Today, we’re putting the spotlight on the GoPro Hero 11 Black to see how this small yet powerful action camera holds up for creating point-of-view (POV) walking videos.
In this review we find out if this camera lives up to its promise, and how well it works for filming walking videos. We’ll dig deep into its key features, video quality, and we’ll even recommend some accessories and settings to make sure your videos come out top-notch.
This article expresses our honest and independent opinion about the GoPro Hero 11 Black for walking videos. We purchased this camera and all of the accessories mentioned herein with our own money, and we have not been paid for writing this review.
Is it the perfect camera for walking videos? Probably not.
But if you know its limitations and how to work around them, the GoPro Hero 11 Black will serve you well both for creating walking videos and other types of content. We’ll cover all of that for you in this review.
So whether you’re a travel vlogger or someone who simply loves documenting your scenic strolls, keep reading – this one’s for you.
Point of view (POV) walking videos are becoming more and more popular as a way for people to explore both famous and unknown places. These videos help connect viewers with new locations and nature experiences from the comfort of their own homes through a first-person perspective of walking or hiking. Done well, POV videos give viewers the sensation of being there themselves.
This guide will give you all the information you need to make great POV walking videos, including how to plan, shoot and edit your videos, as well as tips and techniques to stand out from the crowd.
In this review
Features
When it comes to filming POV walking adventures, you’ll want to make sure your camera can handle the important stuff, like:
- Capturing clear footage
- Stabilising your shots
- Having enough dynamic range to cope with contrast-filled locations and dim trails
- Recording good audio
The Hero 11 Black boasts a beefy 27.6MP sensor that should deliver crystal-clear footage. It also comes with GoPro’s upgraded HyperSmooth 5.0 stabilization tech, which promises to keep your footage nice and steady even if your walk takes you on rocky or bumpy terrain.
| GoPro Hero 11 Black key specs | Details |
|---|---|
| Dimensions (mm) | 71.8W x 50.8H x 33.6D |
| Weight | 154g |
| Battery | 1720mAh Enduro battery – removable |
| Waterproof rating | 10m |
| Sensor | 1/1.9″ CMOS 27.6MP active pixels |
| Aperture | f/2.5 |
| Video – max resolution | 5.3K: 8:7 (5312×4648) 5.3K: 4:3 (5312×3984) 5.3K: 16:9 (5312×2988) |
| Video – supported aspect ratios | 16:9, 4:3, 8:7 |
| Video – all resolutions and framerates | 5.3K (8:7) 30/25/24 fps 5.3K (16:9) 60/50/30/25/24 fps 5.3K (4:3) 30/25/24 fps 4K (8:7) 60/50 fps 4K (16:9) 120/100/60/50/30/25/24 fps 4K (4:3) 60/50/30/25/24 fps 2.7K (16:9) 240/200/120/100/60/50 fps 2.7K (4:3) 120/100/60/50 fps 1080p (16:9) 240/200/120/100/60/50/30/25/24 fps |
| Digital lenses | HyperView SuperView Wide Linear Linear + Horizon Lock / Leveling |
| File format and codec | MP4 H.265 (HEVC) |
| 10-bit HEVC support | (8:7) 5.3K30/25/24, 4K60/50 (16:9) 5.3K60/50/30/25/24 (16:9) 4K60/50/30/25/24 |
| Max bitrate | 120Mbps |
| Stabilisation | HyperSmooth 5.0 |
| Slow motion | 8x – 2.7K; 1080p 4x – 4K 2x – 5.3K |
| Live streaming | 1080p60 w/HyperSmooth 4.0 + 1080p60 recording |
| Photos | 27.13MP (5568×4872) |
| Time lapse | Includes TimeWarp, Star Trails, Light Painting and more. |
| Microphones | 3 microphones |
Performance
The specs are certainly impressive, but how does the GoPro Hero 11 Black really perform? In two words: pretty well!
Video quality
The GoPro Hero 11 Black is not perfect, but which camera is? The video quality is great as long as you have good light: details are sharp and colors look vibrant. If the light isn’t optimal, then video quality does suffer a bit more than what I think is reasonable.
Going for the highest bitrate will give your footage that extra quality boost, but it comes at a cost. Maxing out at 120Mbps, your videos files will come close to one gigabyte per minute.
The lower bitrate of approximately 60Mbps is probably good enough. But if you have enough storage capacity for your camera (at least a 256GB Micro SD card) and your editing rig at home can handle it, go for 120Mbps just to play it safe.
Stabilisation
HyperSmooth 5.0 isn’t just hype. During our tests, it managed to keep the footage super smooth as we handheld the camera and walked through a variety of terrains.
But if you mount the camera on your body – such as with a chest harness or with a clip on your backpack – the stabilization tech won’t be able to overcome the up-and-down bounce that comes with walking normally.
Then there’s horizon lock, which I love! It doesn’t matter how you rotate or angle your GoPro Hero 11 Black… The horizon will always be straight and level with horizon lock on.
The drawback is that horizon lock is only available in the most ‘zoomed in’ setting of linear, which gives you a 19-39mm equivalent field of view depending on other settings.
Battery life
Battery life is okay-ish. You get just north of one hour out of a single battery, so you will need to pack multiple batteries if you’re looking at an extended walk.
Overheating
There’s been a lot of talk about GoPro cameras having overheating issues. And the GoPro Hero 11 Black is no different.
I’ve found that on the more demanding video modes, with bluetooth and wireless enabled, and with the Media Mod external enclosure attached, the camera will overheat after about half an hour.
But if you go for slightly less demanding video modes, then you shouldn’t have any issues. (I’ll talk more about how you can avoid overheating your GoPro in the recommended settings section.)
GoPro Hero 11 Black compared to smartphone
I started out by making POV walking videos using my iPhone 11 on a cheap DJI mobile gimbal. So how does the GoPro compare?
Pros of the GoPro over a smartphone/gimbal
- Small and inconspicuous (you stand out more while walking around with a phone on a gimbal)
- Can clip onto your bag and free up both of your hands
- Horizon lock (the horizon is always locked at level, whereas with a phone and gimbal you will need to recalibrate every so often)
- Great sound quality
- Replaceable battery, so you can carry multiple batteries
Pros of a smartphone/gimbal combo over a GoPro
- Better image quality in low light (depending on your phone’s camera – even an iPhone 11 produces better footage in poor lighting conditions)
- Better stabilisation (when handholding a gimbal)
- Better battery life
- Potentially less likely to overheat
GoPro Hero 11 Black vs GoPro Hero 12 Black
Surely, the latest and greatest GoPro camera has to be the best one, right?
Weeeelll… I’m not going to sit here and argue that the GoPro Hero 12 Black isn’t better than it’s predecessor when it comes to features. New features on the 12, which the 11 doesn’t have, include:
- Built-in GPS
- Bluetooth wireless external audio
- Capture full video in HDR
- 9:16 video format (TikTok, here we go!)
- Better battery life
- Latest version of HyperSmooth stabilisation
If you need any of these features in your POV walking video camera, then the GoPro Hero 12 Black is made for you! But in my experience, you don’t strictly need these features at all. So out of these two cameras, you are probably better off going for a GoPro Hero 11 Black if you can find one still, and either save a few dollars (or another currency of choice) or buy some additional accessories instead.
Best GoPro Hero 11 settings for POV walking videos
Now, let’s talk about how you can tune your GoPro Hero 11 Black to get the best possible footage for your POV walking adventures.
My recommended settings for POV walking videos are as follows:
Create your own POV walking GoPro preset
- Resolution: 4K
- Framerate: 50 (or 60 if you’re in a location where the power grid operates at 60hz)
- Lens: Linear + lock
- HyperSmooth: On
- Zoom: 1.0x
- 10-bit: On (not essential)
- Colours: Natural
- Bitrate: High (approximately 120Mbits)
- Shutter: Auto
- White balance: Auto
- ISO Min: 100
- Sharpnesss: Medium
- Color: Natural
- Wind: Auto (set to off if you are using the Media Mod with a windscreen)
General settings
- Beep volume: Low
- LEDs: Front off only
- Front screen: Off
- Anti-flicker: 50Hz (or 60Hz depending on the power grid in your location)
- Wireless connections: Off
- GPS: On (optional)
There are lots of other settings available to you as well, but based on extensive testing in the field, these are the main settings that will help you capture the best possible footage while minimising the chance of your camera overheating.
How to prevent the GoPro Hero 11 Black from overheating
I’ve found that when shooting 5.3K footage while connected to my smartphone by wifi, and with the Media Mod attached, the GoPro Hero 11 Black tends to overheat.
But, by setting the camera to capture 4K video and turning off wireless connections the overheating issue essentially went away.
And by sticking with these settings while also not using the Media Mod, I’ve not had any overheating issues.
To beep or not to beep, that is the question
I’m not a fan of cameras beeping whenever you start or stop filming… But I do leave the GoPro’s beep volume at low so that I get an audio prompt if the camera stops recording unexpectedly due to overheating or running out of battery.
That way, I won’t accidentally miss large chunks of a walk because the camera decided to shut down.
Recommended accessories
There’s an absolute tonne of GoPro accessories available to help you capture footage in any conceivable situation. You can get by perfectly fine without any accessories, but here are five that I’ve found make my life a lot easier when creating walking videos.
Extra batteries
One battery will last you just over one hour, so I recommend picking up a couple of extra batteries. I have three batteries in total.
External charger
I picked up a double battery charger with my camera. It means I can charge all three of my batteries at the same time – one in the camera and two in the charger.
GoPro Volta grip/remote
If you’ll be vlogging or filming handheld videos, the GoPro Volta is a fantastic accessory. It quadruples as a grip, small tripod, bluetooth camera remote control, and battery charger (equivalent to approximately three batteries).
One small annoyance is that the USB cable on the Volta, which plugs into your camera, is slightly on the short side.
Magnetic clip
There are multiple options for clips that you can use to mount your GoPro on anything from bag straps to car windows.
I went for the GoPro one, which combines a strong clip with a reasonably powerful magnet.
With this clip I can easily mount the GoPro on my backpack when filming walking videos.
And in a pinch, I can pop my camera on a metallic object as well and it should be reasonably safe.
(Just avoid using the magnet to mount the camera on moving objects, as the magnet isn’t that strong.)
Media Mod (maybe)
The Media Mod comes with an improved microphone as well as ports for plugging in a microphone, and two cold shoes in which to mount other accessories like an external microphone or light.
I’m in two minds about the Media Mod though… The microphone sound quality is great (provided you have the wind filter switched off), but the built-in GoPro microphones are almost as good.
You get an external USB port and a 3.5mm jack for external microphones. But seeing how both the camera and the Media Mod have very decent microphones (at least for walking videos) you might not need an external mic anyway.
(Plus, the Volta grip comes with an alternative battery compartment door, which also provides access to the camera’s built-in USB-C port, meaning you might be able to actually plug in an external mic that way – unconfirmed as of yet… Although you still need the cold shoes…)
And I think the Media Mod contributes to the camera overheating more easily. So if there was one of the five accessories in the list I’d go without, it’d be this one.
Conclusion
If you ask me whether the GoPro Hero 11 Black is the perfect camera for filming your walking adventures, I’ll have to say no…
But is it a perfectly great camera for walking videos? The answer to that question is a big YES!
The GoPro Hero 11 Black gets most of the key elements right that we need for POV walking videos: super sharp footage, smooth stabilization, and good sound quality. And I love Horizon Lock.
That said, no product is perfect. The Hero 11 Black can overheat easily, needs frequent battery changes, and image quality and stabilisation suffer in low light.
Value for money
So, is the GoPro Hero 11 Black worth the money? Here in Australia it currently retails for AU$579, while in the United States it will set you back US$349. UK customers can expect to pay GBP349.
But… Look out for special deals on the official GoPro website. Every now or then, GoPro will have a 15% off sitewide sale and/or a discount for GoPro Subscription members. I purchased my camera when both deals were on at the same time and ended up paying a total of AU$546 for the camera and subscription together (back when the RRP for this unit was AU$649).
You can also score discounts by signing up to the GoPro mailing list, so look out for a pop-up about that if you’re shopping on the GoPro site and there aren’t any other deals available.
Is the camera worth the AU$5799/US$349/GBP349 retail price? Probably, but with a bit of patience you will be able to score a better deal.
Purchasing recommendation
Should you buy the GoPro Hero 11 Black for walking videos? If you already have a recent smartphone, you are probably better off picking up an inexpensive gimbal and film your adventures that way.
But if you prefer your hands free and avoid standing out too much by waving around a gimbal/smartphone setup, then a GoPro is a great alternative.
Point of view (POV) walking videos are becoming more and more popular as a way for people to explore both famous and unknown places. These videos help connect viewers with new locations and nature experiences from the comfort of their own homes through a first-person perspective of walking or hiking. Done well, POV videos give viewers the sensation of being there themselves.
This guide will give you all the information you need to make great POV walking videos, including how to plan, shoot and edit your videos, as well as tips and techniques to stand out from the crowd.
