GoPro Smart Remote (GoPro Official Accessory)

Product Information

As you’d expect, you can power your GoPro on and off and hit the record button to begin recording remotely. It lets you add HiLight tags to mark key moments and the LCD display lets you know things like the remaining battery life and how long you’ve been recording. In many ways, The Remote is an upgrade over the Smart Remote. But there’s one important area where it isn’t. That’s for controlling multiple cameras at once. With the Smart Remote–and the Wifi Remote, for that matter–you can control up to 50 cameras at once. With The Remote, there’s a maximum of 5 cameras at once. The remote should now display the camera's capture settings and recording mode, indicating that pairing was successful. If you see [Detach current remote?] Highlight and select [Yes]. After that, you should see two arrows moving towards each other on the camera’s screen. This means the camera is in pairing mode. Complete camera control: delivers full remote control of all Camera Functions, including shutter, on/off, and settings.

With the Remote connected, you can power on the camera if it goes to sleep. You’ll see a “power on” screen on the remote. Press the shutter button on the remote to remotely power on the camera. It won’t work if the camera has the wireless connections option off. Perhaps the best upgrade over the original smart remote comes in the form of increased battery life, thanks to the newly implemented Bluetooth® Low Energy. The whole pairing process is also faster than before. The Remote, on the other hand, downgrades some of these features but uses Bluetooth Low Energy for maximum battery life (for both the remote and the camera) and a stronger pairing than previous remotes. When the Smart Remote displays a radiating Wi-Fi symbol, press and hold the [Settings/Tag] button on the remote (wrench icon). When the remote shows two arrows moving towards each other, you can let go of the remote's [Settings/Tag] button. The Smart Remote is now in pairing mode.Not all GoPros support these remote controls. The HERO7 Silver and White, for instance, do connect to the mobile app but won’t let you connect a remote control. Same with the HERO (2018). And some older GoPros, in particular, won’t work with the Bluetooth connection or voice commands of the Remo. Range. The smart remote has a typical WiFi range of 200-600 feet. The GoPro app has a range of 35-50 feet. Usability. Wearing gloves? Hands on handlebars? Using the smartphone app is next to impossible and you’re much better off with the smart remote. When you rely on remote controlling your GoPro with a mobile app you have the benefit of seeing the shot and can reframe if needed and you can also change ALL settings in the mobile app. But you are also very limited as your phone is big, the touch screen is not easy to work in some conditions and you can use it in dirty or wet conditions.

Not an awful lot has changed since its predecessor, the GoPro Smart Remote, but it comes in a smaller size and arguably has more well-thought-out button placement. Because the only button on the face is the massive shutter/record button, the risk of accidentally pressing another function is eliminated. One of the key features of the Smart Remote is the ability to change settings using the remote. Third-party options and even GoPro’s previous Wi-Fi remote do not let you change settings using the remote. Though I don’t find myself using this button much, it’s definitely a neat addition. In the [Wireless] menu, press the [Mode Button] until [REM CTRL] is highlighted and then press the [Shutter Button] to select it.It can control multiple cameras at once. Up to 5 cameras. That’s fewer than the Smart Remote and WiFi Remote, both of which can control up to 50 cameras at once. Press the [Info/Wireless Button] on the left side of the camera with the lens facing you. You’ll see a blue LED blink every couple of seconds to show that you camera’s Wi-Fi is turned on.

The remote may ask you to pair another, press the [Mode Button] to highlight "No", then press the [Shutter Button] to select it. Power ON the Wi-Fi BacPac and HD HERO2 camera while they’re NOT attached to each other. Then, attach them. One thing to watch, though, especially if you’re mixing GoPro models, is that operations like start and stop are close but not exact down to the frame. That is, you can still end up with slight lags from camera to camera when starting and stopping recording. Press the [Power Button] on the side of the BacPac to show the Wi-Fi menu on the camera’s front LCD screen. Note – another way to get to the Wi-Fi menu is by using the [Power and Shutter Button] on the camera to find it in the camera’s Settings menu. Remember that the Settings menu is represented by a wrench icon, and the Wi_Fi menu is represented by a wireless signal icon. Changing settings. Changing settings from the app is much more intuitive than doing it using the smart remote.

GoPro has had four different remotes for their action cameras. Two of them are current models, two is an old model but you can still find it for sale in some places, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. In the Wi-Fi menu, press the [Mode Button] until [REM CTRL] is highlighted, and then press the [Shutter Button] to select it. All of these remotes have built-in rechargeable batteries that aren’t removable. So you need to connect the remote directly to a power source to charge it. UDPATE: Since I originally posted this, GoPro has discontinued the Remo, leaving The Remote and the Smart Remote as the only current models.)