There have been a lot of action cameras of this kind with different features, and GoPro has just leap frogged the competition with the new Hero3. They claim it to be smaller, lighter and record better quality footage than its predecessor.

GoPro claims the the Hero 3 is 30 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the old model. To top that off, the top-of-the-line Black Edition is capable of capturing video at up to 4K resolution—as long as you don’t mind slowing recording down to 15 fps. I honestly think the 4K speed is pointless for action use because its only 15 fps which will look very choppy, no screen can play that high a resolution yet.

There are three different versions of GoPro now, the Black, Silver and White. That being said, a faster processor in the Black camera allows it to capture lower-resolution footage at higher frame rates than in the past, and it offers 1080p60, 1440p48 and 720p120 modes for slow-mo situations. Lower-spec models are also none too shabby: the Silver packs an 11MP camera and can capture 1080p30 video, while the rather more humble White packs a simple 5MP camera. One new interesting feature is wifi in all the devices, they have heard our cries, you can now turn on and record through a remote wifi device. They all work the GoPro app because of their Wifi feature, but the Black Edition comes with a dedicated remote.

I wasn’t going to wait, I already ordered two Black Editions which will ship Mid-November and I am looking forward to getting my hands on them.