GoPro Hero – The Cheapest GoPro Yet

While the GoPro cameras have been the best in the market for recording all your sports and adventure, their high price has scared a lot of enthusiastic photographers into buying cheaper options. GoPro finally decided to remedy this and released an entry level GoPro camera that is simply named the GoPro Hero.

Very reasonably priced at just $130, £100 or AU$169 and the cheapest GoPro yet, this action camera is a stripped down version of the Hero3 White and has the ability to record videos at 1080p at 30fps and 720p at 60fps.

While it is not the best camera in the market and is definitely much inferior than the latest Hero4 Black and Hero4 Silver models, the camera does hold the GoPro name and quite a few attractive features.

In the box

 

Along with the GoPro Hero camera, you will get the standard and skeleton backdoors, a Mini-USB cable, 2 adhesive mounts with quick release buckles and rubber locking plugs.

GoPro also has a free editing software called the GoPro Studio, which is quite good to use with the camera.

Features

 

The GoPro Hero looks just like GoPro's other cameras and it weighs 111g (3.9 ounces) with its combined housing. Unlike other GoPro cameras, the Hero is permanently kept in its housing, which is a standard back panel. The case makes it waterproof to 131 feet (40 meters) and it has a skeleton door that opens to let more sound reach the mic.

While the permanent housing can sustain a lot of rough handling, if you manage to damage it, its not going to be easy to replace.

The Hero is equipped with a micro SDHC card slot that supports up to 32GB and it also has a Mini-USB port. What it does not have, is the important Micro-HDMI port and the GoPro accessory port. While its not the biggest loss, he former is more convenient for playing your footage directly from the camera to a display or HDTV.

 

But the camera not having an accessory port is definitely a concern. Without it you cannot add Wi-Fi, an LCD or an extra battery to the Hero. This eliminates any previewing of shots or an extra battery as the battery is also built in. The Mini-USB also does not support the external mic cable.

When it comes to video recording, the Hero offers 1080p at 30fps and 720p at 60fps. There is also an additional 720p at 60fps that supports GoPro's SuperView. This option takes a 4:3 video and digitally expands it to a taller 16:9 video. The 720p settings also support GoPro's Auto Low Light feature that assists in video recording by dropping the shutter speed and making sure that the video isn’t too dark.

You can also capture singular 5MP stills, in bursts of 10 at 5fps and with time-lapse sequences taking shots every 0.5 seconds.

The battery life of the Hero is quite good and the camera lasts about 2 hours and 30 minutes with constant recording. It also just takes around two around to completely charge the phone. The camera's QuikCapture feature also helps maximize battery life.

 

Video quality

The default resolution for video recording on the Hero is 720p at 60fps SuperView. Though, the 1080p video gives a sharper look to the videos and is much more detailed. Both resolutions record videos at about 15Mbps and are best viewed on small screens.

When viewed on a larger screen, the subjects in the video will look soft and a lot of artifacts will be visible, especially with fast movements. Low-light scenes too look softer and noisier, but they are not completely unusable. Overall, the videos recorded with the GoPro are very good for the price of the camera and have much better details than other cameras in the same price range.  

Conclusion

The GoPro Hero is a great budget friendly camera that is small, mountable waterproof. As an entry level GoPro it fares quite well, though considering the shortage of features as compared to other GoPro cameras, the size could actually have been smaller. The decision to leave the BacPac port seems to be a negative, but the Hero is definitely a good place to start if you are new to the world of action cameras.