OK, so you want to buy an action camera to film your riding adventures. The good news is that picture quality and battery life are improving all the time. Thanks to their ubiquity, a GoPro is the obvious choice but is it the best camera? Are there any decent alternatives? And which is the best GoPro model? We’ll run you through the different options that we’ve used extensively to help you choose the best action camera for your needs.
- GoPro Hero 5 Black review
- GoPro Hero 5 Session review
- GoPro Karma drone official price, specs and features
For this guide, we’ve recruited the experts — our BikeRadar video team. Not only are they professional videographers who use these devices on a daily basis, but they also ride their bikes very, very fast. They took time out of their busy filming schedule to tell us what they like and dislike about these cameras, how suitable they are for cyclists and what sort of value they represent. All opinions are based on using each camera extensively.
We'll also be keeping you up to date with news about the GoPro Hero 6, which was recently announced. Pop on over to our GoPro Hero 6 article for the latest dates, prices, specs and rumours as we get them.
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(This article was updated 8 February 2017)
What to look for in an action camera
Picture quality
Of course, any camera worth its salt has to deliver a good quality picture. While camera makers like to dazzle consumers with resolution numbers and frame rates, a lot of that boils down to marketing speak. For example, 4K resolution is only great if the frame rate is reasonable. 15 frames per second delivers footage that isn’t usable; in our opinion, it looks like security camera video.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that picture quality can be hugely affected by the lens and the processor in the camera, that’s why GoPro footage consistently looks good and why the videos created by cheap imitations often look a bit rubbish.
Battery life
Usability
Value for money
The best action cameras
GoPro Hero 5 Black
- Price: £349 / $399 / AU$ 549
- Buy from GoPro
- Best-in-class 4K image quality, waterproofing to 10m, improved menus
- Clever features like voice control and image stabilisation
- Battery still doesn’t last more than two hours and it’s not cheap
- Read our full GoPro Hero 5 Black review
Garmin ViRB Ultra 30
- Price: £369 / $399 / AU$699
- Buy now from Garmin
- Superb video quality, way better 4K than the GoPro Hero 4 Black
- Simple, clear, clean user interface
- Useful, clever features like voice control and electronic image stabilisation
- Read our full Garmin ViRB Ultra 30 review
Garmin ViRB XE
- Price: £349 / $399 / AU$ 589
- Buy now from Garmin
- Solid, tough design that can take plenty of knocks
- Good quality video footage, but no 4K
- Some nice features like remote control and metrics overlay
GoPro Session
- Price: £179 / $199 / AU$ 299
- Buy now from GoPro
Also tested
GoPro Hero 5 Session
- Price: £249 / $299 /AU$469
- Buy now from GoPro
- Very good image quality, low weight, tiny size, simple usability
- Fit-and-forget performance, useful voice activation features
- Poor cold-weather performance and unrefined image stabilisation
- Read our full Garmin Hero 5 Session review
Discontinued GoPro models
GoPro Hero 4 Silver
- Good range of footage quality, including 4K at 15fps and 720p at 120fps
- Ability to shoot 30 12MP still images per second
- Waterproof to 40m
- Read our full GoPro Hero 4 Silver review
GoPro Hero 4 Black
- Solid 4K footage at 30fps
- No touchscreen on the rear for framing your shot
- Slightly bulky design
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