Best GoPro 2023: Which GoPro is right for you?
Want to find the best GoPro for you? Here's our comprehensive guide to the best GoPro action cams on the market today
At its best, the GoPro is a fantastic piece of kit. These small and incredibly rugged little action cameras offer class-leading video and audio, a wealth of creative modes and can often be picked up for a very reasonable price. And, while GoPro has built its reputation off of documenting some of the most extreme activities going, its easy-to-use, versatile line of cameras are just as at home with vloggers, commuters and holidaymakers.
If you’re new to GoPro action cameras, you’re probably taken aback by the variety of similar-looking models available, but don’t panic: we’re here to help you choose the best GoPro for you.
If you’re a seasoned action camera veteran looking for a comprehensive list of the best GoPro action cameras on the market, feel free to scroll further down the page, where you’ll find our top picks. Newcomers, however, should start with our brief guide that explains how to find the best GoPro for you.
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Best GoPro: At a glance
- Best GoPro yet: GoPro Hero 11 Black
- Best budget GoPro: GoPro Hero 9 Black
- Best GoPro 360 camera: GoPro Max
- Best mid-range GoPro: GoPro Hero 10 Black
- Best basic GoPro: GoPro Hero 8 Black
How to choose the best GoPro for you
GoPro’s current lineup consists of the flagship Hero 11 Black, mid-range Hero 10 Black, budget Hero 9 Black and the dual-lens GoPro Max 360 camera. GoPro has also recently introduced a compact, stripped-back Hero 11 Black Mini and, if you shop around, you may still find stock of the older Hero 8 Black.
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When shopping for your ideal camera it can be worth bearing in mind that the best GoPro for you may not be the most expensive model or the one capable of recording at the highest resolutions or frame rates. The ability to film high bit-rate, high refresh-rate 4K and 5K footage might sound appealing but remember you have to have plenty of disk space to store the files and your laptop or PC needs plenty of power to process and edit the footage once you’re back at base.
Indeed, for many, good-quality 1080p or 1440p footage still holds up well for sharing to social media and it’s a lot easier to edit, move around and upload than 4K or 5K. The good news is that even the cheapest GoPro cameras can do that, with even the old budget Hero 7 Silver models capable of recording all the way up to 4K30.
What the more expensive models do offer, however, is GoPro’s impressively effective HyperSmooth stabilisation. While older models still offer basic stabilisation, they’re unable to match the impressively steady results of the HyperSmooth stabilisation found in the newer Hero Black models. The latest flagship models even pack a nifty ‘Horizon Leveling’ feature, ensuring that your footage remains both smooth and level.
These days all of GoPro’s cameras are natively waterproof right out of the box and come with built-in mounting prongs for quick and easy set-up with GoPro’s near endless range of compatible mods, mounts and accessories.
How we test GoPros
In order to ensure we always provide you with the best advice, we extensively test every GoPro we recommend, putting each camera through its paces across a range of photo, video, and general usability tests.
To assess image quality, we capture video and still photographs in various lighting and environmental conditions. We take cameras off the beaten track to check out their image stabilisation efficacy. We also test their ability to record clear and usable audio. We perform battery tests to ensure the cameras can keep up with our demands, and we take care to look out for any potential overheating concerns, or practical limitations.
We also pit the latest GoPros against both their predecessors and their closest rivals, with these side-by-side comparisons available in our full reviews.
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The best GoPro cameras you can buy in 2023
1. GoPro Hero 11 Black: The best GoPro yet
Price: £400 | Buy now from GoPro 
With an all-new sensor, class-leading video stabilisation and a wealth of high-resolution recording options, the Hero 11 Black is GoPro’s best action camera to date.
Breaking from GoPro’s 4:3 sensor tradition, the Hero 11 Black features a brand new 27-megapixel chip with a near-square 8:7 native aspect ratio. Recording 8:7 videos enables creators to crop landscape and portrait orientation clips from the same take, changing the game for those who want to publish to both YouTube and TikTok. A new HyperView mode is also available which compresses the full 8:7 image into a standard 16:9 frame for a stretched super-wide effect, ideal for exaggerating fast-paced action.
The Hero 11 Black packs everything you’d expect from flagship action cam. Spec-wise it supports 5.3K video recording at up to 60fps, 4K at up to 120fps and both 2.7K and Full HD clips can be recorded at up to 240fps. The Hero 11 also features GoPro’s most effective video stabilisation yet, HyperSmooth 5.0. When enabled the camera is able to smooth out the wildest of camera movements, resulting in cinematically-smooth clips. There’s even a Horizon Lock function which is able to correct a full 360-degrees of tilt, ensuring you’re always able to maintain a perfectly level shot. Overall, the Hero 11 Black’s image quality is the best we’ve encountered from an action camera.
Like GoPro’s other modern Hero Black cameras, the 11 is waterproof to 10m without the need for an additional housing, has built-in mounting prongs and is compatible with GoPro’s full range of accessories and Mods.
Read our full GoPro Hero 11 Black review for more details
Key specs – Sensor: 1/1.9in CMOS; Sensor pixels: 27 megapixels; Max recording resolution: 5.3K (60fps); Size (WDH): 71.0 x 33.6 x 51.0mm; Weight: 155g; Warranty: One-year RTB
2. GoPro Hero 9 Black: The best budget GoPro
Price: £300 | Buy now from GoPro 
Competitively priced and well appointed, the Hero 9 Black is the ideal entry-level GoPro. In fact, while it can’t match the blistering frame rates of the latest Hero 11, it will likely tick all the right boxes for most users.
The Hero 9 Black was the first Hero to benefit from GoPro’s latest redesign, which means it packs both front- and rear-facing colour LCD displays, built-in mounting prongs and native 10m water resistance straight out of the box. It’s also compatible with GoPro’s latest accessories, including the firm’s range of Mods for external microphones, lights and displays, along with the new Enduro battery.
As for performance, the Hero 9 Black supports high resolution video recording at up to 30fps at 5.3K or 60fps in 4K. GoPro’s HyperSmooth 3.0 stabilisation is on hand to keep your shots nice and steady and there’s even up to 27-degrees of horizon levelling to keep your clips level too.
Read our full GoPro Hero 9 Black review for more details
Key specs – Sensor: 1/2.3in CMOS; Sensor pixels: 20 megapixels; Max recording resolution: 5K (30fps); Size (WDH): 71.0 x 33.6 x 51.0mm; Weight: 158g; Warranty: One-year RTB
3. GoPro Max: The best GoPro 360 action camera
Price: £380 | Buy now from GoPro
The GoPro Max is an action camera but not as you know it. With fisheye lenses mounted on the front and the back, it can shoot in all directions at once, including up and down.
While we’ve seen 360-degree cameras before, the GoPro Max takes things to another level, capturing superb-quality video and making the viewing and sharing the footage easier than ever. 360 videos are stitched automatically in-camera, you can then opt to upload the files to YouTube as interactive videos that users can pan and zoom around in, or “reframe” the footage using GoPro’s smartphone or desktop app. Reframing allows you to take your favourite angles from within the 360 clip and export them as standard video files – essentially, it’s like filming with multiple cameras at once.
For more traditional videos, you also have the option of using a single lens and engaging GoPro’s incredible Max HyperSmooth stabilisation. Max HyperSmooth is not only capable of keeping your footage incredibly stable but it also offers a full 360 degrees of Horizon Leveling correction, ensuring your videos remain perfectly level too.
With six onboard microphones and a large built-in touch screen, the GoPro Max is one of the cleverest and most flexible action cameras we’ve tested.
Read our full GoPro Max review for more details
Key specs – Sensor pixels: 18 megapixels; Max recording resolution: 5.6K (30fps) 360-degree video; Size (WDH): 64 x 24 x 69mm; Weight: 163g; Warranty: One-year RTB
4. GoPro Hero 10 Black: The best mid-range GoPro
Price: £320 | Buy now from GoPro 
While it may have been succeeded by the Hero 11, the GoPro Hero 10 Black is still one of the most capable action cameras money can buy.
Utilising GoPro’s latest GP2 processor, the Hero 10 is able to offer double the frame rates of the older Hero 9 Black, supporting 5.3K video recording at up to 60fps and 4K video at up to 120fps. GoPro’s HyperSmooth 4.0 stabilisation tech is on-hand to keep your recordings exceptionally stable and there’s 45-degrees of horizon levelling available too.
The camera sports both front and rear-facing colour LCD displays, is waterproof to 10m without the need for an additional housing and is compatible with GoPro’s latest Mod accessories, including the Max Lens Mod.
Read our full GoPro Hero 10 Black review for more details
Key specs – Sensor: 1/2.3in CMOS; Sensor pixels: 23.6 megapixels; Max recording resolution: 5.3K (60fps); Size (WDH): 71.0 x 33.6 x 51.0mm; Weight: 153g; Warranty: One-year RTB
5. GoPro Hero 8 Black: The best basic GoPro
Price: £280 | Buy now from Amazon
Although no longer listed among GoPro’s current lineup of action cams, if you shop around you can still find older Hero 8 Black cameras in stock. Compared to GoPro’s latest offerings it is starting to show its age a little now. Its video recording options top out at 4K60, it lacks a front-facing display and it can’t be used with GoPro’s latest Mod accessories.
With all that said, however, if you’re shopping for a straightforward 4K action cam on a budget, the Hero 8 Black is still worth considering. It’s smaller and lighter than its successors and its HyperSmooth 2.0 stabilisation is still capable of producing respectably smooth clips.
Its lack of a front-facing display may rule it out for vloggers but if you’re looking for something to stick on your helmet or handle bars, produce time lapses with or employ in a dashcam capacity it’s a solid option. If your budget can stretch to it then the newer Hero 9 Black will provide you with more future-proofing but if the price is right the Hero 8 won’t let you down.
Read our full GoPro Hero 8 Black review for more details
Key specs – Sensor: 1/2.3in CMOS; Sensor pixels: 12 megapixels; Max recording resolution: 4K (60fps); Size (WDH): 66.3 x 28.4 x 48.6mm; Weight: 122g; Warranty: One-year RTB
