Six years after the original Max hit the scene, GoPro has returned to 360° capture with something actually worth getting excited about. The new MAX2 is the company’s response to an increasingly crowded market where Insta360 and DJI have been chipping away at GoPro’s action cam dominance with their own 360° offerings.
The MAX2 arrives at an interesting inflection point for spherical video. What started as a novelty format has evolved into something useful, especially as creators realize they can extract high-quality flat footage from 360° captures without the guesswork of traditional framing. GoPro clearly understands this shift, positioning the MAX2 as the industry’s first “true 8K” 360° camera.
Finally with True 8K
That “true 8K” claim seems to be GoPro taking shots at competitors who pad their resolution numbers with overlapping pixels and unusable image areas. The result is 16 to 21 percent more usable resolution than what you’ll get from similarly spec’d cameras from DJI or Insta360. Combined with 10-bit color capture and GP-Log encoding, the MAX2 delivers the kind of image quality that makes 360° footage feel more like a legitimate creative tool.
The camera handles 5.6K at 60fps and can push 4K at 100fps, which opens up slow-motion possibilities that were previously off-limits in the 360° space. For those diving into GoPro Labs, the MAX2 can unlock a category-leading 300mbps bitrate.
Smart Hardware Decisions
GoPro made some clever hardware choices here. The twist-and-go replaceable lenses fixes one of the biggest issues with 360° cameras — lens damage that previously meant expensive repairs or complete camera replacement. These aren’t cheap plastic covers either; they’re optical glass with water-repelling coatings that require no tools or calibration to swap.
The magnetic mounting system streamlines setup, while the built-in 1/4-20 mount enables “invisible” pole shots that render the mounting hardware completely out of frame.
Battery life gets a nice boost with the 23% larger 1,960mAh Enduro battery, rated for 66 minutes of 8K capture or 90 minutes at 5.6K. The six-microphone array now includes spatial audio capabilities with an “Audio Field of View” feature that matches audio perspective to your chosen framing.
Spec Sheet
Model: GoPro MAX2
Video: 8K/30fps, 5.6K/60fps, 4K/100fps
Photo: 29MP 360° stills
Display: 1.82-inch LCD touchscreen
Audio: 6-microphone array with spatial audio
Battery: 1,960mAh Enduro (66-90 minutes recording)
Water Resistance: 5m
Weight: 5.3oz
Storage: MicroSD up to 1TB
Connectivity: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3
Special Features: Twist-off replaceable lenses, magnetic mounting, GPS
Pricing & Availability
The MAX2 launches September 30th at $500 — the exact same price as the six-year-old original. Pre-orders are live now on GoPro.com, with retail availability following launch day.
Recap
GoPro MAX2
After six years, GoPro finally updated their 360° camera with the MAX2, delivering “true 8K” recording with 16-21% more usable resolution than competitors and smart features like twist-off replaceable lenses.
