GoPro HERO6 Black vs HERO5 Black

In late-September 2017, GoPro released their new HERO6 Black model. It comes out only a year after its predecessor, the HERO5 Black. If you’re trying to decide whether to get the HERO6 Black or HERO5 Black, here’s a detailed breakdown of how they compare.

GoPro HERO5 Black vs HERO6 Black: Quick Comparison

They look the same. Inside is a new processor that GoPro developed in-house, but the emphasis appears to have been migrating to the new processor rather than introducing new features.

What’s New:

• 4K60 and 1080p240 video modes
• 4K 4:3 (4000×3000) video size
• digital zoom for video and photos
• ISO 3200 photos
• H.265 (HEVC) video encoding (high-end modes only)
• higher fps in 2.7K and 1080p video modes

What’s Improved:

• in-camera video stabilization
• photo image quality
• video image quality
• increased video bitrate
• tweaks to menus and user interface
• slightly brighter and less contrasty touch screen

What’s Removed:

• 480 and 960 video sizes
• narrow and medium FOVs

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GoPro HERO5 Black vs HERO6 Black: Housing and Exterior

The HERO6 Black and HERO5 Black share the same casing. Same size, same shape, same matte dark gray finish, same buttons and doors and ports.

At left: GoPro HERO6 Black. At right: HERO5 Black.

So you really can’t tell the difference between the two models from the outside. There are some tiny tells: things like a small arrow on the lock lever of the new frame housing and some subtle visual tweaks to the user interface for the touchscreen.

At left: GoPro HERO6 Black. At right: HERO5 Black.

At left: GoPro HERO6 Black. At right: HERO5 Black.

At left: GoPro HERO6 Black. At right: HERO5 Black.

At left: GoPro HERO6 Black. At right: HERO5 Black.

The key feature of the HERO6/5 case design is that the camera’s own case is also the housing. With the models up the HERO4, you needed a separate housing if you wanted it to be waterproof. With the HERO5 Black, and now the HERO6 Black, the camera’s own case is waterproof. They’re rated to be waterproof down to 33 feet (10m) without a separate housing. If you’re looking to take the camera deeper, say, for Scuba diving, you might want to add a Super Suit housing, which is a stronger, even more waterproof, dive housing.

One factor to consider with the new case design is that, by itself, it has no way to use the GoPro mounting system–there’s nowhere on the camera case itself to attach. So it comes with a Frame that doesn’t provide much in the way of extra protection, but it does add the mounting point on the bottom. The Frame is included in the box.

Its dimensions are 2.6 x 1.8 x 1.4 inches (or 6.5 x 4.5 x 3.5 cm). By itself (without Frame or mounts), the camera weighs 4.2 ounces / 118 grams with a battery and memory card installed.

GoPro HERO5 Black vs HERO6 Black: Controls and Interface

The two cameras are practically identical in terms of controls and interface. Both have the same buttons. The on-screen menus are essentially the same with only very subtle tweaks. And both connect to the Remo and Smart Remote and GoPro mobile app in the same ways.

Both also offer the option of voice control; it works the same way on both cameras.

At left: GoPro HERO6 Black. At right: HERO5 Black.

There have been some minor tweaks to the user interface of the menu system. At left: GoPro HERO6 Black. At right: HERO5 Black.

GoPro HERO5 Black vs HERO6 Black: Battery Life

This is an area where there’s been no improvement, unfortunately. I’ve run them side-by-side in identical shooting modes and found them to be essentially the same in their battery use.

If you’re lucky, you’ll get up to two hours of shooting, depending on what features you turn off and the shooting conditions. You’ll get less if you’re using features like wireless, previewing through the GoPro app, or GPS logging.

Both use the same 1220mAh battery, so you can use your existing batteries. I’ve been mixing and matching them without any issues.

The battery compartment and microSD slot. The doors have their own waterproof seals.

GoPro HERO5 Black vs HERO6 Black: LCD Touch Display

The screen on the back is used for live view and playback and is also one of the methods for navigating the menus and settings.

The screen is the same size and resolution on the two models. The new model has some subtle visual tweaks to the user interface and appears slightly brighter, but if you’ve used the HERO5 Black the new model will be instantly recognizable.

The display on the new camera is a little brighter and slightly less contrasty for the preview than its predecessor. I’ve found that to be a good thing. Especially if your scene has dark areas in it, the effect of slightly less contrast is to boost the shadows and make it easier to see. It’s certainly not a big thing, but I do think it’s an improvement.

The color balance of the new screen is also a little warmer. That is, it has more yellow and a little less blue than the older version. GoPros have always favored very cool (blue) colors, but the new one is probably closer to neutral and looks more natural. It’s not something you really notice until you put them side by side, but I prefer the newer one.

GoPro HERO5 Black vs HERO6 Black: Shooting Video

At the top end, the HERO6 Black adds new 4K60 and 1080p240 modes. These add faster frame rates. By comparison, the HERO5 Black’s top modes are 4K30 and 1080p120.

Beyond those two headline features, there’s a lot of overlap in terms of video capabilities between the two models. But there are also some important differences.

Sizes. The new camera adds some new modes at the top end and drops some at the lower end. The lowest video mode is now 720p60–there’s no 480p or 960p sizes that the HERO5 Black has.

It also adds a new, larger format: 4K 4:3. This outputs video at 4000×3000. The regular 4K, which is the largest size on the HERO5 Black, is 3840×2160.

Stabilization. The HERO5 range first included in-camera stabilization. The HERO6 Black also has it and, in my side-by-side testing, I’ve found it to be significantly better. I’m working on putting together some detailed side-by-side comparisons from real-world shooting.

Fields of View. Both have the standard wide view that’s available in all shooting modes as well as the Linear and Superview FOVs that are available in some modes. The HERO5 Black also has Narrow and Medium FOVs in some modes. Those have been removed and mostly replaced with a new zoom function.

Digital Zoom. The HERO6 Black has a new zoom function. It’s a digital zoom, not an optical one, and it’s controlled by touch with a slider on the back screen (or on-screen if you’re using the GoPro app). Because it’s not zooming through the lens, the image quality of the zoomed-in footage is often less crisp. Here are some frames that show the zoom results:

H.265 (HEVC). Both cameras produce video files in an MP4 container, but there are some differences about what goes in that container. On the HERO6 Black, the very top video modes are encoded with the newer H.265 (HEVC) codec that can give better quality for a given compression rate.

It’s only used for these video modes:

• 4K60 / 4K50
• 4K(4:3) 30/25/24
• 2.7K120 / 2.7K100
• 1080p240 / 1080p200

All the other video modes are encoded with an older AVC codec that is much more widely compatible.

Protune. The Protune options for video are very similar between the two models. The HERO6 adds a few more manual white balance, shutter speed, and ISO settings.

More. If you want more specifics, I’ve put together a more detailed breakdown of the HERO6 Black’s video modes.

Video Modes Compared. Here’s a table showing what video modes are available on each camera.

GoPro HERO6 Black vs HERO5 Black: Shooting Photos

Overall, I’ve found the image quality of photos to be better in the HERO6 Black. The differences aren’t huge, but the photos I’ve been getting out of the HERO6 Black are more natural, less contrasty, and have better detail throughout the tonal range. The results aren’t the same as you get out of a larger stills cameras, but the HERO6 Black offers an incremental step in the right direction.

Sensor. Both have 12MP sensors that produce images that are 4000 x 3000 pixels with an aspect ratio of 4:3.

Lens. Both use the same lens that produces, by default, that distinctive fisheye look. It’s a lens rated as a 3mm lens, equivalent to 15mm in the 35mm/full-frame format.

RAW Format. Both let you choose between shooting in RAW (GoPro’s own .gpr format) or JPG. There are some functions, like burst mode, continuous mode, and HDR/WDR, that are limited to JPG.

Protune. The Protune options are mostly identical. You can still do things like set an exposure compensation (plus or minus up to 2 stops), select a color mode, limit the automatic ISO range, and choose how aggressively to apply sharpening.

A minor difference is that you can now choose up to ISO 3200 rather than being limited to ISO 1600.

HDR. The HERO5 introduced a new photo mode to recover detail from shadows and highlights. GoPro called it WDR for wide dynamic range.

The HERO6 Black takes that a step further by replacing WDR with a more traditionally named HDR, or high dynamic range.

The HDR mode of the HERO6 Black is quite a bit more aggressive than WDR and recovers more detail in shadows and highlights. It often adds some saturation, but I’ve found it still looks more natural to my eyes than the HERO5 Black’s WDR mode, which I always found produced somewhat muddy results.

Here’s an example of HDR from a HERO6 Black shot side-by-side with WDR from a HERO5 Black. I have more examples here.

ISO 3200. The HERO6 Black extends the ISO range up to 3200 (from 1600 in the HERO5 Black). The image quality is still a bit mediocre at high ISOs, with grain, color shifts, and loss of detail, but the high-ISO image quality is still somewhat improved in the new model.

Here are some examples at ISO 1600 and ISO 3200.

More. I have a separate, detailed post on photo modes on the GoPro HERO6 Black.

GoPro HERO6 Black vs HERO5 Black: Burst Mode

Both cameras have a burst mode where you can take a sequence of photos in quick succession. The options are:

• 30 photos spanning 1, 2, 3, or 6 seconds
• 10 photos spanning 1, 2, or 3 seconds
• 5 photos in 1 second
• 3 photos in 1 second

The HERO6 Black also has a new Auto Burst Mode setting that takes up to 30 frames in 1 second. The instruction manual doesn’t do a good job of explaining what that means, so I’ve put together a more detailed explanation with examples.

GoPro HERO6 Black vs HERO5 Black: Time Lapse Video / Time Lapse Photo

Both models offer two ways to create a time lapse.

Timelapse Photo. The first is the traditional method that involves shooting a sequence of still images, downloading those images from the memory card, and stitching them together on your computer using software. The available intervals are the same in both cameras: 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30, and 60 seconds.

Timelapse Video. You can also have the camera compile the video on the fly to create a finished mp4 timelapse video. This saves a lot of extra steps and time, but for that extra convenience you do give up some control and flexibility. It offers the same intervals as the time lapse photo method.

As for resolution, they can both output timelapse videos in 4K, 2.7K 4:3, and 1080 formats.

Night Lapse Photo. Both the old and new models have the Night Lapse Photo mode that provides extra interval and shutter speed options better suited to low-light shooting.

Sound Quality

The audio features of both models are essentially the same. Both have built-in mics that can capture sound on-board. Both are compatible with external microphones (with a mic adapter, sold separately).

Both have Protune options for the audio track of video capture that can be very useful:

• a raw audio track option that creates a higher-quality WAV file separate to but alongside the video file. With the raw audio track, you have the option of low, medium, or high in-camera processing.
• an auto mode option that gives you the option of putting it in a mode that reduces the effects of wind noise

Both also allow a line-in mode, which is useful if you’re connecting a soundboard or guitar, for example, directly. Again, you’ll need to use a mic adapter.

The real-world results from the onboard mics in the HERO5 Black were a big disappointment to many users. The results were often muffled and noisy. Unfortunately, I’ve not found any improvement on this score with the HERO6 Black. You’ll still get vastly improved sound quality by using an external microphone.

Ports and Connectors

Both use the same USB-C connector for charging and data transfer. Both have the same micro HDMI (Type D) socket for connecting video devices.

USB-C and HDMI ports. The doors have their own waterproof seals. The port door is removable, which makes it compatible with accessories like the GoPro Karma Grip / Karma Drone.

Accessories

I’ve yet to find any HERO5 Black accessory that doesn’t work with the HERO6 Black. Because they both share the same case, the same housings and accessories that connect externally will work. That includes all mounting accessories as well as ones that attach to one of the ports, like the HERO5 frame for the Karma grip.

I’ve been using batteries that came with the HERO5 Black in the HERO6 Black without any issue, and vice versa.

And the options for remote control–REMO, Smart Remote, and the GoPro mobile app–all work the same way on both models.

There are, however, a number of HERO4 (and earlier) accessories that won’t work with the HERO5/6 design. Here’s a rundown.

Instruction Manuals

You can find digital versions of the instruction manuals here.

GoPro HERO6 Black vs HERO5 Black: Wrap Up

In releasing the HERO6 Black, GoPro’s emphasis appears to have been migrating to the new processor rather than introducing new features. That seems to have gone mostly but not completely smoothly–I’m seeing more lockups and glitches with my HERO6 Blacks than I’ve seen on my HERO5 Blacks (hopefully these are bugs that can and will be fixed in firmware updates soon). With that migration done, and now that they control more of the camera’s core components in-house, it presumably creates a solid foundation for future models.

Despite a completely new processor inside, the updates from HERO5 Black to HERO6 Black are mostly incremental.

There are real improvements, to be sure. The new top-end video modes of 4K60 and 1080p240 will certainly be useful to some users that want super-high resolution or are planning on creating high-def slow motion. And, overall, there are improvements on a number of fronts, from photo image quality to the effectiveness of the onboard stabilization, to video quality. But if you already own a HERO5 Black, those might not make compelling cases for many users to upgrade.

And then there’s the bump in price. When the HERO5 Black was released, it had an MSRP of $399. GoPro has set the HERO6 Black’s MSRP at $499, a 25 percent increase (it’s also a return to the level that the HERO4 Black was released at).

Find Them At

You can find them at Amazon and B&H Photo.

GoPro HERO6 Black — Waterproof Digital Action Camera for Travel with...

• Hero6 black automatically sends your footage to your phone where the app turns it into a quikstory an...
• With 4k60 and 1080p240 video,Hero6 black delivers 2x the performance compared to Hero5 black with an all...

Check Price on Amazon

GoPro Hero5 Black — Waterproof Digital Action Camera for Travel with...

• Stunning 4k video and 12MP photos in single, burst and time lapse modes charger not included
• Durable by design, Hero5 black is waterproof to 33 feet (10 meter) without a housing

Check Price on Amazon

GoPro HERO6 Black Video Modes

Here’s are the detailed specs of the HERO6 Black’s video modes.

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