Which GoPro Has GPS? HERO13 Yes, HERO12 No, and the Rest
HERO13 Black has GPS, HERO12 Black does not, HERO11 Black does but the Mini and the 2024 HERO do not. Each answer with its source, and how to check your own camera.
The answer depends on the model, and one popular model is the exception that trips people up. HERO13 Black has GPS. HERO12 Black does not. The rest of this page is the list, with where each line comes from, so you can check it instead of trusting a forum.
Checked on 26 October 2026 against GoPro's own pages wherever GoPro has one. Where only third parties say it, the table says so.
The answer, camera by camera
| Camera | GPS? | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| HERO13 Black | Yes | GoPro's HERO13 GPS article and its GPS list |
| HERO12 Black | No | GoPro's GPMF documentation: no GPS receiver in the HERO12 |
| HERO11 Black | Yes | GoPro's GPS list |
| HERO11 Black Mini | No | Not on GoPro's list; a 2022 launch report and a 2023 review both say no GPS |
| HERO10 Black | Yes | GoPro's GPS list |
| HERO10 Black "Bones" | No | GoPro's GPMF documentation: a HERO10 variant with no GPS board |
| HERO9, HERO8, HERO7, HERO6 and HERO5 Black | Yes | GoPro's GPS list |
| HERO (2024), the basic model | No | GoPro staff answer on GoPro's support community |
| MAX, MAX2, Fusion, MISSION 1 series | Yes | GoPro's GPS list |
| Other entry-level and older models | Not confirmed | Not on GoPro's list. Check the camera itself |
GoPro's list of cameras that can use GPS names MISSION 1 series, MAX2, HERO13 Black, HERO11 Black, HERO10 Black, HERO9 Black, MAX, HERO8 Black, Fusion, HERO7 Black, HERO6 Black and HERO5 Black. Anything that is not on that page, we have not confirmed as having GPS, and the table says "not confirmed" rather than guess.
The HERO12 gap, and why it matters for karting
The HERO11 Black wrote GPS into its files. The HERO12 Black did not, and the GPMF documentation GoPro publishes on GitHub is blunt about it: the GPS streams are removed and there is no GPS receiver in the HERO12. The same document, in its HERO13 section, says GPS returns.
The practical result is simple: a clip from a HERO12 carries no GPS stream, so any overlay or telemetry tool has no speed or position to read from it. If you are choosing a camera for karting and you want speed or a track map from the camera itself, you are choosing between the HERO13, the HERO11 and the older Black models, not the HERO12.
What the camera's GPS records
GoPro stores telemetry inside the MP4 as a metadata track called GPMF. For GPS, that track holds latitude, longitude, altitude, 2D ground speed and 3D speed. GoPro documents the update rate at 18 samples per second on the HERO5 Black and 10 per second on the HERO11 and HERO13. Two more values travel with each sample: the fix (no lock, or a 2D or 3D lock) and the precision, given as dilution of precision multiplied by 100, where under 500 counts as good.
Ten samples a second is the same class of rate as a 10 Hz kart logger, but GoPro points it at a different job: video. GoPro's own article gives three reasons to switch it on: Performance Stickers in the Quik app, GPMF data for third-party apps that overlay telemetry, and auto-edits that find specific moments. If you want to know what sample rate buys on a kart, GPS accuracy in karting covers it in detail.
The ten-second check on your own camera
Do not trust a table, mine included, over the camera in your hand. Open the Preferences menu and look for a GPS item. On the HERO13 Black, GoPro's steps are: from the idle screen, swipe down, swipe left, tap Preferences, tap GPS. On the HERO11 Black the GPS entry sits in Preferences itself. On the HERO10 and HERO9 Black it sits under Regional.
If your model is not on GoPro's list and you find no GPS item, you have your answer. The next article in this set, how to turn on GoPro GPS and check the lock, takes it from there.
What this means if you also log with a kart logger
A camera with GPS gives you a video you can overlay. A kart logger gives you the session. PURPL analyses MyChron and Alfano data, and the lap analysis on this blog starts from that data. A GoPro belongs next to the logger as the eyes, as covered in syncing onboard video with telemetry. One caveat for later: the GPS only helps if it survives your editing workflow, and many copies of a clip do not keep it. That is the subject of why your GoPro copy has no GPS.
Sources
- GoPro, HERO13 Black: GPS Information (5 September 2024).
- GoPro, How To Turn On GPS With GoPro Cameras (the list of compatible cameras, and the menu paths).
- GoPro, GPMF parser documentation on GitHub (HERO12, HERO13, HERO10 Bones, sample rates, fix and precision values).
- GoPro staff answer on the support community, HERO (2024) does not have GPS (September 2024).
- Notebookcheck, HERO11 Black Mini launch report (14 September 2022).
- SmartWorld, HERO 11 Mini review, in Italian (17 July 2023).