Action camera giant GoPro has been in a bit of a tight spot. Their aggressively marketed Karma drone proved to be a flop. Their previous action camera -- the GoPro Hero5 Black didn't sell as well as expected. And with these two aspects combined, the company had to make drastic measures, including price cuts to their latest and most impressive product -- the GoPro Hero6 Black. Fans who bought the device before the 4,000 baht price cut were understandably upset, but to those who are on the fence about purchasing one, here are a few things to consider.
The Good
If you've been looking to get an upgrade to your Hero5, at least you won't have to buy new accessories. Physically, the Hero6 has the exact same physical dimensions as the Hero5. It is waterproof up to 10m, and it boasts a 2-inch touchscreen at the back, one large shutter on top and a mode button on the right side.
The difference between the two models is what lies inside. Created by GoPro especially for their action cams is their latest GP1 System on Chip (SoC). As the main chip that processes the camera's photo and videos, image quality has vastly improved along with video quality -- especially image stabilisation, which is extremely impressive.
I took the little camera on hiking trails and compared to the Hero5, the Hero6's image stabilisation is a godsend. If you're not shaking the camera violently while shooting, the Hero6 will promise smooth and steady footage that can even go against your average gimbal. The colours of the Hero6 are much more vibrant as well, with High Dynamic Range (HDR) shooting for still images.
Lowlight, the Achilles heel of GoPro has also been fixed to a certain extent. Images are much less noisy and blurred, and you could actually see your subjects while shooting video in darker situations.
Software for the Hero6 is more user friendly, with easier-to-navigate menus and options. Instead of having to awkwardly choose which zoom length you want, now you can just use Touch Zoom, similar to what we have in our mobile phones.
For slow-mo fans, Hero6 can shoot up to 240 frames per second, resulting in silky-smooth super-slow-mo footage. And for those who care about pixels and frame rates, the little camera can capture 4K at 60 frames per second for insanely crisp videos.
The Bad
The battery drains fast. The performance is based on setting and environmental factors, but it's recommended to buy a spare as GoPro batteries seem to never last a whole day of usage.
The GoPro Hero6, like the Hero5, has some trouble picking up voice commands. In quiet places, the function works like a charm, but noises like cascading waterfalls, crashing waves and fast winds can leave you looking like a dummy yelling "GoPro take a photo" at the top of your lungs.
The Ugly
Though the software has improved, the Hero6 did completely die on me during the two weeks I tested it. Freezing when I turned on the camera, both the touchscreen and the two physical buttons were unresponsive. I had to pull the battery out, place it back in, and pray that all of the images were still there. The images though, disappeared when it was turned back on, replaced with little white exclamation marks instead. Turning the GoPro off and on again, the images somehow came back. Credible online reviews like those by Peter McKinnon and Kai Man Wong have reported the same issue, and my Hero5 which I've had for a year never experienced this.
For this price, it's the best action camera available,
but it definitely comes with its faults.
