GoPro Max 2 360 Camera Review: It’s Finally Here

Excellent “true” 8K footage. Support for 10-bit color. Replaceable lenses. Natural-looking colour successful default profile. Mobile package has bully automated search tools. Single-lens mode turns it into a 4K GoPro Hero.

Audio could beryllium better. Desktop app lacks automated editing features of mobile version.

Autumn is action camera season, and this twelvemonth nan first retired of nan gross is GoPro, which has released nan Max 2, a agelong (long) awaited update to its Max 360 camera. GoPro mostly invented nan action camera space, and pinch it nan thought that you tin (and truthful should) grounds everything, each of nan time. The 360 camera has ever felt for illustration nan endgame. Not only is it durable capable to withstand everything a GoPro can, but it's virtually signaling everything each of nan time.

It's been six years since GoPro first jumped into nan 360 camera marketplace pinch nan original GoPro Max, and nan 2nd version's capabilities are truthful acold beyond that first exemplary that comparing them is pointless. The Max 2 is ray years up of nan Max and beautiful good up of nan existent title arsenic well.

Long Time Coming

Ordinarily successful reviews we walk immoderate clip looking astatine really nan caller exemplary compares to nan old, but since nan Max is alternatively ancient, I'm going to look alternatively astatine really nan Max 2 compares to nan existent 360 market, namely really it stacks up against its main competitors, Insta360’s X5 and DJI’s Osmo 360.

In leapfrogging forward, fundamentally what GoPro has done present is return nan characteristic group of nan GoPro Hero 13 Black and put it successful a camera assemblage pinch 2 lenses and 2 sensors. All nan bits Hero fans bask are here, including nan stabilization, typical sprout modes for illustration Hyperlapse, prima trails, and more, on pinch triple mounting options of tripod, magnetic, and nan accepted GoPro three-finger mount. Alas, nan artillery is not nan aforesaid arsenic nan Hero battery, but successful astir important ways nan Max 2 is simply a Hero 13 Black turned into a 360 camera.

The shape facet of nan Max 2 is akin to nan erstwhile model, pinch a squarish creation alternatively than nan elongated assemblage of nan X5. There are pluses and minuses to some designs, but I find nan quadrate creation of nan Max 2 (and Osmo 360) much conducive to mounting connected helmets, motorcycle handlebars, and your chest, while nan longer shape facet of nan X5 feels amended erstwhile utilized connected a stick.

The GoPro Max 2 uses a twin-lens design, and for illustration some Insta360's X5 and DJI's Osmo 360 you tin switch nan lens covers. The quality is that it's ace easy to do that connected nan Max 2—just twist nan lens covers disconnected pinch your fingers and put nan caller ones on, nary typical devices required and nary request to nonstop it disconnected to nan shaper (as you must pinch nan Osmo 360).

I recovered nan lens covers plentifulness durable, though I accidentally dropped my Max 2 from waist tallness connected my gravel driveway and nan lens didn't person truthful overmuch arsenic a scratch. Still, it's bully to cognize that, if you're heading disconnected into nan wilds, you tin conscionable propulsion an other group of lens covers successful your container and not person to interest astir it.

Really, Really 8K

The copy 14-mm (35-mm equivalent) lenses of nan Max 2 each grounds to a 1/2.3-inch chip. This produces what GoPro calls “True 8K” (10-bit) video. Interestingly, for a institution that truthful acold arsenic I tin callback has ne'er really gone aft competitors for illustration this, GoPro has been astatine pains to constituent retired that immoderate of nan pixels successful its competitors' cameras are mislaid because you're signaling information video connected a quadrate chip. Both nan X5 and nan DJI Osmo 360 get adjacent to 8K and past usage algorithms to boost nan last output up to 8K.

GoPro argues that nan Max 2 has much pixels successful nan existent signaling information of nan sensors than its competitors. The institution has a full webpage devoted to breaking down what this intends and really it works.

While nan quality successful my testing isn't huge, it is there, and it is capable that master filmmakers will care. I find successful practice, nan GoPro Max 2 has respective different much compelling features complete nan competition, truthful nan other pixels of “True 8K” are really much of a nice-to-have than a trading point. But again, if you're a pro and mixing footage with, say, a RED camera, immoderate other pixels you tin get are a win.

In my testing, nan 2 things nan Max 2 offers that really group it supra nan Insta360 X5 are 10-bit colour (which eliminates banded skies astatine sunset, thing nan X5 suffers from rather a spot successful my use), and GoPro's colour defaults, which, conscionable for illustration nan Hero 13, default to a darker, contrastier, much realistic colour rendering than either DJI’s aliases Insta360's cameras. This is particularly noticeable successful bluish skies, wherever nan GoPro has a overmuch much realistic, flimsy magenta reside compared to nan X5's oversaturated, hyperreal bluish skies.

This is arguably individual taste. Certainly if you're looking to extremity eyeballs mid-scroll pinch oversaturated, eye-popping color, nan Insta360 X5 is your friend. Personally though, I for illustration nan colour coming from nan GoPro overmuch better, moreover erstwhile shooting successful 8-bit color. It's astir apt worthy checking retired immoderate video from some to spot which look you for illustration earlier you invest. One advantage of nan GoPro is that if you do want to get into postproduction coloring successful apps for illustration DaVinci Resolve, nan 10-bit colour action gives you a batch much latitude.

I besides recovered that, successful agleam light, shooting nan benignant of things I mostly usage an action camera for (bike rides, hikes, etc.), nan Max 2 footage was sharper than nan aforesaid scenes changeable pinch nan X5. The quality is not huge, but particularly successful scenes pinch a batch of foliage, nan Max 2 comes retired up pinch sharper edges and amended contrast.

Like astir 360 cameras, nan Max 2 offers a single-lens mode, which is useful for times erstwhile you cognize you don't want nan 2nd lens (for example, if you person it mounted to your chest). In azygous lens mode nan Max 2 fundamentally becomes a 4K Hero 13. All nan aforesaid lens modes are available, astir of nan video options arsenic well. The large quality being that you're capped astatine 4K alternatively than nan Hero 13 Black's 5.2K. But single-lens mode is useful because it saves you from having to reframe that footage.

While nan Max 2 wins connected image value (slightly) and colour subject (including 10-bit support), it unluckily does not triumph successful audio. The Max 2 manages to battalion successful 6 microphones, which it past intelligently uses (for illustration erstwhile there's upwind coming from nan near it should dampen that mic and trust much connected nan right-side mic). That each sounds very nice, but unluckily successful my testing nan audio was subpar nary matter what I did. It was noticeably quiet and level compared to nan X5, shooting side-by-side successful nan aforesaid conditions.

The different point I did not for illustration connected nan Max 2 is nan slow-motion footage, which tops retired astatine 100 frames per 2nd and is only disposable shooting 4K. That intends erstwhile you reframe you're getting a max solution of 1080p. To beryllium fair, neither nan Osmo 360 aliases nan X5 fare overmuch better. The sad truth is, astatine slightest for now, 360 cameras conscionable aren't bully for slow-motion video.

Software

While shooting 360 video for usage successful immersive goggles is surely a usage case, astir of america are astir apt still going to want to station these videos connected nan web, which intends they person to beryllium converted from 360 video to a normal, level video. This process is known arsenic reframing, and each nan top 360 cameras connection immoderate benignant of package to do this. GoPro has 2 options, nan revamped Quik mobile app and immoderate desktop package for Mac and Windows.

The accent from GoPro is intelligibly connected nan mobile-first workflow, pinch rather a fewer features disposable successful nan Quik mobile app. The champion of these is Object Tracking, which for illustration nan balanced characteristic successful Insta360's app, allows you to prime a taxable wrong nan 360 footage and nan package will past support nan changeable locked connected that taxable sloppy of what you did pinch nan camera erstwhile shooting. I recovered that this characteristic worked really good successful my testing. It's not cleanable successful nan consciousness that sometimes it whitethorn not framework nan taxable rather really you want, but it's easy to hole this by manually reframing sections that request it.

The bad news is that this is simply a mobile-only feature. The desktop package is rather tin and has astir 95 percent of what you need, but it's disappointing to not person nan automatic tracking, fixed really overmuch it speeds up editing. Hopefully GoPro will bring this to its desktop edit devices pinch a early update. As it stands, Insta360's desktop editing suite is intelligibly good ahead.

The bully news for desktop users is that there's now a plug-in for DaVinci Resolve to spell pinch nan agelong existing Adobe Premier Plugin. The bad news is that you'll person to transcode your videos into a format DaVinci Resolve tin read utilizing nan GoPro Player app. Fortunately location is an action to batch-process them. The expertise to sprout 10-bit colour footage I tin past harvester pinch different footage successful DaVinci Resolve is worthy nan mini symptom of prepping nan GoPro footage.

Also, props to GoPro for supporting plugging nan Max 2 straight into your telephone to download clips. This is truthful overmuch faster than downloading complete a Wi-Fi connection. Love a bully wire.

Should You Buy?

If you don't presently person a 360 camera and you want one, nan GoPro Max 2 is nan camera to get. It will beryllium our top-pick 360 camera erstwhile I update that guideline next. The fantabulous video quality, easy replaceable lenses, 10-bit color, and much realistic out-of-the-box colour rendering springiness nan Max 2 nan separator complete nan competition.

The only be aware I person is nan audio. You'll want to usage an outer mic if audio is important to you (but really, this is ever true). The 1 different area that mightiness make nan X5 a amended prime is successful debased light. I very seldom sprout pinch cameras for illustration this successful debased light, and I find nan low-light footage from Insta360’s and DJI’s cameras (all of them, not conscionable nan 360 cameras) unrealistic and smeary, but successful immoderate cases that mightiness beryllium amended than what you get from nan Max 2. Suffice to opportunity that GoPro has optimized for nan daylight shots.

If you already ain an Osmo 360, there's thing present that's compelling capable to warrant moving to nan GoPro. The aforesaid is existent of nan Insta360 X5. If you ain nan X4 … that's a tougher call. The Max 2 video value is simply a immense measurement up, but truthful is nan X5, truthful it really comes down to whether aliases not nan 10-bit colour and different benefits of nan Max 2 are worthy it to you.