Nick Woodman, GoPro CEO, unveiled its new Hero action camera lineup for 2016 - Hero 5 Black, Hero 5 Black, Hero 5 Session, and Karma drone together with latest software updates & price changes to the Hero 4 Session with the hopes of helping consumers share their stories better.
Mashable's Raymond Wong has had a chance to test all the new Hero action cam stating, "The new hardware is outstanding, as you'd expect from GoPro, but also a big win in terms of pricing. The Hero 5 Black costs $399.99, the Hero 5 Session costs $299.99 and the Hero 4 Session is now $199.99." He then added that the company's Karma drone will be sold in three different bundles - the $799.99 comes with the Karma Grip handle, two batteries, and a backpack; the $999.99 will come with the Hero 5 Session; and the $1,099.99 is bundled with the Hero 5 Black.
Both the Hero 5 Black and Session are capable of shooting 4K videos with support for voice controls in different languages and electronic image stabilization. Of course there are key differences between the two new action cameras. According to The Verge, "The Hero 5 Black looks like a more rugged Hero 4." It's able to shoot 12MP photos, shoot Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) videos and RAW photos. Furthermore, it has a 2-inch LCD touchscreen panel with built-in GPS feature.
The Hero 5 Session, on the other hand, can shoot 10-megapixel photos. Unfortunately, this little baby won't be coming with a screen and GPS, and has no capability of shooting WDR videos as well as RAW pictures. On the bright side, it still comes with the ProTune video mode for easier editing and color correction.
Both action cameras can shoot 4K footages at a maximum of 30fps (frames per second) with water resistance of up to 33 feet even without an enclosure or housing. They both have voice control with support for 7 languages at the moment. The Hero 5 Black is the expensive one of the bunch and is able to shoot 2K at 60fps as well as 1920 x 1080p at 120fps.
To activate the Hero 5's voice control is similar to activating Apple's Siri or Google's Google Now - you have to call the device by its name followed by a command. For example, "GoPro start video" and it will start taking videos until prompted to stop.
Apart fro the juicy hardware changes of its latest cameras, GoPro has introduced a cloud service called the GoPro Plus to its Hero 5 lineup. When connected to a power source, the cameras automatically uploads all contents to the GoPro Plus servers making them available for download to any desktop or mobile device having a GoPro account connected. This service doesn't come for free as you will need to pay $5 per month.
Both GoPro Hero 5 Black and Hero 5 Session will officially be available starting October 2, 2016.
