From £399/$399 (camera)

An excellent GoPro formula refinement could make this the future of action cameras

1 Unlike some recent competitors, the front screen isn’t touch-sensitive.

2 The shutter button helps the user activate QuikCapture, as well as to start shooting.

3 The image sensor is a 1/1.9-inch CMOS unit with 27.6MP active pixels.

4 The rear 2.27-inch Colour Touch LCD delivers high-quality playback of captures.

5 The Hero13 Black’s built-in microphones provide good pickup of ambient sound.

6 Between the folding fingers on the bottom of the unit is a 1/4-20 thread for accessories.

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Go Pro has been in the action camera game for around 20 years now, and in that time, it has cemented its reputation as the best brand for absolute top-quality G footage. But with plenty of competition coming for its crown and beating GoPro to higher resolutions and bigger sensors, the brand can’t afford to rest on its laurels. The market has possibly never been tighter – yet it has probably never been more stale. Over the past few years, we have seen more and more iterative updates with much less to get excited about. And a year after GoPro’s last flagship release, the latest GoPro Hero13 Black seems to follow suit, with another minor spec update.

But don’t write the Hero13 off just yet. To see what’s new in the Hero13 Black, you just have to look outside of the camera. The Hero13 is all about accessories but the potential game-changer is a new set of lenses – the HB-Series feels like the beginning of the next chapter for GoPro and, potentially, for action cameras in general.

Build and handling

The Hero13 Black isn’t much of a departure from previous models, however. It has undergone a bit of a revamp, with the camera switching from the blue-speckled material of the Hero12 back to the classic black of previous models. There is also now a small sporty-looking ridged grille-like section under the camera lens, which goes beyond mere aesthetics and has some effect on the camera’s thermals. However, the shape and size are still the same and although the Hero13 Black is 5g heavier than the Hero 12, the new camera perfectly fits cases and housing for older models – indeed, mine is currently housed snugly in a silicon case for the Hero12. If you already own the GoPro Media Mod, you may be relieved to know that it will fit the Hero13.