【Glori-Anne Gilbert Archives】

SQUAW VALLEY,Glori-Anne Gilbert Archives CA -- GoPro made sure to make a huge statement at its big product launch event on Monday.

CEO Nick Woodman announced three new products: the Hero 5 Black, Hero 5 Session and the Karma drone along with new software with the intent of helping consumers -- not just athletes -- tell better stories.

SEE ALSO: GoPro's new Hero 5 action cameras make it easier to create epic videos

Where GoPro sold six different Hero action cameras last year, the company has whittled its lineup down to three: Hero 5 Black, Hero 5 Session and Hero 4 Session.

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The new hardware is outstanding, as you'd expect from GoPro, but also a big win in terms of pricing. The Hero 5 Black costs $399.99, the Hero 5 Session costs $299.99 and the Hero 4 Session is now $199.99.

The Karma drone is also attractively priced at $799.99 with two batteries, the Karma Grip handle and the backpack, $999.99 as a bundle with a Hero 5 Session and $1,099.99 as a bundle with a Hero 5 Black.

I got to test all the two new Hero 5 cameras and the Karma drone and they're pretty sweet, despite the steep competition from Chinese action camera and drone companies.

Let's start with the Hero 5 Black. It's housing is now waterproof up to 33 feet of water and doesn't require a separate waterproof case. The intent, as Woodman said during a Q&A, is to remove one step in the process of capturing. Users no longer have to even think whether they should bring their waterproof case; the Hero 5 Black is ready for any wet condition.

Waterproof design Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable 2-inch touchscreen Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Without the Hero 4 Black's waterproof casing, the Hero 5 Black is straight up larger. And that's okay, because there are some cool new tricks that are totally worth it. The casing can get scuffed up pretty quickly (quicker than the Hero 4 Black), like my test unit did, since it's completely exposed now.

There's finally built-in GPS and electronic image stabilization (up to 2.7K resolution) for location-tagging and smoother footage.

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Hero 5 Black vs. Hero 4 Black size comparison Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The Hero 5 Black's also got nifty voice controls. You can say "GoPro, start recording" or "GoPro, take a photo" and get a hands-free experience. On top of a mountain where the wind was whipping around, the voice controls are a bit of a hit or miss; I had to shout a few times before the camera beeped and activated its command. But for non-windy and loud conditions, a normal voice started up the features just fine.

With voice controls, you can now place your GoPro in all kinds of places and take selfies and video vlogs without needing to use a phone app or a separate remote. It's such an underrated feature that I think every camera should have. And the voice controls will support seven different languages.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The 2-inch touchscreen and simplified record and mode button on the body also make it a lot easier to shoot with. Navigating the menus with the touchscreen is no longer the convoluted mess of pressing the three physical buttons on the Hero 4 Black.

I didn't get to try the GoPro Plus feature, which lets you auto-upload media to the cloud for storage, editing and sharing when the Hero 5 Black is plugged in. If it's anything like the demos I saw, GoPro may have actually figured out how to make the process of offloading footage after a day of recording a thing you won't ever have to think about.

First hands on look at the new GoPro Hero 5 Session! pic.twitter.com/mGliTDGYyK

— Raymond Wong 💾📼🍕 (@raywongy) September 19, 2016

The Hero 5 Session looks exactly like the Hero 4 Session, which I really liked, but with many of the improved performance from the Hero 5 Black.

The Hero 5 Session has the completely enclosed waterproof design, 4K video recording at up to 30 fps, 10-megapixel still photo capture and voice commands.

Because of its small size, the battery is still integrated, which isn't all that awful. And like the Hero 5 Black, GoPro's updated the port from Micro USB to USB-C.

If you liked the Hero 4 Session and its ease of use, you'll probably like the Hero 5 Session.

On my flight to Squaw Valley, I kept thinking of the things GoPro needed to announce to make its cameras compelling again. From what I saw, the new Hero 5 Black and Hero 5 Session -- features and pricing -- are a return to form. GoPro finally has a vision again -- it's all about storytelling and ease of use -- and not about blindly releasing as many new models as possible.

GoPro's modus operandi is almost Apple-esque now: It's about doing a few things really well instead of a ton of things poorly.

Welcome back, GoPro.

Topics Cameras