Since its inception in 2002, GoPro has established itself as a pioneer in manufacturing action cameras. More than two decades on, the American technology company remains one of the leaders in its category—with the latest flagship camera being the GoPro Hero 11 Black.
Launched in September last year, the 11th generation GoPro Hero boasts a few key upgrades compared to its predecessor. Having tested them out for the past six months, I’ve familiarised myself with their pros and cons. Ahead, I delve into them in further detail and list five regrets I had while using GoPro Hero 11 Black.
It fits anywhere, you’ll almost forget it’s there
GoPro adhered to the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” when it comes to design, retaining the same small yet durable form. This allows it to fit anywhere from your jeans pocket to bag compartments and in your car’s cup holder. Not to mention, it only weighs 155 grams so you’ll barely notice it’s there.
The problem with that for absent-minded users like me is that you’ll forget where you placed it and end up frantically searching everywhere until you realise it’s in the side pocket of your tote bag—right where you left it. True story.
All your flaws are captured in clear detail
While it may look identical to the GoPro Hero 10 except with a ‘1’ at the end instead of ‘0’, the camera features a new, larger 27MP sensor with 10-bit colour. These upgrades capture more detail and produce higher image quality, especially when shooting with 5.3K video at 60FPS. You can even grab high-resolution, ready-to-share photos directly from your video footage through the GoPro Quik app.
Plus, there’s an additional Hero11-exclusive 8:7 aspect ratio offering a wider field-of-view thanks to the new image sensor. Called Hyperview, this function delivers immersive wide-angle shots that can be cropped to various social media-friendly formats such as 9:16 (Reels/TikTok) or 16:9 (YouTube) without losing important details.
Sure, these features sound impressive but they also mean all your imperfections will not go unnoticed if you’re in the frame. Worse, you can see them in real-time on the camera’s dual LCD screens—pimples, scars, belly and all. Not everyone looks effortless back-rolling from a dive boat (as pictured above) or vlogging with the wind blasting hair off their face, and it shows.
There are so many features and tools to try out
Combined with the new aspect ratio and 5.3K format, the GoPro Hero 11 offers a plethora of shooting modes for you to customise, as well as in-camera Power Tools to get the perfect shot. For instance, Hindsight records up to 30 seconds before you hit the button so you won’t miss a moment. Scheduled Capture lets you set the time to automatically record footage so you can sleep in and still get that sunrise TimeLapse; while Duration Capture lets you select the exact duration of time you want to record a footage.
What’s more, there are three new Night Effect Time Lapse presets for capturing landscapes and progress shots in low-light conditions: Star Trails, Light Painting and Vehicle Lights. With so many functions and so little time, how will I ever get to try them all? Talk about first world problems.
You will spend more money on new adventures
The GoPro Hero 11’s Emmy award-winning stabilisation, dubbed HyperSmooth 5.0, has built-in AutoBoost and Horizon Lock features to ensure smooth and steady shots. Plus, there’s the option to record up to 8x slo-mo so you can catch the fast-action details in 2.7K video resolution. Alternatively, you can ramp it up to that crisp 4K resolution and capture 4x slo-mo.
The result? You’ll end up spending more moolah on thrilling activities and adventures since you’ve got the means to capture them all on camera. Besides, what’s the use of an action camera if you’re not going to use it in action, right? Case in point: one of my recent dive trips to Sabah below, where all photos were #shotongoprohero11black. BRB, I’m starting a petition to fund my next dive trip…
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You may get too engrossed in taking content
Finally, having all those features at the tip of your fingers translates to spending more time shooting with the GoPro Hero 11 Pro. You may even end up too caught up in capturing content thanks to the 38 per cent longer lasting cold-weather Enduro Battery (I tested this over a minus-two-degrees cold winter in Sweden—proof below). Further, its water-repellent lens cover ensures that you can record underwater without worrying about droplets disrupting the frame (as tested during my snorkelling and diving trips). The downside is you may get too excited seeing the action on the GoPro display rather than experiencing it IRL.
On the other hand, if you appreciate a pocketable camera that allows you to capture memories in different shooting modes, boasts a ton of features, and inspires more adventures, then by all means—get the GoPro Hero11 Black. Just be warned of the above…
In all seriousness, the flagship action camera has *actually* been such a useful companion to me in the time I’ve had my hands on it (in case you couldn’t tell from my tone of sarcasm). Ultimately, the functionality and flexibility the GoPro Hero 11 offers makes it a worthy investment for content creators and thrill seekers seeking to immortalise their precious memories in a variety of formats, be it photo, video or social media highlights.
The GoPro Hero 11 Black is available for purchase via selected retailers. For more information, check out the official website here.
Read more tech reviews here.
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