The average battery life of a GoPro camera ranges between about an hour to a couple of hours, depending on which model GoPro camera you’re using and which mode it’s shooting in. For instance, a top of the line GoPro will record for only about an hour, give or take, when recording at the very high quality 4K 30 frames per second mode. But an older GoPro Hero 4 will shoot at a lower quality 720p for up to 3 hours. That’s quite a difference and quite a range.
Luckily, nearly every GoPro model available today has a replaceable battery, so if you find yourself running out of battery life with more things to record, all you need to do is pick up some extra GoPro batteries! (Note: the GoPro 5 Session does not have a replaceable battery but we have a solution for that as well, see below.) We’ve sorted these extra batteries by which type of GoPro they work with.
Best Extra Battery Kit for GoPro Hero 5, GoPro Hero 6 or GoPro Hero 7 Black:
Wasabi Power Brand GoPro Hero 5/6/7 Black Battery & Charger Kit
Wasabi Power is a third party brand that makes GoPro accessories such as extra (cheaper price) batteries. We’ve tested Wasabi brand GoPro batteries and they work quite well, holding a charge just about as long as GoPro original brand batteries in our experience. In this kit they offer two extra batteries for the GoPro Hero 5 Black, GoPro Hero 6 or GoPro Hero 7 models as well as a battery charger that can charge multiple batteries at once. Once nice feature of this battery charger is that it has a small LED light for each battery to let you know its charging status. This kit also comes with a USB cable, but it doesn’t have a charging brick that plugs into the wall, so you’ll need to connect it to either a laptop with a USB port, or a cell phone charging brick or the GoPro brand GoPro SuperCharger.
Extra Battery for GoPro Hero 5 Black:
If you have a GoPro Hero 5 Black, we recommend purchasing multiple additional batteries.
Because the batteries are so small, they don’t hold much power and because the GoPro Hero 5 Black is capable of recording in such high quality modes (which are quite power hungry) this makes for a quick-draining combination. Here are some extra batteries for the GoPro Hero 5 Black:
Official GoPro Brand Hero 5 Black Battery
This is the official first party GoPro brand GoPro Hero 5 battery. It’s identical to the replaceable battery that came with your GoPro Hero 5 Black and it will work for about an hour and a half maximum, depending on what recording mode you’re using (so you may want to get multiple of these extra GoPro batteries).
It’s important to be aware that the GoPro Hero 5 Black battery is not backwards compatible with earlier models of GoPro, such as the GoPro Hero 4 or GoPro Hero Session models because it’s a slightly different shape and size. Because the shape and size of the GoPro Hero 5 is different from its predecessors, it required a redesigned battery.
Official GoPro Brand Hero 5 Battery & Dual Charger
If you have more than one GoPro battery to charge, it’s quite handy to have an external dual battery charger like this one, provided by the official GoPro company. This kit includes both an extra GoPro Hero 5 Black battery as well as a dual charger which plugs into a USB outlet on a computer, USB power brick for an iPhone/iPad/other cell phone, or a GoPro SuperCharger (which is the fastest way to charge it, when plugged into the USB C port).
Be aware that this GoPro battery charger works with GoPro Hero 5 Black batteries only. If you have an earlier model of GoPro and want a dual charger, keep scrolling down this article to find the right one for your model of action camera (because the batteries are a different physical size).
Wasabi Power Brand GoPro Hero 5/6/7 Black Battery & Charger Kit
Wasabi Power is a third party brand that makes GoPro accessories such as extra (cheaper price) batteries. We’ve tested Wasabi brand GoPro batteries and they work quite well, holding a charge just about as long as GoPro original brand batteries in our experience. In this kit, they offer two extra batteries for the GoPro Hero 5 Black as well as a battery charger that can charge up to 4 batteries at once. One nice feature of this battery charger is that it has a small LED light for each battery to let you know its charging status. This kit also comes with a USB cable, but it doesn’t have a charging brick that plugs into the wall, so you’ll need to connect it to either a laptop with a USB port, a cell phone charging brick, or the GoPro brand GoPro SuperCharger. (Also available in a 4 battery kit for GoPro Hero 5 Black, with no charger included.)
Extra Battery for GoPro Hero 5 Session & GoPro Hero 4 Session:
The GoPro Hero Session does not have a replaceable battery. Depending on what mode you’re shooting with using the Session, chances are you might be frequently let down by the short the battery life of this tiny cube-shaped action camera is. But we’ve got a trick up our sleeves.
Just because you can’t replace the Hero Session’s battery doesn’t mean that you’re totally out of luck. Here are our picks for extending your GoPro Hero Session’s battery life:
Meet the GoPro Portable Power Pack. GoPro makes this charging unit which allows you to hook up your GoPro Session via a USB cord and either recharge your session, or power it while shooting, giving your Session a battery life boost. The portable power pack comes with two USB charging ports which means you can charge two devices at a time (like two GoPros, or a GoPro and a cell phone). It will fully charge the average GoPro about four times over, which gives your recording time a big boost (this translates to 6000mAh or milliamp hours for all you battery nerds out there). You can also just use this power pack to power your GoPro as you film from it– the only downside of doing this is you need to have a place to put the GoPro Portable Power Pack and cable to go. Will charge anything that works with a USB power source.
Anker PowerCore 20100 – Ultra High Capacity Power Bank
If you want even more charging power or shooting time than the GoPro Power Bank provides, consider this super-sized portable power bank from third party manufacturer Anker. The Anker PowerCore 20100 provides 20000mAh of juice (about three times as much as the GoPro Power Bank). It features two USB ports and can power your GoPro Session while it shoots, or recharge another GoPro or cell phone or any other device that charges via a USB port (like a tablet). It weighs about as much as a soup can and comes with a travel pouch. Recharges via USB (via a computer with a USB port or power brick for a cell phone).
Extra Battery for GoPro Hero 4 Black or GoPro Hero 4 Silver:
If you have a GoPro Hero 4, we recommend purchasing at least one additional battery.
The GoPro Hero 4 is a little bit older now and as a result their batteries may not hold a charge as long as they did when they were new. So we recommend getting an extra GoPro battery, and an external GoPro battery charger that you can plug into the wall while you’re shooting. Here are our picks for the best GoPro Hero 4 additional batteries:
Additional GoPro Hero 4 Black/Silver Battery Pack
This item is the normal GoPro battery pack for GoPro Hero Black or GoPro Hero 4 Silver cameras– the same one that came with your action camera to begin with. It does not come with a charging brick or anything else– you’ll need to put it inside your GoPro camera and hook that up to the wall in order to charge it (unless you already have an external GoPro battery charger). This is the original first party official GoPro spare or replacement battery for the Hero 4 (Black or Silver edition; it will not fit in a GoPro Session which does not have a replaceable battery).
Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Dual Charger for GoPro Hero 4
If you have a GoPro Hero 4 and you want to buy multiple, extra or replacement batteries, this might be the perfect kit for you. It includes two Wasabi brand GoPro Hero 4 Black/GoPro Hero 4 Silver batteries as well as a dual charging station which plugs into any USB power brick (like the one for your cell phone) or a laptop with a USB port (or the GoPro Supercharger wall outlet). The dual charger can charge two GoPro batteries at once, and provides colored LED status lights to let you know when a power pack is charging or is fully charged.
Extra Battery for GoPro Hero 3 or GoPro Hero 3 +:
If you have a GoPro Hero 3, we recommend purchasing at least one additional battery.
The GoPro Hero 3 is a little bit older now and as a result their batteries may not hold a charge as long as they did when they were new. So we recommend getting an extra GoPro battery, and an external GoPro battery charger that you can plug into the wall while you’re shooting. Here are our picks for the best replacement battery for GoPro Hero 3:
GoPro Rechargeable Battery 2.0 (HERO3/HERO3+ only)
This is the official first party GoPro Hero 3 battery made by the GoPro company. It is compatible with both GoPro Hero 3 and GoPro Hero 3+ cameras but no other cameras since the battery size and shape has changed since this camera came out. Note that for the same price you can get a third party battery pack with two batteries instead of one (below).
KOBRA Battery (2-Pack) and Charger for GoPro HERO3+, HERO3)
This two-battery pack for GoPro Hero 3 and GoPro Hero 3+ includes two batteries and a dual charger as well as a cord to plug into a USB port (on a laptop or a cell phone’s USB power brick). The dual GoPro battery charger will charge both batteries simultaneously and features two status lights so you know if each individual battery is still charging or is full.