GoPro HERO4 Silver adds 4K video, touch LCD screen

It’s been over a year since I reviewed the GoPro HERO3+ Silver, which I really, really liked. That’s the camera I used to record myself riding a bunch of rides at the Indiana State Fair.

Recently, I had a chance to review the newer model, the GoPro HERO4 Silver and guess what—it’s even better.

Touch LCD screen

The addition of the touch LCD screen on the back of the camera has to be the single biggest improvement. With the HERO3+ you always had to guess whether or not you were capturing what you intended to with the camera. Because of the wide angle lens, more often than not, you got what you wanted but now with the LCD screen you can actually see real time what you are recording. Of course, this comes at the expense of a quicker battery drain but you can turn off the LCD screen if you need to save on battery.

I also love that you can view thumbnails of your recordings using the LCD screen. This makes it super easy to find and play back a recording. To prevent accidental touches of the LCD screen, the GoPro HERO4 Silver includes a simple “slide and hold” to unlock feature before you can use the LCD screen.

4K video and more

If you’re big into the new video formats, the GoPro HERO4 Silver can record in 4K video up to 15 frames per second (fps). Like its predecessor, it can also record up to 120fps at 720p resolution. New to the HERO4, however, is the 240fps WVGA mode. While these frame rates are a little overkill for normal recording, they can make for some spectacular slow motion playback.

Other than that, the GoPro HERO4 Silver has a 12 megapixel (MP) camera compared to 10MP on the HERO3+ and a new timelapse video mode, nightlapse mode and night photo mode.

Also new to the HERO4 is a Bluetooth connection to complement the existing Wi-Fi connection.

GoPro HERO4 Silver Recommendation

There’s no question the GoPro HERO4 Silver is the camera of choice to get when filming outdoor adventures or high action video. Ironically, I’m a tech guy who does very little of these types of activities. So to make up for it, here’s a video I shot on the GoPro HERO4 Silver of me playing with my dog, Fifa. Hope you enjoy!

If you can not see the embedded video above please use the following link: GoPro HERO4 Silver – “Playing with Dog”

Note: The GoPro HERO4 Silver in this review was provided to me by Verizon Wireless and can be purchased at your local Verizon Wireless store or at www.verizonwireless.com.