GoPro to sell smaller camera

The Hero4 Session is the first camera since 2007 to deviate away from the iconic rectangular shape we’ve come to expect from GoPro.

The new GoPro Hero4 Session is an all-black cube made out of a durable and waterproof rubber coating, instead of the familiar silver matchbox design from previous devices. A low-profile cage-style frame holder enables an ultra-low profile mount and the standard frame/cage system provides a typical GoPro mount down-sized to the dimensions of the Session.

If we compare the Hero4 Session to the Hero4 Black, it is actually 40 percent lighter and 50 percent smaller. It also shows 8 megapixel photos in single, burst and time lapse modes.

Despite its small stature, the Hero 4 Session also brings with it a tiny display, which is unfortunately a fraction of the size of the ones you’ll find on larger GoPro cameras, doles out some basic information about the camera’s status.

The HERO4 Session has a single button that will power on and start recording with one press.

The second button is predominantly used to light up the HERO4 Session’s status screen, which it is why Kinman refers to it as a “half” button. The upcoming Session has two microphones, front and back, which will dynamically alternate between each other to reduce wind noise. But it also costs the same as the Hero4 Silver, which has a lot more useful features (like Nigh Photo and Nigh Lapse, narrow field of view, color touch display), higher photo resolution, higher bitrate, pro-quality performance, and more.

Expanded set of controls and settings can be accessed when using the GoPro App or Smart Remote.

“I think this is going to expand our customer base”, GoPro CEO and founder Nick Woodman says.

The GoPro Hero4 Session goes on sale July 12 priced at $399. Despite the tweaks, the new camera is compatible with the existing GoPro mounts.