The Best Action Cameras for All Your Craziest Adventures (2026)
Choosing the best action camera used to be simple: Go with GoPro. That's still good advice, as the GoPro ranks high on our list, and
Choosing the best action camera used to be simple: Go with GoPro. That's still good advice, as the GoPro ranks high on our list, and its forthcoming Mission 1 cameras could potentially top this list again, but there are also some worthy competitors that beat the current flagship GoPro Hero 13 Black on several fronts. The decision is not easy, so to figure out what exactly makes the best action camera, we dove with them, climbed with them, surfed with them, and handed them to reckless 13-year-olds on bikes. We found several great options that will survive your adventures on the ski slope, at the beach, or at the skate park. Be sure to also read our guide to the Best 360 Cameras, as there's considerable overlap these days with action camera, and in some cases, for some people, they might be the better option.
We've also got guides to the Best Travel Cameras, Best Mirrorless Cameras, and Best Instax Cameras. Updated May 2026: I've noted GoPro's announcement of the new Mission 1 Cameras, which will have 8K video and support interchangeable Micro Four Thirds lenses. I've also removed the GoPro Hero 12 Black because it's no longer a good value, and I've updated prices and links throughout. GoPro Mission 1 Update Courtesy of GoPro Casting a long shadow over any action camera buyer's decision right now is the recently announced GoPro Mission 1 cameras. There are three of them, the Mission 1, Mission 1 Pro, and Mission 1 Pro ILS. All three feature a larger sensor with 8K video, improved low-light performance, up to 32X slow-motion footage, and 50-megapixel still images.
The Pro ILS uses interchangeable lenses based on the Micro Four Thirds mount. GoPro claims the new sensor offers a dynamic range of up to 14 stops, which rivals full-frame mirrorless cameras. This will be further helped by the available 10-bit GP-Log2 shooting mode, which maximizes dynamic range and allows for custom coloring in postproduction. Also interesting are some of the new accessories and add-ons. There are lens hoods, ND filters, a battery grip, a new Media Mod kit with a built-in mic, along with a 3.5-mm mic port, a headphone port, a micro HDMI port, and a line-in port for time code sync. GoPro is also making a point-and-shoot grip, reminiscent of Insta360's grip for the Ace Pro 2.
Should you wait and see? Probably. The Mission 1 cameras are a bit pricier, $600 for the Mission 1, $700 for the Pro and Pro ILS (the latter of which won't be available until Q3 2026), but the video and image quality GoPro has teased thus far are very impressive. We'll have a full review coming next month.
The BriefWire