GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini arrives in time for Christmas rush after delays

GoPro announced the Hero 11 Black Mini back in September alongside the Hero 11 Black, and after a lengthy delay it is finally available to buy.

The Hero 11 Black Mini was initially meant to start shipping on October 25, but the release was pushed back to November 18. But the little action cameras have slipped out early because you can buy them now.

Buying direct from GoPro is currently the most cost-effective way to get a Hero 11 Black Mini. You save big when the camera is bought along with a GoPro subscription. It’s £299, with a year of this service included. It covers you for accidental damage and lets you store as many video clips on GoPro’s cloud memory banks as you like.

A Hero 11 Black Mini costs £399 without the subscription, and given you can cancel the sub whenever you like, this route to buying the Hero 11 Black Mini seems a no-brainer.

Whether this is actually the GoPro you should buy is not, though.

Hero 11 Black or Mini?

The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini is a new fork in the GoPro action camera family, but it’s similar to the Session action cameras GoPro made years ago, before they were discontinued in 2018.

GoPro’s Hero 11 Black Min does not have a screen. While it may look like the most friendly and simple GoPro out there, it’s actually the best fit for folks who are quite experienced action-camera users, and tend to mount a camera on their bike helmet or handlebars without even thinking.

If you want a camera to walk around with, casually snapping clips, a standard Hero 11 Black may be the better buy. It has screens on front and back, offering a preview of what the final footage will look like.

The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini has just as high-end specs as the GoPro Hero 11 Black, will take video just as good-looking, but GoPro has snipped out the photo mode. In its place, you can grab still images from video.

A Hero 11 Black Mini is just 52mm wide, and has 10M water resistance for light underwater use. Like other GoPros, the Mini has integrated mounting fingers, so the only reason you’d need a case is if you want to shoot an underwater dive with your action camera. GoPro doesn’t sell such a dive case for the GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini yet, though.

The other big hitter in the GoPro range is the Max, a 360-degree camera. It is lots of fun to use, but is a grandad of the action-camera world, having been around since 2019.