GoPro Hero 7 Black
The GoPro Hero 7 Black is now the entry-level model in GoPro's revamped lineup, thanks to the arrival of the GoPro Hero 9 Black. But this former flagship is far from a basic action camera – in fact, for most people it's one of the best-value action cameras around.
Throughout GoPro's history, there have been certain models that have represented big leaps forward – and the Hero 7 Black is one of them. It was the first GoPro to debut HyperSmooth image stabilization, which still stands up today as one of the best EIS systems you can find on an action camera.
While subsequent flagships have made this mode available in a wider range of shooting modes – it isn't available in the Hero 7 Black's for 2.7k/120p mode, for example – this first version of HyperSmooth remains a strong selling point, particularly compared to budget action cameras or older GoPros.
With its refreshed UI and the ability to shoot 4K/60p video, the Hero 7 Black is still a highly polished action camera that is a great value all-rounder for anyone who wants a waterproof ally for their smartphone or main camera.
What about Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday 2020?
With the GoPro Hero 7 Black recently falling to a new low price due GoPro's recent 2020 shakeup, will we see any further discounts in the forthcoming sales events? It's certainly possible, even if these take the form of accessories bundles rather than straight discounts. The first event that's coming soon is Amazon Prime Day, which is taking place on October 13th. With that event usually better for accessories memory cards, though, the better chance of Hero 7 Black bargains will likely be during be Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which kick off on November 27. Last year, we saw the Hero 7 Black's price come down to its current asking price now, so further discounts are definitely possible if you can wait till then.
- There's a new GoPro flagship: read our GoPro Hero 9 Black review
GoPro Hero 7 Black review: features
- 4K video to 60p
- HyperSmooth stabilisation
- Live-streaming
While some may be disappointed to know that many of the core specs are essentially carbon copied from the Hero6 Black, GoPro’s thinking for this model was clearly less about boosting frame rates and packing more pixels, and more about improving the actual experience of using the device.
This means the Hero 7 Black still incorporates the same 12MP sensor and the same wide-angle lens, for example, and the top video specs of 4K at 60fps and Full HD to a maximum 240fps for 8x slowed-down footage are also unchanged. The myriad of additional sweeteners on top of this, however, make this a significantly more powerful camera than before.
HyperSmooth
The most significant of these is HyperSmooth, a form of video stabilization that GoPro ranks as being the equivalent to using a gimbal. A combination of hardware and software, rather than simply an upgraded optical stabilization system, this was developed in response to user feedback – indeed, this was apparently the number one request – and it presents a clear advantage for anyone who may find using a gimbal for their chosen thrill inconvenient.
GoPro isn’t shy about its capabilities, going as far as claiming that it's the best in-camera video stabilization system not just of any action camera, but of any camera. On top of that, the means of its operation are said to have no additional penalty on battery life.
HyperSmooth can be used even when capturing 60fps footage at full resolution
Unlike the Hero 6 Black, which only allows regular stabilization to be applied to 30fps when shooting in 4K, HyperSmooth can be used even when capturing 60fps footage at full resolution (though not at 4:3) on the Hero 7 Black. The only other time you can’t call upon it is when capturing Full HD footage at 240fps and 120fps footage, although standard standard stabilization is available at the latter frame rate.
TimeWarp video is a further new feature on the Hero 7 Black, one that combines the idea of regular frame-by-frame time-lapse shooting (which you can still do separately) with HyperSmooth – essentially, a stabilized hyperlapse. In essence, it allows you to capture time-lapse footage with the freedom to move the Hero 7 Black at all times. That’s right: time-lapse footage without a tripod, and whatever movement you want.
Audio performance has also been revamped on the Hero7 Black
Voice Control is once again on hand, recognizing 12 separate commands such as “GoPro take a photo” and "GoPro start video recording”, which, between them, cover all the main tasks.
Audio performance was also revamped on the Hero 7 Black. GoPro expanded dynamic range, providing more natural bass tones and brighter mids, and also redesigned the microphone membrane to eliminate the vibrations that might be picked up, all the while ensuring it can capture more subtle sounds than before.
Easier to take photos
Another new option on the Hero 7 Black was SuperPhoto, something akin to a scene-intelligent auto option on a more conventional camera, which automates a handful of helpful features that you may not think to enable when capturing photos.
So, instead of calling on HDR when shooting scenes with a wide dynamic range, it will do it for you if you want it to. Similarly, the Hero 7 Black deploys multi-frame noise reduction for low-light scenes, if it feels the need to do so.
For the benefit of those who do want intervene and get creative, ProTune will give you freedom to adjust things like exposure compensation, white balance, ISO range, sharpness and so on. You can capture raw images in addition to JPEGs on the Hero 7 Black, and also shoot bursts of images at a maximum 30fps, telling the camera how many images over how long a duration you want it to capture.
The GoPro Hero7 Black also becomes the first Hero model with the capability to live-stream built right into it. This works with Facebook right now, but is set to shortly work with YouTube ad other channels too.
GoPro Hero 7 Black review: build and handling
- Similar design to Hero 6 Black
- Waterproof down to 10m/33ft
- Improved UI with portrait orientation
The GoPro Hero 7 Black offers the same kind of rugged and largely rubbered body as the Hero 6 Black, although the sides of the devices are just as smooth as the front, rather than ridged. This also means the previous two-tone look is now gone, but you’ll likely have the GoPro in a case of some kind, so this makes very little difference in use.
Build quality of the Hero 7 Black feels just as solid as the Hero 6 Black. The two doors to the battery/card and USB/HDMI compartments can be a little fiddly to open, though the design is necessary to ensure waterproofing. Without a housing the camera can travel 10m/33ft safely underwater (just as before), although you can go even deeper with the optional Super Suit.
A small plastic frame that wraps around the GoPro Hero 7 Black and clips into place is provided as standard, and this can be mounted on an adhesive stand to keep the camera in place, in addition to many other mounts for helmets, handlebars and more.
One of the advantages of the newer GoPro Hero 8 Black is that it has built-in mounting prongs, which means you no longer need this frame. And indeed, first-time users of the Hero 7 Black are likely to be cautious and find some of this fiddly, as everything is necessarily tight so that it all stays in place when you’re using it in the kinds of expected conditions. But you do soon become used to how rough you need to be with it.
Turn the Hero 7 Black on and you can see just how much GoPro changed things around from its predecessor. There's a refreshed UI, with key information such as current frame rate and resolution condensed into a smaller space, and green icons to show battery life and remaining cards space now easier to see against brighter subjects than the previous white ones.
The Hero 7 Black is also more smartphone-like in operation, with simple directional swipes to access different modes, captured footage/images and more. You can still alternate between shooting modes with a press of the Mode button on the side, but you can also swipe to do the same.
The UI on the Hero 7 Black also adapts to portrait orientation when you have the camera positioned this way, which makes it easier to operate. You can disable it if you think this will be more of a nuisance than a help, but it doesn't seem to be so sensitive enough to warrant the average user needing to do this.
The touchscreen on the Hero 7 Black bears the same 2-inch dimensions as its predecessors, and on the whole it’s generally responsive, but it occasionally fails to respond to touch, and on such a small display it can be annoying to have to jab the same function a few times.
Voice Commands are largely unchanged from before, although you can say ‘GoPro Capture’ and the camera will start recording or take a photo, depending on what mode you’re in. It will even respond to you saying ‘That was sick’ with a Hi-light, but if you’re not a teenager, you can simply say GoPro Hi-light’ to perform the same action. Or, as it happens, 'oh shit'.
The Hero 7 Black generally responds well to a range of voice commands, although as you can probably imagine it’s not quite 100% reliable, and sometimes these need to be repeated a few times. It would also be good to add your own commands to the Hero 7 Black, which is one area we can see this evolving, although pretty much all key functions are covered already.
GoPro Hero 7 Black review: video and photo quality
On top of its various fancy video tricks, the Hero 7 Black is capable of outputting 12MP images, both in raw or JPEG flavors. And while the GoPro Hero 7 Black may have a tiny 1/2.3in sensor, image quality itself is very good.
In good light, details are nice and crisp, and sharpness extends very well to the peripheries and corners of the frame. Close scrutiny shows images to have the same kind of character as those from smartphones than compact cameras – there’s clearly a fair bit of processing going on to eek out the best from the Hero 7 Black – but results are perfectly respectable for such a camera.
To be able to get such a wide angle of view on the GoPro Hero 7 Black, the lens is uncorrected for its distortion in its default Wide setting, so anything with linear details – particularly close-up subjects – will appear with the kind of distortion that many associate with GoPro cameras. Less good if you want to go out and shoot some architecture, but potentially very useful if you want to pretend you're in a lo-fi Busta Rhymes video.
You can, however, switch to the Linear mode to capture images with corrected distortion, though obviously at the slight expensive of field of view. Or, you can use the GoPro Hero 7 Black's Touch Zoom for a narrower field of view, although this acts like a digital zoom, maintaining output at 12MP, which degrades quality. An option to simply cut down resolution to compensate for however far you zoom would be welcome.
The SuperPhoto option on the Hero 7 Black, which captures images with an additional 1.5-2 seconds per photo, has a noticeable effect on images, effectively regaining a little highlight detail that’s otherwise lost and lifting shadows a touch. The resulting images show less contrast because of it, but for any more critical captures this can always be tweaked later on. The process can lead to minor white balance shifts, though (below), which is one thing to watch out for if mixing images captured both ways in a given situation.
While it’s possible to regain a little highlight detail from raw files taken on the Hero 7 Black and polish these images up, raw files from a camera with such a small sensor only ever achieve so much. They’re nowhere near as malleable as those from other types of camera, but for archiving you may want to capture raws.
The Hero 6 Black already had an effective video stabilization system, and if your main sporting activities involve you moving relatively steadily then you may have found this to be good enough. The new HyperSmooth system on the GoPro Hero 7 Black is clearly a step up, though, and it really shows its mettle when you're running, biking or traveling in any way down rough terrain. You can see just how well it works in the videos below, the first at 4K and the second at 1080p.
The TimeWarp feature essentially results in a stabilised hyperlapse video, which you can capture either handled or with the device mounted on a moving vehicle. You can set the factor by which it's slowed, which is useful as very fast moving action may pass by too quickly if you have it set to the maximum 30x speed increase. Fortunately, the GoPro Hero 7 Black lets you know how much footage will result at the settings you've chosen, and the timer that displays during recording keeps you posted on this too.
The feature is great when mounted to something that's moving, but the ace card is that it's completely usable handheld. It works particularly well when both you and something in the scene is moving at the same time, such as the clouds in the below footage.
You can capture Full HD footage at up to 240fps, which can be slowed by a factor of 8x to 30fps. Sound is also recorded at the same time, but while footage can be played back in slow-motion on the device itself, it's not possible to output this in slow-motion without going through Quik or other software first.
GoPro Hero 7 Black review: editing and apps
- QuikStories enabled
- Auto backup with 250GB cloud space (with subscription)
- Better compatibility with Instagram
The GoPro Hero 7 Black is compatible with the iOS and Android GoPro and Quik apps, although since the camera launched GoPro has now handily combined both of these apps into the single GoPro app. This lets you do whole load of things other than simply transfer images to your phone.
You can set this to auto upload images to your device, for example, and those with a GoPro Plus subscription will find 250GB of cloud storage space to play with. Instagram users, in addition to having an easier time capturing portrait-orientation images, can also add their footage and images straight into Stories, and you can pimp your captures with music, effects and GPS stickers as you see fit.
We had a few issues getting our Hero 7 Black sample to connect to a Huawei P20 Pro, but there was no issue connecting (and reconnecting) with an iPad Mini running iOS 12. From the GoPro app you can view images and footage, control the camera remotely and upload footage and images to the cloud, and you can also set up a Live connection to your chosen social account. This also happens to be a far less fiddly way of updating your camera’s firmware, as you don’t need to remove the microSD card and load the update manually.
Our tests showed footage to download at a speed of roughly one second per second of 4K footage captured at 30p, when set to a 5GHz wireless band and footage compressed with the HEVC option (rather than H.264, which is also available). This is fine for shorter clips, but you’ll probably want to go through the USB port for a whole day’s worth of shooting. Footage and images appeared on our device promptly and were helpfully segregated by date.
The live view preview isn’t quite rendered in the highest quality, but things sharpen up as soon as you start recording. Most of the time there’s only a tiny delay between the camera’s movements and this being relayed on the screen, but occasionally we did find a touch more lag.
Images are, however, captured as soon as we instructed the camera to do so from the app, and previews of these appeared in the Media Library as soon as we re-entered it.
GoPro Hero 7 Black review: verdict
The GoPro Hero 7 Black might no longer be the most advanced action camera you can buy – that's the GoPro Hero 9 Black – but it does now offer excellent value. Its lower price also now gives it the slight edge over the impressive DJI Osmo Action.
While it's possible to buy a 4K action camera for considerably less, the Hero 7 Black really doubled down on the software and performance advantages that have rightly made GoPro the byword for action cameras. The inclusion of the very effective HyperSmooth stabilization is a big bonus over older models, while its TimeWarp feature is a lot of fun to play with.
The refreshed UI and portrait options also made the GoPro Hero7 Black easier and more convenient to use than before. The Hero 9 Black takes this a step further with its front-facing screen, while the Mod accessories will help boost that camera and the Hero 8 Black's versatility beyond what's on offer here.
That said, the Hero 7 Black remains a fine option that's more than enough action camera for most people – there are no glaring omissions, its video quality is excellent, and its new price tag makes it a fine choice for anyone who needs a tough, waterproof camera for both video and stills duty.
GoPro Hero 7 Black review: competition
GoPro Hero 6 Black
DJI Osmo Action
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