The GoPro Hero 9 Black appears to be donning its wingsuit in preparation for an imminent launch, if the latest speculation is anything to go by – but its upgrades could potentially bring a financial sting in the tail, according to the latest rumors.
According to a tweet from Roland Quandt from WinFuture, the German site that leaked what could be the new action cam's packaging earlier this week, the Hero 9 Black will cost €479. If that turns out to be the case, it'd represent a 10% price hike over the Hero 8 Black, which arrived in October 2019 for €429 / $399.99 / £379.99 / AU$598.
If all territories get an equivalent price increase, that'd mean the Hero 9 Black could arrive for around $439 / £419 / AU$659. This is all just speculation right now, of course, but there are reasons to suspect that GoPro's latest flagship could end up costing slightly more than its predecessors.
As earlier rumors and the tweet below have suggested, the Hero 9 Black is expected to come with a new 1.4in front display, in addition to a larger 2.27in one round the back. It's also expected to have a brand new sensor for the first time in eight years, moving up in resolution from the usual 12MP to 23.6MP, which could see it capable of shooting 5K video.
According to the packaging leak earlier this week, the latest GoPro flagship might also come with a bigger battery too, with a 1,720mAh battery instead of the usual 1,220mAh cell seen in previous flagships.
All of these hardware upgrades are likely to come at a cost, and the rumored price boost sounds feasible for the addition of a new sensor, front display and battery. There are also likely to be software upgrades too, with HyperSmooth 3.0 stabilization also rumored, but don't tend to bump up retail pricing as much as much as new hardware.
GoPro Hero9 Black: 23.6MP sensor, 5K Video (5120x2880px, 20MP photos, 1.4in front screen for preview/status, 2.27in main screen, 479 Euro.September 9, 2020
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Family fortunes
If these pricing rumors turn out to be accurate, it'll be interesting to see what might happen to the rest of GoPro's lineup if the Hero 9 Black does indeed launch soon.
Recently, GoPro has tended to keep earlier models in its lineup as entry-level options for those who can't quite stretch to the top model. Right now, you can pick up the GoPro Hero 8 Black for $349.99 / £279.99 / AU$679.95, with the current entry-level model being the even cheaper GoPro Hero 7 Silver.
It's not yet clear what will happen to these models if and when the Hero 9 Black arrives, but there could certainly be some potential for bargains if you don't need the new flagship's rumored front screen.
In fact, models like the Hero 8 Black have become increasingly capable, with the latter getting webcam functionality to help it adapt for the slightly less extreme pandemic-hit lives we've been leading lately.
We'll bring you all of the official news on GoPro's rumored new flagship when it arrives, but in the meantime you can read everything we know so far in our GoPro Hero 9 Black: release date, news, leaks and rumors roundup.
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