While the look and feel may be underwhelming, the performance is where GoPro’s tweaking pays dividends. Aside from the sensor and image quality, GoPro has clearly dedicated some time and effort to improving battery life, interestingly making some serious gains (when you look at it as percentage improvement) at the higher resolutions. The Creator Edition lives up to GoPro’s reputation for durability. As long as water is not involved, this thing can take a hit. If you’re looking for an all-in-one vlogging setup, this is a very appealing option. If you’re looking for a new GoPro, the Creator Edition is available for not much more than the base Hero 10. It’s a camera system that has a lot to offer a lot of people, making it easy to recommend.

In my testing, I mainly let the GoPro do the work, keeping in its default 'SuperPhoto' still image mode. In this mode, the camera automatically determines the image processing depending on the scene. It's unclear if the camera chooses either HDR or a standard exposure or if some blending or hybrid processing is involved. However, I was pleased with the overall image quality, particularly the dynamic range when shooting in the harsh midday sun. Images display pleasing shadow detail while also keeping the sky rich and colorful. Video First of all, with the whole kit assembled, the Volta battery grip is only waterproof when connected to the Hero 10 through an included replacement door for the battery compartment. This means that you can use Hero 10 with the Media Mod or the Volta and have it be waterproof, but not with both. Andy Zahn / Digital Trends Finally, the Light Mod is, well, pretty much what it sounds like: a little LCD light with a diffuser cap that can produce three brightness settings, ranging from 20 lumens up to 200, along with a strobe setting. Interestingly, this light is also waterproof to 33 feet, which makes it an option for snorkeling or shallow scuba diving. The Wide Lens is the default, native lens style of the camera and is the sole lens offered when shooting stills in Raw+JPEG mode. The other digital lenses, such as Linear, SuperView and HyperView, are 'digital' in that the images are stretched to fit the wider FOVs. Objects towards the edges of the frame using these wider FOV 'lenses' can appear warped and very curved, so keep that in mind. Since its founding 20 years ago, GoPro has pretty much defined the “adventure camera” product category. Its rugged little cameras have appealed to the human drive to climb and jump off high things, speed down steep cliffs at bone-jolting velocities or launch oneself out of perfectly good airplanes.

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It can shoot up to 5.3K video (up from 5K in the Hero 9) at up to 60 frames per second (fps), 4K at up to 120 fps and at 1080p at a ridiculous 240 fps for super-slow-mo footage. The new processor also enables an upgraded HyperSmooth 4.0 stabilization function. In our testing, which did not include shredding anything, the digital video stabilization practically eliminated the need for a physical gimbal. The GP2 also boosts the resolution of still photos to 23 megapixels (up from 20 megapixels) and includes GoPro’s proprietary SuperPhoto setting with HDR. There are only two physical buttons: a power button along the side and a top button that doubles as the shutter release or video start/stop. Along the bottom, two pop-out tabs allow you to attach GoPro's numerous mounting accessories. This year, they've finally added a standard 1/4-20 mounting thread, making it easier to attach standard tripod plates and other mounting or support accessories. The processor also speeds up offloads of photos and videos, with GoPro claiming a 30% increase in Wi-Fi speed to transfer photos to your phone, and it also offers a new USB wired option. Yes, you can finally plug a cable into your phone and Hero 10 and transfer content even faster. GoPros are known to be extremely rugged, and all of the accessories in the Creator Edition are similarly durable. The waterproofing issue makes it prone to damage in that regard, but as long as you’re careful about keeping it out of the drink, it should hold up to long, hard use.

The Quik App gives you full remote control of your GoPro camera. You can start and stop recording, see a live view from the camera, power the camera off and on, and adjust the overall UI/control scheme of the camera (Easy vs. Pro Control mode). A caveat here is that the Volta connection to the GoPro through the Media Mod is flawed in a major way, since while the Volta does power the Hero 10 through the Media Mod, it does not send control signals through this connection. As a result, it’s necessary to connect the Volta to the Hero 10 via Bluetooth when also using the Media Mod. It’s easy enough to do, but it is an unfortunate extra hassle. I’m not sure what the issue is with the control passthrough, though it’s something I would hope might be fixed in a future update. I also occasionally experienced a bug where the camera would freeze up while connected to Volta, and I would need to take the whole kit apart and remove and replace the battery in the GoPro before it would turn on again. Andy Zahn / Digital Trends

This achieves a neat balance for GoPro - no compromise of the ‘idiot mode’ that we’ve come to know and love, but also the more granular control that the ‘pros’ demand.

Perhaps the best thing about the Creator Edition is that if you take advantage of GoPro’s subscription discount, it’s an amazing value for money. There really isn’t anything at this price point that can do everything that the Creator Edition can. It really feels like a culmination of all of GoPro’s innovative product development these past several years. Is there a better alternative? The Volta offers a full 4 hours of 4K 30fps video shooting when combined with the built-in camera battery. Shooting extensively with the Creator Edition, I found this to equal many days of shooting, since I rarely record more than a few minutes of video at a time. I would feel comfortable taking the Creator Edition with the Volta on a week-long trip, with the knowledge that I might not have the chance to recharge it. Of course, your mileage may vary. The Hero 10 also claims a new removable lens cover with “water-shedding hydrophobic glass” is more scratch-resistant and helps reduce ghosting than the Hero 9’s lens. Given GoPro is renowned for point-and-shoot simplicity, this feature is therefore a little niche. It's also slightly at odds with the fact that GoPro doesn't offer any desktop editing software, and is instead funneling everyone towards its Quik app instead. But it's definitely something that'll please pro shooters who are looking to drop GoPro footage into a timeline shot by more advanced video cameras. With the app, you can control all aspects of the camera, including powering it on and off remotely (thanks to Bluetooth Low Energy, an always-ready connection), adjusting video or photo quality settings, switching shooting modes, lens styles and much more. You also have a remote live view of what the camera is seeing, which is helpful if you're trying to set up remote shots or position the camera in an awkward position. During my testing, it felt seamless and worked very well. Voice Controls and Wireless AudioOne of the other notable new features is 'HD'R video, in both 5.3K and 4K resolutions for video. To be clear, this is 'HDR' in the sense of capturing a wider dynamic range and tone-mapping it into an standard dynamic range space, not true HDR that uses a PQ or HLG curve to present a wide dynamic range in a natural-looking manner on an HDR display. The Creator Edition is aimed at vloggers, livestreamers and those who don’t necessarily need to strap their GoPros onto energetic Labradors or something like that. It’s aimed at the influencer set, who live by the mantra “pics or it didn’t happen.” It’s an attractive bundle if that’s your jam, but the whole doesn’t necessarily add up to anything greater than the various parts. We reviewed the Hero 10 Creator Edition, which includes not only GoPro’s latest flagship camera but also a 32GB microSD card; the Volta battery grip; the Media Mod, which is a case with a built-in external mic and cold shoes for attachments; and the Light Mod, which is, as expected, a small light you can attach via said cold shoe mounts.