Video and still photography quality won't match a flagship smartphone, that's for sure, but GoPro more than makes up for it by offering a camera you could bounce off walls, drown in a river, and take on the shakeiest bike ride you could imagine - yet still deliver awesome footage.

Impressive HyperSmooth capabilities; Big battery really delivers; Design is more durable than previous designs; Colour screen on the front is a major plus;

Bigger than predecessors; Touchscreen can still be fiddly; Limited stills photo potential; Low-light hinders quality;

The GoPro Hero 9 Black is the most powerful and versatile action camera you can buy, but for most people its predecessor offers better value. While the new sensor and front display are useful additions, the changes don't collectively represent a big leap over the Hero 8 Black. Its slightly unresponsive touchscreen is also a little frustrating, even if a firmware fix is en route. No other action can match the Hero 9 Black's skillset, but others do currently edge it for value.

5K video delivers more detail; Front display is handy for vlogging; Improved battery life; New software tricks;

Unresponsive touchscreen; Little improvement to 4K shooting; Still no 4K/120p mode; HEVC files need recent editing hardware

The GoPro Hero 9 Black is the most capable GoPro you can buy right now, and new features including a front-facing colour display improve the overall experience, but there's still much to be desired when it comes to low-light performance.

HyperSmooth 3.0 is impressive; Front-facing colour display is a great addition; Great outdoor performance;

Bigger than predecessors; Laggy touchscreen; Poor low-light performance;

What’s The Best puts the GoPro Hero 9 to the test. Read the review now to see if the camera is worth splashing out on in 2021.

With 5K video and a front-facing display, the GoPro Hero9 Black is the new action camera to beat. There are many imitators, but no one has yet come close to knocking GoPro off its perch as the best action camera, and that continues with the GoPro Hero9.

Smooth video, Front-facing screen, Intuitive interface

Heavy

We like TimeWarp, it’s a fun feature that could be a good tool for storytelling. Although not groundbreaking, the low light performance was a stop greater than we expected and it’s easy to operate.

Better battery despite two screens; Sharp and stable 5K video ; In-device horizon levelling;

Overheats after 30 minutes of 5K capture; Slightly narrower field of view than Hero8 Black; Bulkier than the dinky Hero8 Black;

HyperSmooth 3.0 impresionante; Pantalla frontal a color; Gran rendimiento en exteriores;

Más grande que modelos anteriores; Pantalla táctil lenta; Mal rendimiento con poca luz;

It wasn’t long ago that action cameras were in an arms race to make the smallest possible device. In fact,...

Front-facing screen and a larger rear screen. Gorgeous 5K footage with in-camera horizon-levelling. 20MP stills and 14MP screen grabs. Vastly improved performance in cold temps. Longer battery life

A bit heavier than the Hero8 Black, Your old GoPro batteries won’t work with it, Video images lack a bit of sharpness and the colours are slightly off (hopefully fixable via firmware)

The GoPro HERO 9 is amazing for action video. You can easily mount it to action cam mounts and objects like helmets or cars, and it's waterproof down to 33 ft. It also has an impressive digital video stabilization feature that helps smooth out camera shake, along with a horizon leveling feature.

Rugged, portable design., Impressive video stabilization performance., Lots of frame rate options in FHD., Waterproof.

Poor video quality in low light.