Here’s What We Know About the Upcoming GoPro Hero 11
News | By Stephan Jukic | September 2, 2022
GoPro Hero cameras are best sellers for good reasons. Most of this now famous action video camera lineup has been praised and loved by users of all kinds across the many Hero releases to date. Using these Hero cameras, sports celebrity documentary filmmakers, nature explorers and ordinary people of all stripes have generated untold hours of exceptionally high-quality video all over the world.
If you’ve been thinking about buying an action camera, you might want to hold off on your purchase for a little while. Rumors about the impending Hero 11 are gathering steam and they include speculation that this newest Hero edition will include a few extra, premium features.
To start things off, let’s take a look at what the CEO of GoPro himself stated at a February 2022 annual stock meeting. According to the GoPro chief, “At the end of 2022, we plan to increase our hardware offerings from two product types we have today, HERO and MAX, to four distinct camera products.” Woodman further elaborated that, “we expect to expand that further by the end of 2023”.
In other words, before the end of this year at least, GoPro’s two major camera offerings will almost certainly get an upgrade to new versions. What’s more, the GoPro CEO mentioned that “We think it’s important to build very differentiated specialized solutions for different use cases to appeal to entirely new groups of users”.
Now, this statement could be referring to the further camera models and editions that GoPro plans to release in the next year, but it’s also possibly a reference to new features that will arrive with the late-2022 Hero and MAX camera releases.
It’s also possible that the Hero 11 will arrive on the market in two different versions, one that’s “lite” with reduced pro features and a lower price for less demanding users, and a second “pro” edition for more serious videographers.
The release of a lite version already happened with the current Hero 10 edition from GoPro: in April of this year, the brand launched a stripped-down Hero 10 variant called the Hero 10 Black Bones, which was easier to mount onto FPV (first-person view) drones. This might be repeated with the Hero 11.
With that said, it’s possible that a lite version comes out, but after being preceded by an even more professionally oriented Hero 11 standard release. This would reflect the company CEO’s reference to finding appeal with entirely new groups of users. Woodman further alludes to such a possibility in other statements he made. For example, “I think it sometimes gets missed that GoPro’s are used by professionals the world over, whether it’s for film, television, their own commercial purposes, or their own research purposes,”
In other words, GoPro cameras (and most likely including a new Hero release) need to create even deeper appeal for users with professional needs. In addition to this, we’ll probably see modified versions of the Hero 11 hit the market thanks to companies like the already-mentioned Black Bones, which offers modified versions of current GoPro cameras with changed ergonomics, superior lens technology, and even conversions to infrared viewing, but at a price.
The Hero 11, Leaked Images
Speculation about the upcoming Hero 11 release doesn’t just revolve around early-2022 statements by GoPro’s CEO. There have also been photo leaks of the camera. The website Win Future published several, which you can appreciate above and below, that show how the camera is externally very similar to its predecessor, with most of the same design parameters for its front-facing screen, rear touch screen, on/off button and minimalist external finish.
Internally though, we still don’t know just what kinds of upgrades the Hero 11 will include. For those, we can speculate, as other camera tech sites have done, but only a company announcement and product release will confirm what’s what.
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Stephan Jukic is a technology and photography journalist and experimental photographer who spends his time living in both Canada and Mexico. He loves cross-cultural street photo exploration and creating fine art photo compositions.
