GoPro HERO4 Silver Review | 96 Data compared

The 2014 GoPro Hero4 lineup (Black, Silver, and Base Hero) significantly pushes the boundaries of action camera resolution and frame rates. The top-tier Hero4 Black stands out for delivering true 4K video at full, smooth frame rates (24/25/30 FPS), making it the premier choice for absolute video quality and allowing content creators to crop footage while maintaining a crisp 1080p output. The mid-tier Hero4 Silver introduces a highly responsive, brilliantly colourful built-in touch screen that simplifies shot framing and playback without needing a phone. Meanwhile, the entry-level Base Hero drops the price floor drastically, offering a highly durable, budget-friendly option for casual users. Furthermore, a free firmware update introduces a highly useful "Time Lapse Video" mode to the Black and Silver models, automatically compiling a finished video file directly on the camera. Despite these performance bumps, the lineup introduces several notable downsides. The Hero4 Black's battery life is majorly compromised, lasting only about 65 minutes at its highest recording settings, which requires users to purchase extra batteries. Pricing is another barrier, as GoPro bumped the Silver model's price to $399,...

The GoPro Hero4 Silver is a mid-level action camera that mirrors the performance and features of the flagship Hero3+ Black Edition, but upgrades the design with a built-in 1.5-inch touch screen on the back. The camera delivers excellent video quality with versatile shooting modes, including high-resolution 4K capture at 15 fps and dynamic 1080p Superview options. The new display completely overhauls usability by allowing users to swipe to change settings, frame shots, and review footage directly on the device. Additionally, GoPro added a physical settings button on the side to give quick access to specific configurations without cycling through the entire menu. However, the camera comes with notable downsides, primarily its expensive $400 price tag and severely limited battery life. The removable 1,160mAh battery yields an unimpressive one hour and 40 minutes of recording time, which drops to under an hour if the power-draining touch screen is left turned on. Furthermore, while details appear sharp in close range, the camera’s still-photo quality remains subpar as images become blurry when zooming in on distant objects, and low-light night shots show noticeable...

Here is a summary of the GoPro Hero4 Silver review: The GoPro Hero4 Silver is an exceptional action camera that stands out as the best value option in its lineup, earning an Editors’ Choice Award. It blends the top-tier video capabilities of previous flagship models with a groundbreaking, built-in 1.5-inch touchscreen that makes framing shots, previewing footage, and navigating mode-sensitive menus incredibly easy without increasing the camera's size. The camera offers an extensive array of resolution and frame-rate settings, including 4K at 15fps, 2.7K at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps, and 720p at 120fps. It also features Protune manual controls for both photos and videos across all resolutions, allowing users to adjust color profiles, white balance, sharpness, and ISO sensitivity limits up to 6400. However, the Hero4 Silver does come with a few notable drawbacks. In terms of design, it still requires a separate protective housing to be waterproof down to 131 feet. Additionally, a redesigned bottom-loading battery compartment means users cannot reuse older GoPro batteries, and the overall battery life remains relatively short, lasting only about 1 hour and 30...

The GoPro Hero4 Silver is a highly capable action camera that strikes an excellent balance between quality, price, and usability. It features a classic, lightweight block design weighing 2.9 ounces, but it requires a specialized external housing to become ruggedized and waterproof up to 40 metres deep. One of its standout additions is a bright 1.7-inch built-in touchscreen LCD that makes changing modes and previewing shots simple, a significant advantage over its more expensive sibling, the Hero4 Black. However, this touchscreen becomes completely inaccessible once the camera is clipped into its standard case. To solve this, users can rely on the camera's fast and reliable Wi-Fi connectivity to access a robust mobile app for remote control and advanced settings like Protune. It also supports direct web streaming via apps like Livestream, though users should be mindful of potential mobile data costs. When evaluating its performance, the Hero4 Silver delivers exceptional image and video quality that rivals much pricier options, capturing fine detail in complex textures like foliage. On the downside, footage shot in bright sunlight can sometimes appear slightly hazy,...

The GoPro Hero4 Silver is praised as a top-tier action camera featuring a groundbreaking built-in 1.5-inch touchscreen that simplifies framing and playback, along with outstanding 4K video quality, improved menus, and versatile shooting modes. It offers a significant clarity boost over previous models,, delivering high-end sensor performance and advanced low-light capabilities. However, the built-in display causes severe battery drain on an already limited battery, and still photo quality is subpar with grainy low-light performance. Additionally, the camera retains the blocky, non-aerodynamic design of its predecessors. Despite these drawbacks, it remains a highly recommended, versatile camera for users.

The Cyclist review identifies the GoPro Hero 4 Silver as a standout choice for riders, largely due to its integrated rear touchscreen that enhances framing and menu navigation. While offering high-quality 12MP stills and 1080p video, it serves as a more practical, user-friendly alternative to the top-tier Hero 4 Black. Despite its ease of use, the review notes a key con is its limited 4K frame rate compared to the Black edition, alongside the need for housing for deep water protection. Ultimately praised for its convenience, it is deemed an ideal everyday recording tool for cyclists.

The GoPro Hero4 Silver introduces highly functional improvements over previous models while keeping the exact same retail pricing. This new model stands out because it features a built-in touch screen on the back of the camera body, which completely eliminates the need for the separate, optional screen accessory used on older models. Remarkably, this screen is integrated without increasing the device's size or depth, making it fully compatible with existing Hero3+ frames and waterproof enclosures. The reviewer noted that processing power has doubled, allowing for twice the video frame rates alongside enhanced overall image quality and superior low-light performance. Features like "QuickCapture" also make one-button recording highly efficient for quickly capturing short video clips. The biggest pros of the Hero4 Silver include its upgraded internal hardware, backwards compatibility with older accessories, and a very convenient touch-screen display that allows users to instantly adjust clip settings. The reviewer did not mention any significant cons regarding the actual hardware or usability. However, looking at the included "Hero4 Silver/Music" kit bundle ($399 MSRP), some buyers might find that it focuses primarily on specialized...

The GoPro Hero 4 Silver is highlighted for its clear, high-definition image quality and convenient form factor, making it a capable, user-friendly action camera. However, the review notes a lack of depth-of-field control for a flatter image, along with high pricing for official accessories. Medium · Significant drawbacks include a total lack of image stabilization, resulting in shaky, jittery footage during movement, and poor performance in low-light conditions. While daytime, static image quality is solid, the need for a gimbal for active shooting limits its, according to Medium.

The GoPro Hero4 Silver is highlighted as a versatile, go-anywhere action camera, featuring a built-in rear LCD touchscreen that significantly improves usability by allowing users to easily frame shots and review footage. With capabilities including 12-megapixel photos, high-speed 120 fps video, and an on-camera tagging button, the device is well-suited for mainstream travelers looking for improved control over their action footage. Key disadvantages include poor battery life, with the screen draining power and forcing users to carry backups, as well as the absence of built-in GPS for location tracking. While the camera offers 4K, it is limited to a sluggish 15 frames per second, making it less ideal for professional, high-motion use compared to the Black edition.

The GoPro Hero4 Black and Silver editions remain top-tier action cameras due to their superior image quality, exceptional dynamic range, and improved low-light capabilities. The flagship Black model ($500) excels in high-performance modes, capturing 4K video at 30fps, 1080p at 120fps, and 720p at a buttery smooth 240fps for slow-motion footage. Meanwhile, the Silver model ($400) lacks these ultra-high frame rates but offers an identical lens sensor and processing at standard resolutions, while uniquely featuring a highly convenient, touch-sensitive LCD screen for framing and adjusting settings. Both models benefit from a streamlined physical menu interface that reduces setting adjustments to just four clicks, automatic in-camera timelapse creation, and an included waterproof housing rated down to 131 feet. However, the lineup suffers from several distinct drawbacks, most notably abysmal battery performance. The Black edition lasts a mere 63 minutes when shooting 1080p at 120fps, and only 70 minutes in 4K. Upgrading users will also face a completely redesigned battery shape that renders older chargers and cells obsolete. On the software side, the accompanying GoPro Studio editing platform is heavily criticized for...

The RevZilla Common Tread review highlights that the GoPro Hero4 Black and Silver feature improved menu navigation and a dedicated settings button, making them ideal for motorcycle riding, with the Silver edition's built-in touchscreen offering significant convenience. While both offer superior low-light performance and new night-lapse modes, the Silver's main benefit is its LCD, whereas the Black lacks this, requiring an external device for framing. Conversely, the review notes a mandatory firmware update was required upon release to fix missing time-lapse features. Additionally, the Silver edition is limited to 120 fps at 720p, and the high-performance Black edition lacks a built-in screen, which creates a steeper learning curve for users.

The Videomaker review highlights the GoPro HERO4 lineup as a powerful, near-indestructible entry into the action camera market, separating the models into a basic HERO, the mid-tier Silver, and the flagship Black. A key pro for the HERO4 Black is its ability to shoot high-quality, usable 4K video at 30 frames per second (fps), along with 1080p at 120fps. Visual quality is praised for excellent dynamic range, accurate skin tones, and manual Protune settings that let users adjust ISO, color profile (including a flat profile for post-production grading), sharpness, and white balance. Furthermore, the Silver model stands out for its user-friendly built-in touchscreen LCD, though this feature is notably missing from the Black version due to internal space constraints. Conversely, the review notes several persistent cons, most notably a short and restrictive battery life from the new 1160mAH battery, which struggles to hit a single hour of continuous recording when shooting 4K or high frame rates in cold weather. Navigating the camera's physical three-button menu system remains clunky and confusing on the fly unless paired with a mobile app, remote,...

The GoPro Hero 4 Silver review by Kent Wynne highly praises the action camera, ultimately awarding it a perfect 5 out of 5 rating. A major highlight of this model is its aesthetic and physical design, particularly the inclusion of a built-in touchscreen display that mimics the user-friendly navigation of a mini smartphone. This touchscreen comes equipped with a helpful 3-second hold slide mechanism to open, effectively preventing accidental setting changes or missed clips. Performance-wise, the reviewer notes that the camera delivers exceptional 4K video footage and features a 13MP still camera with a time-lapse mode, making it an excellent tool for everyone from beginners to experienced action photographers. Additional advantages include handy external housing buttons for effortless, one-touch filming, a bundled waterproof housing rated down to 131 feet (40 metres), and access to a free, easy-to-use editing app packed with film templates. Despite the high score, the review outlines a few notable drawbacks. Unlike the Hero 4 Black model, the Silver edition strictly requires its external housing to achieve its waterproof capabilities. This necessary protective housing introduces a significant...