GoPro has been the industry standard for action cameras for over 15 years. It wasn't until a few years ago that brands such as DJI and Insta360 began making action cameras with more features that challenged GoPro's lead. This year, though, GoPro has created by far its most powerful action camera to date.

The GoPro Hero 9 is more robust in almost every way: bigger battery, bigger body, bigger video and photo resolutions. Plus, for the first time, it comes in a reusable case with no plastic packaging, which is big for the Earth, dirt, and air this GoPro inspired me to explore.

Yes, this camera inspired me and never stopped me, so much so that I wished I had more exciting things to do in front of it. Building upon years of action camera knowledge, GoPro has finally mastered a hardware experience that never frustrated me, while sticking to software that, although takes a bit of getting used to, holds endless resolution and frame rate capabilities.