Customer Ratings & Reviews

I didn't believe the reviews of how bad this model was and how they just stop powering on. Have had mine for 3 weeks, used it today, went home and tried turning it on and it wont power on. Tried all the factory resets via button and sd card, tried different chargers and cables/sd cards, etc. I am on the latest 2.50 firmware.... Everything. It's 100% dead for no reason. Owned many gopros before and never had these kind of issues. Highly advise to stay away from this model. Literally broke 4 days past the return date so bestbuy cant help yet admitted its a known issue enmass but they continue to sell them. PROCEEED WITH CAUTION and dont buy it!

Excellent product, I'm happy to used all day , and give 5o my son.

Camera stops recording video but keeps audio also it just records streaks of color randomly. I’ve tried multiple SD cards and formatting but no change. Long story short the camera is not reliable for recording anything.

I'm so happy with this purchase! Thank you for your service!

A review of the Go Pro Hero 11 Mini is a tough task. There is so much you can do with it and so much to tell that it would give you enough material for a 50 page novel. So I'll try to stick with the most interesting facts and features in order not to put you to sleep. The Go Pro Hero 11 mini is the latest iteration of the compact and rugged video recording device. It comes in a hard-shell case, along with attachments, a cable and an informative quick guide. One notable and interesting fact is that you can use either a smartphone or a desktop computer (PC or Mac) to save, manage and edit your footage. I have tried both and I found them both equally well-done. The device is slightly heavy and the case is very likely very sturdy (I haven't thrown it around the house, so you'll have to take my word for it). Setup is easy and you should update the firmware before recording. Once that is done, you're pretty much good to go. I would advise to keep the camera charging over night. I have noticed that the camera gets quite hot during the process. So mind where you put it when charging. It terms of ease of use, you can hardly do better and simpler than that: There are 2 buttons, a tiny screen and a slot for a microSD card (get a card with the fastest read/write speeds), and a Type C charging plug, both of which are hidden away behind a little latch. The camera offers many ways to attach to pretty much whatever you want: helmet, windshield, handlebar, selfie stick, tripod or the collar of your favorite pet (just kidding, don't do that). The quality of the recordings is great. It struggles a bit in low light conditions, but even then, most of the footage is really good. The fact that it captures at up to 4K at 60Hz is a major game changer and puts the Hero 11 mini in a league of its own. The picture is clear and crisp even when there is a lot of motion. I have rarely had an action camera of this caliber and the small size allows for quick takes on the go, which will please users like me who record just about anything at any time. Once paired with your smartphone, you basically have a small video recording studio in your pocket. The bottom line is this: The Go Pro Hero 11 Mini is hands down the best action camera you can get in one of the smallest formats, full to the brim with useful features. There's a reason that everyone refers to this type of camera as a "Go Pro" even if it's a different brand: the company has established itself as the best manufacturer of such devices. You can't go wrong with it and I highly recommend it.

This is my first time with a GoPro and it was a pleasant surprise to find out how easy setup was. There are two buttons on the camera itself and a very small screen to check what options or settings you’re thumbing through but most everything is done via the app, which can be a pro or a con. On the plus side, it’s dead easy to point and shoot, but on the negative side it is a bit of a hassle to spend some time going through menus with just two buttons and a small screen or having to whip out the app. The app is another aspect of the Mini that, being so prominent, can be a bit of a downside. It requires a subscription for things like unlimited cloud storage and auto uploading, which I find to be pretty essential features for a camera. Fortunately the subscription fee is about fifty USD, so not an insanely hefty amount, and does include other perks like discounts on other GoPro merch. It just is a bit of a downer that to get the most functionality out of this camera, you need to shell out an additional subscription fee. The camera also does not feature a removable battery like other digital cameras I’ve used in the past, which does lead to some concern about whether in the future battery wear and tear will render this little camera unusable. The lack of a viewfinder on the actual camera itself is also somewhat jarring and harkens back to the mild inconvenience of having to defer to the app for everything. All that being said, the actual camera capabilities of the Mini are astounding. I was blown out of the water by the quality of the capture for such a relatively tiny device. I don’t believe this would work well for extended use, such as in, say, hiking videos, as in my own experience the battery lasted about an hour on average. But for fun things like a daily vlog or cooking videos or experimental pov footage, this camera would work excellently and is easy to mount. It works decently well even in night conditions, too. Ultimately, this camera has some considerable benefits and detriments to weigh and would, in my opinion, work best for the amateur enthusiast or as a secondary camera. It is definitely a lot of fun to experiment with, though, and if you can manage to not mind the limited controls and the marriage this has to the app (which isn’t bad, but requires payment on a subscription basis to fully “unlock”), this is a neat little camera for sure.

MY USE CASE: Personally, I got this for recording FOV shots for my YouTube tech videos (what a product looks like in hand, unboxing videos, setup videos, etc) and it works BRILLIANTLY for that. As it is small, compact, and the video quality is great and gives you that immersion like you’re there. Much better than my traditional camera (in sense of immersion. Quality of shot still goes to my dedicated camera) and is much easier to setup. I also think it is great for easy B-Roll shots as the image stabilization is phenomenal. Which means using this as a Vlog type camera would also be really good (except for the overheating issues). As that is the biggest downfall of this device is that it just simply doesn’t have a good enough cooling system for my use case. As there is no active cooling from wind/water. CONTROLS: You have two options for controls. Either the “GoPro Quik” App or OnBoard Controls. I recommend the App. Though I did have some issues connecting semi-regularly where I had to cycle through settings on the device to wake it up and wait for it to connect to my iPhone 14 Pro Max. Inside the app you can update the firmware, have a preview of the camera, watch recorded content (via connecting to it’s onboard wifi and streaming that way), live stream, upload recorded content, and change all the camera settings. Layout is modern, is relatively well laid out (but could be improved), and overall I really enjoyed it and is one of the better apps I’ve tried. Onboard controls. There are two buttons, one on the front of the device, another on the top of the device. To turn on you press the front button. Hold it to turn it off. To cycle through the options you press the front button again, then click the top button to confirm. Overall, very easy to navigate. But cumbersome seeing as you have to go through all the options each time. The built in mini OLED display is very high quality and is on the top of the device. Extremely sharp vibrant white text on black background. Probably one of the best tiny OLED displays I’ve seen. But only provides the bare minimum of information. BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN: The entire thing is quite small, it gets hot quickly, and is covered in a mix of plastic/rubber/metal. It has a good weight to it and feels well put together. I have no complaints. Other than the side door feeling cheap. Right in front of the mini OLED display is a red LED light that will notify you of several things. Such as when it is charging (solid red) which will turn off when it is done charging. This LED also blinks when you are recording, remove/place the memory card, and turn on/off the device. Next to it on the right you have your shutter button to start/end recordings. Along with confirm settings. It is covered in rubber and has a membrane type feel to it with a nice crisp click. Which does require moderate/severe force to actuate. There is a door on the right side which is how you access the USB-C charging port and memory card port. There is a button you slide down which unlocks the door (which can be removed) as it is water resistant. I found plugging in my USB-Cord to be tighter and more secure than others. The memory card port is recessed and difficult to place/remove the SD card (which is not included, and you need to buy separately). Or at least that was the case for my male thumbs with no nails. On the left side you have nothing. On the back you have a mount along with a mini heatsink. On the bottom you have another mount. Both of these mounts can technically be removed. The mounts feel high quality and I am unsure if they are plastic or not. On the front you have your lens, which can be removed/replaced. You can also buy a different lens from them for different views. I didn’t do this but it is possible. There is no cover for the lens. There isn’t even really a bump to help protect the lens either. Which is worrisome. Not only from damage from extreme sports/drops. But moreso smudges from my hands and micro-scratches from being in a bag or when traveling. I didn’t test this long enough to see if that is an actual issue (as I don’t know what kind of glass they use). But figured I’d mention it as it was a concern I have. To the right of that you have the power on/off button, which feels nearly the same as the top shutter button but smaller. I saw a microphone hole on the top and on the front. This microphone is surprisingly good. To the point that I’d actually use it. That’s not to say it is better than a dedicated microphone. But for a small compact device very good. TESTING: All my testing was done in a 70F room without movement. It does have a mini heatsink on the back of the device (where it is engineered to put most of the heat, even though I can feel heat around then entire device). You will see improved duration time if the camera is used as intended. Such as on a car, motorcycle, bike, water, etc. as it will provide improved cooling due to A. Wind and B. Water (if applicable). What I used to extend recording times, since this is water-resistant, is when it got hot I would just put it under some cold water for 30ish seconds and it would cool back down enough that I could continue recording for a bit longer. File size is small on the Bit-Rate: Medium setting. Picture quality for it is adequate, but I wouldn’t personally use it (think bad cell phone camera). Whereas Bit-Rate: High is higher file sizes (went from 10 GB for 25 minutes to 10 GB for 10 minutes). While going from solid video quality great (better than most high end phone cameras) that I’ll happily use. As I was surprised at the quality even in low light. Image stabilization is extremely good. About an hour to charge (15 minutes netted about 25% battery life). I was never able to kill the battery from recording as it always overheated beforehand. Cloud storage is not included. It is a separate paid thing. $50 a year with other perks. It did offer me a special deal to get it for $25. I declined as for my specific use case it isn’t needed. But if I were doing it for extreme things (cars, motorcycles, sports) I’d probably pick it up simply for the no-questions ask replacement if it breaks. On average I got about 15 minutes of recording with around 40 - 50% of battery used. The best I got was 1080P at 60 FPS, Bitrate High got 28 minutes. I find this to be the biggest negative of this device. As the average recording time is very short and with it overheating so often I worry about the longevity of not only the battery (which can't be replaced) but also the rest of the internals. Seeing as the biggest enemy to electronics is heat. With how big of a brand GoPro is and also the cost of this device I expected a lot better. 5K, 60 FPS, Lens: Wide, HyperSmooth: On, 10-Bit: On, Bit Rate: High, Otherwise Default/Auto: - 10 minutes. 5K, 8:7 Ratio, 24 FPS, Wide Camera Angle, Bit Rate: Medium, 10-Bit color: Off, HyperSmooth: 0n. Rest of settings: Default/Auto. (Note: limited to 5.3K at 24 or 30 FPS. First mode I tried before looking more at the settings): - 32 minutes before it overheated. Another 30ish minutes to cool back down. I could use it around the 15-minute mark but only for a short period before it overheated again. - Went through about 50% of the battery. 4K, 16:9, 120 FPS, Wide Camera, Bit Rate: High, HyperSmooth: On, No option for 10-Bit Color, Otherwise default/auto. (Note: Max settings is what I have applied for this mode). - 10 minutes 4K, 16:9, 60 FPS, Wide Camera, Bit Rate: High, HyperSmooth: On, 10-Bit Color: On, Otherwise default/auto. (Note: 10-Bit color is not available at 120 FPS but is at 60 fps). - 20 min - Battery 100 to 63% 4K, 8:7, 60 FPS, Lens Wide, Hypersmooth: On, 10-Bit: On, Bit-Rate: High, Otherwise Default/Auto: (Note: 4K 8:7 is only available at 60 fps). - 14 percent from 63? - 15 min 2.7K, 240 FPS, Lens: Wide, HyperSmooth: On, 10-Bit: N/A, Bit-Rate: High, Otherwise Default/Auto: (Note: 240, 120, 60 FPS options. Can do 2.7K at 4:3 but not 8:7 at 120 or 60 FPS. I did not test). - 100 to 65% -17 min 1080P, 240 FPS, Lens: Wide, Hypersmooth: On, 10-Bit: N/A, Bit-Rate: High, Otherwise Default/Auto: (Note: 240, 120, 60, 30, 24 FPS options). - 16 min - 63 – 30%. 1080P, 60 FPS, Lens: Wide, Hypersmooth: On, 10-Bit: N/A, Bit-Rate: High, Otherwise Default/Auto: (Note: 240, 120, 60, 30, 24 FPS options). - 75 to 34% - 28 min.

GoPro products have always been top notch. You're not just buying the product for the name recognition. gopro makes a fantastic product. This GoPro Mini is pretty small and compact, but it doesn't suffer any quality with being small. It does lack a screen to see what is being recorded, but that is expected when the size is small. The back of the camera is ribbed for cooling fins, along with a attachment point. The camera does get warm after a while, so its recommend that you use it in a ventilated space. I did not notice any overheating issues or concerns, just that it got warm while using. The recording quality is awesome! Just to give it a test, I took the camera on a walk at the beach. So, lots of uneven ground along with me not smoothly walking, and the image stabilization worked way better than expected. There was some movement on the video, but it was greatly minimized. This would be great action camera and I can't wait to use it this summer for auto racing, biking, etc. I did include a screen shot from a video I took, the conditions were overcast and gray outside. The video was not adjusting any settings and just charging and using. There are lots of settings and configurations you can mess with on the app. You can use the little screen on the camera to make adjustments (video quality, shooting mode, etc). However, it is much easier to use the gopro App to control the camera. The app also allows you to see what is being recorded. The app was very easy to use and also gave helpful information about the different shooting modes offered. One of my favorites is timelapse as the video came out great when playing around. Battery life is okay, but it is recommended you have a way to charge when out as you cannot swap the battery. I have a battery pack that we use for a cell phone that will be used to charge this when out. Included in the box is a large carrying case, one mount with double sided tape, charging case, and gopro. The case is a nice touch and I like that they make it big enough to store additional accessories with the camera. I wish it had a specific spot to hold the camera safely in place. I would recommend a cloth bag to put the camera in to avoid scratching the Lense. Overall, this is great camera that's not a toy and can be used to take high quality videos. You will not be disappointed if you purchase this camera for yourself or even as a gift!

The Go Pro Hero 11 Black Mini comes with a USB charging cable, a nice zipper case and a mount with a stick-on base. It does not come with a memory card. I highly recommend you visit the Go Pro website and download the manual. Download the Go Pro Quik app to your mobile device and visit the “get to know your mini” web site (URL is on the quick start card that comes with the Go Pro Hero 11 Mini.) You will find links to a list of compatible memory cards and instructions that even this “read the instructions as a last resort” person wound up needing. First, charge the Go Pro using the included cable. The red light goes off when the camera is fully charged. With the camera off, insert the memory card in the slot. (Now is when you really need the instructions.) The device is tiny (2 inches by 2 inches and 4 ¾ oz.) and getting it into pairing mode for the initial pairing is accomplished by a series of button presses. There is a tiny LCD display that tells you where you are in the command menu tree during set up. (It also shows status information during use). Initial pairing took a few tries. The Go Pro will automatically shut off after several seconds of inactivity. If you get lost in the menu tree and the camera shuts off, you will need to turn the camera back on and try again. After several tries, I finally got it all set up and updated with the Go Pro Quik app. Once paired, set up and use is very easy. Many settings can be accessed on the camera without the app. But the Go Pro Quik app makes adjusting the settings much easier. It has two control modes, Easy and Pro. Pro mode enables all kinds of functions (such as resolution, frame rate and aspect ratio) and effects (such as time lapse and time warp). It even has voice control, so you can start and stop recording with voice commands while you are skiing, skateboarding, ziplining, etc. Even though it is compact it is a very sophisticated video camera, producing amazing 4K action videos. The Go Pro Hero Mini 11 turned out to be a great little action video camera.

As an FPV pilot, I was kinda heartbroken when I smashed my Hero 8 Black. The 8 shot beautiful 4K video and if you ran it off a BEC instead of the dedicated battery, it was right around 100g. The Mini seemed like the logical replacement: even better video quality, and lighter than the other GoPros still on the market. I snagged an open-box camera, and bought the accidental damage coverage. Right from the first day, though, I ran into the issue where the camera would lock up and become unresponsive until a hard restart. An inconvenience, but not a big deal. For a couple months, the Mini and I got along OK. Occasional lock-ups, and while charging, the thing seemed to get almost too hot to handle, but always beautiful video. Always in a TPU case, it held up to the kind of crashes the trusty 8 survived, the kind that didn't damage a robust 5" CF frame. Last week, though, while out for a few packs at the local golf course, it started to turn itself off and reboot, and then became totally unresponsive. Back at home, it didn't respond to any of the stuff GoPro suggested trying, so I brought it in to Best Buy. After sending it in for repair, BB cashed it out under the accidental damage plan. After giving it some thought, I think this probably should have been a warranty claim rather than an accidental damage claim, because there was no external evidence of damage, and the problem seems more likely related to the models's now well-known battery problems. The difference would be that instead of Best Buy giving me back the amount I spent on the camera and keeping what I paid to cover accidental damage, GoPro would have replaced the camera, and I would still have an accidental damage policy in place. I'm a little torn about what to buy next. As far as image quality in a 4K camera, there's just no substitute for a GoPro (looking in your direction, DJI Action 2 and Runcam 5/Thumb Pro). I could get a Hero 10 or 11, and power it from the LiPo that powers the quad, and arrive at a weight pretty much on par with the Mini, retaining the option to pop in a battery. But weight considerations aside, the Mini's compact form and lack of screens seems to give it an advantage as far as durability. I could try a Hero 12 Bones, but it's not really designed for the kind of crashes a freestyle pilot expects to happen. Or I could abandon the GoPro altogether in favor of an Insta360 Go 3 (more expensive, still 2.7k max resolution) or an 03 Air, but the freestyle frames I fly now aren't designed to accommodate the 03, and I'm not prepared to start from scratch with new frames. This is why many, many freestyle pilots are limping along with aging Session 5's. I'll probably end up getting another Mini, mainly because there just isn't a good alternative, and I've already got the TPU cases and ND filters. Hoping the next one treats me better.

In the box: I received the GoPro Mini, charging USB cable, mounting clip, setup pictures and a case. My user experience: I’m excited to get this out to all my outdoor adventures. I’m going to be doing a lot of bike riding and this is a good accessory to have with me to capture my adventures. Putting this together during setup is easy. I received pictures with the steps of setup, and anyone can do it with minimal effort. The first note is I had to update before I can use it. Taking that into consideration , I charged the GoPro before doing anything. There is an i button to start the setup. Also on top of the GoPro mini is a small display that you can use to adjust settings. There is not much to setting up. App: It’s a must to get the GoPro Quik app to see your videos. You can edit and change settings right from your phone. Features like auto upload is also cool for people that’s into live streaming. There’s also a limited time subscription offer that allows video captures to auto upload in the cloud. This can be good for reasons like losing your GoPro. The find my GoPro feature would have been better if it wakes the GoPro when it’s off. I find it kind of useless because I know where it’s at when it’s on, at least most of the time. So download the app and ignore all the subscription ads if you are not interested. Overall I like the app and I think it’s necessary to enjoy the GoPro. You can add other GoPro cameras on the same app. Quality: I have a cheap copy of a GoPro and it does not compare to the real thing. The GoPro Hero 11 is true quality. It’s durable and you can see they did not cut corners making it. I’m sure it will take a lot of abuse before it gives up on me. I have not tested it in water yet but it is supposed to be waterproof. The lens is also scratch resistant but I will not intentionally test it but if an accident happens I would hope that it will not cause damage. Image: The 5.3k video quality is definitely something worth looking at. It makes sense to have superb video quality because of what you are capturing. When you go back and watch the footage you can really relive the moments and experiences. Since I use it more for my mountain bike, the image stabilization feature comes handy for bumps and other things that causes vibrations. After my experience with the GoPro Hero 11 mini: I like it very much and think it’s what I need to create more memorable videos in this chapter in my life. I would of like for them to add more of the adhesive curve mount because it would make using it more versatile. I also wouldn’t mind having a wrap around mount that can be removed or repositioned. The last thing that’s missing is a micro SD memory card. At this kind of price point a micro SD memory card should be included. Even if it only holds a small amount of memory. Overall the GoPro Hero 11 mini is a great addition to the collection.

This is pretty good for what I use it for (filming IRL content), honestly the only problems I have with it are the lack of a viewer only because the preview on the app will just randomly disconnect and I have to stop filming to get it back. The other two things are battery life it drains fairly quickly when filming and it can get hot.

I got the GoPro Hero11 to capture my biking and city tour adventures, and it’s been amazing! The video quality is super sharp, even on the move, and the stabilization makes everything look smooth. It’s compact, easy to use, and perfect for action shots. I’m having a lot of fun with it—definitely worth it for anyone who loves exploring and filming!

Camera quality is as expected as GoPro hero products always look crips and clean. The camera it self dies pretty quickly shooting in 4k 60fps. I like How compact and uses full it is but your better off for 100$ more to get the hero 11 black and not the mini only because you lose half the features the full size camera has and this camera also doesn’t have changeable battery’s and accessories are harder to get for it. Overall great camera works for what I use it for and I recommend it.

The Go Pro Hero 11 mini is a well balanced action cam that has pluses and minuses especially depending on your needs. Unboxing and setup is relatively easy, Go Pro recommends charging with the included cable and a 5w charger or charging by a computer, so no fast charging. Go Pro states using non Go Pro chargers could lead to damage to the battery, fire or leakage. They state this on page 58, I feel like this should be on the quick setup guide instructions, as some people may not look at this before changing and potentially damage the non removable battery. I only raise this issue since the battery is non removable. Using the Go Pro for video is simple and straightforward with either the buttons on the camera or through the Quik app. When using the Quik app transferring video to your phone wirelessly is quick and easy. With a Go Pro subscription you get unlimited cloud storage and auto upload features. Even though you don’t have a screen, the trade off is that you get an extra set of folding mounts on the back of the camera. Changing the controls of the camera is very intuitive and easy with the app and is super fast with no lag in my experience. I did have a few times the app didn’t connect and I had to restart one or the other, but never had any connectivity issues with drop out. The main draw to me for using a Go Pro instead of my phone or a regular camera is the video stabilization. The HyperSmooth 5.0 is absolutely amazing when it comes to video stabilization. It truly removes the need to have a separate stabilizing device. The one improvement with video quality I’d like to see is a regular nighttime video mode. Shooting video in normal mode, low light video is on the darker side, but when you use night lapse the video is bright. I could be wrong but I would think this could be added with an update to the app. Overall the Hero 11 mini is a great action cam the provides great stabilized video and cool shooting modes in a more compact package.

My last gopro was the GoPro5, so it's been a long time coming for me. I was a little intimidated opening the box, but was welcomed by a very easy download the app, charge the camera, connect the app and start shooting. Very to use out of the box. Don't be intimiated! Once out of the box, you'll notice immediately it's like the classic go pro, there's no LCD screen interface, but the controls are very familiar, and very to use. And the software also makes it easy to control the camera once you've connected. For the most important part of it all, the image/video quality. Don't take my word for it, you can see tons of review online. The GoPro Hero11 Mini has the same lens as the GoPro Hero11, the flagship best in class you can currently get. There's some nice features that you will need to use the app to take advantage of, such as smoothing/video shake etc, that I highly recommend you turn on. It will save you lots of time post processing. I think there are some other reviews online complaining the Hero11 Mini vs Hero11 has some color/saturation differences, I wouldn't be able to tell since I don't have the Hero11, but just be aware and look at some other reviews. The battery life is amazing, on my camera it says 15 hours, but I did a day of shooting at Disneyland about 11 hours and I still had some juice left. No problem. The mounts/stickers it comes with, do a little research on how to use / mount / dismount, it's not just a sticker. My wife tells me to just use my phone, but there's no way I'm mounting my phone when I'm skiing or tripoding my phone for a 5 minute video and still want to use my phone, not to mention the caliber of lens is just a different class. Using this will free up your phone for other things (such as using your phone for lighting! or googling things while shooting) What's not to love, compact, simple, long battery life, best in class lens, durable, waterproof (up to 30 feet, but rain? no problem).

Very impressed with Little camera! It's very compact and super easy to use. One button and I'm recording. It wasn't too hard to figure out how to use it without needing the phone. I actually prefer not needing to get into the app now, it's just much less distraction and very convenient. The battery life is decent, it's not gonna last all day of nonstop recording, but it does charge pretty quick if you're able to top it off in between clips. I'd say that's really the only negative I can say about it, it lacks the ability of a removable battery. Also got a great deal on an open box special from Best Buy so I'm very happy overall.

Never underestimate this camcorder by its size the things this Camera does is way beyond anyone can expect its very light and small but doesnt compromises in durability very tough can withstand extreme weather conditions, waterproofed and hard to break The kind of big 1/1.9-inch sensor Manufacturer was able to accommodate in this compact design is outstanding with 8:7 aspect ratio which provide widest angle 16:9 shot with the new HyperView Lens It produces content upto insane 5K60/4K120 with great stability it just awesome to watch This mini Gopro got a fantastic non-removable battery in paper it may sound it got smaller 1500mah battery but as this doesn't have any screen the battery will last longer then its predecessors This camera comes with dual mounting fingers on bottom and back and also comes with a tape which can easily mounted to any helmet without much hassle With the latest G2 processor it is so powerful it wont compromise with any kind of task This GoPro mini will do all the things like its predecessors with awesome image and video clarity even the compact design it was built doesn't hinder its performance at any level hands down best mini camcorder ever built

I really, really wanted to like this product. GoPro has been one of those products whose name is now synonymous with being THE premier action camera that can be used for anything from the mundane to the extreme. I just didn’t fall in love with this product like I expected to. First, the product itself. The camera looks and feels great. The build of it of course has a nice metal build for the case and the buttons are rubberized for comfort. It is smaller, I’d guess around 70% the size of a regular GoPro, but noticeably lighter (comfortable for putting it on my dog’s harness). The design is simple since it lacks a screen, featuring only two buttons. The top button is used for starting or stopping a recording or selecting OK, where as the front button cycles through menus and settings. It’s a little confusing at first, but after a couple of days, you can get used to it. It has a waterproof design that you expect and need for the tasks that you’ll be taking it on and a huge support for video resolutions and fps (frames per second). You can go 5.3k at up to 60 fps, 4k at up to 120 fps, 2.7 k at up to a staggering 240 fps, or 1080p also up to 240 fps. For my personal recordings, I tend to jump between 4k at 120 fps and 1080p at 240 fps for the ultra-smooth recordings. Most people won’t notice or care, but I have a huge 512 GB microSD endurance card in and I want my recordings to be as nice as possible before editing. Why compromise beforehand? All of the videos (sorry, no photo support) are recorded on a very smooth stabilized video that the GoPro action camera calls HyperSmooth. The interface on the GoPro Hero11 Mini is a bit too simplistic for “Pro” setting. It just allows you to cycle through the different presets whereas the normal mode allows you to just start or stop the recording. If you’re not familiar with the different preset video modes, the names don’t really describe what the presets do. I feel like a short description or use-case scenario would be useful for first time users in the manual or the app (more on that later). Now for my experience: Upon opening the product, I immediately read through the instructions which say to make sure it is fully charged and to download the Quik app for the GoPro camera on my phone. Since this camera no longer has a screen, to ensure that your camera is mounted and oriented correctly you need to use the phone app in order to connect and view or retrieve media. The app is required for firmware updates as well. I don’t like that this is required though. The removal of desktop app support really blows apart what is useful for power users that want to handle the editing themselves and is instead, a strong push for users to be locked in to their subscription service for cloud recording uploads and special editing tools. The app seems to focus on trying to selling more to you even after they already have your money on the device. Of the four tabs, one is for the “Mural” and another for “Studio”, both of which are subscription only. The “Media” tab is for what videos are loaded on to your phone but oh wait, it also has another page inside for Cloud backed up recordings (service). The “GoPro” tab is finally about your device where you can view the media on the camera, control it, or check for firmware updates. The app works, but it isn’t without problems and I wish I could hide those useless tabs I won’t be using. This is bad UX. I do give it points for being able to customize each preset video mode though. Anyways, after fully charging, I performed an update for the camera. Or, at least I tried to. The camera got stuck updating and there was no instruction in the included manual or through their online support forums to try and forcibly restart the camera. I had to let the camera stay stuck “updating” until it finally died sometime overnight. I tried this twice on a completely new phone with the latest app update on the Google Playstore. It finally finished a third time. One major downside is that the Hero11 mini runs hot while charging and while updating. In fact, it seems to run hot when recording as well. I had used it in a 40-minute drive with the TimeWarp setting where my partner was driving and I had it in hand on a gimbal. This was in the middle of winter in the Midwest and wow, when I took my gloves off, I realized how hot the camera felt. I have to stress, we were not running the car heat on full blast — it was only on low speed fan settings and set to just 65 F. Again, the camera, whilst in winter, felt very hot. I know that heat is the biggest killer to battery life in phones so this problem doesn’t bode well for the camera. Especially since you know, the battery is non-removable now. But perhaps this issue only occurs when charging while simultaneously recording? There were some nicer days outside during the winter when taking our dog out on a walk with the camera mounted on the harness didn’t seem to affect their walking. Running is still somewhat of an issue as the placement of the mount causes it to bounce and hit her head as it bobs up and down with those doggy hops (not an issue of the camera itself, just a problem with top mounts). For the record the recorded videos are fairly stabilized and didn’t give me mind boggling headache, though I still have to figure out a better way to capture more than just her ears in half the frame. It was a nice half hour walk and when we went back home, I started the transfer process from the Camera to the Phone via the Quik app. The large file sizes of the captured footage take forever to be transferred over on to your phone. It’d be nice to just be able to connect the camera to your computer and have a nice desktop app just transfer all your videos over wire, instead of through a direct wireless connection (not sure if it is through wifi or Bluetooth — it’s slow). It was so slow that what ended up happening was the camera died while in the middle of transferring the second half of the video. The standby time on these cameras are not great, and that’s with the Found option off (this option enables you or others to be able to detect find it on the app where it last was). Often times, the phone can recognize the camera, you hit connect and then you’ll wait forever for it to finish the connection process. I’ve made a few more recordings, but the low-light capture capability isn’t the best for when the kids are running around late. The battery life is definitely serviceable on a full charge. But since you can’t swap the battery out and the full sized Hero11 doesn’t really have that much of a larger footprint anyways, I would only use the Hero11 Mini as a secondary camera, not the main one. I cannot recommend the Hero11 Mini unfortunately. It has a lot of shortcomings, many of which rely on the connection. The firmware updates, connection drops, and the transferring of files put it in a poor light. Maybe they’ll have improved on this in the future. As of early 2023, I’m still plagued by these problems.

Great image quality, short non-removable battery life. Not having screens is a blessing and a curse. Image quality has all you could ask for. Stabilization is incredible. Battery lasts about an hour - and then you need to plug it in again!