The rumors of an new entry-level GoPro action camera have finally been put to rest. GoPro today announced the release of yet another camera in its Hero range – one that’s designed for the everyman.
Simply called Hero, the new camera is a "go-anywhere, capture-anything" snapper that's priced at AU$299.95 ($199, £199) – making it the cheapest GoPro action cam at launch thus far – and it's aimed at those who want to capture all the action without relying on the limitations of a smartphone camera.
In terms of design, the Hero is closer to the premium Black and Silver models rather than GoPro's previous budget-oriented Session cameras. The latter lack true built-in displays, and instead rely on a paired smartphone for both viewing video and accessing some of their more advanced controls and settings.
"Hero is a great first GoPro for people looking to share experiences beyond what a phone can capture," said GoPro's Senior Vice President of Product, Meghan Laffey. "Hero makes it easy to share ‘wow’ moments at a price that’s perfect for first-time users."
Half-price Hero
The new Hero is half the price of the GoPro Hero6 Black (at $399.99 / £399.99 / AU$599.95), making it accessible to more people who'd like to capture their adventures (or misadventures as the case may be).
Despite the lower cost, the Hero arguably still has enough bells and whistles to keep casual videographers happy.
Like the Hero5 Black and the Hero6 Black, the new camera features a built-in 2-inch touch display, providing a smartphone-like user interface, and is also waterproof out of the box (for up to 10m) without the need to use a specific housing. While it lacks 4K video capabilities, the Hero can shoots HD video at 1440p and 1080p at up to 60fps and captures 10MP stills.
The Hero also comes with the Voice Control feature that we saw in the Hero5 and Hero6 range of cameras, making video capture fun and easy.
Video stabilization is built-in and it’s compatible with most existing GoPro mounting accessories.
Availability
We've contacted GoPro for confirmation on when the Hero will be available on shelves in the UK and US, but in the new camera is already on sale in Australia for just under AU$300. We'll update this story with additional availability details when we know more.
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