I tested the new budget GoPro – it’s brilliantly simple, but is it too basic?

The GoPro Hero 2024 has been launched alongside the GoPro Hero13 Black and offers a stripped-down version of the standard GoPro, with the same superb build quality, but smaller and with fewer features.
The point of the camera, as with the Session and Cube before it, is to offer users a camera that’s small, fuss-free, and extremely easy to use and mount.

Everything about the camera has been designed so that you can get out and shoot without having to worry about settings, and GoPro has even gone to the extremes of culling many of the more in-depth on-camera settings to make this one of the easiest action cameras on the market to use.

The simplicity essentially makes this an ideal option for those just starting out. Or, if you, like me, already own and use GoPros but don’t want the full expense of buying more, yet would like additional GoPros in order to film other perspectives or for multi-camera footage, then this looks like a great value option, at least at first. However, it’s worth pointing out that GoPro is aiming this at the entry level, so many of those Pro features, such as ProTune, are not available through this camera, not even through the app.

One of the issues that previous compact GoPros had was battery life, and it’s good to see that this new GoPro comes with a built-in Enduro battery that should extend the usage time significantly over previous releases. It’s essentially a built-in version of the upgraded battery that came with the Hero13 Black, so if that’s anything to go by, it should be good.

The GoPro Hero is small, although not quite as small as either the Mini or Session it is lighter and, more importantly, smaller than the GoPro Hero13 Black.

At 56.6 x 47.7 x 29.4 mm and weighing in at 86g, it is lighter than its predecessors, the GoPro Hero11 Black Mini at 133g, the Hero Session at 74g, the Hero4 and 5 Session at 74g, and the last GoPro Hero (known as the Cube) at 111g.

The big advantage of the new GoPro camera over those that have come before is that while it once again has stripped-down features, it retains a full-colour touchscreen on the back, which simply makes it far more user-friendly.

There are also a few other built-in features that really stand out, including the interchangeable lens. This means that if you scratch or damage the lens in any way, it’s easy to replace. Like the Hero13 Black, if there are additional lens mods, then I assume these will fit onto the small body, vastly boosting the usability of the camera, possibly for more creative use.

The other big feature, although this is in line with the other compact GoPros, is that the battery is integral to the design. There are parts of me that like this idea; however, it also means that if the battery dies, so does the camera. Still, it is the Enduro battery, so hopefully, that should provide years of use.

When in the introduction I said that this camera has been stripped down, I meant it. Most of the big GoPro features are gone, and really, this camera is designed for those just wanting to capture great footage and not worry too much about quality settings.

As such, the first rather surprising feature is that the frame rates and resolutions offered by the camera are extremely narrow: there’s 4 K at 30fps, 2.7K at 60fps, or you can shoot 12MP stills, and that’s it.

Then, the superb innovation of HyperSmooth, GoPro’s electronic image stabilisation, is now applied via the Quik App rather than in-camera.
However, many of the usual design features are there, so you have the dual-prong mounting, which is one of the reasons GoPro has led the field for so long.

Then there are recording features such as Immersive+, which offers 4:3 video capture and enables you to capture ultra-wide footage for YouTube or portrait for the likes of TikTok.

As is standard with all recent GoPros, the camera is fully waterproof without a cage or housing, up to 16ft. This might not seem very deep, but try it and see how you feel.

Again, a now common feature on these cameras is the replaceable water-repelling lens cover. So, if it does get damaged, a quick twist and you can pop on a new one.

Inside, the camera also benefits from the new, longer-lasting Enduro battery. This essentially utilises the same battery technology that GoPro has employed for their full-size model, bringing far greater battery life and longevity to this compact version.

The image stabilisation is a bit of an odd one, as it’s still available but only through the Quik App rather than directly in-camera. This adds to the processing time and really means that you need to utilise the camera with the app if you want to make the most of its potential.

When it comes to the frame rates and resolutions, I also find the options a little surprising, with only two video choices and one for stills. It’s okay for getting started, but otherwise extremely limiting.

There are even more features than this, including automatic uploads and backup. However, to gain access to these, you once again need the GoPro subscription, which is relatively expensive all things considered.

Sometimes you just want to pop the GoPro on a mount and film. For example, if I’m off on the mountain bike across the New Forest, and to be honest, the GoPro Hero is the perfect camera for this.

I often think about adjusting the settings to shoot slow motion or to do something more, but in reality, that doesn’t happen, and I shoot at 4K@60fps on the GoPro Hero13 Black as it offers a little additional leeway when it comes to editing.

The first thing I noted with the GoPro Hero is that there are just three settings, and due to the way that I edit and use GoPro, I decided that I would prefer the additional frames over the resolution to start and opted for 2.7K at 60fps.

Once that was set, I just tapped the record button on top, and the process was started, all very simple and extremely streamlined. Once I started to tire, I switched to the higher resolution with a slower frame rate and captured more footage on the bike.

I’d already run through the setup process, and I was able to download and view the footage.

As ever, the footage has that distinct GoPro style, and the quality, at least on the iPhone, looked superb. However, before running the footage through Quik, the old vibration and camera shake in the footage were visible. After a few moments, Quik had worked its magic, and the smoothing that we usually see in-camera was applied to the picture with excellent results.

While this isn’t as streamlined as the GoPro Hero13 Black when it comes to image stabilisation, there’s no doubting it works very well.

I then tried a few more things, such as delving into the menus to look at the settings, but found them limited. It seems GoPro just want you to go have fun and not spend hours meddling with settings.

Checking through the footage, the resolution, colour, and tone are excellent, with GoPro having worked hard at the absolute quality of the footage for those two video settings rather than expanding the options. This means that in either of the options, you can capture strong footage, and the ease of use is well beyond any previous GoPro, especially with the addition of the screen.

The GoPro Hero 2024 is designed with simplicity in mind. It’s great if you just want to film and don’t want to worry about settings. The ultimate in ease of use. If you’re just starting out or just want to film, then this is a perfect option. If you’re at a level above that or want any control at all, then look at the standard GoPro.

The GoPro Hero is a true successor to the GoPro Hero, Session, and Mini, and offers pure simplicity, although maybe too simple. It has the GoPro brand, looks like GoPro in both physical aesthetics and the look of the footage that it captures. It is a solid camera and will definitely suit anyone just getting into action cameras or just wanting to film high-quality footage.

I did, at the start of this test, think that the camera would be suitable as a multi-cam option, saving a few pennies by buying additional GoPro Hero13 Blacks. However, there’s no ProTune, and the camera’s options and settings are limited.

However, this stripping down and streamlining of features makes for a product that anyone can use and produce decent-quality footage. Existing GoPro users will know from experience when a camera like this will come into play, and it is useful as a second camera, but in reality, this is a camera for those just starting out or just wanting to film without fuss, if you’re an exsisting GoPro user then the limited features will start to grate.