Voice control has been a standard feature of the last several generations of GoPro cameras. It allows you to control some basic functions of the camera hands-free, using only your voice. That can be especially convenient when your hands are busy holding onto something else, or if the camera is just out of reach.
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It’s not always a good solution, though. Your mileage might vary and will depend on the conditions you’re shooting in. It doesn’t work well in noisy conditions, if the camera is inside a housing, or if you’re far away from the camera, and it doesn’t work at all underwater.
But in some conditions, it can be an especially useful way to control your GoPro’s filming when your hands are otherwise occupied, you’re wearing mittens or gloves, or the camera isn’t in an easily accessible place.
Like several previous models, the GoPro HERO11 Black Mini has voice controls. And its controls are in line with previous models such as the HERO10 Black. But it has a slimmed down selection of available commands for the simple reason that the Mini doesn’t have all of the capture modes available on the larger HERO11 Black. The Mini doesn’t have a dedicated photo mode for still images, for example, nor any timelapse or burst modes. The methods available to enable and disable Voice Control are also different because the Mini doesn’t have the back touchscreen for the settings menu.
How to Turn Voice Control On & Off
To enable and disable voice control on the HERO11 Black Mini, you have to go through the GoPro Quik mobile app. Once connected, go to Settings and tap on the Voice Controls toggle switch.
Camera Preferences > Setup > Voice Control
Available Voice Commands on the GoPro HERO11 Black Mini
The voice commands on the GoPro HERO11 Black Mini are all fall into what are known as the Action Commands on the larger HERO11 Black. The Mini doesn’t have the Mode Commands of its larger sibling because it doesn’t have those capture modes available.
Voice Command | What it Does |
GoPro CAPTURE | Starts capturing in the mode that your camera is currently set to. |
GoPro STOP CAPTURE | Stops capture. |
GoPro START RECORDING | Starts recording video. Same as “GoPro Capture” command. |
GoPro HILIGHT | Adds a HiLight Tag to your video that will be accessible in video playback. |
GoPro STOP RECORDING | Stops video recording. Same as “GoPro Stop Capture” command. |
Turning the HERO11 Black Mini Off with Your Voice
With the HERO11 Black Mini, you can also turn the camera off with your voice.
To turn the camera off, just say “GoPro Turn Off.”
On some earlier models, such as the HERO9 and HERO8, it is also possible to turn the camera on using a feature called Wake on Voice. The HERO11 Black Mini does not have the Wake on Voice feature.
Things Worth Knowing
Every command needs to start with “GoPro . . . “. This alerts the camera to listen to the following command.
The camera needs to pick up your voice cleanly for it to register. So you need to be quite close to your camera, and performance might be affected by wind noise or other noise. It also does not work very well if the camera is inside a protective housing.
Voice commands and languages are the kinds of things that GoPro can tweak with firmware updates. So it’s worth making sure that your camera’s firmware is up to date for the latest list of commands.
HERO11 Voice Control Languages
GoPro Voice Control is also available in other languages. You can switch the language through the GoPro Quik mobile app by going to:
Camera Preferences > Setup > Voice Control Language
The available voice control languages on the HERO11 Black Mini are:
- English (UK/US/AUS/IND)
- French
- German
- Italian
- Portuguese (BR)
- Russian
- Spanish (EU / NA)
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Korean
- Japanese
- Swedish
The voice control language is set independently of the menu system language, so they don’t have to match.
Related Posts
The Latest Model: GoPro HERO11 Black
Released in the fall of 2022, the HERO11 is GoPro's current model. Well, actually two models.
First, there's the flagship Black that has all the bells and whistles and sets the standard for action cameras.
- Shoot 5.3K60 & 4K120 video at up to 120Mbps bitrate
- Take 27MP photos
- Waterproof to 33ft / 10m without a separate housing
- Built-in mount point
- HyperSmooth 5.0 In-camera Video Stabilization creates smooth video without a gimbal
- Shoot up to 8x slow motion
A couple of months later, they released Black Mini. It's smaller and shares many of the flagship models capabilities, but it's also stripped-down in important ways. For instance, it doesn't have a touchscreen, its battery isn't removable, and it shoots video only (so no photo mode).
- Shoot 5.3K60 & 4K120 video at up to 120Mbps bitrate
- Compact form factor
- Waterproof to 33ft / 10m without a separate housing
- 2x built-in mount point
- HyperSmooth 5.0 in-camera video stabilization
- Shoot up to 8x slow motion @ 2.7K
- Built-in battery