GoPro MAX2 Review: GoPro comes back in to the 360˚ camera market with a bang

GoPro is finally back in the 360˚ action camera market, after being somewhat on the sidelines for the last few years as the Insta360 X line took the genre by storm. The GoPro MAX2 is its newest addition, and it comes with an impressive list of tech specs, which I'll examine in more detail now...

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Construction

Chief among these specifications is what GoPro calls True 8K with 10-bit colours (10 billion). Several other action cameras promise to offer 8K definition, but in reality they apparently base this 8K definition on the number of pixels present in the square that surrounds the circle of image that is captured, rather than the pixels in what is captured. GoPro claims these brands get close to 8K and then ‘fill in the gaps’ as such using software. Instead, GoPro uses the two 14mm lenses (35mm equivalent), recorded on a 1 / 2.3 inch chip. You can read more about what this means over on the GoPro site itself, as I won’t do the full explanation the credit it deserves.

Dimensions wise the camera is also a fair bit smaller than the competition from DJI and Insta360. Width is 64.0mm, height 69.7mm, and depth 48.7mm, with a total weight of 195g. This also includes the inbuilt mounting feet along with the inbuilt threaded mount.

New for the MAX2 is the inclusion as standard of the cold weather Enduro battery. Often batteries can perform poorly in cold weather; my old GoPro Hero 8 tended to cut out after a few minutes while riding in anything below 8˚C due to windchill. This new battery means that for winter weather filming the GoPro Max 2 is well optimised to save battery life. Indeed GoPro gives a usable temperature range of -10-35˚C.

To aid performance in hot weather however, the body of the camera features cooling fins, first introduced on the Hero 13 model. A greater surface area at the front aims to increase the rate of thermal transfer and thus aid cooling, especially while moving. This is also complemented with waterproofing to 5m submerged without a dive case. For cycling purposes this means the camera is fully functional in even the heaviest prolonged rain.

The GoPro MAX2 is the first 360˚ action camera to offer tool free lens replacement. Insta360 lenses can be replaced, but require specific tools. Meanwhile the DJI 360 offering does not feature replaceable lenses. It's a key selling point, as it’s not unlikely that the camera will be dropped or you’ll knock it against something, and at this price replaceable lenses make a big difference. GoPro also has the GoPro Subscription, which as well as giving access to additional editing and even some bonus features, includes no-questions-asked camera replacements of up to two a year.

You can use a single lens option which caps you at 4K video footage at 60fps, while using the MAX2 in camera mode gives you 29MP 360˚ photos. You can then crop, zoom, and adjust these in the app afterwards. This allows for editing for use on TikTok, Reels, or any framing options you want. The Quik app itself also gives a good range of video editing capabilities. While filming 360˚ footage, you can use AI features such as object track, which is great for selecting a rider to stay in focus. You can also use the horizon lock for descending videos where the horizon stays level, but you and the bike move around that. Max HyperSmooth assists in keeping the footage stable without any juddering or shaking of the video footage.

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The Ride

GoPro has equipped the MAX2 with both a threaded mount and the classic GoPro feet mounting, giving some flexibility in how the camera is fitted. Admittedly, to get the best perspective when riding, you want to set this up out-front using the threaded mount. At present GoPro does not offer this sort of mount for cycling, so I used the Insta360 one. Straight away, this demonstrated one area of the MAX2 that wins out over the competition for me.

The camera is a lot shorter than the Insta360 X5 and a bit smaller than the DJI 360. This means that there is less of a weighted lever over the end of the mount, and it tended to wobble less. This was actually visible in the footage compared to the X5, especially over rougher road surfaces.

Although shorter, it didn’t seem to have any negative impact on the perspective, I was still able to get my full body and the bike in shot with the 360 lens. Obviously you can fit this with the GoPro feet, but the usual under-mounting will struggle to get much other than a broader field of view in front of you, with limited footage of behind unless mounted on the stem. This is a bit more of an awkward fitting point for a 360 camera though.

You can fit it on an extension pole for interesting shots from behind, but again you need a dedicated mounting system which at present GoPro does not offer, but Insta360 does.

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Screen wise, the GoPro screen is a bit smaller than the Insta360 X5, but the touchscreen is highly responsive and accurate, while the control scheme is very easy to use relying mainly on the two button format. I personally find it easier to use while riding then the X5, but on the fly adjustments to a more advanced level are not advisable when riding anyway.

Obviously one of the main attractions of a 360˚ camera is the footage that you can acquire. All the top players in this market claim to offer 8k maximum resolution. However, offerings from Insta360 and DJI measure the square area that encompasses the circular image captured by the lens. This square makes up 8k resolution, but of course some of that is black pixels. GoPro measures that actually colour capturing pixels for a true 8k, one of the cameras key selling points. I’ve only compared the Insta360 X5 and the GoPro MAX2, and although the standard colour saturations used are different, the actual definition is fractionally better on the GoPro, especially as you zoom in on focal points.

You can also drop the quality down to 5.7k and get 60 FPS rather than 30 FPS to get a slightly smoother looking video. However smoothness is another area where the MAX2 wins. GoPro has a great reputation with the HyperSmooth functionality on its cameras and the MAX2 is no different. As already mentioned, the shorter stature means that small flexes at the base translate to smaller movements at the lens over rough road surfaces. But the HyperSmooth picks up any additional vibration and prevents the footage looking like you’re riding on cobbles.

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Another bonus I’ve found for the MAX2 over the X5 is the frame stitching. There were certain shots or angles where I could see the stitch between the two 360˚ lenses on the X5, where something would not be entirely visible as it was cut out. On the MAX 2 I have yet to find an angle where the stitch line is visible. It just ensures that the image looks more like a true 360˚ image in more scenarios.

Using as a single lens camera the MAX2 is not quite the same level as the Hero 13 Black, but it’s not meant to be. This is a 360˚ camera and that’s where it’s designed to shine.

There is one glaring area though that the GoPro MAX2 does underperform quite significantly, and it’s the same area that the Hero 13 Black also struggles. In low light performance the MAX 2 is a long way behind the Insta360 X5 and the DJI cameras. It’s a shame as for something like a twilight crit race or any situations with lower ambient light conditions it just does not work well. It’s not that it’s not as good as the others, it’s just plain bad.

Fortunately, most of the occasions that I find myself wanting to use an action camera on a bike, I am not in need of low light performance. But for those considering using this for events where environments are darker, the competitor offerings are substantially better in this category.

GoPro has also bolstered the Quik app in terms of the video editing that you can do. Features such as AI object tracking have been added, and work pretty well, although not as consistent as the Insta360 app. There is also the ability to adjust the aspect ratio and angles, plus transitions from ‘key frames’ to allow for highly tailored editing.

It does however, take quite a bit of getting used to. Something I really like about the Insta360 app is that it is far better when it comes to taking over the editing capabilities itself. The AI editing does a superb job at changing frames and angles based on what is happened. Such as following the curve of the road rather than requiring a careful timing in the app to achieve the same effect on Quik.

Saying that, Insta360 does tend to add quite a high contrast colour to the videos as standard which is slightly jarring, it also takes a bit of time to work out how to remove the ‘Insta360’ logo pinned on the screens.

Another area where GoPro lags behind are the filters you can add. On the Hero 13 Black, you could add GPS overlays if the camera was on long enough to pick up GPS before filming. In theory, this should be possible on the MAX2, but so far that option has not been available in the Quik app. The likes of Insta360 can connect with Garmin to provide quite detailed overlays of speed and power to give an insight into the effort behind the footage. In Quik, this currently is not as readily available. There is also now a desktop app, after GoPro discontinued the Quik desktop app, now called GoPro Player. This allows for a bit more specific editing rather than carefully dragging your finger across a phone screen. Overall though I prefer the Insta360 editing performance as I'm not a pro when it comes to editing and the AI functionalities make up for that somewhat.

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For those who are more adept at filming and photography though, GoPro does have an ace up its sleeve. And that is the GoPro labs. This is essentially a plug-in capacity for users to tailor the way they can grab footage by scanning QR codes and updating firmware and unlocking new capabilities. These features can include speed activation recording, camera traps activated by movement, or for those more adept when it comes to videography they can create custom programmes.

This is paired with the ability to record RAW footage and 10-bit colour capture. This allows for a lot of data to be recorded in a RAW unedited format, and gives a great deal of scope for additional editing on apps such as the Adobe range of editing software. I am not expert in videography, but for those that are the GoPro appears to offer more tailored capture and editing features than the other 360˚ competitors.

Battery life is of course another key area of focus. GoPro has fitted the Enduro battery to the MAX2, which in cold weather conditions has proved absolutely fantastic; the battery can record good chunks of footage over multiple rides without needing regular charging. I don’t tend to capture really long form footage, more minutes at a time, but so far I’ve only needed to charge the camera once during the testing period.

In warm conditions however, this is where the Insta360 can perform a touch better with the larger battery size. Possibly the long slimmer body also helps with dissipation of heat better as well. GoPro has added cooling fins, which increases the surface area for greater heat dissipation. As long as you are travelling with some windchill, this does a great job at preventing the camera from overheating. Even riding on the turbo and getting some footage there, a desk fan has done well at keeping the battery at a good temperate.

It is a smaller battery than the X5, but it’s significantly lighter, smaller, and isn’t far off the max performance claims on the highest quality recording sessions. You need to be recording for a solid ~2 hours on max settings to drain the battery in normal conditions.

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Value and Conclusion

When it comes to value, the GoPro MAX2 is actually somewhat of a shift from previous pricing. Whereas traditionally the Hero line of cameras from GoPro have been the higher priced offerings on the market, the MAX2 is somewhat budget for an 8k 360˚ action camera.

At £449 / $499 it’s not cheap, but the Insta360 X5 comes in at £519.99 / $549 as standard. Meanwhile the DJI Osmo 360 is a touch cheaper in the UKat £409.99, but retails at $549 in the US.

The Insta360 and DJI have far superior low light performance, but outside of that the MAX 2 performs at the same level or exceeds in my opinion. If you’re buying to film in low light, the MAX2 is poor value and best avoided. For everything else, I think it offers better value than the X5 for on par or greater performance, while daylight footage is superior to the DJI so justifying that higher price.

GoPro don’t offer as many accessories, but you can use other branded options rather than relying on proprietary fitting methods.

The app is the only other area that potentially lets the camera down from an amateur cyclist recording standpoint. For those more advanced in videography it allows for more scope for editing and tailoring footage. But for rookies like me, the difficulty in setting up GPS overlays and an AI editing system that’s not as refined as Insta360, it could be better.

One big plus for the MAX2 though is the replaceable lenses. DJI cannot be replaced, while Insta360 has a more laboured system for switching lenses out. GoPro has a simply twist and switch system which for an action camera is a truly superb addition and means in the event of a crash, there is potentially more scope for the camera to survive long term and represent better long term value.

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GoPro has come back strong into the 360˚ action camera range after several years of zero updates. Impressively it has done this while coming in at a lower price than some halo level competitors. True 8K footage, a range of mounting options, and the easy to use interface are all massive strong points, while cold weather battery is exceptional.

It lacks some of the easy editing features that Insta360 offers, and the low light performance is objectively poor. However for most instances where you would be filming cycling footage, the GoPro MAX2 camera is a superb entry. It may lack the range of accessories of some, but can be used with other brand mounting accessories. Replaceable lenses also boost usable longevity of the product.