iPhone 8 vs. GoPro Hero 6 Black - Review
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,538 words · ~7 min read
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the new gopro hero 6 black is the best action cam ever but if we're being
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honest we can kind of expect that at this point right it's kind of like this
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iphone 8 plus right here if it isn't the best iphone that they've
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made yet wouldn't they just throw it in a bin where it belongs and keep selling
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seven pluses so the question is just how much better is the hero 6 black
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compared to last year's hero 5 black and at this price for something that is just
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a camera how much better is it than this
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and is it also better than our sponsor zotacs product the magnus en
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1070 a compact high performance gaming machine well if you're looking for a
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camera maybe but if you're looking for a high performance gaming machine probably not check it out at the link below
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so the hero 6 black has nearly the exact same body as the hero 5 meaning that it
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is waterproof without an external enclosure it works with the same
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accessories including the karma grip and drone and it has the same 20 milliamp
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hour batteries and usb type-c charging port
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gopro's companion app remains an option for remote control and monitoring but
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like with the hero5 you don't have to use it anymore because the integrated 51
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millimeter touchscreen makes it super easy to adjust settings like shutter
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speed white balance iso and beep volume
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and to review your footage in the field as long as you aren't underwater at the
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time with that said once you've dialed in your favorite settings i think you'll
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probably give most of your commands to the hero 6 black by voice
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and i know i know it's everybody's favorite gimmick right
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now along with ai but think about it it actually makes way
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more sense here than it does on most devices
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if your camera is mounted to your head and your hands are full of you know
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sports balls and athletic peripherals
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you have no easy way of knowing whether the camera is recording or even what
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mode it's in but that doesn't matter with voice commands because it will
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actually change from photo mode to video when i say gopro start recording
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so yeah i know voice operation was
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introduced on the hero5 black but it's also been expanded here in a couple of
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meaningful ways including the ability to turn the camera off and up to eight
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hours later back on which is theoretically awesome for saving battery
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gopro turn on gopro turn on
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as long as you can get it to work reliably okay then Linus that's great
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how about something that the five didn't have
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sure while it might not look new on the
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outside instead of using a commercially available processor from amborella like
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just about every other action cam on the market
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under the hood of the hero 6 black we find something really special a brand
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new custom processor called the gp1
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cool name by the way you guys i wonder what that stands for
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so this new chip has double the processing
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power boosting nearly all of the camera's capabilities allowing it to
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record at higher bit rates capture higher dynamic range videos and even HDR
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stills and perform electronic image stabilization along more axes
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but most of that stuff doesn't actually even make it to the bold print on the
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front of the box there the focus is on the frame rate
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4k video at 60 frames per second up from
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30 last gen and 1080p video at 240
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frames per second for some wicked slow-mo up from 120 on the last gen
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videos recorded at these high frame rates used the new h.265 hevc codec
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while the rest used garden variety h.264
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it also has a new recording format called 4k 4x3 or about 4000 by 3000
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pixels and it can do this at up to 30 frames per second this mostly adds
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vertical space to the recording and the purpose is to help the editor ensure
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that the action isn't getting cut off at the top or bottom of the frame if the
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camera gets accidentally misaligned while you're running around out there on
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the subject of framing you can also zoom now sort of hero 6 black has a linear
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slider now for digital zoom though you cannot adjust it while you're recording
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so i would think of this as more like an
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infinite number of field of view options and indeed the old narrow and medium
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field of view modes are no longer with us finally the new photo burst mode
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called auto takes up to 30 photos per second but can actually take fewer if it
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thinks that each shot requires more exposure time
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which all sounds nice but
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bearing in mind that the hero 5 black was only 400 when it launched just a
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year ago is this refresh really worth the 500
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price tag i mean we are getting close to flagship smartphone territory and come
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to think of it on top of everything else it does the iphone 8 can take 4k video
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at 60 FPS too is there any point buying this thing at
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all side by side you can see that video
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quality between the two is actually pretty comparable though
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keep in mind that it is not exactly an apples to apples comparison given that
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the hero is wide angle and the iphone 8
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plus has a more conventional lens and a telephoto lens on its two discrete
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sensors the hero 6 also lacks image
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stabilization at 4k 60 while the iphone
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8 has optical image stabilization all the time
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with that said when shooting at 4k30 where the hero 6 black's electronic
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image stabilization actually works it does work really well
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now obviously though these cameras are very different gopro products are rugged
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and have an ecosystem of accessories that have given them their reputation as
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the primo action camera brand and even if you go
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out and get a gimbal for your iphone or you tape it to your forehead like i did
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last week you're still not going to get the immersive first person experience
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that gopro's wide angle lens delivers
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so does the fact then that the hero 6 black
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is arguably the best action cam ever made mean that you should run out and
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buy it well if it were 249 that i would say
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hell yeah man but
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and this actually seems intentional gopro has priced it
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out of the range of you know your casual
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music festival attendee and closer to the prosumer threshold where the target
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buyer for this probably makes some money
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maybe even to attract sponsors for their downhill racing or motocross or whatever
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with epic action cam footage
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this strategy shift will probably result in fewer units sold but let's face it
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that was happening anyway and at least this way gopro can make up for it with
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higher margins from the people who can more easily justify the higher price tag
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