GoPro HERO6 Black — Waterproof Digital Action Camera for Travel with Touch Screen 4K HD Video 12MP Photos

 I shoot a lot of video for my YouTube channel and recently made the step up from 1080p to 4K. This has prompted me to finally bite the bullet and get another GoPro. I had a GoPro Hero 3 and this caused me no end of problems so it has not been an easy decision to buy this camera. I have spent a lot of time researching this and most people comment on the outstanding video quality it produces. I have added my own video to this review, but Amazon will compress it, so unfortunately you will not be able to see the 4K video I recorded. If you want to see this, please search for my channel.

The first point that I want to make, is how stingy GoPro are with the attachments that come with the camera. Inside the box I found, the camera, a battery, a frame with a mounting clip attached, two self-adhesive mounts (one straight and one curved), a USB to USB C cable and a completely useless set of instructions. I would have expected way more than that, had I not known beforehand what was included. The instructions are basically a set of diagrams showing how to fit the camera inside the frame, where to place the battery/micro SD card, where to place the charging/data cable, the power and shutter button locations and how to mount the camera onto a helmet. I will include a photo of them.

I charged the battery, turned the GoPro on and then began to follow the set up instructions displayed the touch screen. This started well and then went horribly wrong. I tried to follow each prompt, I don’t know whether it was just me being daft or a problem with the program, but I managed to get myself in a real muddle. It ended up with the camera asking to connect to my phone with the GoPro app. I did this and after that things settled down a bit. Connecting to the app was very easy and the first thing it did was update the camera software, which was also very easy. After a little experimentation I figured out how to operate the camera and once I had done that it was very easy. I think GoPro need to look at the set up process. I would like to think that I am pretty good with these types of devices.

The camera is an absolute joy to use once you figure it out and there are some very cool features. Voice commands allow you to record, stop recording , turn the camera on, turn the camera off, and lots of other functions and these work right from the start. I have had several instances when the camera has switched on whilst I have been talking or listening to the TV though.

So what about the video – well it is very good. I have only used 4K, but it is impressive. This camera has video stabilisation too and it is the best that I have seen, almost as good as mounting it on a gimbal. It will only work up to 4K 30fps though and you lose 10% of the wide angle picture. Stabilisation is not available at 4K 60fps. The colours are lovely and vibrant; the video is sharp and very pleasing to the eye.

This camera is waterproof; you can take it into the water without a waterproof case. This is only an advantage if you are into water sports or wish to use the camera in the pouring rain. The down side of this is that the microphones also need to be waterproofed and this has resulted in a huge loss of clarity on the sound. Just like placing the older cameras into waterproof cases did. In all fairness it is not as bad as that, but there is a significant drop in sound quality because of this. You can get an external microphone adapter, but as with all of GoPro products, this is expensive and third party products are not available.

So I love the video produced by the GoPro Hero 6, but it is let down by the microphones. I think it is overpriced and does not come with enough equipment. However, there is no doubt that this is the camera that all the other cameras are judged against and that is for a good reason. If you want the best, you will just have to grit your teeth and get over the price and lack of gear. It is a GoPro after all!

First thing I did when I received this camera, is to take a test video and plug it into my computer to try to get the video off the camera. Sure enough, my computer was unable to read the camera (camera not recognized as a device by the computer). I then tested this with my new Lenovo laptop and had the same issue. I called GoPro and was on the phone for over 3 hours while they attempted to troubleshoot the issue. In the end they explained that the GoPro Hero 7 is not compatible with Windows 10 and I will have to purchase an SD card reader, in order to get videos off of my GoPro. For this price, this is unacceptable. If you get this camera and it doesn’t work with Windows 10, and you still want to keep it, save yourself 3 hours of your precious time and just get a SD card reader as a work around to this ridiculous problem.

 Sono davvero amareggiato. Premetto seconda GoPro con lo stesso problema.Dopo 430€ è frustrante prendere la GoPro per fare un video/foto al volo e ritrovarla inchiodata l’unica cosa puoi solo togliere la batteria per farla ripartire. L’app di GoPro è stata creata con dei vantaggi per gli utenti Apple,trovo la cosa molto fastidiosa.per il resto peccato perché potrebbe essere top da tutti i punti di vista. Se potete mettete un mi piace nella speranza che leggano la recensione e cambino qualcosa .

I purchased the Hero6 after having constant frustrations with my several year old Drift. I needed an upgrade and GoPro is obviously the industry leader.

I want to preface everything here by saying that GoPro customer service is TOP NOTCH. Please read on…

I had secured the curved helmet mount as per the directions as I was going on a family ski trip in February. I was super stoked to use my Hero as I’d read so many good things about it. Well, as ‘fate’ would have it, something did not work out right with the adhesive. I put my helmet down for a second at the top of a slope, put it back on, and raced down the hill. I have all the goodies with the Hero, including the wrist control (which I find is very functional). At the bottom of the slope, I put my hand on my head, and guess what? NO GOPRO. I thought I had lost it somewhere on the slope.

Well, as it turns out, it never went down the slope with me…it apparently fell off the helmet and was sitting in the snow. Someone turned it in at the top of the slope but I had no idea…I went down the same slope a few times, looking for it…before I started asking around for it. My wife was angry with me as we spent the whole day looking for the Hero…of course, for the cost, I wasn’t going to just walk away. Plus, it was my first day on the slopes and I really wanted it for videos, pics, and everything else… To make a really long story short, the camera was brought to the base of the mountain (Keystone Resort in Colorado) and I was able to retrieve it at the end of the day.

This is where GoPro stands out. I was calling them during the day when I got a break and I’m sure they could tell I was both upset and frustrated…after all, I had just spent all this money and I never even got to use it. It’d be easy to say ‘this guy is an idiot’ at this point, but please remember that I ‘cured’ the adhesive as per the directions…simply put, something was wrong.

Customer service filed a ticket for me and asked me to continue looking for it…which I did. They were polite, concerned, and helpful. We were all happy when I found it and after a few discussions and emails, Go Pro promptly sent me another curved helmet sticky. In addition, they sent me a hand held ‘selfie’…they probably felt bad for me and wanted me to never lose the darn thing again. (of course, I got these when I got home). Lucky for me, I had also purchased a chest mount and I used that the rest of the trip.

That’s my story…so, for the rest of the trip I got great videos and pictures. I love my GoPro and I love the company. They care about their customers and stand by them. Very few companies these days do this…it is very much appreciated. Oh, the voice activation is amazing, BTW…I ended up using this over the wrist control by the last day.

Another note: Do NOT buy aftermarket batteries. I did that to save a few bucks and guess what? They worked great when in a room but in the cold, they died almost instantly. When I got home, I returned them and got the GoPro batteries and charger kit…well worth the money. Don’t take chances…for a few bucks more, nothing beats quality.

I hope this review has helped a few people make an informed decision. GoPro is a great company with high quality products.