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GoPro

Action cameras, and the mount everyone else copied

Where it turns up

Action cameras and gimbal stabilisers, at 165 € and 197 €.

The mount outlived the camera

A pair of plastic fingers and a thumbscrew, copied by every helmet, chest harness, handlebar clamp and suction cup made since. Buying into it means the accessories bought for one camera fit the next one, which is worth more over ten years than any single specification.

What an action camera is measured on

Stabilisation, water resistance without a case, the widest field of view, the frame rates at each resolution, and how hot it gets before it stops. Those are the figures that separate them, and battery life in real cold is the one that decides a day out.

Where the shelf overlaps

The line between an action camera and a pocket gimbal has gone. One has a mechanical gimbal and a one-inch sensor, the other has electronic stabilisation and survives being dropped in a river — and both end up on a handlebar.

Every GoPro unit reviewed here

  • Gimbal stabilisers

    GoPro Fluid Pro AI, three axes, AI tracking module, fill light

    No payload published · three axes · interchangeable mounts for phones, this maker’s cameras and some compacts · AI subject-tracking module, forward or rear facing · built-in fill light · wireless camera control · device charging · 360 degree rotation · Bluetooth only with Hero 9 to 13 Black

    A stabiliser that ships with a separate AI tracking module and a fill light, and never publishes the one figure that decides whether a camera fits it.

    Best for: Filming yourself with this maker’s recent cameras or a phone, where the tracking module and the fill light do work no rival here does.

    ≈ £180 / 165 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review
  • Action cameras

    GoPro HERO, 86 g, 4K Ultra HD, waterproof to 5 m without a case

    86 g · waterproof to 5 m with NO housing · 4K Ultra HD · 12 MP stills · touchscreen LCD · built-in mounting fingers · 35 per cent smaller and 44 per cent lighter than HERO12 Black · curved adhesive mount, buckle and thumb screw supplied · no frame rate published

    The dearest camera on this shelf and the lightest at 86 g, waterproof to 5 m with no case at all — a figure that reads worse than its rivals and measures something entirely different.

    Best for: Everyday carrying and rough weather, where a sealed 86 g body on a huge mount ecosystem beats a deeper case.

    ≈ £170 / 197 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review

Each amount in a write-up is what the listing showed when that page was written. The figure next to the product is pulled in as you read, and it is the one that counts.