does now mean carrying two different cables if you have older cameras, however. It’s safe to assume all future GoPros will now use Micro USB.

A very functional iOS, Android and Windows Phone companion app lets you control the camera’s settings as well as play back captured video via Wi-Fi direct. Once connected it was intuitive to use and was preferable to changing settings directly on the camera itself. The app also lets you copy footage from the Hero4 for sharing and uploading to social networks.

The app has a live view, which makes up for the lack of an LCD display on the Black edition. There’s around a half second delay between the camera and phone; it’s not quite as quick as Sony’s HDR-AZ1 but it’s not too jarring and certainly helps with framing shots. With Wi-Fi Direct turned on, Wi-Fi will remain active even if you turn the Hero4 off, with a blue light blinking on the front of the camera to let you know it’s still on.

This means you’re able to remotely turn the Hero4 back on from your smartphone, but also means you’ll need to manually disable Wi-Fi to ensure the battery doesn’t drain while you’re not using the camera. I forgot a few times and came back to a dead battery, which was unfortunate. Holding the settings button on the side quickly toggles the Wi-Fi on and off, which is convenient provided you remember.

Both the Black and Silver Hero4 cameras have an f/2.4 aperture that should make it a decent performer in low light, and this is paired with a 1/2.3in sensor. In terms of resolutions and frame rates, the Black edition is capable of up to 4K resolution at 30fps, while the Silver edition tops out at 2.7K and 30fps. The Black edition beats the Silver for 1080p performance as well, with 120fps for high frame rate shooting. The Silver edition requires you to drop down to 720p to achieve the same frame rate. Dropping to 720p resolution opens up 240fps for even slower footage on the Black edition.

Just like the Hero3, the Hero4 comes with a range of professional settings, dubbed Protune, which enable professional videographers to use GoPro cameras more easily in multi-camera workflows.

Protune allows you to control the level of sharpening, the colour-profile of footage, ISO sensitivity, white balance and exposure compensation, plus it adds a 24fps mode, too. All these features mean it’s far easier to match video footage and splice it seamlessly with other footage recorded on professional-level cameras. Protune also reduces the compression level applied to video footage, increasing the quality, although this also means that file sizes increase. And with the Hero4, Protune extends its reach to photos, allowing users to select the ISO sensitivity limit, choosing between ISO 800, 400, 200 and 100 settings.

Depending on the resolution, you have a choice of Ultra Wide, Medium or Narrow fields of view. Ultra Wide is available across all resolutions and provides the field of view synonymous with most action cameras. There’s a degree of barrel distortion as you would expect, but the effect also adds to the immersion and heightens exciting activities like extreme sports.

Image quality at both 4K and 1080p resolutions was very good. Details were excellent and sharp and in good lighting conditions there was minimal noise. The lens also did well to avoid chromatic aberrations. Colour saturation was rather muted for our tastes, however, and we were hoping for more vibrant colours from our test footage captured on a reasonably sunny day. Disappointingly, the Hero4 lacks the image stabilisation of other rivals so footage from our test, which places the camera on a moving platform, was not as steady as we would have liked.

A useful new feature with the Hero4 is highlight tagging. This lets you press the side button on the GoPro or select an option in the app to mark key moments in your footage. This will be particularly useful when you come to edit after shooting a lot of footage. You can also turn on QuikCapture mode that automatically turns the camera on and begins recording when you press the shutter button. Pressing it again stops recording and shuts down the camera. You can also use it for time-lapse photos by holding the shutter button down for 3 seconds.

The Hero4’s mono microphone is supposed to have twice the dynamic range of the Hero3. Even with the standard backdoor attached the microphones were very sensitive, but unsurprisingly the mono microphone lacked any directionality. You’ll want to use an external microphone if you value sound quality.

Battery life was 1hr 33m when shooting 1080p at 30fps, which is about average for an action camera. This drops down to an hour when shooting 4K at 30fps. Thankfully, the battery is user replaceable and you can pick up a spare for around £15. You won’t be able to use your old batteries if you’re upgrading from an older GoPro though.

GoPro Hero 4 Black review: Verdict

The Hero4 is an excellent action camera overall. It still lacks proper optical image stabilisation, but video footage looks fantastic when shooting at its higher bit rate settings. Being able to shoot 4K at an acceptable 30fps is also a real positive, plus it means you can grab high-resolution stills from your video footage. The GoPro app is easy to use, making up for the slightly fiddly camera controls, and the included mounts and accessories are excellent. GoPro’s other strength lies in its strong accessories support for using their cameras in innovative ways, too.

Now that the Session is available, this provides another option if you don’t need such high-quality footage as is available from the Silver or Black but rather value the small size and waterproofing on offer. However, it’s not much cheaper than the Black so for many it will be worth upgrading. As a complete package, the Hero4 Black is an excellent action camera for those who need something top of the line, but it just falls just short of a Best Buy award due to its battery life and lack of image stabilisation.