I’ve plumped for 1080 HD, 60fps and wide view. Choose a mode, choose your FPS and choose what type of view you want. Whether you can actually watch that 4k back on any device you own is the question, but, assuming that you can, you have the ability. What’s immediately apparent is that this is a 4k camera. Visual quality, impact on the memory card and battery life all relate to the choice you make in relation to video settings, so, let’s plough through what you can set the Hero 5 to record at. Mine is 64GB and, frankly, it would be better if I went for 128GB or carrying another card. At the bare minimum, depending on your choice of record mode, you should be opting for a 32GB card.
![hero 5 session hero 5 session](https://static.techspot.com/images/products/2015/cameras/org/2019-05-07-product-5.jpg)
But, of course, you lose your waterproofing. You can remove that door altogether and charge on the go. The memory card and charging port sit behind a door with a rubber seal. Formatting the memory card after a commute takes about 5-6 presses of the back and record button. And, of course, the app is on your phone. A lot of users claim that deleting the content of your memory card is a pain as you need to use the app to do so. It’s slightly easier with the App though. That said, you can actually carry out most, if not all, of the functions via that bottom button and the record button at the top.
![hero 5 session hero 5 session](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ao8gC__QpJ8/maxresdefault.jpg)
There are only two buttons, with the preference for function control being via the App, which I’ll come back to. So, for rainy commutes, splashing around in swimming pools, it’s entirely happy. Indeed, it’s waterproof down to 10m without any additional housing. The skeleton case is a skeleton and nothing additional is needed to make the GoPro waterproof. There’s a smaller mic on the rear as well. But you can just about make out that mic on the top left. It auto rotates its footage which is very useful. That said, I will shortly be adding an add on to the underside of my Garmin out front mounts from which the GoPro will then be able to hang down. So, I’ve bought this type of ‘out front mount’ which places the GoPro well out of the way. Indeed, you’re actually more setup for skiing than you are for cycling. You don’t get any way, at all, of fixing it to a bike. You get a skeleton mount, a few sticky mounts for helmets and that’s about it. A USB cable but no charger, it’s the new USB C type so, happily, I gain a spare lead for my Galaxy S8. It’s worth starting with what you do, or don’t, get in the box. It’s barely bigger than a 10p and, being a square, that applies to all sides. No matter how many times you look at photos of it, it’s really hard to get a handle of just how little it is. The 5 has taken over the duties as entry level. It almost certainly had better optics and sound than a £50 Chinese cam, but it was debatable whether paying that was worth the extra cost. The Hero Session was a cut down version of the Hero Session 4 (not itself without fault) and was GoPro’s attempt at a budget entry level camera. At that point the Hero Session (not the 5) cam was around £150 and it wasn’t, it’s fair to say, all that well received. When I wrote about the Apeman Cam some time ago I concluded that, for the price, it was very good indeed and a better bet than the GoPro because of that price. It’s worth adding though, if you buy straight from GoPro, then paying £59 more will result in an additional 2 year ‘you break it we replace it’ guarantee.
#Hero 5 session code#
Indeed, it’s £179 in most places, use a code and you could see it for £150. It’s RRP is £199, which is an awful lot less than it was a mere 6 months ago.
![hero 5 session hero 5 session](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61GDRTPVRvL._SL1001_.jpg)
The Session 5 sits at the bottom of the heap. Unless the new one is just a cheaper version of itself. Replacing it might actually be a mistake. There are signs that GoPro will replace it with a cheaper entry level camera in 2018. I don’t know how much longer the Hero Session 5 will be around.