GoPro has launched two new action cameras under its Hero 11 series. They are Hero 11 Black and Hero 11 Black Mini. The latter is a more compact version of the Hero 11 Black, with some advanced features. GoPro just sent me the Hero 11 Black, so today we’ll take a look at what’s new and improved in the Hero 10 Black. The old model will continue to go on sale in India at a lower price. Hero 11 Black is priced at Rs. 51,500, which is still expensive but less than the Hero 10 Black.
In terms of design and physical dimensions, the new GoPro Hero 11 Black is almost identical to the Hero 10 Black. Apart from the inscription ’11 Black’ on the side of the camera, it’s impossible to tell the two apart. The new camera has the same sturdy design and is waterproof up to 10 meters. You get a 2.27-inch touchscreen display on the back and a smaller, non-touch color display on the front. The lens cover is removable and supports 11 Black Max lens mods as well. The camera has folded fingers on the bottom, and a flap on the side protects the battery and USB Type-C port.
GoPro Hero 11 Black looks similar to Hero 10 Black
The Hero 11 Black has GoPro’s Enduro battery, which was previously sold separately for the Hero 10 Black. It promises 38 percent longer recording time than the Hero 10 Black (Review) with a standard battery. The Hero 10 Black last year introduced a new processor called the GP2 and this year the big addition to the Hero 11 Black is a new sensor. It’s bigger at 1/1.9 inch (versus 1/2.3 inch) and while the horizontal resolution is the same, you get more vertical resolution because it’s taller and it supports a new 8:7 aspect ratio.
The larger sensor enables the GoPro Hero 11 Black to capture 27-megapixel stills and there’s a new Hyperview lens for video recording that produces an even wider field of view than the Superview lens. The Hero 11 Black also supports 10-bit color and a slightly higher 120 Mbps video bitrate, which can be enabled in the ProTune settings. The new model also gets the latest version of HyperSmooth 5.0, support for 5.3K resolution when shooting TimeWarp video, and new presets for Vehicle Light Trails and Star Trails in the Timelapse menu.
The maximum video recording resolution on the GoPro Hero 11 Black is the same as on the Hero 10 Black, which is 5.3K at 60fps or 4K at 120fps. There are so many variations of framerates and resolutions to play with and we’ll be exploring them all in our full review. GoPro says shooting in the new 8:7 aspect ratio has its advantages as you can export videos with the Quicken app later in 4:3 or 9:16 aspect (for social vertical videos) without losing any quality. can.
New for recording video is 8:7 aspect ratio
The new GoPro Hero 11 Black’s user interface should sound familiar if you’ve used a GoPro recently, but the settings menu is now better organized. The new video mode setting allows you to switch to an extended battery mode, change the default video recording preset to a lower resolution and disable the 8:7 aspect option. You can still customize each of the video presets, but switching to this mode gives you quick access to video presets that won’t drain battery too quickly. The new control toggle button allows you to switch to an easy mode that gives you a single, uneditable preset for video, photo, and timelapse for those who just want to point and shoot.
27-megapixel photo taken by GoPro Hero 11 Black
I haven’t spent a lot of time using the GoPro Hero 11 yet, but so far, image and video quality look great. The GoPro has always had excellent stabilization and with the Hero 11 Black, there’s something called Auto Boost, which engages stabilization only when needed so the frame isn’t permanently cropped for the duration of the clip. One cool feature I really like is the new Horizon Lock for full 360-degree rotation, which means the horizon remains fixed even when the camera is rotated 360-degrees. This was one of the main features of the Max Lens Mod and GoPro Max 360-degree camera, but the Hero 11 Black now supports it natively.
If you have skipped the GoPro Hero 10 Black, then the Hero 11 Black should be an interesting option as it is slightly cheaper at Rs. 51,500. However, apart from the new taller aspect ratio, does the new sensor offer any other improvements in terms of image quality for casual users compared to last year’s model? We’ll be testing the GoPro Hero 11 Black in the coming days, so don’t forget to check back for a full review.
