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While the GoPro Hero5 has many of the same specs as the previous generation when it comes to video and photo resolutions, there are some new features in it.\u00a0 Individually no single feature is a massive leap forward in the action cam industry, but collectively they represent a notable and substantial difference over the Hero4 Black.\u00a0 This section is mostly focused on these new features, while the remaining sections take a deeper dive into the core functions of the camera, as well as touch on these new features in more detail.<\/p>\n

Fully Waterproofed: Probably the most notable item is that the GoPro Hero5 Black is now fully waterproofed without the need for a separate case, just like the GoPro Hero4 Session was.\u00a0 In fact, it has nearly the same rubberish material on the outside.<\/p>\n

What is of more concern though is the USB-C\/HDMI port door.\u00a0 This door pops off for placement into the Karma gimbal\/drone, as well as just for charging:<\/p>\n

Deals<\/h2>\n

Gopro 5 deals<\/strong>

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Now this won\u2019t easily pop-off while it\u2019s locked in place, as you have to press a button down to open it (plus slide it).\u00a0 But, the trick will be not losing it after charging your camera or while the charging cable is attached.\u00a0 GoPro does sell the door as an accessory (albeit over priced), and I know I plan to buy an extra door and then seal it up somewhere special in my backpack\/suitcase for traveling.\u00a0 Because I guarantee you that I\u2019ll lose it at the most inopportune time on a trip to some beautiful watery location and be unable to take pictures of The Girl underwater in a bikini without the door.<\/p>\n

Speaking of doors that we don\u2019t want opening up, we\u2019ve also got the battery compartment down below.\u00a0 That holds both the battery as well as the micro-SD card:<\/p>\n

Touch Display:<\/h2>\n

The Hero5 takes the touch display found on the Hero4 Silver and advanced it forward.\u00a0 As you might remember, the Hero4 Black actually lacked a display.\u00a0 This was one reason that the Hero4 Silver was actually a more day to day favorite of mine than the Hero4 Black was.<\/p>\n

However, the touch display acts and feels significantly different here than the Hero4 Silver.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The entire menu system has been redone to make it more intuitive to find settings.\u00a0 Along the bottom it shows you the basics for that mode.\u00a0 For example, in the video mode it shows you resolution and frame rate.<\/p>\n

You can tap on it to change these specs.\u00a0 Only the available frame rates will display for a given resolution.\u00a0 In theory this looks beautiful, but in practice it\u2019s actually more cumbersome than I expected.\u00a0 I think this is because there\u2019s just too many resolutions too closely together for a normal sized finger to hit the right resolution on that small display.<\/p>\n

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On the right side of the display you can enable various advanced settings for that mode, such as ProTune, Image Stabilization, and Audio Control:<\/p>\n

From the top you\u2019ll be able to access general camera settings like WiFi connectivity and voice control. And from the left you can access the playback pages to review photos and videos you\u2019ve taken.\u00a0 I cover all this in-detail in this video below:<\/p>\n

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\nAll of this is of course waterproof as well.\u00a0 Though, it won\u2019t work underwater.\u00a0 For that you\u2019ll need to use the push-buttons on the top\/side of the camera to change modes. <\/span>\n

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Speaking of a wet display, in general I found it doesn\u2019t work well when wet either.\u00a0 Especially if your fingers are wet, it all goes to crap and fails to respond.<\/p>\n

As I said earlier, in theory the new GoPro Hero5 Black touch display layout looks good, but in practice it needs a bit more refinement.\u00a0 I found that the vast majority of the time while trying to change modes the slight display lag combined with tiny option selectors meant many missed attempts at configuring things.<\/p>\n

Voice Control:<\/h2>\n

Like the VIRB Ultra 30, GoPro too introduced Voice Control this fall.\u00a0 This means you can simply tell your camera \u201cGoPro, Start Recording\u201d, and it\u2019ll indeed start recording.\u00a0 Same goes for photos, and even changing modes.\u00a0 In fact, you can actually swear an expletive that rhymes with \u2018hit\u2019 and it\u2019ll mark a highlight there.\u00a0 It\u2019s cool.<\/p>\n

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You can turn this option on\/off, and it\u2019s available in seven languages.\u00a0 Also, if you have the Remo accessory remote, that\u2019ll accept voice commands too in the event the camera is out of range of your voice.<\/p>\n

But\u2026it\u2019s not perfect.\u00a0 I found that it works most of the time when standing still.\u00a0 But once you start moving I found both it and the Hero5 Session actually perform worse than Garmin does.\u00a0 At about 10MPH (15KPH) I find the ability to give commands pretty much dies no matter which way the camera is facing.\u00a0 Whereas with Garmin it\u2019ll continue working above that speed as long as the camera is facing you.<\/p>\n

So you\u2019ll see that GoPro has more functionality (commands) than Garmin does.\u00a0 And earlier leaked manuals in August even showed GoPro being able to learn new commands you assign it (that hasn\u2019t happened yet\u2026but that\u2019d be super cool).\u00a0 But in usage, the Garmin actually works better when you start moving, and there\u2019s fewer failed commands.<\/p>\n

GPS & Sensors:<\/h2>\n

The Hero5 Black contains GPS.\u00a0 But that GPS won\u2019t do anything for you.\u00a0 See, the GPS on the Hero5 Black is merely used to geotag the location of your photos and videos.\u00a0 Essentially it does what Facebook and Instagram do with your phone by saying \u2018You were here\u2019 when you took this photo.\u00a0 It is NOT used to record your GPS tracks while you bike\/ski\/surf\/etc\u2026 Nor is it used to display your speed on videos.\u00a0 Basically, it\u2019s not used for much of anything except saying \u201cThis was taken in NYC\u201d.<\/p>\n

This is obviously a huge disappointment for sports fans that wanted to overlay data like speed or distance onto their videos and have that all be done natively within the GoPro suite.\u00a0 After all, GoPro bought Dashware, the leading app for overlaying such metrics.\u00a0 Yet, tough beans for any usage there at this point.\u00a0 The GPS tagging icon is shown at the top left of the display:<\/p>\n

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Electronic Image Stabilization, RAW Photos, Advanced Audio Tracks: I\u2019m bucketing all three of these together, not because they deserve to be together, but because I want to call them out here before I dive into them more deeply down below.\u00a0 These are in many ways some of the biggest differences between the Hero5 Black and Hero5 Session.\u00a0 While the Hero5 Session does have stabilization, it does not have the new RAW photo mode, nor does it have the Advanced Audio Track capability.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, let\u2019s talk audio and video modes.<\/p>\n

Video & Audio details<\/h2>\n

Ahh yes, video time.\u00a0 No better place to start diving into features than video modes.\u00a0 In many ways the Hero5 is similar in these modes to the Hero4 Black.\u00a0 After all, it too has 4K @ 30FPS and 720P @ 240FPS, the two ends of the spectrum that people often talk about.\u00a0 The footage looks beautiful in 4K \u2013 no doubt.<\/p>\n