GoPro adds WiFi to its entry-level, now you get a choice

Action camera maker GoPro practically dominates the world of cameras you can take anywhere that can survive almost anything, but if the budget model was a little too confining without WiFi, now you have a choice to WiFi or not to WiFi.

This week, GoPro is rounding out the bottom end of its action camera line-up, churning out one more action camera for a year that has already seen quite a few of the things.

The addition takes the budget model already available in Australia, named simply as “Hero”, and applies a couple of changes, because while the $199 stock standard Hero delivers Full HD and HD video at 25 and 50 frames per second standard as well as 5 megapixel images, the newer model — the Hero+, as it’s being called — bumps these specs up to 50 and 60 frames per second across both HD and Full HD, while image capture gets pushed to a good 8 megapixels.

Charging has also changed dramatically, with the newer model — the Hero+ — jumping to the more standard microUSB plug, just like most phones and tablets, as well as quite a few rechargeable headphones and speakers, with miniUSB left on the basic Hero like before.

But the most important change comes from the wireless connectivity, because while that was left out on GoPro’s first budget model, the second budget version gets the technology, able to connect to the GoPro Smart Remote, as well as the GoPro app on iPhones and Android devices by way of WiFi and Bluetooth.

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“Whether mounted to a weather balloon floating 100,000 feet above the earth to capture a sunrise across the stratosphere or in the hands of a child recording their backyard tree house adventures, Hero+ is built to capture your imagination wherever it takes you,” said Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s Founder and CEO.

This feature addition now means there’s a sort-of-entry-level GoPro supporting some of the more in-demand GoPro features, though it does mean it is a little harder to pick the GoPro you might be after.

No LCD is included on the basic version, though if you do want one, GoPro has the Hero+ with an LCD for a little more if this is what you need.

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As a result of these changes, the GoPro line-up now starts with the WiFi-less basic Hero for $199.95, moving onto the WiFi-friendly Hero+ for $299.95, the Hero+ with an LCD for $449.95, and then making its way to the tiny but LCD-less Hero 4 Session for $449.95, ending with the premium Hero 4 Silver for $599.95 and the premium 4K-friendly Hero 4 Black for $739.95.

“Even as we continue to raise the bar for our highest performing cameras like Hero 4 Black, Silver and Session, we remain committed to developing simplified products like HERO+ that make GoPro life-capture accessible to everyone,” said Woodman.