Imagine setting a Hero 5 inside your kitty condo, then calling out “GoPro, start recording” when Wynona begins stalking her new toy mouse. When they work, voice commands don’t just mean arm-free selfies. For noisy or windy situations, though, you may want another GoPro accessory: the $80 wireless voice remote. (Yes: “GoPro, take a photo.” No: “GoPro, take a picture.”) In my tests, it often responded quickly. They know a good dozen phrases in multiple languages, but you have to say things just the right way. Voice commands are where both Hero 5 cameras flex their smarts. I learned this while frolicking in the Pacific: My loaner Hero 5 Black slipped out of my hands and became the property of Poseidon. The downside is that the Hero 5 Black is slightly larger and heavier.
I still found it confusing to know when the cameras were recording, so I lost a few potentially awesome scenes.Īnyone familiar with the Hero 4 Black camera will be happy to know the new Black comes with GPS, and it is waterproof without any external housing. This sunset shot of the Golden Gate bridge taken with the Hero 5 Black demonstrates how GoPro improved photo quality, especially in low or mixed light, in its new flagship camera. Its cameras have a wide-angle lens that captures almost everything. Among the company’s plethora of lucrative accessories is a mount for dogs. That could be on a surfboard or a skybound drone, like GoPro’s forthcoming Karma. GoPro’s original appeal is that its cameras are small enough to capture perspectives from places you wouldn’t be able to-or want to-stick your DSLR or smartphone. The best way to understand what that means is to break down what the new cameras can do for you: capture, store and create. GoPro calls its new lineup an “end-to-end solution,” techno-jargon I don’t expect from a company run by a surfer. That’s why I think GoPros are a good purchase not just for action-sports athletes, but also parents, weekend adventurers and globetrotters. But the Hero 5 line does, by marrying hardware that’s harder to kill than a cockroach with some of the best phone capabilities, like a background connection to the cloud. Most traditional cameras take no responsibility for your shots after they’re taken. As its fortunes hang in the balance, GoPro earns my respect for finally making a stand-alone camera that’s at least as smart as a smartphone.