Always wanted to be part of the Hero owners club? Well it's just got a bit more affordable

GoPro pretty much single handedly carved the boom for action cameras, becoming the go-to brand. But while the limelight might still be on GoPro’s all-singing and all-dancing Fusion 360º and Hero 6 cameras; what if you don’t want or need all of the professional level features? And more to the point, what if you don’t want to spend upwards of £400 on one?

Well now there’s a new Hero in town.

The new Hero (no number, just Hero) has launched today and is on sale for less than two hundred quid: £199.99 to be precise.

gopro hero

Replacing the Session, the new Hero has plenty of the same features as it’s more expensive versions.

It still boasts a waterproof rating down to 10 metres (needed if the current weather carries on), takes 10MP still images and will record in both HD formats (1440 and 1080) at 60FPS for smooth footage. It lacks the 4K+ abilities of the higher models but as YouTube and the like are mainly limited to HD this shouldn’t create many issues.

The camera works in conjunction with the GoPro App, meaning video and pictures can be wirelessly transferred to smartphones for social sharing.

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The camera has been constructed with durability at the fore, and GoPro says it’s suitable for “kids, adventurous social sharers and travel lovers” – Pretty much perfect for the mountain biker that tends to be a little, ahem, rough with their kit.

Yes, we know it’s not mountain biking but you get the idea.

You can start and stop recording, take photos and turn it off using voice control too and video stabilisation can smooth out footage.

“HERO is a great first GoPro for people looking to share experiences beyond what a phone can capture”, says Meghan Laffey, GoPro’s SVP of Product, “HERO makes it easy to share ‘wow’ moments at a price that’s perfect for first-time users.”

Some of you will obviously realise that GoPro already had a ‘budget’ camera in the shape of the Session. The Hero is designed to not only replace that camera but to improve upon it with increased functionality for the same price.

Looking at the Hero it is easy to see it has the same shape as the other Hero cameras in the range. As such, any mount or accessory that fits the existing cameras will also fit the new Hero.

It’s available right now, just in time for the good weather!