GoPro HERO 12 Review: A Versatile Camera That Can Withstand Antarctica

As a full-time travel journalist and photographer with a focus on adventure and wildlife expeditions along with culinary itineraries, I’ve traveled to all seven continents, nearly 60 countries, and all throughout the US, bringing my favorite equipment along for the ride.

I’ve gathered quite a few gadgets and gear over the years that I use on a regular basis. I tend to travel with a lot of tech, and when you’re going on adventure expeditions, you have to scale back on overpacking, keeping your bags light and easy to manage.

From initially investing in the GoPro Hero 6, the first one I owned, I have since updated and gone through the Hero 6, 8, 9, 10, and 12. This isn’t because the product was bad and needed to be replaced, but because they’ve added features to the cameras over the years that are useful and simply unmatched when it comes to many other action cameras.

After already bringing this camera on many adventures from gorilla trekking in Rwanda and diving in Australia to exploring the Antarctic and venturing through India since buying it a year ago, here’s my honest review of the GoPro Hero12.

Unboxing and first impressions

For the GoPro cameras, the packaging hasn’t changed much over the years. It comes in a vertical, rectangular box you unpack to reveal the camera, chords, manual, and battery.

My first impression is that this one feels a little more dense and looks chic. I appreciate the matte black base with speckled vibrant blue detailing. It has front and rear cameras, which I love, making it easy to do anything from vlogging to adventure activities. Plus, if you take a lot of solo trips and are looking to get in front of the camera more, it’s easy to frame the shot with the front camera.

Pros and Cons

As mentioned, I’ve been using GoPro cameras for quite a long time. They’re incredible for covering everything from underwater adventures like snorkeling to action shots and video with crisp, clean footage.

When I first got the GoPro Hero 12, I had two particularly big trips coming up in 2024: Australia and Antarctica. In Antarctica I wanted to capture candid reactions and moments when viewing wildlife and glaciers and touching land for the first time.

In Australia, I wanted to capture moments with friends, wildlife, and coral underwater. I love the hyper smooth 6.0 video stabilization and wide-field view, not to mention the vertical shooting option if you post more often on Instagram. The 5.3 K and 4K video options are especially helpful when gathering quality footage for content and articles, or even just pulling photos, which is one of my favorite features of the GoPro cameras. In addition to being lightweight and easy to travel with, it takes up very little space in your luggage or laptop backpack.

Pros

The HDR video quality in 4K and 5.3K resolutions makes for strong video quality, but honestly, that’s something that GoPro has always been known for. The stabilization, in my opinion, has become much stronger over the years as the camera progresses. The 6.0 stabilization makes hyper-smooth videos, and it even has an AutoBoost feature to keep your image within the frame while stabilizing. The GoPro Hero 12 now supports log video to give the user plenty of raw footage to be able to make adjustments if needed, especially if they’re professional photographers or videographers. There’s also a feature that allows users to use their mics and headphones well using the camera.

Even if you don’t plan to use these professional features, you’ll get so much out of just using the camera for video or pictures. It’s a high-quality, lightweight, easy-to-use camera that simply transfers photos and video clips to your phone, so you can get your footage right away.

The HDR for both photo and video creates vibrant, colorful footage for about 1.5 hours of runtime at 5.3K and over 2.5 hours at 1080p30². The GoPro Hero 12 has ultra-wide angle options, supports AirPods and other wireless headphones through Bluetooth for sound recording and voice control, has 5.3K60, 4K120, and 2.7K240 video resolutions, crystal clear 5.3K video, slo-mo to pick up all the detail, and is built to be waterproof up to 33 ft without a dive case.

Cons

Truthfully, it’s difficult for me to dig up the cons because, obviously, I enjoy the cameras, having updated them a few times, and I’m sure there will be more in the future. I suppose if I had to search for something, I would say that I wish they figured out how to give the GoPro cameras a bit more of a zoom. Right now, there technically is a two times zoom, but really, it’s more of a digital zoom that ends up cutting out some of your image.

Price

Amazon: $313

Target: $399.99

You can purchase the GoPro HERO12 Black starting at $299.99 with different buying options available. Consider waiting until Black Friday (or other big shopping days) to purchase for potential offers and promotions. Although the GoPro HERO12 Black isn’t too expensive compared to other cameras and technology, it’s still a couple hundred dollars, so if you can get something extra with your camera purchase, like extra batteries, a charging dock, a memory card, or even a GoPro subscription, even better.

Improvements from the GoPro 11 to the GoPro 12

When I upgraded, I went from the 10 to the 12, skipping over the 11 completely, but according to research a few things have changed. The Hero 12 has been built to avoid a speculated overheating issue, timecode has been added, and the addition of log video, as mentioned above, are some of the big changes.

I’m not sure if it was the one that I personally had or if it was a glitch that they fixed, but I was having some issues with my GoPro Hero 10 in the Galapagos Islands, where it would essentially just freeze. When you’re in the water, you shouldn’t open the camera to pull the battery out to break the freeze near the water, but I had no choice. That was a little frustrating and something that I have not dealt with since buying the Hero 12.

Key Features

Timecode sync

Although this feature might not appeal to everyone, if you have multiple pieces of equipment, this is a great option to have on your GoPro. Timecode sync basically makes sure that the footage on the GoPro matches any images you’re taking with your camera which can be really useful when it comes to editing.

Battery life

I haven’t personally had any issues with overheating. The runtime lasts for a while with the GoPro Hero 12, depending on the resolution setting, which is incredibly helpful if you’re doing something where it’s not easy to swap the batteries.

When I was in Australia, I had multiple batteries with me for the day that we went diving in the Great Barrier Reef. I had that camera running under the water for almost the entire time, and we did multiple-hour dives in a few different locations. It was truly incredible how long it lasted! Pro tip: Just remember, if you’re diving in saltwater when you hop in the shower, give it a good scrub with soap and water to get any salt off of your camera.

Waterproof

With the older GoPro cameras, users used to have to swap out casings for different elements they were facing. There was a protective casing for dirt and dust and multiple cases for different levels of waterproofing. Now, the days of that are essentially over, with the camera itself being waterproof and extremely durable. You can buy a diving case if you’re a scuba diver and want to protect the camera when you dive deeper than 33 ft, but it’s waterproof (up to 33 ft) on its own. I do a lot of freediving and ocean adventures like freediving in Magnetic Island or visiting the Great Barrier Reef. It's truly special to see the fish and ocean critters hiding in the coral without worrying about my camera getting damaged.

GoPro app

The app is easy to use, guiding you through how to crop clips, pull still images, or even create full-feature videos. I went on a trip to Antarctica in February with Lindblad Expeditions on the National Geographic Explorer. Originally, I was traveling there as a solo traveler, and when I arrived, I slowly came across other solo travelers around the same age from all over the world. When the boat set sail, what we all thought would be a trip to ourselves ended up being an incredible group adventure with friends filled with memories we’ll have for a lifetime. I love using my GoPro to capture little moments between my friends and I while on the ship and out having adventures, creating reels and videos to share on social media.

Slo-mo

With up to eight times slo-mo (240 frames per second), users can really capture every detail and movement. If you want better resolution, you can do four times slo-mo at 120 frames per second at 4K.

Is it for you?

I’ve been a journalist on the side for nearly a decade, but four years ago, it became my full-time gig. Having a lightweight, quality camera is perfect for trips where I have to be a little more low-key about my packing. I’ve been so fortunate to have the opportunity to experience a lot of expeditions that involve trekking through dense rainforests, taking jumper planes throughout Africa, incline hiking to see gorillas in the wild in Rwanda and so much more. Sometimes, you just don’t want to carry a heavy camera on your back. This is a great option that literally fits in your pocket to give you high-quality footage, and I will continue to be a fan of GoPro, taking their cameras on even more adventures around the world.

Performance

Image quality

The image quality is vibrant and bright, with photo frame grabs available from video and shooting options in standard, HDR, super photo, and raw. You can get raw or JPEG images and there’s even nighttime settings and burst photo settings (60/10, 60/6, 30/6, 30/3, 10/3, 30/1, 10/1, 5/1, 3/1) to get those unique shots where you need special lighting, or capture the perfect action shot. There’s exposure control and night shutter speeds, as well.

Video quality

The video quality on the GoPro Hero 12 is incredible. HDR video shooting is available at 4K and 5.3K resolutions, and you can even shoot in raw to give the photographer a little more leeway when adjusting the images during the editing process. One of my all-time favorite features of GoPro in general is that you can pull quality images from the videos.

Audio quality

When I’m talking to the camera or looking back on wildlife videos, I notice the quality audio, but to be transparent it’s not something I put a lot of value in because I generally add music over my videos. One big feature that’s been added to the 12 is that it can sync with earbuds or microphones to give you crystal clear audio connection.

Battery life

Although the battery in the past has given me a hard time when I’ve tried to run it for long periods of time, that seems to no longer be an issue. That said, I would always recommend having a few extra batteries on hand, just for peace of mind. It helps to have two or three batteries, especially if you’re going to be out all day. I also usually have an external charger with me because the last thing you want is to run into wildlife or events you want to capture and not have any battery life.

One afternoon while on the National Geographic trip to Antarctica with Lindblad, my friends and I had our coffees in hand and were ready to listen to the lecture on whales as we were sailing to a destination that was said to have a wide variety, particularly killer whales. As we’re sitting at the lecture, we hear over the loudspeaker, “The lecture has brought us some good luck, and we now see whales. The captain has stopped the ship.” We sprinted upstairs and ran outside, charged cameras in hand, to see what was probably around 60 killer whales. For a few hours, we watched them swim with their babies, hunt, and eat. It was absolutely incredible, and we also saw humpback whales and orcas. People were running out of film on their cameras or running out of battery life, but it wasn’t an opportunity that you could walk away from. Having a camera that lasts long, with great battery life, that you can fit in your pocket is essential on these life-changing expeditions, or even just daily life when you don’t want to deal with running out of battery during a couples ski lesson or while grabbing video footage of your kids game.

Design and Build Quality

Style

I love the sleek design with the speckles of blue and the black backdrop. The front and rear cameras are essential and I like the built-in mounts. Overall, the look of the camera is really sleek, compact, and stylish.

Controls

Even if you’re not super tech-savvy but want to get into the adventure cameras, the controls are easy to explore and learn.

Portability

As mentioned above, this is definitely something that I love the most about GoPro cameras. They are so simple and easy to use, but also portable and lightweight making them simple to travel with. That’s important for my lifestyle, and many others. You can just throw it in your pocket or your backpack.

Build quality

The GoPro Hero 12 is extremely durable, built to prevent dirt buildup, water damage, and anything else life and adventure can throw at them. Not only is it durable, but it’s also cute and sleek.

Stability

The stabilization features on the GoPro are what really sets this camera apart. It even has AutoBoost, meant to stabilize your video while actively attempting not to crop it. The video is hyper-smooth and clear, leaving you with a great final product.

I’ve put this camera through a lot, testing its stabilization. In Antarctica, there was an open bridge policy, so my friends and I would often go up to hang out on the bridge to see what the Captain was seeing, along with the mapped-out direction of travel that we planned to follow in the coming day. As we were traveling through the Drake Passage, we went up there to get incredible footage of the waves crashing into the windshield at the bow of the boat, and let’s just say that the passage waves and shaking at dinner over Caesar salads and cocktails definitely gave the GoPro a run for its money with the stabilization features.

Final verdict

After my rave review about GoPro Hero 12 , it should be no surprise to you that my final verdict is that the camera is definitely worth the money. They always have been!