GoPro skips Hero 14. See the Max 2 360º camera that focuses on 'true 8K'
GoPro is also launching the Fluid AI gimbal and Lit Hero mini action camera
📷 GoPro revealed three new products today, and none were the Hero 14 Black
🌐 GoPro Max 2 promises ‘true 8K’ from 360º degree video, besting rivals
🆚 This is GoPro catching up to market leader Insta360 and 360-newercomer DJI
🤳 Its Fluid AI gimbal offers stabilized video for phones, GoPros and small cameras
📸 GoPro Lit Hero is the upgraded sequel to the Mini with a front-facing light
💰 Max 2 pre-orders are live at $499, so it’s $50 cheaper than the Insta360 X5
🗓️ Coming October 21 are the Gimbal at $229 and the Lit Hero at $269
GoPro is talking up “true 8K” in 2025, but it isn’t in a GoPro Hero 14 Black yet, like you may be expecting. Instead, GoPro is introducing three brand-new camera products today.
The GoPro Max 2 is its second take at a 360º camera. Since the 2019 launch of the GoPro Max 1 five years ago, Insta360 has dominated the 360º camera space, and DJI has now joined this all-encompassing camera category. This is GoPro’s comeback story.
We just got the GoPro Hero Max 2 in on Thursday, right in the middle of the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Max launch coverage, so The Shortcut will have a full Max 2 review in the coming days. But, from my unboxing and brief hands-on time with the 360º camera, I can tell a lot about this $499 camera that’s cheaper than the $550 Insta360 X5.
It’s true. GoPro really wants you to know that Max 2 does true 8K. Truly.
The number of times GoPro mentions “true 8K” in its announcement hammers home the fact that the US action camera company’s China-based competition skimps on resolution. The Max 2’s 4216 x 4216 resolution is a 16% to 21% higher resolution than rivals like this year’s Insta 360 X5 and the even newer DJI Osmo 360.
8K doesn’t matter much on a smartphone camera or even an action camera, but it’s a perk for any 360º camera with two lenses that stitches together a video from every angle. Most 360º videos that are taken these days are reframed in software later, so 8K affords you more flexibility to punch in without dipping below 4K or 1080p.
GoPro Hero Max records in 8K30 in real time, 5.6K60 for 2x slow-mo, and 4K100 for 3x slow-mo. It has a low-profile design compared to the tall Insta 360 X5 and matches its rival with replaceable lenses. There are mounting options here: a magnetic latch mount, a traditional GoPro fingers mount, and a 1/4-20 mount. GoPro says the internal 1960mAh Enduro battery allows for all-day battery life (I’ll be putting that to the test in my full review).
The GoPro Max 2 also boasts 10-bit color, smoother gradations, GP-Log encoding with GoPro LUTs, and a handy DaVinci Resolve plug-in (DaVinci Resolve wasn’t even under the Blackmagic Design banner back when the GoPro Hero 1 was announced).
New accessories are launching alongside the GoPro Max 2: a 40-inch Carbon Fiber Extension Pole in addition to the existing 9ft Carbon Fiber Extension Pole for drone-like shots, and a fresh 32-inch Floating Extension Pole. There’s also a new Ski Pole Mount for Extension Poles and a Tripod Ball Head.
GoPro Fluid AI gimbal
This is GoPro’s first gimbal – well, first one in a long while. I recall testing the GoPro Karma Gimbal at TechRadar back in 2016, and the technology has changed dramatically in nine years. It also feels like the chief rival in this space, DJI, has released 100 gimbals since then.
The $229 GoPro Fluid AI gimbal features a 3-axis orthogonal design, enabling smooth 320º tilt and 360º pan motions via physical, app, or hand gesture controls. A 400g payload capacity means it can support GoPros, phones and some smaller point-and-shoot cameras.
The AI tracking is where things get interesting if you want to track a subject automatically. Like the Insta360 Flow 2 and DJI RS4 Mini we reviewed, this requires a separate module. It’ll also take the gimbal’s battery life from 18 hours to 5 hours, but, hey, it includes a built-in light.
GoPro Lit Hero
Remember the Hero 11 Black Mini from three years ago? Well, GoPro is bringing back the mini form factor, upgrading the specs (it can now capture 4K60, up from 4K30), and adding a light to the front. This $260 camera seems to be aimed at the selfie crowd that wants a more durable action camera than their delicate iPhone.
GoPro Max 2 hands-on incoming
The Shortcut will have more on the GoPro Max 2 as soon as we can test it out a bit further. So far, the camera thermals have been able to handle capturing “true" 8K, and the GoPro Quick has made reframing videos at any angle and any aspect ratio easy.