GoPro Hero 9 Footage Comparison Extravaganza // vs Hero 8, DJI OSMO Action, Insta360 ONE R 

Its an iterative upgrade with minor updates: - Hero 9 is slightly sharper over the 8 - Added removable lens protector - Added selfie screen - Photos resolution increased to 20mp - Added Horizon leveling feature

Id be interested in seeing a similar test between the first original hero and the hero 9, just to see how far the technology has come.

Excellent review and very thorough! Thanks for all your work!! Already ordered mine and it's in the mail... can't wait!!

I found the footage really good to compare the features, especially in various Hero 9 modes. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

So well captured and articulated ... Thanks for all the deligent effort you have invested to do justice for the work you committed to. Thank you.

Ray, you and I have been playing in the sandboxes for years, reviewing wearables and action cams. I just wanted to tell you that I have a huge amount of respect the work you do. I consider your testing and thoroughness to be the gold-standard. That's it. Just wanted to send some love. Peace.

Thank you Ray. Nice wide variety of use cases to compare.

Great video, really cool seeing the cameras side by side. Keep up the great work. Thank you

These comparison videos are great, thank you Ray! Lots of work and thought going into these for objective comparisons. Incremental upgrades on the 9 are great vs the 8, still on the fence.

Thanks for putting this together! Decisions decision, so nice having well created comparisons like this! Thanks again!

Man fast and thorough Review...thanks for the second review in ONE DAY!

This video was fantastic! Thanks very much for doing this, it really helps to see them side by side, and with so many different instances. What was interesting was the random shot with the windmills. The 9 looked almost like it was mounted on a tripod, while the 8 had very noticeable movement. Thanks again for doing these.

really good comparison video. Easy to see differences and compare with entertaining and useful footage. Thanks!

Excellent. Thanks for doing this real world comparison

This was so calming to watch. The landscapes are amazing, and who would have known it would be so enjoyable in time lapse?!?!? I'm learning so much , thank you.

Amazing comparison, very detailed video, thank you!

That timewarp through town with kids is awesome. I wish our towns and people are so well equipped for cycling. Great comparison video. The Hero9 picture is really great.

And thank you for a straightforward video with just clear facts and comparisons.

Thanks for all the hard work man!

Beautiful mountains and nature, I've never seen something like that, love it😯

That horizon leveling is awesome !!!

Ohh that's a nice detailed comparison. Also a lot of hard work. Thank you!

The 9 seems to have a lot more issues with lense flare with lights in low light conditions

OMG thank you so much for this video!!!

Epic testing and footage!

Thanks so much! That was incredibly informative, along with the other Hero 9 19 Things to Know vid.

Excellent tests... yu are the man!!

Great comparison and awesome location to shoot a video. You're one of the best guys in you tube.

Congrats for the graet camera comparisson, the best one that I have seen. And sure took quite a bit of work to make. Thanks

Great review and lovely trails :D

I still love my hero 8🙌🏻

Great work, much appreciated!

This video was awesome! I found that I actually preferred hypersmooth 2 on the hero 8 in nearly all the scenarios. I think hypersmooth 3 and horizon leveling is amazing tech, but it definitely has its use cases for a much more cinematic shot. It just didn’t feel as natural and you lose a lot of immersion by making it extra buttery smooth. The best example of this was the running downhill. There was a super short moment that looked really cool with hypersmooth 3 at 11:05 when he flips the camera around to record the path and it looks like he’s flying across! Again, I think you could really take advantage of this feature for cinematic shots or some crazy b-roll but I’d skip it for main footage. Thanks putting this video together man! It looks like it was a lot of work and I know it is helpful for lots of people.

whoa! comprehensive comparison. thanks

I love the Video and the mountain biking is crazy cool!

It is a very useful video and Lauterbrunnen Valley and the Swiss Alps added more flavor to it. Thank you for your great work!

Now this is what I wanted to see!

who else cant tell much of a difference between the two?

Exceptionally done Ray, and very much appreciated how much work went into your presentation and comparison between the Hero 8 and Hero 9! You always do a fantastic job. Truly. With that, based on your thorough presentation, the new Sony cellphone image sensor GoPro has upgraded to DOES have a slightly cleaner image (very slight edge after YT compression), but it's somewhat frustrating too, seeing that, clearly, GoPro is still using the GP1 CPU chip introduced in the Hero 6. Other than the front screen and the lens protector (Thanks for that, GoPro!), most "improvements" are in its software. Still, a good thing, but worthy of another $450 out of one's pocket if they have the Hero 7, or 8? Tough call... Hypersmooth Boost 3.0 appears to have been improved without cropping in a bit more (pretty impressed here), Superview looks a little wider, but stop the vid at 8:44, (time to nitpick) but on "standard GoPro Push Button and Go" settings at 4K 30fps, it looks like GoPro's EV 0 on the Hero 8 is set as if it were EV +1 on the Hero 9 (Even though the Hero 9 is set at EV 0 most likely). Lowering the EV preserves more of the highlights and forces a faster shutter, of course, and it was a little dark in the valley, again, at 8:44. In good lighting, I use EV of -1, EV -0.5 for overcast skies, and an EV of 0 for lower light. Colors "seem" a bit more on the yellow-side on my monitor (not cellphone) because of it, but a simple "preference tweak" is likely all it needed with EV and ISO. Nonetheless, apples to apples on my 4K monitor after YT compression, the image from the Hero 8 still looks pretty outstanding across the board at 4K 30, with a tiny edge to the Hero 9...but are the improvements enough to justify the upgrade for most people who use the camera worldwide who just don't tweak any settings? Weird, but for me, just the peace of mind of the protective housing over the lens is enough for me! I'm grabbing my credit card now...

It's great that they brought horizon leveling from the 360 into the 9. Love that feature on my max. And the front facing screen is awesome too. Might have to get this one

Awesome work! Thanks

Best Gopro action cam comparison video

Great comparison

Am I the only one that can’t tell the diff in most shots, including stabilization?

Awesome Ray, thanks for that. I have an 8 but think I'm being swayed! The front screen is a big plus for a vlogger who doesn't want to splash out on another camera

Thanks for the comparisons for me and what I do an upgrade from my GoPro 8 is not on the cards.

Great job! Thank you.. Blessings!

Thanks! You saved me a lot of money!

the views that you have to ride your bike are awesome perfect enviroment for a gopro shooting haha nice video btw

Hermano eres el mejor video que he encontrado hasta ahora. Tu like buen hombre

Hi Ray, I'm assuming all of the One R footage was obtained before the Sept 14 firmware updates?

Very nice video, great stuff, useful information. A month ago we were also staying in Murren, the decent part we drove uphill, I had a 3 year old on a bicycle seat and all the luggage on a trailer, crazy! 😊

Epic video thank you 🙏

The Horizon Leveling is the killer feature. It got rid of the dreaded side-wobble effect that plagues wide-angle lenses.

Best review so far

nice city ! great coverage!

I will be getting one of these for my photography Audits in the UK 👍👍👍

Fantastic comparison footage. Some of the hero 8 stabilized footage actually looked better than the hero 9. I can't wait to have that front screen. One of the big reasons I'm upgrading. Horizon leveling is pretty cool too. PS - I love seeing some of the footage around Lauterbrunnen. That's my all time favorite vacation spot! Stayed at the Hotel Staubbach and did miles and miles of hiking. Thanks so much for sharing.

GoPro hero 9 is crazy smooth. love the colour of it as well

What's the status of external mic use? 3.5mm or do you have to use the goofy dongle still?

Didn't really notice any significant improvements for Hero9 but the addition of front display, removable lens cover, and bigger battery will make it worth the price tag, especially if you are upgrading from before 8 or from another brand.

Appreciate all your work on this, big thx for putting this together. @20:39, Horizon Level ON = reduced stabilization. Interesting. One feature I hope to see from 8 is improved low light stabilization.

What a views! Amazing =) Thanks for great comparasion, very useful. Seems like Hero9 has done a lot on this version

best comparison video! loved watching this, those views were unreal. have been watching review afer review of action cameras for the past week and was set on getting the osmo action because i love the colours of it, has a more natural look to it and love the front screen, removable lens and various other features. However I wasnt aware about the hero 9 release until today and im completely blown away. the quality is amazing, it has a bigger back screen, a front screen and the removable lens again, the stabilisation is on point. the audio compared to the 8 wasnt the best. So i think im sold on the hero9 lol however the osmo action is still great, this video completely sold me! thank you!.... Im glad i decided against the insta360 one r looked awful in every way compared to the other 3, even if there is an update, i cant see it being any better. :)

cool shot of Switzerland love the towns there... the one thing I noticed is that the 9 deals with shadows better and change of light . I still have the 7 good enough for what I do

Great video, you have yourself 1 new subscriber!

Ray. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Loved seeing the locations and great review. The 8 has been terrible with low light and it seems like the 9 is a little better. The timewarp is very cool as well as the front screen on the 9. If you get a chance, do the timewarp in Saigon. Thank you again. Got a new sub!

Thank you for you job. 👍

Excellent video, thank you! I think in image quality the Gopro 8 holds up to the Gopro 9 very well. It is less vibrant, but also blows out a bit later. So some color correction should allow to come closer to the gp9. The gp9 is a lot more stable for handheld static panoramic views though, which is nice. The reason why this video helped me immensely to stop bothering if an upgrade to the gp9 is a must or can be skipped, was the horizontal stabilization on/off linear mtb footage near the end. I love the linear mode on my gp8 and being able to do what I do without a gimbal on the gp9 would be a huge selling proposition to me. Alas, there is a very noticable crop factor accompanying horizontal stabilization in that mode. Thus I'll feel very comfortable to continue to use my gp8 from now on and look forward to the gp10, or whatever lens mods magic might be avilable in the future.

First off... Maaan you live in a beautiful part of the world!! barely jealous :D and 2nd great set of clips and comparisons

This video requires lot of hardwork , gud job man 👍👍

¡Gran trabajo!

So good reviews man well done

Nice to see my country in the video’s Will stuck to 8 for now I think..keeping up!!

Thank you very much for this detailed comparison. Without to much blabla everybody can draw his own conclusion. Me I know that after my GOPro7 the Version 8 is enough. No need for Version 9 for me. 👍

Great vlog and very informative, whilst using the chest mount and riding your road bike, I would love to hear more commentary as the audio is my biggest problem. I’m looking to upgrade to the GoPro 9 currently using a GoPro 5. Many thanks and take care 👍🏻🚴🏻‍♂️😀

interesting video, now i know whats my next gopro upgrade. i still have a gopro black 5 so its time

Wherever you are biking is gorgeous!

You did a fantastic job on this video! What an enormous effort you poured into this project Everyone wins from your dedicated work. I think that the GoPro 9 has slightly better footage in every scenario except one, but the bump in image quality would not spur me to upgrade from a GoPro 8. At night, when the cameras were mounted on the moving bicycle, I think that the GoPro 8 did a tad better. But, again at night, when the cameras were stationary, I think that the GoPro 9 was a touch sharper. However, neither difference is great. Thanks for doing night photography - it's my favorite!

Wow excellent comparison.planning to buy this go pro 9.

Beautiful scenery. I want to migrate to Switzerland.

Amazing job!

For most of your footage, I actually like the Hero 8 more than the Hero 9. It's more vibrant and there is less flares either from the sun or lights.

Awesome samples for me to judge if to buy. I'm about go jump and order 2 😁

Very close 8 and 9. Thank you very much for this video! I bought the 9 coming from the 7. Hope things will improve with the next software update. But anyway, they all have great quality, let's be serious.

Quality content! It must be a time-consuming work for this video.

THANK YOU.

Cannot wait new GoPro release. It will be fantastic outdoor tool.

Ultimate comparision!!!!!

I'd have liked in the wrap up if you gave your thoughts on which one performed best, having had all the footage in front of you, at full res etc. Plus the usability of each cam would have been rad. Aside from that though, this is immense, thank you a tonne bro!

Maybe it's just me, IDK but I am liking the GoPro 8's capturing better. HDR seems better and night recording much more detail. Great video! thank you for this! You live in a beautiful area

Thanks so much for these vids -- super helpful! That's a crazy beautiful area you're in. Where in the Swiss Alps are you? May need you to do a video showcasing the bike riding there!

Hey Ray. Thanks for the review very interesting. To me it looks the hero 9 was more of a reaction to market pressures than designed from the start as a market leading camera, I would be looking forward to the instalment next year to see if they contiune with the form factor or they opt to move away from there 3 generation form factor formula.

Thank you!

Loved your comparisons and I especially love the areas that you shot the videos in. Beautiful. What’s with the what I think our counters you go through on the gates and cattle guards?

Great video 👍👍👍👍👍

what is go pro subscription how do we get it plz help

You always come out with huge detail so early with a new product. Awesome. We’ve all been in expectation of the Hero 9 and could they really improve the video. Yep, 5K did it, more vibrant colours (if you like that), deals with shadows better? Seems like a really worthwhile upgrade.

Just purchased the Hero 8 on Amazon for $299 for my trip to Cancun next month. Happy with the decision and the price I paid.

Thanks a ton for this! I like how the 9 handles exposure (light) changed between bright, dark and bright backlit scenes. That was one grouse I had of the gopro always compensating to the bright areas of the frame. Im quite surprised to see how (bad) the DJI and Insta360 look!