Longer battery life;Image quality and stabilisation are excellent;Useful front display

Similar 4K image quality to Hero 8 Black, but with greater contrast;The price jump is significant;Still pretty poor at night

Front screen ; Larger rear screen ; Higher-capacity battery ; Supports Max Lens Mod ; 24MP stills

Bulkier compared to Hero8 ; 5K video feels pointless ; Incompatible with Hero8 Media Mod

Massive specs on every front ; Potent but easy for beginners to use ; Extremely robust build quality

On the heavier side for some mounts/applications ; Voice controls improved but still slightly buggy

The GoPro HERO 9 Black rocks a front-facing colour screen and boosted specs across the board, yet GoPro has kept complexity to a minimum, meaning pretty much anyone can pick up a HERO 9 Black and shoot genuinely impressive 5k video. That impressiveness...

5K video delivers more detail Front display is handy for vlogging Improved battery life New software tricks

Unresponsive touchscreen Little improvement to 4K shooting Still no 4K/120p mode HEVC files need recent editing hardware

The GoPro Hero 9 Black is the most powerful and versatile action camera you can buy, but for most people its predecessor offers better value. While the new sensor and front display are useful additions, the changes don't collectively represent a big...

Impressive HyperSmooth capabilities ; Big battery really delivers ; Design is more durable than previous designs ; Colour screen on the front is a major plus

Bigger than predecessors ; Touchscreen can still be fiddly ; Limited stills photo potential ; Low-light hinders quality

Video and still photography quality won't match a flagship smartphone, that's for sure, but GoPro more than makes up for it by offering a camera you could bounce off walls, drown in a river, and take on the shakeiest bike ride you could imagine - yet...

Better battery despite two screens ; Sharp and stable 5K video ; In-device horizon levelling

Overheats after 30 minutes of 5K capture ; Slightly narrower field of view than Hero8 Black ; Bulkier than the dinky Hero8 Black

Boosts in all the right places make the Hero9 Black the pinnacle of action cam excellence, but if you don’t need 5K, you may well be better off with last year’s model.

HyperSmooth 3.0 is impressive ; Front-facing colour display is a great addition ; Great outdoor performance

Bigger than predecessors ; Laggy touchscreen ; Poor low-light performance

The GoPro Hero 9 Black is the most capable GoPro you can buy right now, and new features including a front-facing colour display improve the overall experience, but there's still much to be desired when it comes to low-light performance.

Smooth video ; Front-facing screen ; Intuitive interface

Heavy

More than that, though, it’s the GoPro’s image quality, coupled with its comprehensive features, that make the Hero9 one of the best action cameras around. However, all these new features, plus a larger battery also make the Hero9 one of the heaviest...

Great 4K and 5K video and still image quality w/ image stabilization ; HyperSmooth 3.0 works great ; Longer battery life ; A bigger rear screen and colour front display are great additions ; Easy to use interface ; Built-in mount for better versatility...

5K video is limited to 30fps ; The touchscreen is sometimes unresponsive ; Low-light video is better but could use improvements ; The larger size means it won’t work with all existing GoPro accessories

The GoPro Hero9 Black is a great improvement from the Hero8 with it’s bigger battery and screen and 5K video support. If you already have a Hero8, then you won’t see that much of an upgrade but if you’re coming from an older GoPro, then the Hero9 Black...