Should You Buy the GoPro Hero 13 Black Before the Hero 14 Drops?

The GoPro Hero 13 Black is a compact, rugged 5.3K action camera that offers full HDR alongside market-leading stabilisation, and now includes Bluetooth audio support, making it a far better solution for anyone looking to vlog or record more engaging videos.

One of the things GoPro has always done exceptionally well is appeal to a broad spectrum of users, from beginners, who can simply pick up the GoPro and use one-button recording to get out and start capturing their adventures, to enthusiasts and professionals, who can integrate the camera into larger, more elaborate systems.

You also have the fact that GoPro has been the market leader for so long that it’s well supported by a larger ecosystem. So, for production companies, GoPro is just part of the mainstay, and with features like log settings that enable you to record flat footage, you can easily mix high-quality GoPro footage with other camera systems, really expanding its use and functionality.

Over the last decade, GoPro has played a big part in much of my work due to its easy features. Essentially, if you’re shooting any production, you can have a GoPro mounted, and it’s great for capturing B-roll footage. It’s also ideal for any action footage, obviously, and in the near future, I’ll be recording a DJ gig using GoPros on aerial zip lines to record the crowd and DJs to get some more dynamic visuals for our production.

Obviously, there are other ways to do it, but the fact that the GoPro is so small and lightweight, and far less dangerous than flying a drone in a darkened room, means the GoPro once again becomes a suitable tool for any professional environment.

Due to its simplicity, or when rigged into a system, the GoPro has a wide user base. When it comes to what you can use it for, everything from vlogging with the Creator Edition (that I’ve been using for this particular review) to the standard and traditional action sports uses. You can just strap it onto a bike and capture the footage as you go flying through the woods. Or you can use it in professional productions where it acts as a good B-roll or POV camera that can go where other cameras just can’t.

One of the big uses of GoPros is for people to record their adventures, so it makes a great travel camera because it’s so small and compact. While still photos are a little limited and you don’t get any real creative control, they are good for just capturing the scene. So, if you’re looking for something small, compact, and with the ability to go anywhere for your travels, then the GoPro is once again a great option.

And of course, the GoPro is ever-popular for social media, small, compact, and with the Quik app enabling fast edits, especially with the subscription, it offers a streamlined workflow that should appeal to a lot of content creators.

One of the things that really made GoPro stand out from the outset was the rugged, go-anywhere build. Now, with the Hero 13 Black, it features a rubberised matte finish that just feels good and robust. While the size of the GoPro has altered over the years, the actual look and styling have only gone through minor incremental changes, with the big change happening a few years ago with the GoPro Hero 5 Black. Really, since then, the style has remained pretty much the same.

Once again, the GoPro Hero 13 Black offers a good, large touchscreen, which is far more responsive than the previous model. Through the winter months after the initial review, I used it out in the cold and actually found it was still relatively easy to use, something that hasn’t always been the case in the past.

One of the other features I like about this GoPro in particular is the fact that you’ve now got a proper range of lens mods. So, if you’re really into your filmmaking, there is an anamorphic option out there. While I still haven’t tried it, and I really must get hold of an anamorphic lens, this really does excite me, especially when you couple that with the log footage that the GoPro enables you to capture. It really enables some advanced filmmaking potential with this extremely small camera.

I’ve seen quite a few people mention the lack of built-in lens protection, but to be honest, I didn’t find this an issue. Through a year of fairly solid use, and I haven’t been particularly gentle with this GoPro, it’s stood up to knocks and bashes really well, unlike my GoPro Hero 12, which unfortunately suffered a smashed screen some time ago.

So, while GoPro hasn’t actually commented on whether the GoPro Hero 13 Black is any more robust than previous versions, certainly for me, it just feels a bit more solid than previous iterations.

Again, one of the things I really like about this new generation of GoPro is the flip-down mount. This has gone through a slight change with the GoPro Hero 13 Black, and it’s all very nice and neat. What I really like is the fact that it now features a quarter-inch thread on the base, so you can screw it directly into a tripod without the need for an adapter. This makes a big difference compared with previous models.

It also means if I’m taking a time-lapse for social media or YouTube, it’s quick and easy. I just pop it onto a mini tripod, place it on a surface, start the time-lapse, and I don’t have to think about it again until it’s finished.

Some of the more standard features include the improved battery, which offers a really decent amount of power. And once again, it features a microSD card slot, and what I really like about GoPro, over many of its competitors, is that both the battery and the SD card are under one cover, on the same side of the device, rather than one on each side. The USB-C port is in the same location, too, so if you do want to run the GoPro Hero 13 Black from an external power source for extended use, you can.

However, as I mentioned in the introduction, there is a slight overheating issue if you’re filming at 5.3K, so as long as you drop the resolution to around 4K, then you’re going to be fine and should avoid that problem.

Of course, aside from the fact that GoPro is the name in action cameras, the other reason to go for a GoPro is that they developed the GoPro mount. This two-prong approach gives it plenty of mounting options. There’s a huge variety of mounts available from both GoPro and third-party manufacturers. If there’s something you want to mount the GoPro to, then there’ll likely be a mount for it, and if there isn’t, then it’s usually pretty easy to make your own.

One of the things about the new iterations of the GoPro Hero 13 Black is that, like previous iterations, the changes from the previous model always seem slight. Once again, these feature upgrades do initially seem relatively small, although when you compare the GoPro Hero 13 Black to the GoPro Hero 12 Black, those differences become more significant.

However, if you already have a GoPro Hero 12 Black and you’ve never looked at the GoPro Hero 13 Black, then the upgrades may not seem so worthwhile, aside from one.

That upgrade is the wireless Bluetooth mic support, which suddenly transforms the GoPro Hero 13 Black from just another action camera into a fully featured creator filmmaking setup. I have to say, since reviewing this initially, I’ve been more and more impressed with this feature. That wireless Bluetooth connection is good and robust. This is something I’d take into consideration if you’re looking for a compact camera for vlogging, especially if you’re off on your travels or involved in any type of action sport. It’s just so small, and it’s absolutely ideal for social media content.

The only issue I would point out is that there isn’t much control over filmmaking settings. Whilst you can film with the very punchy GoPro colours or switch to the flatter GoPro Log colours, you don’t get much creative control over the depth of field. Still, that’s really where other cameras come into play. What I do like is that you can adjust the shutter speed, so at least you’ve got some flexibility, either to shoot blurry or jittery motion footage, which is really good if you’re shooting a mountain biking or skating video.

One feature that really infuriates me, but at the same time I fully understand, is the fact that if you want some of the more advanced features, then you need to have the GoPro Plus subscription. This gives you cloud storage along with auto-editing features, which is absolutely superb, but if you don’t pay for the subscription, then you don’t get access. It makes sense, but it’s just annoying.

When it comes to video, there’s HDR once again. You also get scheduled capture and 10-bit colour support, which essentially enables you to better match it with other cameras. These are all features that help promote the professional level of the camera. Yet, the user interface remains nice and simple to use, meaning it has a broad range of users and doesn’t isolate itself to either beginner or professional use. GoPro has really managed to strike a good balance of features.

I remember being sat at one of the tech or camera shows somewhere in the world with the GoPro team as they explained HyperSmooth to me, and at the time, I was a little bit perplexed. I’d come across electronic image stabilisation before and, to be honest, I’d always been completely underwhelmed. Anyway, I walked away from that discussion with the new GoPro, and when I got home, I got to testing the new camera.

New GoPro mounted on the bars of my bike, I headed off, and when reviewing the footage, the improvement that HyperSmooth made absolutely blew my mind. I’d never seen anything like it. Now, with HyperSmooth 6.0, it just takes things to the next level, to the point where I don’t think I can wobble or move in any way that could improve the smoothness of HyperSmooth footage.

It’s just mind-blowingly good, superb and completely on par if not better than any mechanical stabiliser.

In fact, it seems to have gone beyond what you get with a mechanical gimbal stabiliser. That bobbing effect you often see when walking with a gimbal? Gone. The footage now glides smoothly. You’ve got horizon levelling, and even if you rotate the camera, it just locks on, keeping everything stable and level. It’s one of the best systems out there.

However, it’s worth considering that hot on its heels are the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 and the DJI Action 5, both of which have their own image stabilisation features that are absolutely on par with the GoPro system.

Another big improvement is the low-light performance, and this has definitely been enhanced. The noise in low-light images has reduced, although it’s still not night-optimised. That said, through my testing, I was happy with the footage, but it wouldn’t be my first choice for night or dusk videography.

When I tested the camera, which was in the early part of this year, I was really impressed with the 5.3K and 4K footage. I ran the camera extensively for long periods without issue. However, after using it through the summer, I did experience some overheating when shooting at 5.3K 60fps. I checked online and found this was a more widespread issue, particularly when recording for over an hour.

That said, the only reason I was really shooting in 5.3K at 60fps was because I was feeling a bit lazy with my editing; it just meant I could crop into footage easily and get slow motion out of it without much effort. So it was a bit of a hassle having to wait for the camera to cool down, but at the same time, I wasn’t overly bothered; it’s just worth pointing out.

Otherwise, when it came to image quality and pretty much everything else about the GoPro Hero 13 Black, I have to say it’s very much on par with the GoPro Hero 12 Black, which I was already impressed with. So again, it’s a very impressive camera, but there is one feature that really makes this stand out against the Hero 12 Black and actually makes this one of the first viable upgrades of a GoPro in a long time.

That upgrade is the wireless audio pairing, which offers such a useful addition to this action camera. It really elevates it from being just an action cam into a full vlogging and filming rig. Then, when you couple that with the lens mods and everything else, it really does become a superb option.

Over the last few months, I’ve been using the GoPro Hero 13 Black, the Insta360 Ace Pro 2, and the DJI Action 5, all of which are exceptionally good cameras. I’m so glad I have all three because choosing between them is very difficult. But if I had to pick just one, and after a huge amount of thought, there is one additional feature that makes me say: go for the GoPro Hero 13 Black. I’ll include that in the final thoughts.

I’ve been a keen fan of GoPro cameras really since I first came across them, which was with the GoPro Hero 2. I spent some time hunting down the entire range and now have the full collection, which I’ll be posting retrospective reviews of in the near future. Through that evolution, from the very first GoPro that actually used film to the GoPro Hero 13, there’s been a huge advancement in both technology and design.

One of the things that always irritates me every year, though I should probably stop mentioning it, but I always do, is that each GoPro Hero comes with a small incremental upgrade. Sometimes it’s a new processor or a slight resolution or frame rate bump, but really, each one is so slight that if you already have the previous version, you’re not going to feel you’re missing out. It’s only once you skip two or three generations that you really begin to benefit from those performance upgrades.

However, when I first got the GoPro Hero 13 Black, I started to see a camera that had really come into its own, and it needed to, because the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 and the DJI Action 5 are both impressive cameras. So GoPro really needed to pull something out of the bag to remain the number one action camera on the market.

It has that lead from a two-fold approach, first, with those lens mods, which are absolutely superb. I’ve seen a load of footage from the anamorphic lens, and it’s only because I revisited this review that I remembered I must get one, so I’ve already ordered one on Amazon, and I’ll bring you a full review of that soon.

Just the ability to click in and out of lenses, plus the variety of mods out there, gives you plenty of flexibility with this small camera, and that’s something I really like. The GoPro action camera has now become far more adaptable.

But beyond the lens mod, which I absolutely love, there’s also the ability to sync Bluetooth wireless mics. With the Creator Grip, it really evolves the camera into something much more, a true vlogging system.
When you pair the fixed grip with HyperSmooth, which gives you that gimbal-smooth footage, and add in the wireless mic for clear audio, plus the image quality, rugged design, battery life, and the fact that it’s a GoPro, it just makes you feel good about this camera.

Even though the GoPro Hero 14 Black is imminent for release, I’m pleased I’ve gone back and taken a proper look at the GoPro Hero 13 Black six months on. It’s still a phenomenal camera.

If the Hero 14 doesn’t arrive, or even if it does, I’m happy to say that if you’re looking for an action camera today, out of the three options currently available, I still feel the GoPro Hero 13 Black just takes the edge, thanks to the lens mods and the wireless Bluetooth mic option.