GoKawiilWith its larger sensor and lens, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro weighs 0.46 pounds compared to 0.35 pounds for the GoPro Hero 13. It's also about three quarters of an inch thicker. That may not sound like a lot until you mount it on a helmet or a cap and feel the extra front-loaded weight. I hardly noticed it on my chest or around my neck, though, and the extra size won't matter when attaching it to a bicycle or other vehicle.
The record and power buttons are now easier to find when you're bombing down a mountain, and feel better than the DJI Action 6's slightly stiff controls. The menus will be familiar to GoPro Hero 13 users, but GoPro moved all the main camera functions — like bit depth, shutter and Hypersmooth — to one place under the "Image" menu. This allows faster access to frequently-used settings.
The Mission 1 has larger displays than any previous GoPro, with a 1.4-inch front LCD and 2.59-inch OLED rear display that's 0.3 inches larger than the Hero 13's screen and almost as big as many compact camera displays. Both are bright and sharp enough for sunny days.
The Mission 1 uses the same clever mount as GoPro's Hero 13. You can either attach the camera to accessories using GoPro's magnetic latch for quick changes, or just pull down the two GoPro "fingers." I like this system better than DJI's because it means you can still mount it to a selfie pole, helmet or other peripheral without the magnetic latch.
Battery life and thermal limitations are the best on any GoPro camera to date thanks to the new processor and Enduro 2 battery. At 4K 30 fps, I got over three hours of battery life, nearly double the GoPro 13's 102 minutes. Even at a demanding 8K 60 fps, I could shoot for well over an hour before the battery expired. The Enduro 2 cell also charges faster thanks to PD2.0 tech, going from 0 to full in an hour, compared to 100 minutes for the Hero 13. The new cells are compatible with the Hero 13's Enduro batteries and vice-versa.
The only thermal limitations are at 8K 60 fps and 4K 240 fps. At those settings GoPro says the camera will run about 35 minutes when stationary without airflow, but I was able to shoot for 46 minutes. I also completed a 70 minute bike ride at 8K 60 fps with no shutdown thanks to the air flow.
As for ruggedness, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro is waterproof to 66 feet without a housing and the hydrophobic lens cover does a great job shedding water. It's also highly shock resistant; something I confirmed by dropping it and crashing on a bike without incident.
One limitation of the Mission 1 Pro compared to its main rival is the lack of internal storage. Where DJI's Osmo Action 6 has 50GB of high-speed memory, the GoPro only offers microSD storage. That's a big drawback, I think, considering the higher price.