Hello everyone! I know it’s been a while since my last blog post – and this one is quite niche – but hopefully we’ll be getting back into the swing of it this summer with some more widely applicable posts. I have owned a GoPro Hero (2018) for around two years now, but after fiddling around with the settings and trying to update the software I stumbled across some rather interesting articles that suggested that the Hero (2018) is actually identical – hardware-wise – to the Hero 5 Black. After a good few hours, quite a lot of useless YouTube videos and corrupted files later, I discovered that the aforementioned information appears to be correct. The only explanation I could find for this is that GoPro wanted to bring out their new range, but the Hero 5 Black was selling too slowly. To get rid of the hardware as quickly as possible they released the same camera at a lower price, labelled differently and with software that prevents access to the interesting features. This means that if you own a Hero (2018), you’re actually sleeping on a much better camera… and it’s just one software update away.
So what does the Hero 5 Black offer that the Hero (2018) does not? The answer: 4K/30fps, 2.7K/60fps, 1080p/120fps, 720p/240fps, more FOV options, improved image stabilisation and access to various GPS features. While I’m not particularly interested in the higher resolutions, improved frame rate and image stabilisation at 1080p are more than worth spending five minutes to update the software.
How does the update work? Alas, it wasn’t quite as simple for me as it is for you. I couldn’t just go onto the GoPro website and download the software… GoPro obviously don’t want you to be able to do that. I had to try a lot of online files before eventually finding one (available to download below) that worked and managed to bypass GoPro’s obvious unwillingness to allow an update. Just follow the steps below:
- Step 1: Take a GoPro compatible micro SD card and put it in the camera
- Step 2: Remove the card and place it in your computer (you should now see the 4 files on the left pictured below)
- Step 3: Unzip the zip file and place the “UPDATE” folder alongside the four existing files
- Step 4: Put the micro SD card back into the camera and turn it on, the software should update automatically (shown by a loading symbol which will appear on the front screen)
I hope that some of you found this post useful and now have access to a better camera. If you’d like to be emailed next time I post then be sure to sign up below!
Patrick Kyak 