GoPro Hero 12 Black: It's All About The Battery

The new GoPro Hero 12 Black’s biggest selling point has to be its expanded battery.

It wasn’t much of a secret that GoPro was gearing up to release an updated version of its flagship action camera… and lo and behold, overnight, it announced the GoPro Hero 12 Black.

I’ve reviewed the GoPro Hero 11 Black not that long ago, mostly liking what it could do for those of us who don’t often jump out of planes or climb mountains.

Also read:
GoPro Hero 11 Black Review: Is it worth buying an action camera without needing the action bit?

So what does the GoPro Hero 12 Black bring to the videography party?

The biggest change for the 12 has to be the battery, with a claim of 70 minutes of continuous recording at 5.3K60, more than 95 minutes at 5.3K30 and more than 155 minutes at 1080p. Big bold claims that obviously need testing, especially as I noted during my review of the GoPro Hero 11 Black that longer recording times tended to leave the camera rather… toasty.

Other expanded features include HDR at 5.3K and 4K resolutions and support for Bluetooth audio devices, with Apple’s AirPods specifically name checked.

That’s interesting to me because it does raise the prospect of using the GoPro Hero 12 Black without the Media Mod but with the pickup of some of the better Bluetooth based true wireless buds out there. It’ll be interesting to see how that impacts battery life, too.

Speaking of mods, there’s also a new add-on in town; the Max Lens Mod 2.0, which pushes the Go Pro Hero 12 Black’s point of view out to 177° at 4K60 rates. That’s a 36% bump in wideness, as per GoPro from the regular lens on the Hero 12 Black. It’s only compatible with the Hero 12 Black camera, however.

GoPro Hero 12 Black: Australian Pricing and Availability

The GoPro Hero 12 Black is available from today on preorder in Australia for $649.95, while the Max Lens Mod 2.0 will run you $169.95, or $135.95 if you’re a GoPro subscriber and you buy through GoPro. You shouldn’t be waiting on your GoPro Hero 12 Black in Australia all that long either, with the company stating worldwide availability from the 13th of September.

GoPro Hero 12 Black: Alex’s Take

The GoPro Hero 12 Black seems like a mostly expected upgrade path, but evolution isn’t automatically a bad thing unless you bought a GoPro Hero 11 Black yesterday, basically speaking. I’m keen to see just how long that battery lasts in real world conditions — and how warm the camera gets when shooting for those longer periods, because it was definitely a concern for the Hero 11 Black.