GoPro defined the action camera, and it remains the top pick in our Best Action Cameras guide. But truthfully, I rarely use my GoPro for anything action-related—and according to GoPro, I am not alone. This fits with what I've seen out in the world. Most people you see using GoPros don't have them mounted on a helmet or strapped to their chest.
GoPro's new Hero 11 Black is still every bit the action camera for those who do mount it on a helmet and “bomb the slopes,” as my editor likes to say. (Ed. note: Grind the rail! Shred the gnar!) But it's also a really great, lightweight, and easy-to-use … well, camera.
This latest iteration adds even more user-friendly features, including a new sensor format that makes it easier to shoot vertical video for platforms like TikTok, simplified settings, better battery life, and more.
Side by side, the only visible difference between last year's Hero 10 Black and this year's Hero 11 Black is the blue number on the side. Otherwise the body is the same, meaning all your accessories, lens filters, mods, and add-ons will work with the Hero 11.
However, unlike the iPhone 14, which requires a magnifying glass to tell it from its predecessor, the Hero 11 Black brings quite a few welcome changes to the Hero line.
The biggest and most obvious change is the new sensor. It's marginally bigger, but only vertically, which gives it an 8:7 aspect ratio. Previous models could shoot in 16:9 and 4:3, but the new 8:7 makes the Hero 11 a better choice for shooting the abomination that is vertical video. It makes life easier for TikTokkers, because you can now shoot in 8:7, crop to vertical for platforms that use that abomination, and also crop to 16:9 for video sharing in a sane and sensible way.
I make fun of vertical video, but I recognize its popularity, and this makes the GoPro an even more useful camera for a wider audience. I don't like it, but I am often compelled to crop things for platforms that require it. And yes, you can just turn your older Hero sideways to shoot vertically, but then that footage isn't usable for anything else.
The larger sensor also allows for what GoPro is calling HyperView, an even wider-angle shot than the SuperView option in the Hero 10. While this is useful in some tight settings—think rock climbing, for instance—the distortion at the corners is extreme.
The other good news with the new sensor is that you can now extract 24.7-megapixel stills from your videos. To me, this is one of the best things about a GoPro—shoot video so you don't miss anything, and then just use the Quik app, or other software, to extract still images out of the video. This is how I manage to get great photos of my kids running around without dropping $2,000 on a super fast, fancy camera.