GoPro has over the last couple of years become the default action camera company for many, but it’s still in a highly competitive field. Work is needed to maintain its brand.

To that end, GoPro has revealed the Hero5 Black and Hero5 Session devices to help it retain its crown as the action camera king as both are massive improvements over previous iterations.

For starters, users will no longer need the waterproofing case  as both devices are waterproof straight. Both also boast voice-activated controls, so users  can capture the action without having to fiddle with buttons.

The Hero5 Black now has a 2-inch screen on the back, a built-in GPS, and the business end of the camera has now been upgraded to 12 megapixels so that you can shoot in 4K at 30 fps.

The Hero5 Session is the smaller of the two and for that reason it doesn’t have the screen. It does however, also features the voice commands and is waterproof. It also shoots in 4K, but here the smaller size means it only captures 10 megapixel photos.

Both cameras feature electronic image stabilisation and are capable of uploading images to the cloud when charging. This service, incidentally, requires a $5 paid subscription, which GoPro also unveiled yesterday.

This is a huge step forward for the company, as the action camera market has slightly become saturated. GoPro is hoping to retain its lead in the market, and depending on how the devices are priced in South Africa, it might just do that.

With that said, the Hero5 Black will retail in the US for $399 and the Session will be $299. Both are scheduled for release this October.