Well, color us intrigued — GoPro announced support for telemetry data logging and display on the new Hero5 Black camera on Thursday. As with Garmin’s Virb line of action cams, the Hero5 Black gathers data about speed, distance, and elevation from its built-in GPS. With the latest version of the Quik editing app for desktop, users can now toggle on a variety of telemetry overlays on their videos, adding a new element of information and excitement. No longer will you have to guess about how high you jumped or how fast you rode.
The available data points include altitude and elevation gain, speed and G-force, distance in kilometers or miles, direction, and course position. Each data point can be toggled on individually, and gauges can be resized or moved so users can customize the video overlays to their liking. For example, a rock climber could turn on altitude and elevation gain, while a race car driver could go with speed, g-force, and path position.
At this time, it appears that telemetry data can only be accessed through the desktop version of the Quik app. GoPro has not said whether the feature would also be unlocked within the mobile app in the future.
GoPro released the Hero5 Black this fall to much anticipation. It had been some two years since the company’s last major product update and GoPro knew it needed to hit it out of the park with the Hero5. While an integrated touchscreen and waterproof design were novel additions, no mention was made about the possibility of telemetry data at the time, a feature competitors Garmin and Sony have offered for some time. That is why the announcement is all the more surprising and it is definitely good news for GoPro fans. Telemetry was one of the few remaining advantages other brands had over GoPro.
