The GoPro HERO 11 Black Review: The perfect camera for vloggers, adventure enthusiasts, and festival goers

At this point, the GoPro brand has achieved Kleenex status, which doesn’t mean it blows, quite the opposite. The brand is so prominent that it is now used to describe any action camera that might be bolted to a human attempting “Kodak moment” maneuvers on anything from bikes to snowboards. Throughout its action sports upbringing, this camera has evolved from an evidence collector for lunatics into a fully functioning device for vloggers, filmmakers, travel nuts, and anyone who wants fantastic photos and video footage. These guys invented a category and continue to improve upon it and push the boundaries of what the small camera like this can do.

We got a hold of the GoPro Hero 11 Black a few weeks ago and have been taking it on various adventures to test its capabilities. As most GoPro faithful know, the evolution has been continuous but only sometimes worthy of jumping into the latest and greatest model, which in many ways is a testament to the quality of the cameras; you don’t need to upgrade every year!

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Unboxing The New GoPro HERO 11 Black

So let’s start with what’s new on the Hero 11 Black and what immediately caught our attention.

The first thing camera nerds will note is the larger sensor which allows for better image quality and excellent lowlight performance. Along with the larger sensor is 10-bit color video, a super cool Ultra-Wide’ HyperView’ field of view, and HyperSmooth 5.0 Video Stabilization which is mind-blowing.

There is also a 360-Degree Horizon Lock and a high-performance enduro battery that gives you longer life and is better in extreme temperatures.

The Hero 11 Blacks front facing camera allows solo users to easily compose shots.

Is The GoPro Quik App Any Good?

Another excellent feature for hobbyists, prosumers, or users that want an easier way to share footage is the GoPro subscription service (yes, another one) and the Quik App. Subscribers get automatic cloud backup and highlight videos sent to their phone for cool little edits of your footage that are easy to share on socials. The annual subscription also offers a whole suite of great editing features, themes, etc., worth every penny. The sub is only $50 annually, so there is not much to fret about for all the features you get.

The Quik app allows you to control your camera remotely, do live streams via RTMP and the most popular services like Twitch, FB, etc., and quickly offload content to your mobile device for quick edits in programs like iMovie for iOS. So if you are in the field, you can travel super light with an iPad/iPhone and produce great edited content or live streams.

Image Quality On The GoPro HERO 11

So let’s get back to the image quality and the new 1/1.9″ sensor, which delivers over 1 billion colors in 10-bit color video with up to 5.3K resolution at 60 fps. Oh wait, you want stills? You also get 27-megapixel photos to capture stills that are just as stellar as your video. If the image quality has yet to convince you, then the image stabilization surely will; more on that shortly.

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One of the significant challenges content creators face today is the various aspect ratios on the different platforms, IG, TikTok, and YT, all require different video sizes… ugh. Hero11 Black’s larger sensor solves this with an 8:7 aspect ratio that gives you the largest vertical field of view ever done on a GoPro.

The Quik app lets you simultaneously create content for all the aspect ratios you need, which will dramatically speed up your workflow if you are a vlogger or social media content producer. There is also the ability to zoom in on the best sections of your videos to create high-resolution close-ups.

GoPro Mountain Bike Mount

So now, the other thing content creators will flip over is the HyperSmooth 5.0 image stabilization. This feature is a game changer for shooters who need smooth footage that typically requires a gimbal. We took the camera mountain biking and for a bumpy walk to showcase how impressive this feature is. See below.

Favorite Features Of The GoPro HERO 11

It’s Waterproof!

Not convinced yet? The camera is waterproof up to 33 feet, extremely tough, and features a pro mode for more control of your images and a primary mode for less experienced shooters. You can upgrade with various mods, including lens, media, and light mod, so that you can tweak your GoPro to perfection, and it works incredibly well in low-light situations.

GoPro Hero 11 Black is Waterproof up to 33 feet!

Its User Interface

The user interface and menus are straightforward and allow you to quickly access critical settings like resolution, video/photo, and other functions like timelapse. One of the other features solo content creators will dig the front-facing screen that allows you to frame up your shot before you yell action (to yourself, you know you do).

There has never been a simpler GoPro with such powerful features; it’s truly an essential kit for us now.

Final Thoughts

This is the one if you are looking for a camera that can do it all in the wild.

The team at GoPro has delivered a revolutionary camera for content creators of all types that is easy to use, great in the field, and provides top-shelf image quality.

Snag The Camera For Yourself And Help Support Our Small Team Of Writers Through Our Partnership With Sweetwater Right Here. 👈

Here’s What You Get With The GoPro HERO 11

Emmy Award®-winning HyperSmooth 5.0 technology with in-camera 360-degree Horizon Lock keeps your footage steady even if your camera rotates a full 360 degrees during capture.
New hyper-immersive HyperView digital lens delivers the widest angle 16:9 shot natively in a HERO camera. It’s for high-action point-of-view capture. Plus, GoPro’s signature SuperView is now available in 5.3K60 and 4K120.
Three new Night Effect Time Lapse presets make capturing pro-quality Star Trails, Light Painting, and Vehicle Light Trails easy.
TimeWarp 3.0 now captures at 5.3K, an impressive 91% leap in resolution from 4K, and an incredible 665% more than 1080p.
Simpler camera control with Easy and Pro modes. Easy Controls make it easier than ever to record in the best setting for any situation, while Pro Controls unlock every aspect of your HERO11 camera for maximum creative control.
Enduro Battery dramatically improves camera performance in cold and moderate temperatures, extending recording times up to 38% in HERO11 Black. Enduro comes in- box with HERO11 Black and HERO11 Black Creator Edition and as a built-in Enduro battery in HERO11 Black Mini.