GoPro HERO7 Silver vs Black

There are three cameras in the GoPro HERO7 lineup: the Black, the Silver, and the White. Those aren’t options for the color of the case—they’re actually all slightly different shades of gray, after all—they refer to different models of camera. ¹

The one with the most features and the highest price is the Black edition. It’s the flagship model. The White is the simplest and lowest-priced. The Silver sits between them. It’s a naming system that GoPro last used fully back with the HERO3 line. ²

But it’s not always clear what the differences are between the models. So my aim here is to lay out plainly the differences and similarities between the HERO7 Black and the Silver cameras. If you’re trying to choose between these two models, hopefully, this will help.

The quick version is that the Black and can do everything the Silver can do, and quite a lot more. It’s a better camera and more capable, but it’s also more expensive, and all those features can add extra complexity. The Silver is still a very capable camera, but it has fewer features (so it can be a little simpler to use) and is priced lower. So if you’re trying to decide whether the Silver will do everything you need or whether to shell out for the Black, here’s a rundown of their key similarities or differences.

HERO7 Silver vs Black: Design & Build

Both of these cameras look very similar on the outside. They’re mostly the same shape, have very similar dimensions, and while the Silver is a little lighter, the small difference in weight probably isn’t going to make much functional difference to most users. ³ They both have the lens port on the top right corner when looking face on, and a touchscreen that covers most of the back panel of the camera.

They’re both waterproof without the need for a separate underwater housing. Both are rated down to 33 feet (10 meters). That’s more than deep enough for use while swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, or surfing, for example. It’s even deep enough for some recreational Scuba diving, although if you plan to use it when diving, a safer bet is to get a separate dive housing. And in that case, there’s an important consideration: they take different dive housings. GoPro’s Super Suit dive housing is compatible with the Black, but for the Silver (and White) you’ll need the newer Protective Housing which is built specifically for those cameras.

Despite those similarities, there are some differences in their basic design and build. Some are minor. The Silver is a lighter shade of gray. It has one fewer onboard microphone ports on the casing (2 vs. 3). And, obviously, it says “7 Silver” on the side rather than “7 Black.”

There are also some more important differences in the exterior. The most obvious is that the Black has a small black-and-white LCD screen on the front of the camera, while the Silver doesn’t. On the Black, that screen is used for simple displays such as the shooting mode and status, storage space left on the memory card, and a battery level indicator. On previous models of GoPros, you could also use that in combination with the buttons to change settings, but you can’t do that with the HERO7 Black. So it’s not something you can interact with; it’s purely a display for status information. And it’s worth mentioning that this isn’t a live view screen that you can use for selfies like the one on the DJI Osmo Action.

Another important difference is that the lens port on the Silver doesn’t protrude as far out as it does on the Black. The implications of that are that you can’t remove and replace the lens port cover on the Silver (you can replace it on the Black), and many snap-on lens accessories won’t work on the Silver. It’s also the reason that you need a different dive housing for each: the Super Suit for the Black and the Protective Housing for the Silver.

There’s a significant difference in the doors on these cameras that has practical implications. The Silver has only one door rather than the two on the Black. That’s because there’s no separate battery compartment on the Silver. And because of that, the SD card slot and the USB-C port are next to each other.

Inside, there’s a significant difference you can’t see. The Black’s brain is a chip developed in-house by GoPro called the GP1. The same chip was in the HERO6 Black, but they’ve ramped up the clock speed with the HERO7 Black to help with the extra computational demands of things like HyperSmooth video stabilization and TimeWarp.

Controlling the Camera: HERO7 Silver vs Black

The ways of controlling the cameras are broadly similar. Both use the touchscreen on the back as the primary way of accessing the menu system. Both can be controlled wirelessly via the GoPro mobile app. Both have voice control. And both use the same kind of shutter button on top for starting and stopping video or time-lapse recording or taking a photo.

But there are also some key differences when it comes to more advanced methods of interacting with the camera.

Buttons and Touchscreen

Both have the same touchscreen system on the back that acts both as a live view display as well as the primary means for accessing the settings and preferences in the menu system.

The overall design and look of the menu systems are the same between these two models. The design has been tweaked since the HERO6 camera. The tweaks are overall an improvement—I find it clearer and easier to use—but it’s still not perfect. Part of it is that the methods behind doing some things vary, such as some toggling with one touch and others with a second step, and part of it is the challenge of trying to fit a touch menu system on such a small screen. Naturally, with fewer features available, the menu system on the Silver is somewhat simplified, but they’re conceptually the same.

Remote Control

Both cameras can be controlled wirelessly with GoPro’s mobile app.

As for dedicated remotes, the Black is compatible with the Smart Remote, but the Silver isn’t.

Voice Control

Both models can use voice control for basic commands. So you can do things like start and stop video recording, switch modes, or take photos with voice commands. You can’t change settings by voice command.

The Black has Wake on Voice, so you can turn it on with a voice command. The Silver doesn’t.

Batteries and Charging

Both use lithium-ion rechargeable batteries rated at 1220 mAh. So you can expect similar recording times if you put them in the same recording modes. Like the GoPros that have gone before, neither of them has what you’d call stellar battery life—an hour or two of filming in ideal conditions and substantially less than that in less-than-ideal conditions. Using the mobile app will drain the power more quickly. And if you use some of the Black’s extra bells and whistles, like GPS and Protune, they will also reduce the battery life further.

There are some key differences when it comes to powering these cameras. Most importantly, the Black uses a removable battery. It’s exactly the same battery as the one used in the HERO6 Black and HERO5 Black. So while you can charge the battery while it’s in the camera, it also gives you the option of keeping spares on hand to swap out in order to minimize downtime.

By contrast, the Silver uses an internal, built-in battery that’s not removable. So the only way to charge it is by connecting the camera directly to a power source using a USB-C cable. Something worth noting in that regard is that you can record while the camera is connected via USB-C to a power source—and that can be used to keep the camera powered up for longer shoots such as doing a time-lapse—but it won’t be charging the battery while you’re actually recording. It will only start charging the battery when you stop recording (but the camera can still be powered on). That’s also true with the Black.

Secondly, both use a USB-C connection to charge, but only the Black can take full use of the USB-C by using fast charging (if you’re using the right kind of high-output USB-C charger like GoPro’s own SuperCharger).

Thirdly, the USB-C port is in a slightly different position for each model. That means that any extended batteries for the H5/H6/H7 Black models that have a rigid connector won’t work on the Silver.

Shooting Video: HERO7 Silver vs Black

Both are very capable cameras for shooting video. Both can shoot up to 4K. But the video features of the Silver are much simplified compared with those of the Black.

Video Resolutions, Framerates, and Bitrates

Both models shoot 4K video, which is the headline resolution in the marketing materials. Beyond that, the Black has many more combinations of resolutions and framerates available.

Video Resolutions. Both models shoot up to 4K video. The Silver maxes out at 4K30 (4K resolution at 30 frames per second). The Black maxes out at 4K60 and the larger 4K (4:3) resolution, which is larger (4096×3072) than the standard 4K (3840×3072) that’s in 16:9 aspect ratio.

These are the various video resolutions that are available on each model.

Resolution	Dimensions	Aspect Ratio	HERO7 Black	HERO7 Silver
4K	3840×2160	16:9	✓	✓
4K 4:3	4096×7072	4:3	✓	–
2.7K	2704×1520	16:9	✓	–
2.7K 4:3	2704×2028	4:3	✓	–
1440p	1920×1440	4:3	✓	✓
1080p	1920×1080	16:9	✓	–
960p	1280×960	4:3	✓	–
720p	1280×720	16:9	✓	–

Video Framerates. As well as having more framerate/resolution combinations available, the Black can also shoot at much higher framerates, which is especially useful if you’re shooting for slow motion. The highest framerate available on the Silver is 60 frames per second at the 1440p resolution. On the Black, you can get up to 240 fps (in 1080p, 960p, and 720p). So if you’re looking to shoot slow-motion footage, the Black is a much better option.

I’ve put together a more detailed breakdown of the resolution/framerate combinations available on the Black here and for the Silver here.

Video Bitrates. The bitrate is a measure of the amount of data that is being used for the video data. The higher the bitrate, the less compression that’s being applied, which corresponds to higher potential quality. (I say “potential,” because there are other things that also influence video quality).

The bitrates used for the various recording modes vary, but the maximum bitrate used on the Black is 78 Mb/s (megabits per second), whereas the maximum on the Silver is 60 Mb/s.

Video Codecs. Both cameras save their video files in MP4 containers with a .mp4 file extension. But there are some differences in the actual codec used to compress the video data. The Silver uses what’s known as H.264, which is a very widely compatible codec that has been around for quite some time now. It works well. The Black can use H.264 on most of its video modes, but it also had the option to use the newer, improved H.265 codec that’s often known as HEVC (for high-efficiency video codec). It can give better quality with less data (and therefore smaller file sizes), but it’s not yet as widely compatible as the previous version.

There are some quirks with how the HEVC is applied on the Black. You can set it always to use HEVC for all video modes or only use it when it absolutely has to (there are certain high-end video modes where it has to use HEVC; you can find more details here).

And if you find yourself running into compatibility issues with HEVC-encoded video, here’s a workaround.

NTSC/PAL. With both, you can choose between NTSC and PAL format. If in doubt, NTSC is a safe bet if you’re planning to share the footage through social media or on the web, or even for broadcast in North America. You’d choose PAL mainly if you’re planning to play the footage on TVs in the UK or Australia or had some specific niche requirements for one of the PAL framerates. In short, if in doubt, leave it on the default NTSC.

When you switch between these, you’ll find some more different framerates become available in the video settings. With NTSC, for example, you’ll be able to choose 60 fps, while with the PAL mode, the equivalent will be 50 fps.

Stabilization

Both cameras offer in-camera electronic stabilization, but this is an area where there’s a significant difference. GoPro is leaning on the new generation of in-camera electronic stabilization that’s used in the Black. They’re calling it HyperSmooth. I’ve done some side-by-side testing of HyperSmooth compared with the standard stabilization used in the Silver, and I’ve found that HyperSmooth is indeed much better. You can see the full range of side-by-side clips in this separate post, but here’s a quick example:

That said, the stabilization offered in the Silver, which is now referred to as Standard, is still pretty good; it’s the same method used in the HERO6 Black. While it’s not perfect, in most shooting scenarios, it does make footage much smoother and much less jerky. You can find some examples here.

Protune

Protune is GoPro’s name for the collection of extended expert features that give you more control over the shooting and, when used properly, can result in higher quality output. I have a much more detailed explanation of the various settings here.

The Black has Protune options for both video and photo shooting. The Silver doesn’t have any Protune options. Here’s the full list of Protune options available on the HERO7 Black.

Protune Option	HERO12 Black	HERO11 Black	HERO10 Black	HERO9 Black	HERO8 Black	HERO7 Black	HERO6 Black	HERO5 Black	HERO4 Black	HERO4 Silver	HERO Session
10-Bit	(Moved to video settings)	On Off (default)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bitrate	(Moved to video settings)	Standard (default) High	Low (default) High	Low (default) High	Low (default) High	-	-	-	-	-	-
Color	Vibrant Natural (default) Flat	Vibrant Natural (default) Flat	Vibrant (default) Natural Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat
White Balance	Auto (default) 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto (default) 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 4000K 4800K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 4000K 4800K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 4000K 4800K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 5500K 6500K Native
Manual Exposure / Shutter*	Auto (default) 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto (default) 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto 1/24 1/25 1/30 1/48 1/50 1/60 1/96 1/100 1/120 1/192 1/200 1/240 1/384 1/400 1/480 1/960 1/1920 1/3840	Auto 1/24 1/25 1/30 1/48 1/50 1/60 1/96 1/100 1/120 1/192 1/200 1/240 1/400 1/480 1/960 1/1920	Auto 1/24 1/25 1/30 1/48 1/50 1/60 1/80 1/96 1/100 1/120 1/160 1/192 1/200 1/240 1/320 1/400 1/480 1/960	Auto 1/60 1/120 1/240	Auto 1/60 1/120 1/240	-
ISO Limit	Auto 6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 1200 800 400	6400 3200 1600 1200 800 400	6400 3200 1600 1200 800 400	1600 400
Sharpness	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	OFF ON
Exposure Compensation	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2
Raw Audio Track	Off (default) Low Mid High	Off (default) Low Mid High	Off (default) Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	-	-	-
Wind	Auto (default) On Off	Auto (default) On Off	Auto (default) On Off	Auto On Off	Auto On Off				-	-	-
Auto Audio Mode Group	-	-	Auto On Off	Auto On Off	Auto On Off	Auto Wind Only Stereo Only	-	-	-	-	-

* Note on manual shutter: The specific options available in the manual exposure / shutter section vary by the framerate you've chosen. The available shutter speeds you'll see available will be limited to multiples of the framerate you're using. As an example, if you set it to record at 1080p60, you won't see the option for a manual shutter speed of 1/96 but you will see 1/120 and 1/240. In general, the scale goes 1/fps, 1/(2xfps), 1/(4xfps), 1(8xfps), and 1(16xfps).

Shooting Photos: HERO7 Black vs Silver

Both the Black and the Silver are quite capable cameras for shooting photos. The major differences are that the Black produces larger images (12MP vs 10MP), has the option to shoot in RAW format as well as JPG, has an improved HDR mode, has faster burst modes, and produces, overall, better-looking photos.

Before we get to a breakdown of the photo-shooting specs, here are some side-by-side examples of photos taken with each camera:

RAW & JPG Photo Image Formats

GoPro first introduced a RAW image format with the HERO5 Black, and it’s something that has carried over to some of the newer models.

It’s based on Adobe’s DNG RAW format with the file extension .gpr. Shooting in RAW opens up the possibility of better image quality because it gives you much more of the data that the sensor sees and doesn’t apply lossy compression that can impact image quality. The catch is that you need to process the images first before sharing them (and not many imaging apps aside from Lightroom supports it. (If you’re not using Lightroom, here’s a workaround.)

The Black has the option to shoot in RAW. It automatically saves a JPG version at the same time, so you have a fallback if necessary.

The Silver doesn’t have the option to use RAW, so you can only get JPG files for still photos.

Photo Image Sizes & Quality

The Black shoots photos that result in 12MP (12-megapixel) images that measure 4000 by 3000 pixels.

The Silver produces slightly smaller 10 MP images that measure 3648 by 2736 pixels.

In many practical uses, that’s not really a meaningful difference—both are big enough for making crisp 8×10 prints, for example, and much bigger than you need for sharing on social media or websites.

Options & Protune

The Black has Protune options when shooting photos; the Silver doesn’t. These give you finer control over the exposure, including things like ISO, shutter speed, and white balance. There are also options that apply when the image is being rendered in the camera, such as sharpness and GoPro color—these apply only to JPGs and not the underlying RAW files. Here’s the full list of Protune options available in the photo mode. It’s almost identical to those on the HERO6 Black.

Protune Option	HERO12 Black	HERO11 Black	HERO10 Black	HERO9 Black	HERO8 Black	HERO7 Black	HERO6 Black	HERO5 Black	HERO5 Session	HERO4 Black	HERO4 Silver
Color	Vibrant Natural (default) Flat	Vibrant Natural (default) Flat	Vibrant (default) Natural Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat
White Balance	Auto (default) 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5000K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto (default) 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5000K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5000K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5000K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5000K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5000K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 4000K 4800K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 5500K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 5500K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 5500K 6500K Native
Shutter Speed	Auto (default) 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000	Auto 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000	Auto 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000	Auto 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000	Auto 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000	Auto 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000	Auto 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 1/2000	-	-	-	-
ISO Limit	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	800 400 200 100	800 400 200 100	800 400 200 100
ISO Min	3200 1600 800 400 200 100 (default)	3200 1600 800 400 200 100 (default)	3200 1600 800 400 200 100 (default)	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	1600 800 400 200 100	-	-	-
ISO Max	3200 (default) 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 (default) 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 (default) 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	3200 1600 800 400 200 100	100 200 400 800 1600	-	-	-
Sharpness	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low
Exposure Compensation	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2

* The shutter settings were added to the HERO5 Black with a firmware update in April 2017 (v.02.00).

Exposure Control

Using the back touchscreen, you can select which part of the screen that’s used to calculate the automatic exposure. Both cameras have this feature.

Burst Mode and Continuous Capture

Being able to take quick sequences of photos of fast-moving objects can come in very handy. Both cameras have burst mode, but the Silver is limited to a single setting: 15 frames in one second, or 15/1. The Black has many more options: Auto, 30/1, 30/2, 30/3, 30/6, 10/1, 10/2, 10/3, 5/1, and 3/1.

A similar feature is continuous capture or continuous photo. Rather than capturing a predetermined number of photos, continuous capture will keep shooting while you hold down the shutter button. It can shoot at either 3 or 30 photos per second, depending on the lighting conditions.

SuperPhoto vs WDR

The HERO7 Black includes a new, enhanced photo mode called SuperPhoto. It’s actually a combination of methods to try to create a better-looking photo. It analyzes the image and tries to use HDR, local tone mapping, or multi-frame noise reduction to help improve the capture and produce a processed image that should look better than a straight capture.

On the Black, you set SuperPhoto on, off, or on auto.

The Silver uses WDR automatically, with no way to turn it off.

I’ve found SuperPhoto to be an improvement, although I suspect it’s not going to be a decisive feature—at least, not by itself—for a lot of users. How well it works will depend on the specifics of the scene; it’s most noticeable in shots with a combination of bright highlights and dark shadows. Here’s an example with the HERO7 Black’s HDR on a bright, colorful, detailed scene compared with the standard WDR version shot with the Silver. (You can find more details and examples of SuperPhoto in action here.)

Something work noting, though, is that processing such as HDR doesn’t work with RAW files; it only works with JPGs.

HERO7 Black vs Silver: Time-lapse

Both cameras can shoot a time-lapse, and both can compile the time-lapse video in the camera, saving it as an MP4 file. With the Black, you can also save the individual photos so that you can download them and process them on your computer later.

The Black has many more options when it comes to intervals. With the Silver, it’s locked at an interval of 0.5 seconds. With the Black, you can set the interval to 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30, or 60 seconds.

The Black also has more options for saving the resulting video. On the Silver, it saves it as a 4K MP4 file. On the Black, you can save it as a 4K, 2.7K, 1440p, or 1080p file, in addition to being able to shoot in Time-lapse Photo mode to save the sequence of individual image files.

The Black also has some variations that aren’t available on the Silver. There’s a new TimeWarp Video mode that works well when the camera is moving. There’s also a NightLapse mode that is time-lapse with longer shutter speeds and a related slightly different way of approaching intervals.

Audio

The Black has three onboard microphones (there are two on the Silver) and can record in stereo (mono on the Silver), but in practice, the audio quality from the onboard microphones is always going to be somewhat mediocre. If sound quality is important to what you’re aiming for, a much better option is to connect an external microphone. You can do that with the Black but not with the Silver.

With the Black, you also have a Protune option of recording a separate, high-quality audio file along with the video. It saves it as a separate WAV file that has the same filename as the corresponding video file.

Other Features

The Black has some other features that the Silver doesn’t have.

GPS. Using a built-in GPS chip, the camera can embed the GPS coordinates of the photo or video into the corresponding metadata. Both the Black and Silver have GPS.

Karma Drone Compatibility. GoPro abandoned their drone and external stabilizer effort, known as Karma, but if you’re still using one, the Black is compatible with it, whereas the Silver is not.

Live Video. They’ve introduced a new live streaming feature with the Black. It’s not available with the Silver. It’s somewhat limited in its functionality and compatibility right now, and you have to use it through the mobile app, but the functionality is there on the Black if you want it. Related to this, the Black has HDMI video out; the Silver doesn’t.

GoPro Subscription Compatibility. Among GoPro Subscription‘s features is the ability to upload photos and videos automatically to the cloud (again, routed through the mobile app). Both cameras can work with that if you’ve got an active GoPro Subscription. If you don’t have a GoPro Subscription, you can have the photos and video offload automatically to your phone (but without the Plus subscription, they’ll stay on your phone and won’t go to the cloud.)

Advanced Metadata. The Black can analyze the photo and do things like optimize the exposure for faces, etc. It’s not a true facial recognition as it is available on many other cameras, but it is a form of advanced processing that’s not available on the Silver.

Which to Get?

So which should you get? The answer is going to be different for everyone and their preferences and situation, so it’s not like there’s a one-size-fits-all answer (if there was, GoPro wouldn’t have bothered releasing both models, after all).

Overall, the Black is a better camera in nearly every respect. But it’s also priced higher. So for many users, it’s a matter of finding the best compromise of features and price for what you want to do and your budget. After all, if you don’t need the bells and whistles of the Black, it’s hard to justify paying for them.

Here are some of my entirely subjective suggestions for which would be a better fit for certain situations.

If you just want the best. The Black. It can do everything the Silver can do and quite a lot more. It also gives you more control over exposure and settings and includes high-bitrate recording and RAW image processing, so it’s possible to get higher-quality output.

If you want something simple. The Silver. It has fewer options to get lost in. That said, using the default auto settings on the Black isn’t really any more complicated; there’s just more opportunity to mess things up if you go fiddling with the various settings.

As a simple travel camera. Either. They’re both good and meet many of the criteria I’ve laid out before. There are several areas where the Black does have the edge—higher-quality photo modes, the ability to swap out spare batteries, etc.—but there’s not really one single feature that makes it a slam dunk.

If you want to shoot a lot of slow motion. The Black. The Silver does have very basic slow-motion capabilities, but the Black has much better features in this area.

If you’re shooting a lot of time-lapse. The Black. Again, the Silver does have very basic time-lapse capabilities, but the Black is a lot more flexible and capable in this area.

If sound quality is important. The Black. It can record stereo with its onboard microphones compared with mono with the Silver, but if sound quality is important, I’d recommend not relying on the onboard microphones and instead use an external microphone if shooting conditions allow it (i.e., it’s not very wet). The Black can accept external microphones; the Silver can’t.

If you’re shooting a lot of still photos and want the best image quality. The Black. You can shoot in RAW, it produces slightly larger images, and the new SuperPhoto feature can produce better-looking JPGs right out of the camera.

Price & Availability of GoPro HERO7 Black

Check the current price and availability of the GoPro HERO7 Black at:

• Amazon
• B&H Photo

GoPro HERO7 Cameras Compared

	HERO7 Black	HERO7 Silver	HERO7 White
VIDEO SPECS
Resolution / Max fps	4K / 60 4K (4:3) / 30 2.7K / 120 2.7K (4:3) / 60 1440p / 120 1080p / 240 960p / 240 720p / 240	4K / 30 1440p / 60 1080p / 60	1440p / 60 1080p / 60
Stabilization	HyperSmooth	Standard	Standard
Max Bitrate	78 Mb/s	60 Mb/s	40 Mb/s
FOVs	Wide Medium Linear SuperView	Wide	Wide
File Format (Codec)	MP4 (HEVC / H.265) MP4 (H.264 / AVC)	MP4 (H.264 / AVC)	MP4 (H.264 / AVC)
Protune	✓	-	-
Digital Zoom	✓	✓	✓
Looping	✓	-	-
Audio Track	WAV + AAC	AAC	AAC
External Mic Compatibility	✓	-	-
HDMI Video Out	✓	-	-
Live Streaming	✓	-	-
PHOTO SPECS
Max Photo Size	12MP	10MP	10MP
FOVs	Wide Linear	Wide	Wide
File Format	RAW (.gpr) JPG	JPG	JPG
Protune	✓	-	-
In-Camera Image Enhancement	SuperPhoto	WDR	-
Top Burst Mode	30 / 1	15 / 1	15 / 1
Continuous Photo	✓	✓	✓
Night Photo	✓	-	-
Photo Timer	✓	✓	✓
TIME-LAPSE SPECS
Timelapse Photo	✓	-	-
Timelapse Video	✓	✓	✓
Nightlapse	✓	-	-
TimeWarp Video	✓	-	-
INTERFACE SPECS
Built-in Touchscreen	✓	✓	✓
Front Screen	✓	-	-
Voice Control	✓	✓	✓
WiFi / Bluetooth	✓	✓	✓
USB Port Type	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
DESIGN & BUILD SPECS
Waterproof Body	✓	✓	✓
Dimensions	62.3 x 44.9 x 33 mm	62.3 x 44.9 x 28.3 mm	62.3 x 44.9 x 28.3 mm
Weight	4.1 oz / 116 g	3.3 oz / 94.4 g	3.26 / 92.4 g
OTHER SPECS
Battery Type	1220 mAh	1220 mAh (non-removable)	1220 mAh (non-removable)
QuikCapture	✓	✓	✓
GPS	✓	✓	-
Memory Card	Recommendations	Recommendations	Recommendations

* Not every feature is available in every shooting mode. As examples, video stabilization is not available in every resolution/framerate combination and the option to save RAW images is not available in burst mode.

1. Just to be really confusing, GoPro also released a limited edition of the HERO7 Black that is dusk white.[↩]
2. There was a HERO3 Black, Silver, and White. There was also a HERO4 Black and Silver, but not a HERO4 White.[↩]
3. By my measure, the Black with a battery and memory card installed weighs 4.1 ounces (116 grams), while the Silver is 3.4 ounces (95 grams).[↩]

Images and product information from Amazon PA-API were last updated on 2023-09-26 at 13:43. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.