GoPro Hero 3+ Hands On: A Nice Bump, But Not a Huge Jump

Last twelvemonth , whenGoPro ’s Hero 3 Blackedition emerged triumphant from our intensiveAction Camera Battlemodo , we note that while it won , we had some gripes that nearly cost it the crown . This year , GoPro is unfreeze the Hero 3 + , and it address almost all our concerns .

https://gizmodo.com/gopro-hero-3-black-edition-review-yes-its-the-best-u-5959046

Did you see the plus sign in there ? Kind of like an iPhone 5S. It ’s subtle , and so are its improvement , but they do indeed add up to make a well camera . We were able to get our hand on the young Black edition a little early , and here are our first impressions .

Hardware

From the front , the Hero 3 + bootleg depend all but identical to the Hero 3 Black . Upon cheeseparing inspection you ’ll see that the lens front ever so slightly different . That ’s because it ’s been rebuild . The new f/2.8 lens is a major improvement . Everything is much acuate than it was before . GoPro has clearly tweaked its imaging software , too , because coloring counterpoise is greatly meliorate . Also , look at those first surf shot in the video . Despite the fact that the sun is behind me and shining directly into the photographic camera , you could still see my face really well . That ’s a real improvement in active mountain chain . There is n’t as much figure of speech distortion or ghosting , either . GoPro take a 33 - percent improvement , though we ’re not trusted how we ’d quantify that .

The dimensions of the photographic camera ’s consistence are exactly the same as the last one , which have in mind it ’ll play nicely with the original Hero 3 ’s case . The 3 + is ever so slimly lighter than the three , but we ’re spill the beans 73 Hans C. J. Gram vs. 75 Hans C. J. Gram , so you probably would n’t even find . Under the hood , there ’s a fresh Wi - Fi buffalo chip which boasts greater pep pill . That translates to less latency when you ’re using the smartphone app or the included remote ascendency . We saw it in action , and indeed it was a bit quicker , but this was n’t a major complaint for us anyway . Our big complaint before was …

Battery Life

The grownup nick against the Hero 3 Black was stinking battery life . GoPro has treat this by swop out the 1050mAh ( 3.885Wh ) battery in the Hero 3 , for an 1180mAh ( 4.37Wh ) barrage fire in the 3 + , and doing some software system optimization . We did an main test , running both cameras at 1080p/24fps . The original Hero 3 Black run one 60 minutes and 37 proceedings of continuous shooting , and the Hero 3 + Black start two hour and nine , which is a very honorable 25 - per centum melioration over its predecessor . ( GoPro claims a 30 - percent improvement . perchance it depends on the modality you ’re in . ) That ’s by all odds better , but it ’s still about a half - hr unretentive than the first variation of theSony Action Cam .

https://gizmodo.com/sony-action-cam-review-not-as-awesome-as-we-hoped-5953000

Software

One of the biggest improvement on the 3 + Black is the SuperView manner which is usable in 1080p and 720p . GoPros have a sensor that shoots in the 4:3 proportion . When you ’re shooting in 1080 or 720 , the photographic camera essentially crop the top and bottom of the image sensor , so it becomes 16:9 . What SuperView does is that it bourgeon video in the 4:3 ratio , using the entire sensor , and then conform it within the camera to be 16:9 . That sounds terrible , right ? Like you ’d get some weird , slop - looking television .

amazingly , it does n’t face forged at all . In fact , for most activeness where you ’d be using an action at law camera , it ’s fantastic . search at the photo above . The board I was riding was 6 - understructure 4 - inch ( not ideal for human knee - gamy waves ) , which meant I had to be pretty closelipped to the tv camera . I ’m standing more or less as tall in both of the shots , yet seem how much more of me you may see in the shot on the left , and the warp was really insignificant . In other word , it just captures a lot more , which is something that can really improve the caliber of your shots , regardless of the play or action .

Slightly more unfixed is the new Auto Low Light mode . It ’s supposed to automatically adapt your frame - charge per unit to give you improved low - light shot . Lower ( slower ) frame - rates allow more light in , so if you ’re bourgeon 1080p at 60fps , and you ’re not getting enough light on the sensor , it may mechanically drop you down to 24fps ( which is as low-spirited as it will go , mercifully ) . We did n’t really notice much happening on this front , but we definitely have n’t given it a thorough evaluation yet . We ’ll be looking into down in the mouth - light performance when we do our full review .

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In a feature that ’s coming soon ( but was n’t quick for launch ) , you ’ll be able to refresh your camera ’s firmware wirelessly , using the GoPro smartphone app . Currently , you have to hook it up to your computer and manually download / establish the updated software , which is a fuss . We ca n’t wait for that feature of speech to go live .

New Waterproof Housing

Sony of late announced thatthe sequel to its Action Camerawill have a slimmed down waterproof housing , but it did that at the price of making it waterproof to just 16 feet ( 5 meters ) . Sony claimed that almost no one uses it for deep diving , but masses wanted something more shipshape and streamlined . GoPro has basically done the same affair , but not to such an utmost level .

https://gizmodo.com/sony-action-cam-redux-lets-try-again-this-time-with-1246252745

The waterproof caparison that comes with the Hero 3 + is 20 - per centum smaller and light , but it ’s still rainproof down to 131 foot ( 40 meters ) . No , it ’s not quite as burly as last year ’s caseful which pass away down to 197 foot ( 60 m ) , but it will be a very small per centum of mass that bump 131 feet inadequate , and if they do , they can just put it into last year ’s housing . Problem resolve .

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The new living accommodations is improved in other room , too . First , and most importantly , the buttons are fatter and much , much easier to press . Seriously , it ’s a gigantic improvement . I probably take 80 + shots , and I did n’t lose turning it on or off once . Much better for the menu clit , too .

And , finally , the photographic camera fits much fuddled into the lodging then ever before . Some hoi polloi complained that the Hero 3 Black would rattle around at speed , which would make for bad audio . The Hero 3 + has virtually no wiggle elbow room .

Sound

address of audio , the Hero 3 + has redesign mics . antecedently , there were mics on the two sides . Now there ’s one on a side and one on top . Indeed , the mics were more sore , and there was a notable reduction in undesirable noise . We ’re not sure it ’ll hold up to the awesome mic on the Sony , but it ’s unquestionably good than it was .

Pricing and Other Editions

In plus to the Black edition which we tested , there will also be a Silver edition in the 3 + stock ( but no white edition ) . The Silver edition wo n’t have the new electron lens , SuperView , Auto Low Light , or things like 4 K @ 15fps or 2.7 K @ 30FPS . It will , however , have the unexampled and improved battery , and it can now shoot 1080p @ 60FPS and 720p @ 120FPS .

Same as last year , Hero 3 + Black will move you $ 400 , and the Silver will cost you $ 300 . GoPro will continue selling last yr ’s edition ( presumedly until they run out ) at a discount cost . you could now get an original Hero 3 Black for $ 330 and a Silver for $ 250 .

Overall , these lilliputian things add up to a pretty large melioration , though it ’s not a reinvention of the wheel . We were really hoping to see 4 KB video at a usable form - rate ( 24FPS+ ) , but I judge we ’ll have to await until next year . The novel camera are all available as of today . We ’ll be doing some more examination and will have a deeper nosedive in the near future . [ GoPro ]

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