s into my first snorkeling trip on my family's recent trip-of-a-lifetime to Hawaii, the camera inexplicably shut itself down without warning or explanation. Assuming it was the battery, I got back on the boat, dried it off, replaced the battery and tried again. Nothing. Further investigation showed that my brand-spanking-new "waterproof to 10 meters" GoPro Hero 5 wasn't so waterproof after all. The inside of the battery compartment was *soaked* and both batteries were ruined as a result. The camera was used 100% according to the manufacturer's instructions, and all due care was taken when closing and seating doors to make sure the seal was good. It's just poorly designed. A quick Google search shows that the Internet is littered with owners having the same kind of trouble.

Aside from the obvious disappointment of the camera's failure and its effect on ruining countless photo and video opportunities for me and my family, GoPro's response when I contacted them about the failure has possibly been even worse. After my initial contact and their requests for photos of the camera, batteries and receipt, it took them FOUR DAYS to get back to me. When they finally did, they sent a GROUND shipping label for a return from New York to California (a week in transit) and made no mention of the batteries that their defective product also ruined. They also said nothing about how long I would be without the camera.

I responded to that message and have AGAIN not heard back with any additional information. And I even purchased the GoPro Care package when I purchased the camera! Rediculous. My only thought is that they are having such trouble with the waterproofing on their new Hero 5 Black cameras that they are overwhelmed.

The bottom line is that if you are planning to use your action camera in the water (as so many of us are), you should spare yourself from the flawed Hero 5 black and, even more, from GoPro's terrible service. How the once mighty have fallen. Caveat emptor.

---UPDATE---

I *finally* received my replacement GoPro Hero 5 Black after two weeks, three follow-up phone calls and promises to send it second-day air so I would have it for my next trip. Instead, they sent it ground shipping and it arrived the day after I had already left. I was not surprised.

Overall, my disappointment in the failure of the camera remains and my disappointment in GoPro as a company has grown. Since I have invested in GoPro mounts and accessories, I will continue using this camera until it fails (again), but I will look elsewhere for future action camera needs and will not patronize GoPro in the future. Moreover, I would recommend *against* any of GoPro's add-ons like GoPro Care or GoPro Plus since the company clearly sees them as nothing more than a revenue enhancement and does not actually follow-through on the coverage.

在我家人最近一次去夏威夷的时候，第一次浮潜行程需要15分钟，相机莫名其妙地自己关闭了，没有任何警告或解释。假设它是电池，我回到了船上，擦干它，更换了电池并再次尝试。没有。进一步的调查表明，我的品牌 - 新的“防水10米”GoPro Hero 5毕竟不是那么防水。电池盒内部被浸湿，结果两个电池都毁了。根据制造商的说明，相机被100％使用，并且在关闭和放置门以确保密封良好时采取所有应有的注意。这只是设计不佳。快速谷歌搜索显示，互联网充斥着同样的麻烦的使用者。

除了相机坏掉的明显失望以及它对我和我的家人毁坏无数照片和视频机会的影响之外，当我联系他们关于失败的问题时，GoPro的回应可能更糟。在我最初的联系和他们对相机，电池和收据照片的要求之后，他们花了他们四天时间修复并返还给我。当他们终于做到了时，他们发送了一张GROUND航运标签，用于从纽约返回加利福尼亚州（一周过境），并没有提及其有缺陷产品也毁了的电池。他们也没有说我没有相机多久了。

我回复了这封邮件，并再次没有收到任何额外的信息。我购买相机时甚至购买了GoPro Care套餐！荒谬的。我唯一的想法是，他们在新款Hero 5 Black相机的防水功能上遇到了这样的麻烦，因为他们不知所措。

底线是，如果你打算在水中使用你的动作摄像头（就像我们很多人一样），你应该免除有缺陷的英雄5黑色，甚至更多来自GoPro的可怕服务。曾经的好评现在就都下降了。买者自负。

--- UPDATE ---

我*最终*在两周后收到了我的替换版GoPro Hero 5 Black，三次后续电话，并承诺将在第二天空运发送，以便在下次旅行时使用。相反，他们把它发送到地面航运，并在我离开后的第二天抵达。我并不感到惊讶。

总的来说，我对相机坏掉的失望仍然存在，我对GoPro作为一家公司的失望情绪日益增长。 由于我已经买了GoPro的坐骑和配件，我将继续使用这款相机，直到它坏掉（再次），但我会在其他地方寻找未来的相机需求，并且在未来不会光顾GoPro。 此外，我会建议*反对任何GoPro的附加产品，如GoPro Care或GoPro Plus，因为该公司清楚地看到它们只是增加收入并且实际上并未贯彻覆盖范围。

for on-the-go shooting.
- Waterproof. Drop this in water and you'll be fine. Swish it around, and still fine. Go diving, yep, still fine (up to 33' without housing).
- Android connectivity. It works fantastically! With the Capture app, I can pay attention to the shot on my 5" phone screen while guiding my arm.
- Stabilization. Unbelievably good. If I'm doing a panning shot or walking down stairs, I don't have to worry about arm jiggle. It's smooth on a bike.
- Audio. Multi-directional recording on this tiny camera is very good. Listen to the raw audio in the attached video to see what I mean.
- Sturdy construction. The smooth plastic, large touch screen, and heft give it a quality feel fitting to the price range.
- Timelapses look great! I recorded a 2-hour once-per-2-seconds timelapse on a single battery and was able to immediately wirelessly transfer it to my phone and share it.

The bad (-1)
- The flap on the USB C port on the side has jammed and fallen off several times. It is easy to put back on, though the possibility of it falling off again has made me think about accidentally losing it.
- The water-tight housing (allows it to go much deeper in water) bumps up against the record button and takes a bit of a squeeze to get it on. Not the worst thing in the world, but hey, it is a hassle.

The ugly (-2)
- At any light lower than near-direct sunlight, digital grain is visible. When in the shade or when it is cloudy, the quality is noticeably worse than in sunlight. Think of the grain as like a fine paint daub look, circa 2010 phone cameras. Yes, it can shoot 4K at a 60 Mb/s bitrate, but even downscaled to 1080p, the digital grain is noticeable. See what I mean in the attached video. My phone, Galaxy S7, takes far better video than the GoPro in lower-light settings. However, no phone camera beats the wide-angle, waterproofing, and general versatility of this camera.

Verdict
- The GoPro Hero 5 Black is a great $400 action camera intended for a very specific market of videographers. The major downside of this camera (video quality in low light) does not outweigh all that this camera can do. Throw this tiny camera in your bag, go skiing, surfing, traveling the country, and when you're all done, put together something worth sharing. What you don't get with video quality you in return get not having to hassle with lenses, extra batteries, external chargers, equipment bags, and the like, which all get in the way of the action.

22 total points with 4 taken off = 21/24, or about 4/5 stars.

好（+3）

- 高度便携。我可以快速充电，并将其放在口袋中随时随地拍摄。

- 防水。把它放在水里，也会没事的。甩开它，仍然很好。去潜水，是的，还可以潜水（最深可以达33英尺）。

- Android连接。它非常有效！使用Capture应用程序，我可以在引导手臂时可以注意到在5英寸手机屏幕上拍摄的照片。

- 稳定。令人难以置信的好。如果我正在做一个平移镜头或走下楼梯，我不必担心手臂晃动。骑自行车很顺利。

- 音频。这款微型相机的多方位录音效果非常好。聆听所附视频中的原始音频，可以了解我的意思。

- 坚固的结构。光滑的塑料，大触摸屏和分量赋予它适合的价格范围内的质量感。

- Timelapses看起来不错！我在一节电池上记录了每2秒钟一次的2小时timelapse，并能够立即将其无线传输到我的手机并共享。

坏（-1）

- 侧面USB C端口的盖板卡住并脱落数次。虽然再次脱落的可能性让我不小心失去了它，但很容易让人重新找到。

- 防水外壳（允许它在水中更深入）与记录按钮碰撞并需要一点点挤压才能使其打开。这不是世界上最糟糕的事情，但嘿，这是一件麻烦事。

很坏的（-2）

- 在低于接近直射阳光的任何光线下，数字纹理都可见。在阴凉处或阴天时，质量明显比阳光下差。想想就像是一个美好的涂料涂抹，大约用在2010年的手机相机。是的，它可以以60 Mb / s的比特率拍摄4K，但即使缩小到1080p，数字纹理也很明显。在附加视频中查看我的意思。我的手机Galaxy S7在低光照环境下拍摄的视频比GoPro好得多。但是，没有手机相机可以胜过这款相机的广角，防水性和通用性。

判断

- GoPro Hero 5 Black是一款售价400美元的动作相机，专门用于摄像师的特定市场。这款相机的主要缺点（低照度下的视频质量）并不能做到相机能够做的所有事情。把这个小照相机放在你的包里，去滑雪，冲浪，旅行，当你完成所有工作时，把一些值得分享的东西放在一起。虽然视频质量不是特别好，不过您无需担心镜头，额外电池，外部充电器，设备包等，这些都会影响操作。

总共有22分，其中4分是= 21/24，或约4/5星。