Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pros:__________ • The camera is solid, a very compact design, soft rubberized body, and z unique layout of having two camera lenses (front and back) in one machine. • They integrated a pair of fold-out fingers at the base of the camera. It’s universal so you don’t need to only use GoPro’s tripods, helmet mount, or selfie sticks. Just go on Amazon or AliExpress and spend $10-$20 on a camera set. Very appreciated that GoPro did this. • The 360 action camera is a little trippy, but works well. The cool part of this is that you don’t need to wear a VR set to see if your shots turned out fine. GoPro’s app will allow you to sweep across a 360 screen so you view all angles. Note that the editing for a 360 does take some time getting used to, but the app really helps. • The GoPro app is excellent. With your smartphone, the camera will transfer all your videos (including your 360 shots) and display them on the app. Super quick auto-editing, create clips, share with friends, reframe clips with other sources, establish keyframes, and even basic color correcting. Overall I found this system one of the most approachable I’ve used. Even filming you eating a banana with this GoPro can look dynamic, thanks to its software. • If you don’t want to edit with your phone, GoPro has an app for PC and Mac. For me, this is the main choice because you can work with a mouse rather than your fingers. • Even before shooting you can not only choose between four digital lenses (13mm, 16mm, 19mm, and 27mm) to shoot from, but also you can change the bitrate, shutter speed, white balance, exposure, and so forth. This is very useful if you don’t want to put up money for adobe’s editing software. • The Reframe mode is something I used consistently. This mode allows you to point at the action you want to focus on and the video’s focal point can be adjusted to your choosing. This is a huge help, as I used this feature when filming myself mountain biking. By adjusting the focal point you’re rarely going to get blurry shot. Very happy with this feature. • The stabilization is more impressive than you expect. They call it the “HyperSmooth Stabilization,” and because of their “Horizon leveling” system, the GoPro detects the orientation of the camera. Riding a bike on a rocky trail, the GoPro keeps the footage quite smooth. Now I know that this will be different depending on the sport/activity you’re doing but the stabilization is quite good during day filming. • Adding on the Horizon feature, you can rotate the camera in any degree you want that and the footage will stay locked on the horizon (This can be disabled if you want to). • I felt the audio is a big installment on this device. It had six microphones, and overall I didn’t get any wind interference, shaky helmet noises, and minimal “underwater” vocals from my friends. • You can allow the camera to put more focus on the audio. This is a neat feature if the GoPro is stabled and you want to film an interview or want to vlog. • It does have a pretty convenient 360-degree time-lapse video layout. I didn’t test this, but it’s something to know. • The touchscreen is not only a very responsive viewfinder, but it can hold its ground when the sun is shining right on it. • The video quality is 1080p and is overall crisp and vibrant. I think it’s a little overexposed, but it doesn’t degrade the clip. 1080p video content has been around for years. No issues I found with the quality. • The Pro also has a 270-degree photo panorama feature. The cool part with this is that you don’t need to pan the camera left to right, similar to all smartphones. Just a single click and you’re done. Fast, convenient, and great image quality. Cons and Oks:__________ • You can’t shoot in 4k because there is no 4k. • One main issue I discovered is this GoPro doesn’t film well when you’re shooting in close. It’s difficult to explain when exactly the quality falls when an object comes close. I would say by a hand reach because anything closer the image becomes crunchy. • The biggest issue is the camera design for 360 filmmakers. I’m a big fan of the layout but you have a camera with a lens the front and another in the back. The problem that occurs in this is the lighting. If the sun is hitting one lens it will create a completely different exposure level than the other one. For those who want to film 360 shots, this is a big problem that I don’t know how to get around it. I would have to think that you need to correct the exposure issue when editing it in the app, or third-party software. • The stitching is noticeable on the top and bottom of the shot. The reason why is because the camera has a wide base to attach itself on a mount. Note that this occurs on a majority of action cameras, and this one is no exception. • No modify slow-mode. • Here are your shots in a nutshell. 60fps (for most modes), 1080p or 1440p, and of course 30fps/24fps. Nothing fancy, it is what it is. • You have less control over wide shots. I can’t control anything unless the shot is 270 degrees. The solution is using a third-party software to fix this, but it’s just another extra step and sometimes you just want to put the clip out ASAP. • If you want to take pictures at night with this, be warned there is no “burst” mode or even a night mode. • For some reason, the stabilization performance is jitterier when you’re filming at night. Also, you still get the little ups and downs when walking. But please be aware of the night. • Adding to the night issue, the video quality decreases. With the 1080p limit, the pixel layout on night shots is going to look unimpressive. Stick to your smartphone, if it has 4k. • Non-fisheye footage is grainy, if you’re not in a fully lit environment. I believe the reason why is because the GoPro tries to get the best shot and has to compensate for the stretched dimensions that are applied. • As much as the app provides for those who want to best of every shot, there color correcting software is minimal at most. Just use another program. • I know that the Time-lapse feature (“Timewarp”) is a battery killer. From my experience of just filming an 8-minute video dropped the battery by 12%. • No night mode for the time-lapse feature, you’re stuck only using this in the day for the best quality. • If you’re a past GoPro user, I was notified that you’re going to have fewer video modes to play with. • When shooting, the touchscreen stays on a little longer than usual. I hope software updates will fix this issue as an active screen just kills the battery faster. • GoPro states that it’s waterproof up to 16 feet, but not an underwater camera. In other words there saying it has protection in the rain, but put a case on it if you’re planning to hit the lake/pool. • Testing the 360 video layout, I found, when using the touchscreen, you can’t scroll around your 360 frames. The screen only allows you to swipe as you can’t move around a 360 shot. • Also with the 360 mode you can’t use their “auto” mode to help you were to correct the focus. But the tradeoff is that you can put the focus anywhere you want. • For a full day of use, that’s filming, using the touchscreen, active Wi-Fi transfer, and consistent recordings throughout the day, you’re going to need to get an extra battery. You can survive with one, but you need to lay off the Wi-Fi connection to your phone, as well as the touchscreen. • So many contracts before using this device! You need to hit agree on all of them or you can’t use all the GoPro features. Two specific contracts I remember is that if you don’t “agree” you can’t use the app to transfer, edit, or even view your videos. It seems the higher the price for a tool, the stricter they are of you in using it. • The lenses are not protected as they will get scratched. The good news is GoPro knows that and provides you with dust-lens covers for them. They are a must for these lenses. • I have a problem with the battery door. It keeps popping off easily. I don’t know if this is just me, but I wanted to make a note if others are experiencing this. Bottom Line:__________ GoPro got a lot right for trying to be more than just an action camera. They're trying to make this not just the only action camera you use, but also the only video editing software you use while on the go. For this GoPro, of all things, their app integration is what you’ll be looking forward to using. I felt it was not only extremely easy to view my videos right on the touchscreen, but I was able to edit them right on the app. The portably of allowing users to edit their videos and publish them out on your phone is well done in my book. GoPro kind of nailed it with a unique lens design that allows professional athletes to vloggers of all ages to create 360 shots, or film the everyday life. But still with the good comes the bad. As convenient the app software is, it lacks the customization to allow your videos to come to life (such as advance color-correcting, improper exposure layout, etc). For more intense shots you will need to rely on Adobe, or another program (especially for 360 videos) as the app is best only for those quickie publish videos. But two of the main issues I got to address is the video quality and the night modes. With no 4k I found to be a big turn off as not only most of our smartphones can shoot 4k, but GoPro past models provided this feature as well. And lastly the night mode…well, there isn’t any. The entire experience testing this camera at night is not a winner. With stabilization and video quality performance reduce at the night, this is a camera-only built for the day. In the end, I felt GoPro has created a camera that can fit two lifestyles. A unique, two lens, design, and an overall compact system, I can see this as a “go-to” camera when you need a quick shot with the decent video quality. Just always bring an extra pair of batteries if your journey lasts more than a day. Overall: The first daytime action camera that fits both the adventure athletes and the lifestyle vloggers of all shapes and sizes. Hope I was a help to you. Love, Honest Reviewer