The New Hero4 SESSION brings a radically new format to the GoPro range. Gone is the distinctive rectangular format and waterproof casing. Instead it has a very clean and minimalist cubic design.
I was given one to try and test. To do this, I took the new toy and my sand bike out into the desert near Al Qudra. Here’s what I found:
First impression is they have taken just the lens off the “normal” cameras and just removed everything else. I was immediately impressed. It’s so much smaller and feels so much lighter than anything I’ve used before. I’ve been using GoPro’s for a while and the Session was immediately put next to the Hero2 and 3 cameras I have in my bag. The key to GoPro’s success in the POV/mountable camera market has been their reliable excellent image quality, their ease of use and the number of mounting options readily available. This last point has always been the competition killer for me. Other POV cameras might offer slight improvements in image quality or techy upgrades like GPS but in my experience, it’s the availability of loads of super easy to use mounting options that leave the rest of the market behind. A quick check over of the Session revealed that this camera takes all these options and multiplies them by 10.
The Session does not replace the “traditional” format GoPro, the Hero4 Silver and Black models are the rectangular format in a waterproof case. I didn’t have the opportunity to do back to back testing of the Session against these models. Other reviewers have found the standard models to have “very very slightly if you look closely, better video image quality compared with the Session plus they are waterproof to a greater depth (30 metres as opposed to the Session’s 10 meters)”.
In testing I found the image quality to be up to GoPro’s normal very high standards but I didn’t particularly push it hard in this respect. I was out in the desert in bright sunny conditions. All cameras work better with lots of light and this was no exception.
The LCD screen on the normal GoPros is gone and the various buttons have been replaced with one obvious button (start and stop) and one very discreet (Wi-Fi) on the back. With the waterproof case gone, I found these had a much better feel even with gloves on. Operating buttons through a waterproof case always feels quite vague and so this is a huge improvement. I had no moments when I wasn’t sure if I’d pressed a button or not. Pressing the camera button starts the camera and stops the camera — dead simple and perfect for getting great video while not wasting battery or card space.
Changing the settings using the buttons was nowhere near as easy as the standard format cameras though, but the camera connected very easily to my phone and the GoPro app is very good. The reality of the way I use a POV camera is once I have the settings I like, I’m typically not faffing with the menus much. If you are a settings faffer then the GoPro app is going to be a must for you with the Session or a GoPro Remote as it also adds the same menu setting functionality of the normal format with its LCD screen. I use my remote a lot with my Hero3.
The huge difference the Session makes over other Heroes is its mountability. Smaller and lighter is always easier to mount as it tucks in out of the way better and wobbles much less too. Road cyclists will love its small form factor and its more “aero” than other models.
The cube format offers some hugely significant benefits. For instance when mounting GoPros on the side of a motocross or DH MTB helmet, it tended to need to be stuck out on an arm. Now the frame can just be mounted directly to the helmet and the camera rotated in the frame. This is a huge deal for all side mounting situations and makes the camera massively more flexible in those scenarios. Funnily enough in writing this I’ve realised I didn’t really experiment much with this in the testing as I’m so used to avoiding side mounting because the normal GoPro format doesn’t lend its self to this very well. Note to self – explore side mounting more.
In addition to adding easy side mounting, the small form factor makes mounting possibilities feel a bit boundless. Removing the waterproof case gets rid of lots of bulk and the little black cube just seems to tuck very unobtrusively and neatly everywhere I tried to put it.
The two mounting options I see people using most are chest and helmet. Chest mounted, it felt very out of the way and, because of the weight reduction, I didn’t find that I needed the straps done up as tightly as I do with my Hero3 to keep the vibration reduced. The black cube also doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb in pictures the way the normal silver in a waterproof case format does.
Top-mounted on a helmet it feels a lot lower profile, much more aerodynamic and less likely to catch on things.
Removing the waterproof casing from the design has a very big impact on the sound quality easily available. I’ve never been one to faff with the different backs. I keep the closed waterproof one on my Hero3 all the time and just accept that the sound is going to be unusably muffled in most cases. The Session has two microphones and the GoPro designers have done a lot in this area to make the most of them. I didn’t test it because I haven’t had the camera near the water yet but apparently they have made the mics to drain quickly. Apparently the camera will choose between the front and rear mic to minimise wind noise too. In reviewing the video after testing, I found the sound quality was massively better than my Hero3 in its waterproof case but that was obviously going to be the case. I did get a lot of noise from the morning wind that was moving lots of sand around but it was still useable. It’s going to take a bit more testing to see if I find I’m using the sound more in videos and not just overlaying everything with a sound track as I normally do now.
So to conclude, I’ve got to say I really, really like this new format GoPro. Its reduced size and weight, the additional simplicity in mounting options that come with the cube shape, the ease of operation with the single easy to use button, the improved sound, it’s all win-win for me.
If you need 30m waterproofness or for those that want to know they have the best image quality or the most features or the easy to faff menu then the GoPro Hero4 Silver and Black options are for you. The Session is the same price as the Silver and some folks might struggle with the less is more reasoning on value for money. The Silver definitely offers a better specification/feature list and is considered the sweet spot of value for money by many reviewers.
I’m super happy with the simplicity and efficiency of the Session though. I think this is a camera that can easily help tell a story of exciting times and adventures in the wildest of places
Words + Photos By: Ian Ganderton
