The GoPro Hero 11 Unlit will nearly no doubt be GoPro’s subsequent flagship action digicam. There are at gift nearly no real rumors referring to the upcoming digicam, but somewhat suggested digging spherical tells us so a lot about what it might perchance perchance well be fancy. So we have rounded up all of our thoughts, and wants, in this Hero 11 Unlit deep dive. 

Despite its doubtless arrival, it’s somewhat conceivable that GoPro’s very best information of this 365 days obtained’t own one thing to realize with the Hero 11 Unlit. Earlier this 365 days, GoPro CEO Cut Woodman acknowledged the corporate plans to develop its vary in 2022, past the Unlit and Max lines we have currently. 

A form of new cameras is most likely the drone-friendly GoPro Hero 10 Unlit Bones. But might perchance well we also glance a return of the White or Silver sequence? A brand new expansive-sensor GoPro Hero ‘Platinum’ to tackle the 1-crawl sensor action cameras from Insta360? Who knows, but we’ll be support with extra on these future products as the working out lands. 

In the length in-between, we’re right here to chat referring to the Hero 11 Unlit, or whatever turns into the direct successor to the Hero 10 Unlit once GoPro has shaken up its line-up. Right here is everything we demand, and hope, to lunge wanting in its subsequent flagship action digicam as it strives to preserve onto the top jam in our handbook to the most effective action cameras. 

GoPro Hero 11 Unlit originate date and price

The GoPro Hero 11 Unlit is more doubtless to be announced in September 2022, if we take earlier originate dates as a handbook. All GoPros from 2017 to currently were announced in September, bar the GoPro Hero 8 Unlit, which became announced in mid-October. 

GoPro has a consistent originate time desk for these mainline action cameras, somewhat fancy Apple and its iPhones.

The GoPro Hero 11 Unlit pricing is known as a appealing take a look at of the rise in inflation all over key GoPro markets. Whereas we don’t demand the digicam to own too many wonderful new aspects that will trigger a dramatic bump up from the Hero 10 Unlit’s recent $499 / £479 / AU$659 observe, a upward push of $50 or so looks conceivable. 

We also demand to lunge wanting GoPro aggressively push its GoPro Subscription for the digicam, which ought to again bring a $100 / £100 / AU$150 decrease impress for of us that set up no longer mind signing as a lot as the corporate’s membership service (which might perchance well even be canceled at any time).

GoPro Hero 11 Unlit rumors and what we’re involving to lunge wanting

Trusty now, there are very few credible rumors referring to the GoPro Hero 11 Unlit. Given it’s some distance not anticipated to arrive till September, that is no longer too moving. 

But by digging into the Hero 10 Unlit’s specs, and taking a look support at GoPro’s most up-to-date history and feedback, we are able to bag a tight blueprint of what to demand. Listed right here are six things we would opt to lunge wanting from the flagship action digicam – and the plan in which doubtless we relish they’re.  

1. A tweaked contain

The closing significant switch to the GoPro Unlit sequence’ outer contain arrived with the Hero 9 Unlit. Its shell became 9mm wider and 10mm taller than the earlier version. 

This came with the sequence’s shift in sensor tech, but didn’t seem a broad notify in comparison with older generations’ designs, as the constructed-in mount fingers imply you don’t want a separate mount case.

GoPro might perchance well set up some tweaks to those replaceable mount fingers by including a 1/4-crawl threaded mounting point. Right here is perchance harder than it sounds, as it might perchance perchance well doubtless require the mount’s immoral to bustle deeper in the GoPro Hero 11 Unlit’s digicam physique, as smartly as a redesign of the fingers’ hinge system. On the opposite hand, it might perchance perchance well can allow you to join the digicam straight to a tripod plate. 

This will be reminiscent of GoPro’s somewhat composed toughen of an oleophobic coating on the GoPro Hero 10 Unlit’s lens glass. 

2. An edge-to-edge expose

We don’t favor the GoPro Hero 11 Unlit to bag greatly greater, but it might perchance perchance well own the support of a greater rear expose. Safe rid of about a of the blank border spherical the Hero 10 Unlit’s 2.27-crawl support LCD and likewise you’d own a extra satisfied ability to arrangement your photos and navigate the system UI. 

A greater display veil veil can be more doubtless to plot extra strength, but this can be minimized by the utilization of a extra efficient panel. LTPO, LTPS, IGZO and a-Si are diverse forms of backplane technology used in displays (LCD and OLED), and own an form on a expose’s strength consumption. 

We don’t essentially know the specifics of the GoPro Hero 10 Unlit expose’s tech, but we’re going to guess it does no longer use top-dogs LTPO, which we most effective have a tendency to bump into in OLED displays on the 2d. 

A high-resolution OLED display veil veil might perchance well even be a broad solution. Prior to now, OLED panels own no longer been in particular prevalent in action cameras, but the DJI Motion 2 makes use of one. 

Because the Hero 10 Unlit’s rear LCD can already reach spherical 800 nits, it doesn’t essentially need a closer-end expose. However the poppy distinction of OLED would supply conspicuous tech progress that the digicam might perchance well lack in other areas.

3. A greater sensor

Every time we starting up up brooding about a subsequent-generation GoPro, a brand new and greater sensor is continually reach the top of our wishlist. It ability better native gentle sensitivity, superior dynamic vary and a closer ability to handle bad lighting fixtures – one thing at which GoPros composed attain no longer excel. 

Our most effective wager is the GoPro Hero 11 Unlit won’t own a brand new sensor, though. For the closing 10 years, GoPro has given every of the Sony sensors it makes use of three generations on responsibility earlier than upgrading. The GoPro Hero 11 Unlit would trace the third time out for the Sony IMX677.

There might perchance be tension from in other areas, for certain. The DJI Motion 2 has a greater 1/1.7-crawl sensor, but it merely does no longer eclipse the Hero 10 Unlit for imaging, so as that tension is no longer at gift outrageous. Additionally, we attain no longer know of a Sony sensor that will essentially be a wholesale toughen – one somewhat greater that also supports 5K video win and 4K at 120fps. 

For these , listed below are the sensors used in the Unlit sequence over the closing decade.

Appealing by GoPro’s CEO has acknowledged we’ll glance new lines this 365 days, the corporate can be pondering a novel mannequin with a 1-crawl sensor. The obvious candidate is the Sony IMX383, a 20MP sensor able to 5.3K video at 60fps, 4K at 120fps and 2.7K at 240fps. 

Why no longer real shove this into the Hero 11 Unlit? It would nearly no doubt result in a greatly greater action digicam, that can be much less appealing for hundreds of prospective GoPro investors. Peaceable, stick it in a brand new line and investors who price image quality extra own one other solution to bear in mind.

4. Improved slo-mo

One other suggestion we’ve seen on-line is that the GoPro Hero 11 Unlit will have to own 480fps 1080p slo-mo win. The Hero 10 Unlit can at gift shoot at 240fps, at 2.7K resolution, and 120fps at 4K. 

Right here is a no-lunge unless GoPro does the unexpected and switches to a particular sensor. Sony publishes the raw capabilities of the IMX677 on-line, and it merely does no longer own a learn-out mode that will set up 480fps at Plump HD conceivable.

We don’t relish it might perchance perchance well essentially be all that handsome anyway. There’s a favorable loss of readability while you switch to Plump HD win with a GoPro, whose dinky sensor is unable to study that of a plump-frame or Micro Four Thirds digicam.

GoPro has already tapped out the Sony IMX677’s capabilities in the GoPro Hero 10 Unlit. With one valuable exception…

5. HDR video

The Sony IMX677 is a DOL-HDR succesful sensor. This ability it can win two devices of exposures, one darker and one lighter, as it reads via the sensor line by line, somewhat than taking them sequentially and risking HDR ghosting artifacts. 

We attain no longer bag HDR video in the GoPro Hero 10 Unlit, real HDR stills, and this kind of mode would be an real support for the new digicam. Whereas GoPro video quality is broad, the restricted native dynamic vary of the sensor ability you’ll again and again glance clipped highlights in clouds when the digicam finally ends up dialling in exposure to study a darker phase of the scene.

In a most effective-case scenario, DOL-HDR finally ends up in a halving of frame price, suggesting that 4K HDR video at 60fps can be conceivable in the GoPro Hero 11 Unlit. Which can be broad. 

There’s a roadblock, though. If we dig into the information sheet of the Sony IMX677 once extra, there’s no mention of a pressure mode for DOL-HDR – one thing you are going to fetch in documentation for other sensors fancy the IMX477.  It’ll be that this sensor can most effective use DOL-HDR for stills, which sucks. 

Right here is what we at gift bag in the GoPro Hero 10 Unlit: HDR for stills but no longer video. But let’s hope that’s no longer the case.

6. Original instrument aspects

With few obvious hardware routes for traditional GoPro upgrades in the next generation, shall we as a substitute glance the Hero 11 Unlit wring some new instrument aspects from its GP2 processor. This chipset became supplied in the Hero 10 Unlit, and dramatically improved the responsiveness of the interface, but it might perchance perchance well be used to bring unique instrument aspects. 

We’re shooting at nighttime right here, but GoPro might perchance well add a background blur portrait mode for of us which is more doubtless to be involving to vlog and residential, but don’t own a cosmopolitan-taking a look background to realize so. 

It might perchance perhaps perchance well use face recognition to auto-nick to a definite framing of the topic’s face, successfully a invent of vehicle-enhancing for whisper creators. Assorted cameras use smarter and faster face and object recognition to aid autofocus, but that real isn’t relevant in a GoPro action digicam. They’ve mounted focus lenses, and we don’t relish that will switch in a Hero 11 Unlit.

There’s significant scope for GoPro to elevate the usual of its night-time stills, too. Elevated processing strength might perchance well set up it conceivable to utilize computational ideas closer to those of a tight mobile phone digicam. GoPro has made some progress right here already, but the stills shooting abilities is clunky and slack in comparison with that of a mobile phone. 

Improved low-gentle video quality is what we’re most fervent to lunge wanting, but GoPro already applied essentially the most appealing ability to realize this in the Hero 10 Unlit. It’s 3DNR, which is noise reduction that makes use of successive frames to repeat the noise reduction algorithm. The third “3D” dimension right here is no longer depth, but time. Fingers crossed we’ll glance low-gentle image quality toughen on the very least somewhat in the GoPro Hero 11 Unlit.

Some most up-to-date phones also use the DOL-HDR methodology mentioned earlier to bring low-gentle video quality closer to that of low-gentle stills. If the Hero 11 Unlit hardware is ready to this, it might perchance perchance well result in a sea switch in the usual of consumer-grade action digicam night video. 

GoPro might perchance well also fold in aspects at gift in progress in GoPro Labs, which gives beta firmware for added daring customers. Such aspects encompass triggers to starting up up win when the digicam is plugged in over USB or when it detects motion – supposed primarily for slump cam use. There might perchance be also a ‘one button’ mode where all capabilities are locked off other than starting up and stopping win. Given how again and again we’ve by accident swiped the expose into its stills mode, this can be at hand. 

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and enhancing for about a of the UK’s top tech and everyday life publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.