I own a GoPro Hero 8 Black, which is an excellent action cam that has served me well.
So I jumped at the opportunity to review the latest model, GoPro Hero 10, which is on sale at Harvey Norman.
Compared to Hero 8, the new camera is a huge leap forward with higher frame rates, superb horizon levelling, faster data transfers, more polished looking stills and smoother video overall with better captures in lowlight.
Hero 10 Black sports a 23MP sensor that can capture 5.3K resolution video footage at up to 60 frames per second (fps), or 4K footage at 120fps – the latter feature matches my OnePlus 9 Pro.
You can also capture 2.7K footage at up to 240fps, which is 8x slow motion.
The stabilisation on the footage is excellent and the new Hypersmooth 4.0 tech drives this along with the horizon levelling which has been boosted to 45 degrees.
And there are now three different colour profiles for your footage: natural, flat and vibrant.
Design and build
The robust and durable build and the design are both similar to what came before. The device is waterproof up to 33 feet and its hard plastic frame houses power and record buttons and a secure side flap under are microSD slot, USB-C port for charging and the slot in which you place the battery.
The replaceable lens on the front (which protects your camera’s interior lens) is now scratch resistant too.
A 1.14in LCD display with live preview is on the front and the main 2.27in touchscreen on the rear is where you control the camera and access the settings. The latter is much more responsive on the Hero 10 than on the Hero 8 and this is due to the faster GP2 processor that has been introduced on this model.
Viewing angles are decent and you can easily see the screens outdoors.
Features
The UI is identical to any other GoPro I’ve used.
Horizontal swipes switch modes – Photo, Video, and Timelapse – while swipes up bring you to any media stored on your memory card, and swipes down give you access to the device’s settings.
The ability to capture 23MP RAW photos in all modes is fantastic as the image quality is superb.
You still have the SuperPhoto option too, which turns any image into a stunning HDR (high dynamic range) shot that doesn’t require any editing.
And you get popular GoPro features such as TimeWarp, Burst Mode, Night Photo and voice control.
One big improvement over my Hero 8 is in the standard of images and footage captured in lowlight.
Hero 10 also fires up much faster than my older model. And it seems to snap and process photos much more quickly.
But there is still no optical zoom.
Battery and accessories
Battery life is dependent on what resolution you are shooting in. The company says that users can record up to 63-minute clips at 4K/60 fps, whereas in 5.3K at 60fps you will run out of juice in 29 minutes.
There is support for both wired and wireless transfer to your Android or iOS device. The former greatly speeds up transferring your videos but in fairness thanks to the GP2 chip the wireless transfers are zippy too.
WiFi is available on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, incidentally.
And of course the range of compatible mounts and accessories is huge. The modular accessories available include Max Lens Mod (turns the lens into an ultrawide), Media Mod (adds a bi-directional microphone), Light Mod (adds a light) and Display Mod (adds a second screen).
If you are a vlogger, the Media Mod is probably a good investment as audio quality from the built-in front-facing microphone is not great especially in windy environments.
And if you are a content creator for TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, the GoPro Quick app has templates that enable you to create and edit videos quickly for almost instant uploading and posting.
Verdict
On the whole, if you’re in the market for the most complete action camera around, GoPro Hero10 Black is it.
The waterproof body, portability and easy smartphone connectivity mean it is highly suitable for travel, sports and lifestyle photography.
And if you buy the Media Mod add-on, it’s a great vlogging camera too.
Pricing and availability
GoPro Hero 10 Black is currently on sale at Harvey Norman for €479 (reduced from €529).
