If you are a Gopro fan, I am sure this is not the first time you visited divewithseaman.com
GoPro Hero 6 Black Edition
That’s because when a new GoPro product is launched, I order one immediately, wait for the new baby to come home, try it both on land and underwater, then write my objective and honest review for people who are willing to, but not sure about purchasing that brand-new GoPro.
What I want you to do is to take a cup of coffee, read my “real user post” below slowly and do not hesitate to ask your questions from the comment section at the end of this GoPro Hero 6 review. Me and other experienced users may answer your questions as soon as possible.
General Features
In this section, I will go with the remarkable features of the product, not every detail that I am sure you already know if you are reading this GoPro Hero 6 review, like “hey, this product is an action-cam!”
- 4K @ 60 fps max video quality
- Video stabilization
- Waterproof case up to 33 ft (10 mt)
- 3 microphones
- Touch display that you can ZOOM
- GPS, Wi-Fi (5 GHz) and Bluetooth
- QuikStories app that you can create quick moment videos with music
- 12 MP photo
- Voice control
These key features are fine, but enough to tell you that you should or should not buy a GoPro Hero 6? Not.
On Why You Should Buy a GoPro Hero 6 and Why You Should Not Buy a GoPro Hero 6 sections, you can read my personal experience with this new member of GoPro family.
GoPro Hero 6 Black – Front
Technical Specs
To be honest, in this GoPro Hero 6 review, I didn’t want to talk about technical specs of the product.
Because as far as I realized, people who are willing to purchase a product look for user reviews, not a product web-site try to sell them their product and want to show what a great product they launched.
That’s why I am not going to write the technical specs of GoPro Hero 6, but give you a link below to check if you haven’t already.
GoPro Hero 6 Technical Specs from cnet.com (Opens in a new window)
Let’s go on with a comparison.
GoPro Hero 5 Vs. Hero 6
For those who already own a GoPro Hero 5 or know about it, I thought a comparison would be helpful for your decision-making in this review.
GoPro Hero 6 Black – Back
As a review-writer, I own every product that I write about.
So, I own and tried both Hero 5 (you can read my GoPro Hero 5 review here) and Hero 6 and wanted to share my ideas based on my experience in this comparison.
- Hero 6 doubles the image quality in terms of fps. Hero 6 can shoot 4K @ 60 fps, 1080p @ 240 fps, whereas it is 4K @ 30 fps, 1080p @ 120 fps in Hero 5.
- Better image stabilization.
- You can now zoom unlike all other GoPro cameras (no more narrow and medium FOVs, zoom instead).
- Both cameras look very same, almost identical. Same case, same buttons and doors.
- Brighter colors.
- Better dynamic range.
- Same battery life, no improvement (same battery -1220mAh- so you can use your ex).
- Brighter touchscreen.
- Some video modes like 4K @ 60 fps are coded with a new HEVC called H.265, other modes are coded with AVC just like Hero 5.
- More (manual) shutter speed, ISO and white-balance are offered in Protune.
- 3 times faster upload to your mobile with 5 GHz Wi-Fi (your mobile must also support 5 GHz).
- You can now have HDR photos!
- Same mounts can be used that you have from GoPro Hero 5.
- Worse sound quality.
Vistek, a camera store located in Canada published a pretty good and objective comparison video (better than mine, honestly. So, I wanted to publish his video, not mine). I suggest you to watch it below.
Why You Should Buy a GoPro Hero 6?
GoPro Hero 6 Black – Underwater
As a product reviewer, I am always asked this question since the launch of GoPro Hero 6. My fellow divers, scuba diving students and even my girlfriend ask “should I buy a GoPro Hero 6?“, “should I upgrade?” and “why I should buy a GoPro 6“?
Well, I am sure you also have the same or similar questions in mind, since you searched for it and reading my GoPro Hero 6 review right now.
So, let’s have a look to the pros of GoPro Hero 6.
- 4K @ 60 fps is a great pro for this product.
- 1080p @ 240 fps is great for slow motion videos (think about a slow-motion video of your kick-flip).
- Zooming ability (now I can shoot a close-up moray eel without disturbing it).
- By the help of 5 Ghz Wi-Fi, uploading is quite fast.
- Great dynamic range.
- QuikStories is very handy if you want to edit and share your memories via Facebook.
Why You Shouldn’t Buy a GoPro Hero 6?
GoPro Hero 6 Black – Touchscreen
It is impossible to design and produce a 100% perfect product, right?
Not so much maybe, but GoPro Hero 6 also has some cons like every product has.
I want to be honest in my reviews and both write why you should and shouldn’t buy a product. These are my experiences, though.
Final decision is yours.
Below are the points you may want to take into consideration before buying a GoPro Hero 6.
- Worse sound quality than GoPro Hero 5.
- HEVC codec is not supported by every operating system or mobile phone. If you have an iPhone 6, for instance, some of the video resolutions will not be able to supported with it. To see which devices and operating systems support HEVC, take a look at here.
- It is only waterproof up to 10 meters/33 feet. You’ll need extra housing (check the price) to go deeper.
- Not every SD card can be used (especially if you have freezing problems, here is why). GoPro suggests us to use only one line of SD cards. They are SanDisk Extreme, Extreme Plus,Extreme Pro UHS Video Speed Class 30 (V30), equal to, or greater than 32 GB (check out here).
How to Use GoPro Hero 6?
how to use gopro hero 6 black
If you want more than a GoPro Hero 6 manual, I definitely suggest you to take a look at “How to Use a GoPro Hero 6“, a book written by a GoPro professional, Jordan Hetrick.
When I got the book, I was really amazed, wasn’t expected such a helpful manual for GoPro lovers.
If you are struggling to take high quality photos and videos, just like in GoPro commercials, I extremely advise you to purchase this book, with more than 100 images, how to’s and explanatory courses to help you out with your GoPro Hero 6 Black.
That will support you a lot in your action-cam adventures.
This post first appeared on Scuba Diving Tips To Help You Enjoy Your Dives - Dive With Seaman, please read the originial post: here
