GoPro Hero 13 Black Review: It’s All About the Kit

GoPro’s new action camera for 2024 is here to make your content creation journey better. The Hero 13 Black launched in September alongside a new smaller Hero camera. The new GoPro action camera isn’t a major upgrade to last year’s model in terms of hardware and design, but it makes up with a bunch of new lenses, a new way to mount, a bigger battery, and several other small improvements.

While the competition is out there trying to woo customers with improved sensors, faster chipsets, and whatnot, GoPro is sticking to the ‘why fix something if it’s not broken’ mantra. Are the new lenses, magnetic mounting, and larger battery enough to win the action camera game? Read the review to find out.

The GoPro Hero 13 Black starts at Rs. 44,990 in India without the lens attachments.

GoPro Hero 13 Black Design: Magnets, finally!

• Dimensions – 71.8 W x 50.8 H x 33.6 D (mm)
• Weight – 159g
• Colours – Black

The Hero 13 Black is identical in dimensions to the 12 Black, but a couple of design changes will help you differentiate them. GoPro has gotten rid of the blue specks that were found on last year’s model. It’s now all black, and a new heatsink-like design is on the front, right underneath the camera sensor. GoPro tells us that it’s not a heatsink, unfortunately. The display sizes on the front and back remain the same as the placement for the record and mode buttons. The battery door is also the same as last year.

The Blue dot to align the lenses should’ve been on the outside of the lens

You’ll find the most important design changes at the bottom, where the mounting system sits. Apart from the usual fold-down mounting fingers and the ¼-20 mounting threads, the GoPro now has magnetic mounting. The magnetic latch makes it super easy to switch between mounts, and I found it to be more secure and easier to use than the competition. It tends to pick up sand and other particles, making it difficult to clean.

The new magnetic attachments are also an extra buy, unfortunately

The lens cover mounting is similar to last year, but there’s now a blue alignment dot on the inside of the cover and on the GoPro that makes it easy to attach the cover. The older Hero 12 Black lens cover works with the new GoPro, and vice versa. However, the new lenses aren’t backwards compatible.

GoPro Hero 13 Black Camera, Features, and Performance: Minor improvements

• Sensor – 27-megapixel
• Processor – GP2

Once again, there’s not a lot new in both the camera and performance departments. However, you do get small improvements and a couple of new software features with the Hero 13 Black. The older sensor and the processor are starting to show their age, though, but GoPro has managed to do some more magic and added new features such as a Burst slow motion video that lets you record at up to 400 fps but at a low 720p resolution. You can also record at 360 fps in 900p resolution and 120 fps at 5.3K.

The action camera now also gets HLG HDR video, improved LOG profile, better customisation for presets, more Audio tuning options, and a flexible Quick Capture feature that lets you restart recording or go into idle mode within 5 seconds while powering off in Quick Capture. The Hero 13 Black now comes with Wi-Fi 6.0 for faster transfer speeds, and GPS has made a comeback with support for overlays.

Now, let’s talk about performance. With the standard lens and basic video/photo settings, the new Hero 13 Black isn’t that much different from last year’s model. I saw some differences in HDR recording with improved colours on the new camera, but mostly, the performance is very similar. However, the new slow-motion modes are pretty cool if you don’t mind low video resolution; 400 fps at 720p works well when there’s plenty of light, and you can get some really cool shots. 

You get HyperSmooth 6.0, just like last year, and it still works amazingly well as long as you don’t try to shoot videos in low-light conditions. The GoPro continues to perform poorly when there’s not enough light. The competition is doing much better here, and it’s high time GoPro did something about this.

There’s also a new 1:1 aspect ratio video recording option, which is better than the 8:7 ratio from last year. However, this ratio is only available with the new Ultra wide lens attachment.

Video quality is still top-notch in daylight conditions, and you get punchy colours. However, the heating situation is still pretty much the same as last year. I live in a coastal town, and it’s quite hot here, so I’m guessing the camera will perform better without cooler ambient temperatures. The Hero 13 Black also takes good photos in daylight conditions. 

Top to bottom: Standard lens, Ultrawide lens, Macro lens

GoPro Hero 13 Black Lenses: Makes the camera versatile

• Ultra-wide Lens – 1:1 aspect ratio, 177-degree FoV, up to 4K60
• Macro Lens – Variable focus with built-in lens ring, minimum focus of 11cm
• ND Filters – ND4 / ND8 / ND16 / ND32
• Anamorphic Lens – 21:9 aspect ratio, In-camera de-squeeze

GoPro has slowly been adding new lens options over the years. After the Max Mod lenses, this is the first time that the action camera gets new lenses. You could even call them the biggest upgrades this year, but not because they cost extra money. However, they do make the camera versatile. You can get close-up shots, cinematic blur, and a 1:1 aspect ratio with the lenses. They also feature auto-detection, which means that the Hero 13 Black will set the best settings as soon as you attach a lens.

The auto lens detection and new lenses only work on the GoPro Hero 13 Black

First, the new Ultra Wide lens has the same FoV (177 degrees) as the Max Mod 2.0 from last year but now enables a new 1:1 aspect ratio. The new aspect ratio is great for those who don’t want to take multiple shots for different social media. This is the best lens for action sports, but you can’t record ultra-slow-motion videos with this lens.

Second, the new Macro lens changes the core experience of the GoPro action camera. The GoPro was never really made for shooting vlogs or close-up shots in focus. However, you can now do so with the Macro lens mod. You also get an adjustable focus ring and focus peaking. Although the Macro lens has a minimum focus distance of 11cm, which isn’t super close, it’s great for an action camera. I had a lot of fun shooting close-ups of objects with this lens. Once again, the results are best when you shoot during daylight.

The anamorphic lens will be out in 2025

Third, there’s a set of ND filters (4,8,16, and 32), which lets you achieve cinematic motion blur when shooting action shots. The filters also help cut out the harsh lighting, and the camera will auto-detect which filter you’ve attached and tell you if you need to go a step higher or lower. Shooting with the ND filters gave my riding videos a cinematic feel thanks to the motion blur.

Lastly, the Anamorphic lens, which got a lot of ‘awes’ at the launch event, will give you a nice 21:9 cinematic field of view. The GoPro will also automatically de-squeeze the footage, so you don’t have to do it later. Unfortunately, this lens will only come in 2025, and I didn’t get to try it out.

GoPro Hero 13 Black Battery life: Slightly better

Alright, let’s talk about battery life. GoPro now includes a new battery on the Hero 13 Black, and that’s both good and bad. It’s good because you now get longer battery life from the camera, and bad because it’s not compatible with any of the previous GoPro’s and vice versa.

The Hero 13 Black gets a new 1,900mAh battery

There is a noticeable improvement in battery life with the new Enduro battery, but it’s not as much as GoPro claims. I managed to get 37 mins of continuous recording (while stationary) at 4K resolution (8:7, 60fps) before the GoPro shut off due to overheating. It did last longer on a motorcycle ride, about 50 minutes, thanks to the airflow. 

GoPro Hero 13 Black Verdict

The new GoPro Hero 13 Black on its own isn’t a big upgrade over the Hero 12 Black, so if you own the 12, you probably don’t need to get the new one. However, the new one does bring a lot of versatility to the quintessential action camera. Then there’s the magnetic mounting system and the slightly better battery life. The new GoPro is a great choice if you’re buying an action camera that you’ll use mainly during the day. It’s also a good choice if you plan on getting the lens attachments and doing more with your action camera. If it’s lowlight performance you’re looking for, then look elsewhere.