After leaking like crazy, the GoPro Hero 9 Black arrives today, bringing with it a handful of features aimed at keeping the company on the bleeding edge of the action camera category. GoPro has, of course, experienced a good deal of competition in the category for which it’s become synonymous. The most notable recent entrant is drone giant DJI, which aimed to carve out a name in the space with a few key features.
It’s hard not to see the Hero 9 Black’s biggest addition as a direct counterstrike against one-time partner, DJI. The new action cam joins the Osmo Action camera by picking up a front-facing display. The 1.4-inch selfie-screen is designed to, among other things, make it easier to set up shots — something that’s been difficult with just a rear display to rely on. The touchscreen has been made larger (from 1.95 to 2.27 inch), too.
That’s owing, in part, to a bigger body. That’s nice as far as the screen and battery (upgraded from 1,220 to 1,720 mAh) are concerned, but poses an issue for those looking to hang onto older accessories from previous models. The shooting resolution has been bumped up. You can now grab 20-megapixel stills and shoot 5K video at 30 FPS.
The camera goes up for sale today, priced at $450 or $350, if you also buy the one-year subscription to GoPro’s software service. There’s also a $100 Max Lens mod, which increase’s the camera’s stabilization and field-of-view.