 September 16, 2020, GoPro announced the release of their new camera, the GoPro Hero 9 Black, which was such an exciting moment for GoPro fans as well as a big upgrade from the GoPro Hero 8 Black. And so in this video today, we are going to talk about the new key features of the GoPro Hero 9 Black. We're going to compare it with the 8 Black and 7 Black and towards the end, we're going to have an open honest conversation about whether it's worth the investment or if you guys are new here, welcome. My name is Habiba and this is Trekking Pals. I'm a big fan of the GoPro. I've been using it for the last few years to make videos while hiking and backpacking. And I find it to be very practical, easy to use and efficient for what I'm trying to accomplish. All right. So now the three main features or the three main upgrades that the camera came up with is, first of all, the front display camera, which if we look, for example, at the Black 7 or Black 8, there is already a display in the front here, but it only shares some rudimentary information about which mode you are in, how much time had elapsed if you are taking a video. But right now with the GoPro Hero 9 Black, there is an opportunity or a possibility for you to look at yourself while you are filming. It might not be that important for some people, but a lot of times post-production, when I'm working on my editing, I would see something weird in my footage. It was not framed properly. There is maybe some food stuck between my braces, my hair is messy. So I think with this feature and the opportunity to see yourself while you are filming is going to be very helpful. The second feature that the camera came up with is the opportunity to film in 5K compared to 4K for the 8 and 7 and for photos, 20 megapixel compared to 12 for 8 and 7. So definitely a better quality when it comes to video and photo. What I'm going to do right now, I'm going to the GoPro website. They do have a feature to allow customers to compare up to 3 cameras. And what I'm going to do right here, I'm going to pick the 9, the 8 and 7. I'm not going to go through all the details of every single feature, but we're going to talk high level just to kind of understand the difference between all of these 3 cameras. We'll talk first of all about the photo mode. As I mentioned earlier, we're looking at 20 megapixel for the 9, definitely a higher quality compared to 12 megapixel for the 8 and 12 megapixel for the 7. For video, we're looking at 5K 30 frames per second compared to 4K 60 frames per second for the 7 and the 8. Now, do you really need to film in 5K? Not necessary, but if you are thinking about doing a lot of zoom in and cropping while you are editing, it's going to definitely preserve the quality of your footage. The one thing that I really like about the GoPro, generally speaking, it's the stabilization. A lot of times, if I am walking on the trail or running, I don't really want to worry about all the shaking that comes with it. And I don't want to do a lot of work post-editing and trying to use some stabilization filters. And that's why I really like the video stabilization on the GoPro. This feature is referred to as the HyperSmooth for the 7. They came up with a better version, the HyperSmooth 2.0, but it seems like right now, with the Hero 9 Black, it's even better. They're looking at the HyperSmooth 3.0. So definitely better stabilization if you are moving, if you are probably mountain biking, it's going to definitely provide better results. We already talked about the front screen, the status only screen on the 7 and 8 compared to the live preview on the new camera. Let's take a look at the numbers when it comes to the weight of the camera and battery together. With the new camera, we are looking at 158 grams compared to 116 grams for the 7 Black and 126 grams for the Hero 8 Black. Now, it's slightly bigger or heavier compared to the other bodies, but I don't think it's going to make that huge of a difference. And to be honest with the features and the new upgrades that it's coming with, I personally wouldn't mind 158 grams. And that takes us to talk about the batteries. I know that the 7 and the 8, they share the same type of batteries, the same size, which was really nice if you are upgrading from the 7 to the 8 to know that you can have additional batteries. But with the Hero 9 Black, it's a larger camera or a larger body and that comes with a larger battery as well. Now, all of these batteries are removable and rechargeable, but I want us to take a look here at the numbers on the milliamps per hours. For the new camera, we are looking at 1,720 milliamps per hour compared to 1,220 for the 7 and 8. Now, generally speaking, batteries with larger MAH number rating generally means that they are going to last longer than those with a smaller rating, assuming that they are used for the same purposes, which is already the case here. And that means that the battery life on this new camera is going to be better. And that was a high level comparison of the three cameras. I'm going to leave a link in the description box if you are curious to check other features like the USB, the storage on the camera, microphones, the LEDs, etc. And that takes us to the question, is it worth investing in a new GoPro Hero 9 Black or is it worth the upgrade? I would say if this is your first investment in a GoPro, you don't have a GoPro camera, this is your first purchase, definitely want to go for the latest there is in the market. That's what I would personally do, especially because price-wise there isn't a huge gap between the 7, the 8 and the 9. Now, if you do already have the 7 or the 8, it really depends on what you are looking for. If you do have cash to spare, why not go for it? If you don't, then I already think that the 7 accomplishes a lot of great things. The quality of the footage is great, 4K, the stabilization is great, I've been using it and I didn't even think about upgrading to the 8, I personally might be upgrading to the 9 at some point or the generation that comes after that. But the 7 and the 8, they accomplish great things. And that's pretty much it. I hope that you guys found this video to be useful and if you did, please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing to our channel. We are trekking, pals, Habiba and Alex, amateur hikers and backpackers. We create video content about hiking, backpacking and adventure traveling. Thank you guys for watching and we'll see you very soon on a new adventure. Bye!