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GoPro Hero 9 Black price, specs and features

GoPro Hero 9 Black

UPDATE, Sept 17: GoPro has officially unveiled the Hero 9 Black. It brings some major upgrades compared to its predecessor Hero 8 Black. At its September 16 event, GoPro announced only the Hero 9. There was no successor to last year’s GoPro Max, which was a 360-degree camera offering. Let’s find out what’s new in the Hero 9 and how much you’ll have to shell out for the exciting new features.

GoPro Hero 9 price

All the additional features come at a cost. The GoPro Hero 9 Black has been priced at $450, up $50 from the Hero 8’s launch price. But GoPro is currently offering the new action camera for $350 with a one-year subscription to GoPro and a 32GB microSD card. The GoPro subscription includes unlimited cloud storage.

GoPro Hero 9 design and display

The Hero 9 Black is thicker, taller, and wider than its predecessor. It measures 70 x 55 x 30mm compared to the Hero 8’s 66.3 x 48.6 x 28.4mm. The new action cam sports a dual display consisting of a 2.27-inch main color display at the back and a 1.4-inch sharp and light LCD screen on the front. It also has a small bump around the camera on the back.

GoPro Hero 9 design colors

The front display serves as a live preview for vlogging and taking selfies. It’s one of the biggest highlights of the Hero 9. GoPro has also brought back the removable front lens cover. The Hero 9 offers waterproofing up to a depth of 33 feet, allowing you to capture your adventures in water.

The action cam supports a USB-C port for charging and a single microSD card slot. GoPro has retained the foldable mounting fingers that it introduced last year with the Hero 8 Black.

Features and specs

The Hero 9 Black sports a 23.6-megapixel lens with GP1 processor. It offers 5K video recording capabilities at up to 30fps. Though it has 23.6MP image sensor, it captures footage at 20-megapixel.

The new camera also supports Slow-motion videos, TimeWarp 3.0 and HyperSmooth 3.0 technologies. The HyperSmooth offers improved stabilization and the ability to use Boost mode in all resolutions. With TimeWarp 3.0, you can slow down the hyperlapse videos to real-time speed. It also brings a number of software features including Duration, Hindsight, and Schedule Capture.

The battery has received a huge upgrade. The Hero 9 Black gets a 1720mAh battery, which is 40% bigger than that of Hero 8. GoPro claims the Hero 9 Black will offer up to 30% longer battery life depending on which video mode you are shooting in.

GoPro told fans that the Hero 9 Black will also be compatible with the Media Mod, Light Mod, and Display Mod. The company will launch the Lens Mod in the coming months.

Pre-launch Updates

The much-awaited GoPro Hero 9 is just around the corner. The California-based company is all set to unveil the next-gen action camera on Wednesday, September 16. A GoPro Hero 9 Black unboxing video has leaked a day before the official unveiling. Let’s take a look at what the rumor mill has to say about the GoPro Hero 9 release date, specs, design, and other details.

  • Launch time: 10 AM ET
  • Release date: Wednesday, September 16, 2020
  • Watch Hero 9 launch Livestream here.

GoPro Hero 9 release date

GoPro has officially confirmed that the Hero 9 Black would launch on September 16. The company released a teaser video on Twitter, which indicates it will have “more resolution” and “more everything.” It’s quite interesting that the company has confirmed the launch date so close to the, well, launch date.

The action camera company is going to live stream the event for its fans around the world. If you are interested in watching, head over to GoPro’s YouTube channel to watch it from the comfort of your home.

Many were expecting that it would get delayed due to the current coronavirus situation. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to cut their production and delay the launch of their products. But GoPro has managed to launch its product on time.

GoPro launches ‘Lifestyle Gear’ merchandise

As we inch closer to the holiday shopping season, GoPro has made a surprise announcement. The company has launched “Lifestyle Gear” merchandise on its online store. Priced between $25 and $100, these products include a variety of bags, backpack, water bottles, camera case, and caps. All of the lifestyle gear is designed to go with your action cam.

GoPro has also told fans that it will launch more products on August 19th. If you are a GoPro Plus subscriber, the company will give you a 30% discount on Lifestyle Gear products. However, the company didn’t mention anything about the upcoming Hero 9.

New GoPro spotted on FCC

GoPro has registered a new action camera code-named SPBL1 with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The camera that recently appeared on the FCC website is most likely the GoPro Hero 9. The SPBL1 was tested by the FCC in March, according to the screenshots. The US regulator released the listing on its website only recently.

FCC GoPro hero 9
Source: FCC

As per the FCC listing, there is a new item in preferences called Displays instead of Touch Display in previous models. It indicates that the Hero 9 could feature dual displays, allowing users to see what the action cam sees from the front display. The menu icon also has a front and rear display.

The icon for the GoPro Plus subscription has a new color. On the Hero 9, it appears at the top of the preferences menu. The California company also appears to have increased the size of icons. What’s more, the main dropdown menu gets a new button that appears to have a person on it. It could probably be used to select the front display or go to selfie mode.

GoPro Hero 9 Rumored Design

The current GoPro design has lasted up to 4 generations. Although Hero 8 has a slightly different design than older versions, it looks identical to them on the first look. Apart from its mount and waterproofing, other design elements are similar to older models.

front panel leak

A Reddit user named chrswnd has shared a leaked image of the GoPro Hero 9’s outer front shell. The front digital screen appears to be bigger than the Hero 8. It could allow users to frame selfies with the action camera. In the same thread, one user added that the Media Mod screen attachment could be dead. A local distributor in Taiwan told the Reddit user that the Media Mod has been canceled for good.

Now, Twitter tipster Roland Quandt and German publication WinFuture have shared the ‘official’ images of the GoPro Hero 9 Black. The images show off color displays on both front and back. The inclusion of a color display on the front will make the Hero 9 Black more appealing to vloggers. The older models have a data-only monochrome display.

GoPro Hero 9 design

The Hero 9 Black retains the fold-out mounting arms from last year’s model. It allows you to attach the camera to a mount without extra housing.

The Hero 9 Black could help revive GoPro’s fortunes amid the pandemic. The company has unveiled a Twitch-like streaming service called GoPro Plus. A combination of the front color display and the streaming service could significantly expand the total addressable market for the Hero cameras.

Features and specs – rumored

According to a new leak by WinFuture and Roland Quandt, the Hero 9 Black will sport a 23.6-megapixel camera sensor. But it will take photos only at 20MP. Last year’s Hero 8 Black had a 12MP camera. It will be capable of recording 5K videos at 5,120 x 2,880 pixels resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio.

The action cam would sport a 2.27-inch main display, slightly larger than the last year’s model. It is also getting a 1.4-inch second display which Roland Quandt says will be a “preview/status” screen.

According to the leak, the Hero 9 Black will come with slow-motion recording at up to 240 fps or 8x. The camera will offer waterproofing up to a depth of 33 feet. Quandt added that GoPro is also adding the next-gen TimeWarp 3.0. Other features include voice control, a webcam mode, and livestreaming in full HD.

The Hero 9 Black will also feature the HyperSmooth 3.0 image stabilization to enable gimbal-like smooth footage. GoPro could integrate ReelSteady’s motion smoothing technology into Hero 9 Black. GoPro recently acquired ReelSteady.

A new leak by WinFuture hints that the GoPro Hero 9 Black will come with a 1720mAh battery. If it turns out to be true, it would be 41% bigger than the Hero 8 Black’s 1220mAh battery. But the increased battery capacity might not lead to a longer battery life. That’s because the new front-facing color display would consume extra power. The company will release a dual-charging dock to accommodate the larger battery of Hero 9.

GoPro Hero 9 Price – rumored

According to Roland Quandt, the Hero 9 Black will cost €479 in European markets. That’s about 11% higher than last year’s Hero 8 Black. The US pricing is still unclear. All the new features and upgrades would be enough to justify the new price. A 41% bigger battery, a color front display, upgraded TimeWarp and HyperSmooth, 5K video recording and other improvements should convince the buyers that it’s worth the price.

Folks at Fstoppers speculate that GoPro could also introduce a subscription model to boost its revenue, just like Adobe Creative Cloud. Many car manufacturers have also started offering “car as a service.” There is a huge potential user base that doesn’t want to own an action camera. But they would happily pay $50 to rent an action camera for their next trip. It makes sense for GoPro to start offering its cameras as a subscription service.

This post has been updated with the latest information and news on September 17, 2020.

About the author

Vikas Shukla

Vikas is Insider Paper's Editor/Writer. He has been covering the latest developments in Tech and Politics for about a decade. He loves trekking, playing chess, and reading. - Email: [email protected]







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