GoPro Hero 12 Black Action Camera Review
Quality image, video stabilization, and battery life make this the camera to capture your outdoor adventures
Home > Gear Reviews > Electronics
August 13th, 2024
Our Verdict
The GoPro Hero 12 Black is an ultralight and ultra-durable camera ideal for shooting videos during action sports. It shoots ultra-wide angle video and still photos, has excellent image stabilization, and superb battery life. It weighs 5.3 ounces with the standard lens (including battery).
We’ve been testing a Hero 12 Black for six months, doing everything from mountain biking and trail running to packrafting and backpacking. This camera is ideal for anyone who wants to capture videos during outdoor adventures, especially activities where you’re moving quickly.
The wide angle lens and image stabilization create high-quality videos in rough conditions. No matter how bumpy of a ride you take with this little camera, the resulting video will be surprisingly smooth. And the wide angle lens, 156-degree with the standard lens or 177-degrees with the Max Lens Mod 2.0 (sold separately), makes it easy to capture your subject when moving, whether you, your subject, or both of you are moving. With the Max Lens Mod 2.0, the Hero 12 weighs 6 ounces.
The Hero 12 has excellent battery life. With a single battery you can record video for 1.5 hours at 5.3K and over 2.5 hours at 1080p. With a spare Enduro battery you’ll be set to record countless hours of video on your next backcountry trip while sparing the battery life on your smartphone. On a 6-day backpacking trip, we recorded video whenever anything interesting happened (which was often), and though we carried one spare GoPro Enduro battery, we never needed it.
The GoPro Hero 12 comes with a basic camera mount you can stick on to a helmet to clip the camera in place. There are endless other camera mounts for attaching the GoPro to just about anything. Many of these mounts are made by GoPro, but these little action cameras are so popular that there are endless GoPro mounts made by other companies as well.
You can purchase the GoPro Hero 12 with accessories bundle, with the Max Lens Mod 2.0 to get a 177-degree field of view, or on its own and purchase extra mounts as you need them.
If you’re looking for a camera to primarily shoot still photography, the GoPro Hero 12 isn’t the best option. It takes good still photos, but it’s not outstanding in this regard and it’s not intended for primarily shooting still photos. However, this camera is lightweight, small enough to fit in any pocket, and shoots awesome video. So if you're going on a trip where movement is what you want to capture–whether that's running, biking, skiing, rafting, snorkeling, or climbing–then the GoPro Hero 12 is an excellent way to create point of view videos for your sport.
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Specs
Weight: 5.3 oz (with batteries), 4.2 oz (without batteries)
Dimensions: 2.8 x 2.1 x 1.3 inches
LCD Display size: 2.3 inches
Battery: 70 mins. of continuous recording at 5.3K60 (highest setting), plus over 1.5 hrs. at 5.3K30 and over 2.5 hrs. of continuous recording at 1080p30
Megapixels: 28 Megapixels
Video resolution: 1080p240/200 resolution/fps
Connectivity: Bluetooth
Charging: USB-C Cable
Waterproof depth: 33 feet
What We Liked
Good image stabilization
Waterproof
Small and light
Long battery life
What Could Be Better
Not as good as a smartphone or dedicated camera for still photos
Wide-angle lens aesthetic isn’t for everyone
Price, especially when factoring in the almost-necessary GoPro Premium subscription
Who This is For
The GoPro Hero 12 is an ideal camera for mountain bikers, rafters, surfers, climbers, runners, and other people who want to create point of view videos of their action sports.
It’s not the best for people who want to take still photos, but it works for that as well. Although, it won’t necessarily take better photos than the smartphone you’re likely already carrying or a dedicated rugged, waterproof camera. See our guide to Best Rugged, Waterproof, Freezeproof Cameras for still photography cameras we like for outdoor activities.
Design and Build Quality
The GoPro is a small, waterproof cube with a replaceable camera lens. The exterior has rubberized edges, which protect it from drops. It has a large viewfinder touchscreen on the backside of the camera so you can frame your shots. It also has a smaller screen on the front side for when you have the camera pointed at you.
After several months of carrying this camera most places, it has a few scuffs but is otherwise still in excellent condition. This is a durable camera.
Image and Video Quality
It has a 27.6 megapixel sensor for capturing still and moving images. It’s capable of shooting video up to 5.3K. It can also shoot video in 4K, 2.7K, or 1080p if you want to save memory card space and don’t need the most high definition possible.
Features
The GoPro Hero 12 has tons of useful features and can shoot video, still photos, and time lapse videos. It has a standard ¼-inch tripod mount and a GoPro-specific mount that secures with a threaded knob and rotates up and down. You can mount a GoPro to your handlebars, helmet, chest, head, backpack, tripod, or to any other flat surface you can dream up.
Easy and Pro Modes
The Hero 12 has “Easy” and “Pro” modes. The easy mode is simplest and is akin to using “Auto” mode with a mirrorless camera (or shooting photos and videos with a smartphone). In this mode, the GoPro automates most settings.
In Pro mode, you can fine-tune the settings more. Pro mode is akin to shooting in Manual mode on a mirrorless camera (or a film camera). You can select the resolution, frame rate, shutter speed, EV comp, white balance, ISO, sharpness, color, raw audio, wind settings, and more in this mode.
HyperSmooth 6.0 Stabilization
The HyperSmooth 6.0 image stabilization feature on the GoPro takes what would otherwise be shaky, unwatchable video and turns it into the kind of smooth video you’d only expect if you weren’t moving while filming. This unique feature creates a shockingly stable video even when the camera is mounted to your bike’s handlebars while riding over bumpy terrain.
Bluetooth Audio Support
You can pair your Hero 12 with bluetooth headphones to record sound and give remote voice commands. This is useful for getting that “close to the microphone” audio sound when you’re farther away from the camera.
You can also give it remote voice commands from farther away. With bluetooth headphones paired, you can simply say, “GoPro, start recording” and it will start recording. You can use these voice commands without headphones as well, but the camera doesn’t always pick up your voice if you’re farther away.
177-degree field of view
With the standard lens, the Hero 12 shoots in a wide 156-degree field of view. But you can remove the standard lens and replace it with the Max Lens Mod 2.0, which is optional and must be purchased separately. With the Max Lens you can shoot in an even wider 177-degree wide angle.
Up to 8X Slo Mo
You can slow any clip down to 4 times slower than normal at 4K resolution. You can also slow any clip down to 8x at 2.7K.
Horizon Lock
It has a Horizon Lock feature built into the HyperSmooth stabilization. This feature keeps the horizon level as the camera rotates and moves. You can roll the camera 360 degrees and it will keep the horizon level.
Multi-Camera Syncing
It supports multi-camera timecode synchronization. This means you can film from multiple cameras and sync them to get precise, frame-matching edits in post-production.
Fully Waterproof and Submersible
The GoPro Hero 12 is fully waterproof, no waterproof case or special equipment required. I tested it while rafting, swimming in lakes, and filming underwater in rivers.
Performance
The Hero 12 does well as a tiny video camera with a wide angle lens. It’s easy to use and highly functional for its intended purpose.
User Interface and Controls
The user interface is intuitive. If you’re used to using a modern smartphone, you’ll quickly pick up the controls with this camera. Swipe up on the rear touchscreen and you see your recorded video and photo library. Swipe down for settings. And, swipe left or right to switch between camera modes—time lapse, video, or photo.
The camera has two rubber buttons on the top and side. On the side is the power button, which also switches between camera mode when it’s already powered up. On the top is the record button.
The user interface on the Quik App is also very intuitive, but more on that below.
Quik App
The least impressive aspect of the GoPro’s performance is the Quik App. This app works about as well as any other free video editing app, and has a semi-useful AI that automatically creates “edits” from photos and videos you capture.
However, most of the features in the GoPro Quik app are locked behind the GoPro subscription paywall. A GoPro Premium subscription costs $50 per year, so it’s not a huge expense, but it is one more subscription. If you do get the GoPro subscription, the app becomes much easier and seamless to use.
I used the app before and after subscribing to GoPro Premium, and if you have a GoPro you’re better off also subscribing to the GoPro Premium subscription. With premium, you get automatic cloud backups and the Quik App becomes more functional overall. Without paying for premium, the desktop version of the Quik App is almost useless. It doesn’t even allow you to export videos once you’ve edited multiple clips into one file without a premium subscription.
In the Quik App, you can view and select media to transfer onto your computer or smartphone, edit videos, and use GoPro’s AI to condense videos down for you.. The AI edits feel like they are AI generated–-with good pacing and synched to music, but maybe a little sterile feeling. However, the AI editor makes editing footage fast and easy and you can use what it creates as a starting point for editing footage yourself.
Here is an example of one of the auto-generated edits, based on several videos shot during a recent river trip down the Escalante River.
Paying for GoPro’s subscription is also better for auto-upload. And, auto-upload is most beneficial because it takes a long time to transfer media from the GoPro onto the smartphone app wirelessly. It’s significantly faster to plug your GoPro into a computer and transfer media onto your computer that way, but then all those files will bog down your computer. Unless you have a huge hard drive on your computer, you should factor in the price of GoPro’s yearly subscription into the overall cost of having a GoPro.
If you don’t subscribe to GoPro premium, in every facet of the user interface, there is a reminder to set up “auto-upload:” in the app under every tab, on the settings screen on the camera itself, and whenever you try to save an auto-generated highlight within the Quik App. And setting up auto-upload means paying for a GoPro subscription.
With the desktop version of the Quik App, there is less functionality if you don’t pay the monthly GoPro subscription. With the desktop app, you can’t even export video edits without paying the monthly subscription fee. You can edit a single clip and export that within the desktop app, but once you’ve edited multiple clips together you can’t export your video without paying up.
Unlimited Cloud Backups
Unlimited cloud backups are only possible if you pay for a GoPro Premium subscription. With unlimited cloud backups, your GoPro will also auto-upload files. This is useful, since it takes a while to backup those large video files.
Menu System and Ease of Navigation
The Hero 12’s menu system is intuitive and easy to use. If you’re familiar with other smart devices, this camera’s menu system will feel familiar to you.
Battery Life and Runtimes
It has an advanced 1720mAh lithium-ion battery that is capable of shooting for 1.5 hours at 5.3K and over 2.5 hours at 1080p. In practice, this means you can film for a long time. Unless you’re constantly filming, it can take days to fully deplete the battery. If you are constantly filming it will be challenging to edit down that hours-long clip, anyway.
I recently brought my GoPro on a 6-day backpacking trip, where I filmed regularly every day. I brought one spare Enduro Battery and didn’t need it until my trip was over. During a recent mountain bike trip, where I regularly filmed entire descents, I never ran out of battery life over the course of 3 days.
Price and Value for the Money
The GoPro Hero 12 Black is a good deal for anyone looking for a high-quality action camera for filming their adventures. It costs less than most mirrorless cameras and smartphones, and is better for shooting video when the camera is moving than those other cameras, too.
If you want a camera for primarily still photographs, it isn’t any better than the smartphone you likely already own, though. The GoPro Hero 12 doesn’t take bad photos, but modern smartphones are pretty good at taking photos too. Technically, the GoPro’s 27 megapixel photos are higher quality if printed in a large format than most smartphones, but if you’re mostly sharing photos on social media, as most of us are, then large format still photography isn’t very important.
However, for taking videos while moving in high-definition, the GoPro is a great deal. There aren’t many comparable action cameras available that are as rugged and waterproof while still shooting high-quality videos. And, the GoPro’s Hypersmooth 6.0 image stabilization is unparalleled, which makes the videos look great even when filmed in less than ideal or downright shaky conditions.
Changes from GoPro Hero 11 Black
The biggest difference between the Hero 11 and the Hero 12 is the ability to add the Max Lens Mod 2.0, which allows for a 177-degree wide angle shots. The Max Lens Mod 2.0 is available for purchase separately from the Hero 12, or you can purchase it bundled with the Hero 12.
The GoPro Hero 12 can also shoot video in HDR, where the Hero 11 cannot. This creates better overall exposure in your video. Most smart phones do this automatically as well, so GoPro pretty much had to do this to simply stay with the times.
The Hero 12 also has Bluetooth audio support, so you can record audio over Bluetooth with the 12 but not the 11.
Accessories
Here are some of the many available GoPro accessories. There are tons of accessories designed for GoPros, some are made by GoPro and others are made by other companies.
Max Lens Mod 2.0
Weight: 0.9 oz
The Max Lens Mod 2.0 allows you to shoot in an extremely wide 177-degree view. This is in contrast to the Standard lens that comes with the GoPro Hero 12. It has a 156-degree field of view as weighs 0.2 oz.
Weight: 2.1 oz
The Media Mod turns your GoPro into a mini video recording studio. It has a built-in directional microphone with foam mic cover to suppress wind gusts. It also has a 3.5mm mic port, HDMI-out for playback on external monitors, as well as two Comment start cold-shoe mounts Comment end (non-powered attachment, as opposed to it’s powered hot shoe mount counterpart) for lights, LCD screens or additional mics.
Weight: 1 oz
The Light Mod is an LED light that attaches to the Media Mod and lights the subject in smooth, even light. It also works as a standalone light with GoPro mounts.
Weight: 8.8 oz
The GoPro Volta is an external battery, camera grip, and tripod all in one. Combined with the standard GoPro battery, you can get 5.5 hours of 4K recording while using the Volta. It also has camera control buttons for one-handed recording and flip-out legs to turn it into a tripod.
Weight: 1.9 oz
The Shorty tripod is a small tripod and camera extension pole. It’s small and light. And while it works as a tripod well-enough, it doesn’t have a way to adjust the camera’s tilt, so it’s only suitable for setting up on flat surfaces.
The Daytripper Backpack is a weather resistant backpack with pockets for keeping your GoPro and accessories organized. It also has a shoulder strap mount for a GoPro, which isn’t sold separately. We wish this shoulder strap mount were sold separately, though.
Weight: 0.8 oz
The GoPro Bite Mount allows you to shoot POV videos perfectly by holding the camera mount in your mouth. I find this mount better than a helmet or chest mount for point of view filming, since you can easily stash the camera and mount it in a pocket when you aren’t using it. Compared to always having a GoPro attached to your helmet, this is much more comfortable.
I found this Grill Mount, which isn’t made by GoPro but works with the camera, to be more comfortable. This mount works like a boil-and-bite mouthguard, so you mold the mouthpiece to your teeth. I didn’t think it would make as much of a difference as it does, but after boiling the mouthpiece and molding it to my teeth, it felt much more secure in my mouth than it did before.
Should You Buy the GoPro Hero 12 Black?
If you want to film action videos then you should buy the GoPro Hero 12. It shoots shockingly-smooth high-quality videos, and the addition of the Max Lens Mod 2.0 allows you to shoot in the widest field of view of any GoPro.
How We Tested
I tested the GoPro Hero 12 Black during the winter, spring, and summer in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, doing everything from trail running, scrambling, and climbing to mountain biking, packrafting, and backpacking.
I took this camera mountain biking in Sedona, Arizona and on the Colorado Front Range. I recorded endless footage of descents and even captured a nearby lightning strike during an afternoon storm in Colorado. Maybe I should have been more scared, but I was mostly excited that I captured the lightning strike with the GoPro.
I carried it on backpacking trips on Colorado’s Collegiate Loop and in the Catalina Mountains in Arizona. I took it swimming on several of these backpacking trips, because when you find a pool of water while backpacking in the desert you have to take a dip, and when you’re testing a GoPro you have to bring it in the water with you.
I also tested the GoPro Hero 12 Black while packrafting the Escalante River on a 6-day packrafting and backpacking trip. For this trip, I backpacked to the river, paddled for 3 days, then backpacked out through another canyon, Coyote Gulch. During the three day paddle, I had the GoPro ready, tethered to my PFD, to capture the endless views and some fun rapids. I used the camera to capture videos and photos during the backpacking segment of the trip as well.
Other Cameras to Consider
Insta360 X3
This is a 360-degree action camera that you can use similarly to the GoPro Hero 12. However, with a 360-degree camera you’re able to record in every direction simultaneously, then choose what you want to keep in frame after the fact. We wrote a thorough review of this camera if you want to learn more.
This is GoPro’s 360-degree camera. Similar to the Insta360, you can point the GoPro Max in any direction and it captures everything.
The Ricoh Theta X is a 360 camera made by Ricoh, a well-established camera and technology company. It’s more expensive than the GoPro Max, Insta360, and GoPro Hero 12 Black, but if you’re looking for a premium 360-action camera this is worth considering as well.
About the Author / Why You Should Trust Us
Sam Schild is a thru-hiker, cyclist, and mountain athlete based in Colorado. He has thru-hiked the PCT, Continental Divide Trail, Arizona Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, and the Colorado Trail twice. He has biked and bikepacked over 50,000 miles in the last decade, completing the Colorado Trail by bike, the Kokopelli Trail twice, a 7,000-mile cross-country bike tour, tons of other bikepacking trips in the American Southwest. On all of these adventures, he has relied on different types of cameras to document the amazing places he’s been.
He used a Sony RX100 camera while thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and Colorado Trail. He then switched to a Sony a5100 for the Grand Enchantment Trail. Over the years, he has gone back and forth between relying on a smartphone camera to document his adventures and carrying a dedicated camera along with the smartphone he’s already carrying. He has used smartphone cameras from Apple, Samsung, and Google over the years. And he jokingly refers to himself as a professional cell phone photographer (which isn’t a total lie). The GoPro Hero 12 makes the decision to carry a separate camera easier because it’s so small and lightweight, even as smartphone cameras get better and better.
You can read more about Sam on his author page or website.
