I believe it’s obvious that here at AERVIDEO, we’re pretty big fans of GoPros. Just like every year, we’re expecting a new generation of action cams to be announced around September. In this blog post, I will discuss what we hope and wish for in this year’s new GoPro products. 

Our company is rooted in our love for GoPros. In fact, we love the little cameras so much that we wanted to throw them. “If you love something, you have to let it go”, am I right? All that’s missing is a photo of a sunset, and this could be one of those cheesy quotes on Pinterest. Is it weird that I use romantic references to describe my relationship to a piece of camera equipment?

Anyways, when we built our first prototype of the AER the newest GoPro model was the HERO 4 Black. No touchscreen, no voice control and a bulky plastic case to make it water-proof. And still, we were obsessed with the little beast and loved shooting with it. Since then, GoPro has been innovating every single year. The launch of the HERO 5 in September of 2016 was a game changer for us. It allowed us to control the GoPro while it’s inside the AER Head, thanks to voice control. We’re suddenly talking to our camera - no big deal nowadays but back then this felt like magic. And this pattern kept repeating itself: Every year GoPro would come out with the new camera and its new exciting features that made throwing AER even better (We’ll just ignore GoPro’s failed KARMA drone at this point).

And just like every year, I’ll be listening to and watching the GoPro launch very closely. Mostly excited but partly also nervous, because for me the question always is: Will the new GoPro be compatible with the AER? If yes, we celebrate and quickly change the product description on our webshop. If not, we modify our AER Head to make it fit. Luckily, we’re getting better and quicker at this every year. What took us a few months for the HERO 8, we managed to do in a few weeks for the HERO 9. And this year, we’re aiming for a few days. 

Apart from a smooth compatibility with AER, this is what we hope to see in the new GoPro line-up:

‍A new GoPro Max?‍

We can’t throw it (yet) but we still love some good 360 videos, so naturally we’re hoping for an updated version of the Max this year. One of the obvious features that we wish for is a higher frame rate. Being able to shoot 360 degrees in Slow Motion would open up many new possibilities. Ideally 120 fps, but even 60 fps would be great. ‍

The new GoPro HERO 10? ‍

First of all, will it be called the “HERO 10”? Or maybe they do the Apple move and call it the GoPro “HERO X”?

Either way, I’m excited about it. The main thing I wish for is 4k120fps. I always find myself either sacrificing resolution or framerate, I wish I could have both. Also, being able to film in 5k 4:3 aspect ratio would be great. It would give us even more possibilites to use Hypersmooth, In-Camera Horizon Leveling or FX Reframe. Lastly, I hope the Max Lens Mod gets continued. Or here's another idea: a few other Lens Mods. Imagine a GoPro with a zoom lens or a macro lens - sounds crazy, but it's inspiring. And that's what a GoPro (and any other camera) is meant to do: To enable and inspire us to tell our stories.

Back to the new GoPro HERO 10 - I hope the dimensions don’t change much compared to the HERO 9 so that it’s easily compatible with the current AER Head. If something does change, I certainly hope the camera gets smaller and lighter. Compared to the older GoPros the HERO 9 already feels quite bulky. ‍

An updated GoPro App? ‍

As all avid action cam users will know, GoPro isn’t the only good option out there on the market anymore. Other brands like DJI and Insta360 are catching up quickly. And I would argue that when it comes to the software/apps - they have long surpassed GoPro. I recently had a first experience with the Insta360 app - and it's noticeably superior to GoPro's Quik app. I hope that GoPro can step up their game and improve the App. In particular, the process of connecting and controlling cameras could be easier and more reliable. Especially with multiple GoPros this is often a tedious and frustrating process. When it comes to mobile editing, the Quik app currently can't compete with some of the other options out there.  

By the way, I also would love a revival of the GoPro Session. And I’m sure the FPV community would agree with me here. The small size and weight made this GoPro so intriguing - a bummer that it was discontinued. 

So here it is - my wishes for GoPros new line-up. What is it that you wish for? I’m curious to hear your thoughts and comments. Email me at pablo@aervideo.com - I’ll be replying to each of you individually.

And of course, we will keep you updated as soon as we know more about the new GoPros. Sign up to our Newsletter to never miss an update.