The GoPro Hero 12 Might Slightly Disappoint, Here’s Why
News | By Stephan Jukic | August 29, 2023
DJI’s Osmo Action 4 offered an arguably better sensor than GoPro’s Hero 11. Will the upcoming Hero 12 remedy that or offer more of the same?
The widely expected release for the GoPro Hero 12 and its variants is likely to be in mid-September according to the latest rumors from the website WinFuture.
However, rumors are also indicating that the upcoming successor to the Hero 11 will offer the same 1/1.9-inch image sensor and likely the same 27MP resolution with 5.3K/60fps video recording as its predecessor.
These specs both offered great video and photo recording abilities, but it would be cool to see the Hero 12 outdo them anyhow.
As things stand with the Hero 11, it gets fierce performance competition from DJI’s OSMO Action 4 camera, which despite lacking 5.3K video resolution, does offer a physically larger sensor. This larger sensor size in the OSMO Action 4 means measurably better low-light performance than what the Hero 11 can handle.
The OSMO Action 4 even looks very similar to the Hero 11 from GoPro
On the other hand, with the Hero 11, there’s the 5.3K video recording, which the Hero 12 will definitely offer at a minimum.
In other words, while the Hero 12 will without a doubt be yet another great action camera from the GoPro brand, it might disappoint by not bringing many wholly new features and specs expansions to the market.
The WinFture article mentioned above also claims that the Hero 12 will retail for roughly $490 USD, or €449.99 £383, and AU$760 and that it should come with a new “HyperSmooth 6.0” software-based image stabilization system.
One other notable change in the Hero 12 (at least according to what are still effectively rumors) is that it will have an extended battery life of 150 minutes, vs. the 137 minutes of the current Hero 11. This isn’t a huge difference, but it would be a helpful bonus.
On the other hand, the specs for the Hero 12 still indicate the same 1720mAh battery that the Hero 11 has. Thus even the extended shooting time might be a false rumor, or the Hero 12 could come with an optimized battery design.
Previous but unfounded rumors about the Hero 12 claimed that it would feature a notably larger sensor and edge-to-edge display screen designs.
However, the more concrete recent rumors indicate the same 2.27 and 1.4-inch front and rear LCD screens. These more recent specs also hint at a camera that’s mostly the same as its predecessor.
Overall, the Hero 12 will doubtlessly be a great little action camera by any standard, but for those of you holding out to buy something definitively better than existing action camera models, either from GoPro or DJI, don’t firmly expect too much.
If you haven’t yet bought an action camera, the Hero 12 is still worth waiting on for a couple of weeks to see if it surprises tech watchers by emerging with major improvements. If it doesn’t do this, the GoPro Hero 11 or DJI Osmo Action 4 might be worthwhile money-saving options.
Image credits: GoPro, DJI
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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.
