Do GoPro's suck?

[FirstWorldProblems]

I'm pretty pissed, not going to lie. Bought a hero session 5 about 6 weeks ago and only really used it enough to make sure it worked. Linked it to my phone, took a quick 2 minute video, everything was good.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I bought a mount for the bmw, installed and safety wired it planning to take video at putnam this saturday. I charge the camera, unplug it after 40-50 mins and the red light stays on, the camera won't turn on

I eventually got the lights to turn off and got the camera to turn on (and it showed 100% battery), but ever since then it won't work consistently. I follow the troubleshooting guide and can, at times, trick it in to turning on by removing the SD card, plugging it in then unplugging it, holding both buttons for 10+ seconds, basically just randomly fucking with the thing until i maybe get lucky enough to get it to work. Then, after turning on, it frequently shuts off after like 5 seconds despite the battery showing full

Last night i eventually got it to stay on (no clue how) long enough to record video and pair with the wifi on my phone, but this morning it's dead again. It's almost like the battery is 100% dead despite the fact that it was fully charged at 10pm last night. This thing shuts itself off if you're not recording, so that can't be it.

So i call customer service and the automated system says the wait could be up to 3 hours for technical support. Motherfuckers. Either they are way understaffed, or they have a lot of shit products out there in consumer's hands, or both.

Has anyone else had issues like this with gopro? I'm pissed, i was excited to have video from the track.

Click to read more...

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

And i'm using the sandisk extreme 64g SD card, which is approved on gopro's site

 

[Intel]

So I haven't used a gopro session. But with my 3 and 4's if you leave wifi on it will drain the battery overnight as it is always on and a big power drain.

 

[Chester Copperpot]

Yes, make sure you're turning off the wifi when you're done. Recording and using the wifi, I get maybe an hour of battery with my 3 black edition.

 

[RICH17]

Yup. Wifi kills the battery. My session 4 has been rock solid tho

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

After i set it down last night i watched it turn off ~60 seconds after i stopped recording, so i don't think that's it but that's good to know. Unfortunately i forgot to bring the charger to work. Still doesn't explain why it doesn't work when it's fully charged

I want to throw this thing at nick woodman's head

 

[Dasfinc]

I know this is a day late and a dollar short; but I have NOT heard good things about the Session cameras.

I have a 'full size' hero 5 black, and its AMAZING; no issues, flawless 4K videos.

 

[Grabber]

I've had a Hero 4 black for a while now and no issues.

Leaving wifi on will kill the battery, even if the camera is off. Could be a defective battery.

Sounds like you also called at a "bad" time as I've called to ask general questions prior to buying and was on hold for a few minutes at most without issues getting through.

If anything, send them an email as that is usually a quicker alternative instead of waiting on hold.

 

[1MEANGT]

Not sure about the session. I have the hero 5 black and it has been amazing. The picture and image stabilization is awesome. Have not had any issues and have been using it all this year.

 

[Bru]

Where was the camera mounted? Was it exposed to heat like the exhaust or did it give warnings of overhearing?

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Where was the camera mounted? Was it exposed to heat like the exhaust or did it give warnings of overhearing?

It hasn't even left the house, lol. I mounted it to the front of the bike where the mirror goes but haven't even ridden with it

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

I've had a Hero 4 black for a while now and no issues.

Leaving wifi on will kill the battery, even if the camera is off. Could be a defective battery.

Sounds like you also called at a "bad" time as I've called to ask general questions prior to buying and was on hold for a few minutes at most without issues getting through.

If anything, send them an email as that is usually a quicker alternative instead of waiting on hold.

Good to know, i'll charge it up tonight.

I finally got a call back from some lady in india (about 90 mins after my original call), who recommended reformatting my SD card. I have read about people having problems with sandisk, so i'm going to try my friends tonight and see if his works in the session like it does in his gopro.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Latest update:

I went home, charged it, and tried my friends SD card and it still won't work. If i mess around with it for a long time and hold both buttons to do a reset i can occasionally get it to record, but that's it. Now i get to call these assholes and spend 30 mins convincing them at the camera needs to be replaced

to recap:
Won't turn on with one button click, ever
Won't charge consistently, most of the time it doesn't show red lights and isn't accepting the charge
It's not the SD card
I'm f'd for the track this weekend

 

[Grabber]

Latest update:

I went home, charged it, and tried my friends SD card and it still won't work. If i mess around with it for a long time and hold the buttons to do a reset i can occasionally get it to record, but that's it. Now i get to call these assholes and spend 30 mins convincing them at the camera needs to be replaced

to recap:
Won't turn on with one button click, ever
Won't charge consistently, most of the time it doesn't show red lights and isn't accepting the charge
It's not the SD card
I'm f'd for the track this weekend

Best thing to do is buy a new battery and have it delivered to you by the weekend.

That could be the culprit, but, too hard to tell.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

I'll let them figure out what's wrong. I very reluctantly just bought a base session for $150 from Best Buy because I want video and the mount is already safety wired to the bike and ready to roll

I'll sell the hero session 5 when they replace it with one that isn't a piece of shit

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

And so far today Ive been on hold with GoPro tech support two separate times for 20 mins each, I eventually hung up both times.

Unfuckingbelievable

 

[Grabber]

Sorry you're going through this man. Sounds odd with GoPro as they normally have excellent customer service.

Keep us posted.

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Ty sir. You can't even email them, at least not from what I've seen. The only options are sit on hold for an hour like a dick head or live chat during business hours only, which isn't an option because my work network blocks it

The fact that the call center is in India and you still have to wait forever irks me even more

I might register on the GoPro forum and detail my experience thus far, employees seem to respond there

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

I charged it most of the day at work, and an hour later when I got home I tried to turn it on and it was hot as hell. When I eventually got it to turn on it said low battery even though wifi was off and the camera was off

It's clearly a defective unit

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Where'd you buy it from?

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

have you checked for updates ?

I haven't had any problems with my Hero 5 black.
It does sound like there may be a defective component affecting the entire unit.

I would call and ask for a replacement.

there are plenty of videos on YT for saving and extending battery life etc

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

have you checked for updates ?

I haven't had any problems with my Hero 5 black.
It does sound like there may be a defective component affecting the entire unit.

I would call and ask for a replacement.

there are plenty of videos on YT for saving and extending battery life etc

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

Where'd you buy it from?

From gander through a friend (an employee)....so no return

 

[Yaj Yak]

From gander through a friend (an employee)....so no return

buy the same model somewhere else and return this one in out run

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

buy the same model somewhere else and return this one in out run

I thought about that, lol. BUT, at this point i no longer care to have any of the options in the hero 5 session so i wasn't going to spend another $300 on one. The $150 base is fine with me.

i'll sell the 5-session for ~$230 once they replace it, assuming i can ever get a hold of these clowns and get this addressed, and keep the regular session

Even the names annoy me at this point

hero 4 session - old and outdated
hero session - new base model
hero 5 session - updated "premium" version of the old and outdated one i guess. idk