GoPro HERO 10 Black review: incredible upgrade hidden in a very familiar design

From the outside, the GoPro HERO 10 Black looks almost identical to its predecessor. It has the same water resistant case, front-facing screen, built-in prongs, and removable battery cover. The new HERO 10 Black even works with the same accessories and mounts designed for last year’s camera.

All of this begs the question – what is new?

Well, it turns out very little …but also, everything is new. Express.co.uk has been testing the latest entry in GoPro’s line-up since its announcement, here’s our review…

Almost every change in the GoPro HERO 10 Black stems from its new custom-designed system-on-a-chip, dubbed GP2. The redesigned silicon inside this camera has upgraded the picture quality, boosted video capture, and even improved the touchscreen. The outside might look incredibly familiar, but the moment that you switch on the GoPro HERO 10 Black, it’s immediately clear just how much has changed.

Anyone who relies on a GoPro to capture heart-pounding clips from ski helmets, skateboards, or bike handlebars, you’ll be pleased to know that the powerful new brains inside the GoPro HERO 10 Black can now muster 5.3K video up to 60 frames-per-second. For context, that’s 2.5x as many frames as you’ll find during the action sequences in the latest James Bond blockbuster – resulting in smooth, fluid motion. And 5.3K packs more pixels than you’ll be able to see in a shiny new Ultra HD television.

Unless you’ve recently invested a four-figure sum on an 8K TV, you’re unlikely to need all of those pixels. However, it’s the added flexibility that this format affords you that’s really exciting.

For example, when shooting at 5.3K, you can export a single frame as a 19.6-megapixel photo, which packs enough detail to stay pin-sharp even when stretched onto a gargantuan A1 poster. Shooting in 5.3K also means you can zoom into the footage – or crop entire sections out – and you’ll still have a 4K quality video to watch on your telly.

The GP2 is also capable of recording 4K video in up to 120 frames-per-second, and 2.7K in 240 frames-per-second for super slooooooooooow-mo.

If you’re shooting still photographs with the latest GoPro, the new chipset lets you capture 23-megapixel images. That’s a step-up from the 20-megapixels on the GoPro HERO 9 Black, and a huge increase compared to the 8-megapixel shots from the GoPro HERO 8.

GoPro also says GP2 has a reworked Image Signal Processor, or ISP, which analyses each shot as soon as you hit the shutter. GoPro says its latest ISP boosts detail. It has also worked hard to improve noise reduction, especially in low-light environments where the camera lens is desperately hunting for light. In our experience, that work has paid off.

Photos from the GoPro HERO 10 Black look gorgeous. In bright light, images are packed with detail and vibrant colours – but the secret weapon is GoPro’s iconic 132º field-of-view lens, which is perfect for large group selfies or making sure that no part of the cityscape or scenery is clipped out-of-frame. If you’re used to switching to the ultra-wide camera on your smartphone – this is infinitely better.

Unfortunately, one area where you’ll probably still be better served by your phone is in the gloom. While iPhone and Android handsets almost all boast a dedicated Night mode that illuminates darkness without a flash, GoPro’s equivalent mode, known as Night Photo, isn’t quite as good. It doesn’t quite manage to draw the same levels of detail from the gloom, so you’re better turning on the lights, or grabbing your phone.

The last two tricks up the GP2’s silicon sleeve are HyperSmooth 4.0 and speedier transfers. First up, HyperSmooth 4.0 is the latest evolution in GoPro’s years-long war on camera shake… and it’s astounding. The electronic in-camera system smooths out any bumps and wobbles, so that you can watch footage recorded from a mount on your bike helmet or a harness strapped to your dog without experiencing an intense bout of motion sickness.

HyperSmooth 4.0 is phenomenal. Filming with the GoPro HERO 10 Black in your hands, it removes any sign of tremble or shake. Instead, your handheld footage looks like it has been filmed with a professional gimbal – elevating your next home movie.

When things get choppier, like strapping the action camera to your skis, surfboard, or mountain bike, HyperSmooth still manages to keep everything in focus and wobble-free. There’s still enough camera shake that it’s clear you’re really there. Thankfully, HyperSmooth 4.0 doesn’t overprocess the footage and make everything look artificial – there’s no chance that your next Facebook post looks as if you’ve used a green screen to copy-paste your face in the foreground of a video of somebody else skydiving from a plane, for example.

Hypersmooth 4.0 is completely optional, so there’s no obligation to turn it on. But for our money, it’s so good that you’ll regret not enabling it before you start filming.

Lastly, GoPro has introduced new ways to offload all of the high-resolution video and photographs that you’ve taken on the HERO 10 Black. The supercharged GP2 system-on-a-chip enables 30 percent faster wireless transfers to your iPhone, iPad or Android device over Wi-Fi compared to older cameras. And if you want even faster transfers, there’s a new wired option that’s 50 percent faster than the new-and-improved wireless.

For those who want to shoot ultra-crisp 5.3K video on the GoPro HERO 10 Black all of the time, this new wired transfer could be a real lifesaver. It means you’ll be able to edit footage on an iPad Pro, laptop, or Android smartphone without the need for an SD card reader. You’ll also be up-and-running with the footage must faster than the wireless transfers – saving you time watching the progress bar slowly crawl to 100 percent when you really just want to start editing and sharing your video and snaps with friends and family on social media.

Using the included USB-C cable, you can also use the GoPro HERO 10 Black as a supercharged webcam for your next videoconference. Footage is streamed in crisp HD, so colleagues will be able to read the titles on the bookshelf behind you – something definitely not possible with the camera built-in to your laptop. The wide-angle lens also means you won’t have to worry about repositioning yourself in front of the camera whenever you want to hold-up something to show to colleagues on the call.

If you’re unsure whether you’ll be able to get away and test the GoPro HERO 10 Black on the slopes this year, the arrival of the GoPro Webcam app on macOS and Windows means you’ll still get some use from this tremendous action camera.

It’s worth noting that, while we’ve made a big deal of the fact that this new camera keeps an almost identical design to its predecessor, there are still some improvements to be found.

GoPro has added a hydrophobic coating to the glass covering the lens, which naturally repels water – so droplets should run off without interrupting your footage, even when you’re causing a splash. The glass is also more scratch-resistant, GoPro says. We did (accidentally) drop the HERO 10 Black that GoPro loaned us onto concrete, which did leave a small bite in the plastic border around the lens… but didn’t harm the glass. So, we’d definitely agree that the glass on this new camera is plenty durable.

Like the HERO9 Black, the camera is water-resistant to a depth of 10-metres without the need for a case of extra housing – just press record and plunge the HERO10 Black into the water, trust us, it’ll be fine.

HERO10 Black includes the same “Folding Fingers” mount system built into the bottom of the case, which was introduced with the HERO8 Black, and means you won’t need to bother with a frame or extra case to attach your GoPro to the huge range of accessories and mounts available from GoPro and third-parties. Picking GoPro over some of its rivals means you’ll have access to this immense catalogue of accessories, something that you won’t find with a number of other brands.

GoPro HERO 10 Black review: Final Verdict

Never judge a book by its cover, that old adage definitely holds true when it comes to the GoPro HERO 10 Black. From the outside, it looks as if nothing has changed since last year. But buried inside this familiar case is a supercharged new processor, the GP2, that changes everything. Faster file transfers, high-resolution new video formats, super slow-motion, improved photography, and a slick new touchscreen experience.

As you’d expect from GoPro, there are a dizzying number of accessories, mounts, and lenses to use with your action camera. And thanks to the unchanged case design, you’ll be able to use any accessories bought for a HERO 8, or HERO 9 too. The stellar GoPro-designed editing app, Quik, on smartphones, tablets and desktop makes stitching together video, slow-motion, and photos an absolute joy.

If you’re looking for the ultimate action camera, GoPro HERO 10 Black is what you need in your pocket. Between the unrivalled selection of accessories – both those built by GoPro itself and third-parties, the excellent Quik app to edit on-the-move, and the pixel-packed video formats and gorgeous photographs now possible with this diddy action camera …we have no worries recommending the HERO 10 Black.

At £529.98, this level of quality doesn’t come cheap. However, if you buy a GoPro subscription, which includes unlimited cloud back-up of your videos and photos and discounts on all GoPro accessories, you’ll get £150 off the price of the camera. After you’ve secured that hefty discount, you can cancel at any time.