The leak of apparent packaging for GoPro’s Hero 9 Black suggests that a slew of exciting changes are coming to the next iteration of the popular action camera.
With DJI’s Osmo Action and Insta360’s recently released One R system now on the market, GoPro has some serious competitors snapping at its heels, so it needs to get it right with the Hero9 Black.
German tech site WinFuture, which got hold of the packaging, is confident it’s the real deal. The labeling suggests the Hero9 Black will be the first GoPro in the series to have a front-facing color display, placing it alongside the Osmo Action and making it an even friendlier vlogging camera.
The image sensor will reportedly get a bump from 12 megapixels to 20 megapixels, with rumors also suggesting the device may be able to shoot 5K video, up from the current 4K. There’s no word, however, on whether GoPro will be enhancing image quality by boosting the size of the sensor to one inch to match one of the mods available with the Insta360 One R.
A decent upgrade to the battery also looks like it’s on its way, pushing it from 1,220mAh with the Hero8 Black to 1,720mAh, giving users some extra leeway before they have to start worrying about recharging or swapping — assuming the new front-facing display doesn’t gobble up all that extra power.
The GoPro Hero 9 Black is also expected to come with improved HyperSmooth electronic stabilization, a popular feature that launched with the Hero 7 Black to offer “gimbal-like” footage.
There’s no word on when GoPro will be announcing the Hero9 Black, but its habit of releasing an update every year in the fall suggests an imminent unveiling.
Digital Trends has reached out to GoPro in the vain hope of obtaining a tidbit about the expected forthcoming release and we will update this piece if we hear back.
If you’re in the market for an action camera, you’ll probably want to see what the Hero 9 Black has to offer. But if you can’t wait, then take a moment to check out Digital Trends’ current compilation of the best action cameras currently available.
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