GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini Review: Good Things Come In Small Packages
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GoPro’s $399 Hero 11 Black Mini is a smaller version of its flagship action camera, the Hero 11 Black. The more compact housing retains all of the same video features and capabilities as the standard $499 Hero 11 Black, but exchanges a display and removable battery for a smaller housing that’s easier to mount in more places.
Over the last month or so, I’ve used the Mini to capture action shots when attached to a remote control surfer, along with using it as a handheld camera at an NHL game. One thing is clear after my time testing, the Mini captures high-quality video, but its feature set is better suited for being used in action scenarios.
Pros | Cons |
Great video quality, capturing up to 5.3K video | You can't use it to capture photos, which makes sense due to no display, but also ... what? |
Smaller design that retains GoPro's iconic durability | It will overheat quicker than the standard Hero 11 Black, particularly when it's not actively moving |
Versatile 8:7 sensor lets you record first and make editing decisions later | Scheduled capture missing is a big bummer |
An action cam by design
The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini is reminiscent of the Hero4 Session GoPro released back in 2015. It’s a small action camera that lacks a color display that you could traditionally use to frame your shot and navigate through various menus. Only, the Mini is much bigger than the Session was, resembling a square more than the cube-like design of the Session.
The Mini has two buttons and a small display that text scrolls across for you to see which shooting mode you’re using. You can alter settings and change modes using the buttons, but it’s faster and not as frustrating to use the Quik app to connect to and control the camera.
On the front of the housing are the camera lens and the “Status” button. On the top of the camera is the small screen, an indicator light and the shutter button. There’s a door on the right side of the housing that opens up to reveal the microSD card slot and a USB-C port for charging and transferring clips.
On the backside of the Mini is a metal heat exchange, along with the folding fingers (GoPro’s name, not mine) that are used to attach GoPro cameras to various mounts. On the bottom of the camera is another pair of folding fingers, giving you a couple of different options to find the perfect mount.
The overall size of the Mini is 52.4 x 51.2 x 38 millimeters, compared to the Hero 11 Black’s 71.8 x 50.8 x 33.6 millimeters. It’s pretty tiny.
Why make a smaller action cam? Because it’s easier to put in more places and not everyone wants or needs a display on a GoPro in order to capture the shot. Think of places like underneath a skateboard—that’d be a tight fit for a full-size GoPro, especially with the only mounting point being on the bottom of the camera’s housing.
But because of its size, there’s a pretty big caveat you need to be aware of when using the Hero 11 Black Mini. It can—and will—overheat if you’re not using it in a way that forces air to move over it. Using the skateboard example again, you can capture a lot of videos and probably won’t experience the camera shutting off because it gets too hot as you ride around. With the skateboard, you’re forcing air to go over the heat exchange and cool down the camera.
However, if you put the camera on your desk, turn it on and let it record, it’s going to get warm and shut down faster than the standard Hero 11 Black. My anecdotal test runs varied, with the camera shutting off anywhere from 15 minutes to upwards of 25 minutes as it ran stationary. That’s the trade-off of cramming all of the components into a smaller form factor.
Personally, I’ve enjoyed being able to carry the Mini around in my pocket without feeling like it’s too bulky. That’s not something I could do or even wanted to do with the bigger Hero 11.
It’s mostly a Hero 11 Black on the inside
The Hero 11 Black Mini and its bigger sibling have nearly identical capabilities, but there are a few key exceptions. Let’s start with the similarities.
Both cameras use GoPro’s GP2 processor, support HyperSmooth 5.0 stabilization, TimeWarp 3.0, and use the same core 1/1.9-inch image sensor.
That means the Hero 11 Black Mini also has an 8:7 sensor that captures a bigger field of view, making it easy to crop footage after its recording, customizing the aspect ratio based on where you plan to post the video. For example, TikTok or Instagram videos use an aspect ratio of 9:16, while more traditional videos use a 16:9 aspect ratio.
You can record up to 5.3K video using the Hero 11 Black Mini. Of course, you can tailor the quality to your liking, with 4K, 2.7K and 1080p settings also being an option.
One thing that’s missing from the Hero 11 Black Mini is the ability to take still photos. Yes, you read that right. It makes sense if you consider the fact that the Mini lacks a display, which is what I almost always use to frame a still photo on a more traditional GoPro.
That said, you can still save a 24.7 megapixel still of a single frame of video from any of the clips you capture on the Mini, giving you a pseudo still camera feature. It works well enough.
Unlike the Hero 11 Black, the Mini doesn’t have a removable battery either. The embedded battery is 1,500 mAh, which is enough for about an hour of continuous recording at the highest capture settings. Lower the settings, extend the battery life.
There are a series of software features missing from the Hero 11 Black Mini when compared to the standard Hero 11 Black, though. The feature I missed the most is scheduled capture. That is, the ability to tell the camera to turn on at a specific time and start recording—something that’s very useful with the new star trails or vehicle light trails features that use long exposure tricks to create some pretty awesome-looking videos.
Without the ability to schedule when the camera turns on, if you want to capture star trails in the middle of the night, you better be ready to wake up and start recording in the middle of the night.
From my understanding, the Mini lacks the necessary hardware that would allow it to stay on in a low-power state, allowing it to start recording at a set time. So, there’s no hope of GoPro adding the schedule feature in a future update.
Too cold for outdoor games, and no helicopter ride
My last two GoPro reviews included some pretty awesome opportunities to capture gnarly footage. I used the GoPro Hero 10 Black in Vail at the GoPro Mountain Games, and then with the launch of the Hero 11 Black, I flew in a helicopter over New York before riding on a speed boat through the harbor.
With the Hero 11 Black Mini, I had to get somewhat creative. GoPro sent me a remote control surfer with two GoPro mounts attached to it. I took it out once and got some footage that shows off just how impressive HyperSmooth continues to be, but the battery on the surfer only lasted so long, and I needed more footage.
Eventually, the stars aligned and I found myself in San Jose with a free night and the Sharks just happened to be playing the Vancouver Canucks a few minutes Uber away from my hotel. I was able to snag a ticket to sit on the glass—a first for me at an NHL game—and I placed the GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini on the boards, letting it capture random clips.
The game eventually went to overtime, during which I left the camera on and recorded the entire thing. I caught one heck of a final sequence with a breakaway save directly in front of me, with another breakaway goal to win the game on the opposite end of the ice.
I appreciated being able to grab the camera, press the shutter button and record for a few seconds. But I did find myself wishing I had a screen to ensure I was capturing exactly what I wanted—I was constantly questioning what was in the frame. I could have used the Quik app on my phone as a viewfinder, but that’s a lot to manage and you have to take a hit with extra battery life used for the camera and your phone. Not ideal.
After the game, instead of going through all of the footage myself, I used GoPro’s auto-upload feature to offload all of the footage to my GoPro account. From there, the footage is analyzed and it creates a video on my behalf. I got an alert from the Quik app once the clip was ready, allowing me to leave it as is or customize it to my liking.
For the most part, I left the clip alone—removing only a few parts that felt redundant.
I do have to mention that my time testing the Hero 11 Black Mini was delayed due to issues I experienced with the first camera the company sent me. According to GoPro, both issues were recently fixed via a firmware update. The first issue caused the camera to freeze after it was removed from the charger. The second issue, however, was more problematic. It would often freeze after I’d stop recording, forcing me to hold the Status button until the camera rebooted. Sometimes it was obvious the camera froze, other times I wouldn’t have a clue until I tried to record my next clip. In fact, I missed capturing a fight directly in front of me at the Sharks game because the camera had frozen and didn’t start recording when I pressed the shutter button.
GoPro eventually sent me a replacement camera, which coincided with the release of a firmware update. The second camera with the latest firmware hasn’t exhibited the same issue and is working exactly as you’d expect it to.
Speaking about the issue, GoPro told me “the Mini firmware update that went out at the end of December has fixed the freezing issues. These freezing issues were isolated to a very small number of early cameras, so this combined with the new firmware update ensures that new users won’t see the same issues.”
GoPro is confident it fixed the freezing issues, and my experience backs that up. I wouldn’t let the early experience for some dissuade you from buying the Hero 11 Black Mini. GoPro regularly releases updates for its cameras to add new features and fix issues, just like we saw here.
Is The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini Worth it?
The Hero 11 Black Mini has the same video chops as its more expensive sibling, but in a more compact housing. The lack of a screen and the partial requirement that it be used in action settings makes it a GoPro that’s better for specialized use cases, instead of capturing your daily activities or even vlogging. For that, the standard Hero 11 Black is the better choice and only $100 more.
You can buy the Hero 11 Black Mini outright for $399, or if you sign up for a year for GoPro’s cloud storage service, you can get the camera for $249 plus the $50 per year subscription fee, for a total of $299.
- GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini (Starting at $349.99, originally $399.99 at Amazon or GoPro)
- GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini with 1-Year GoPro Subscription ($299.98, originally $449.98 at GoPro)
- GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini with 1-Year GoPro Subscription and Accessories Bundle ($371.51, originally $564.94 at GoPro)
Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.