Best action cameras – Record your ride and edit your footage

The best action cameras allow you to film your ride, whether that's because you fancy producing video for social media or just want a record of your ride in case something goes awry.

But choosing the best action camera for your needs is tricky, as there are a lot of choices and a range of formats and functionality available. You want something that you can ride with easily, either attached to your bike or yourself and that gives adequate runtime for an extended cycle ride. Some cameras double up and function as well as the best bike lights.

Once you get home, you may enjoy spending hours in the editing room, getting the perfect cut, or you may just want to download your footage and do the minimum to keep a record. 

Some action cameras come with extensive editing software, others come with none and a few allow you to get things done quickly and easily.

Keep reading for our pick of the best action cameras available, and beneath that, you'll find a buyer's guide with some of the key considerations to make when picking an action camera for your needs.

Best action cameras: editor's picks

Best action cameras for cycling

The tiny Insta360 Go 3 is a great, low-profile option for cyclists. It uses a magnetic mount to attach to your clothing, but you can link it up to the Action Pod to turn it into a more standard action camera format, complete with a touchscreen that folds upwards for a selfie view. 

The camera itself sits in a recess in the front of the Action Pod and is removable. It's had various upgrades from version 2, and It can shoot in 2.7k, although choose some modes including SloMo and that reduces. The image quality isn't as good as the Insta360 X3 (see below), but the Insta360 Go 3 makes up for that with its tiny size and versatility.

Insta360 also makes editing really easy, with a web app and a phone app. The latter is intuitive to use to edit and export clips, although there's a limited choice of in-app music. 

We did feel that the Insta360 Go 3 is more of a secondary camera though, for which use it's expensive. 

There are more details in our review of the Insta360 Go 3.

The Hero11 Black is GoPro's current top camera and has all the bells and whistles a budding filmmaker or professional could ask for. Building upon the success of the Hero10, the Hero11 comes with more power, higher quality and class-leading image stabilisation.

It isn't quite a game-changer in the lineup, in the sense that it's a more refined version of the Hero10, rather than a significant step up the ladder. But the refinements are noticeable, namely in the introduction of HyperSmooth 5.0 image stabilisation which is second to none. Included among its features are TimeWarp 3.0 (a smooth time-lapse mode) and 8X Slo-Mo. It can shoot in 16:9 format (the same as most of the images on our site) for a wider angle view and includes a horizon lock.

This means if you're serious about taking super smooth and ridiculously high-definition footage ⁠- e.g. for professional TV and filmmaking - then you will absolutely benefit from the increased quality and power that comes with the Hero11. However, if you're simply wanting to capture some memories, start a vlog, or film your commute for safety reasons, then the Hero11 will probably be a bit overkill.

Physically, it's almost identical to, albeit slightly lighter in weight than the Hero9 (although only by a few grams), whereas the Hero8 is a much smaller and lighter option with a front display, if this is important to your decision-making process.

Being a GoPro, it comes with a plethora of mounting options, although you'll need to pay extra for the accessories. The mounting point is built into the body of the camera itself (there are two 'legs' at the bottom which you unfold and then screw into place), and you can choose from a wide variety of accessories should you wish, in order to mount it to your handlebar or helmet, strap it to your chest, or hold it with via a grip.

It's a pricey option, which is why we recommend this more for the professionals who are paying for the extra special quality. Included in the price is the Enduro rechargeable battery that GoPro claims can cope with temperatures down to -10C without excessive performance degradation. 

Once the flagship model, the GoPro's Hero9 Black is now third in line in the GoPro range. But this doesn't make it any less good and it still offers exceptional quality footage and image stabilisation for the majority of people's needs.

It's another one that would work well for professionals but suits the amateur just as easily, particularly one who's developing their skills and beginning to upgrade their equipment. 

The Hero 9 shares many similarities with the Hero11 listed above - they're almost identical in size, weight and layout, though the Hero9 does suffer from a less responsive touchscreen and navigation, which can be irritating at times. 

The Hero9 can film at slightly lower resolutions, like 1080p, which still offers decent quality visuals, but requires significantly less processing power in order to edit and publish. Battery life is great when sticking to 1080p filming, and I managed to get a full three hours of footage out of it before it died.

Our GoPro Hero9 Black review has even more detail.

There seems to be more and more demand for handlebar space these days, what with bike computers, lights and the tendency for the best road bikes to include aero profile bars, which also limits clamping positions and room. 

That's where the GoPro Hero11 Black Mini comes in. Although at 133g it's not a lot lighter than the standard Hero11, it's around 20mm narrower at 52 x 51 x 38mm. But you still get the wide range of video formats that its bigger brother has. There's no photo mode, but you can still retrieve 24.7Mp stills from the video stream.

The battery has the Enduro tech which allows it to function efficiently at cooler temperatures, although it's embedded in the camera and not swappable, which limits shooting time. Depending on the mode selected, this can vary from around 50 minutes up to two hours There's just one button to start and stop recording.

The GoPro Hero11 Black Mini has less intrusive mounting options than the standard model, with two sets of prongs built in that can be folded out to mesh with a standard GoPro mount.

With the Hero7 and its predecessors now discontinued, the Hero8 is GoPro's most affordable offering, although it's only available from third-party retailers and not from GoPro directly. 

It's much smaller than the 9 and 11, making it more discrete and slightly less demanding of handlebar space. Like its stablemates, it comes with a front display, making it a good option for vloggers and selfie-takers, though due to its smaller size overall, naturally, the screen is also pretty minuscule. 

Still, while the technology has been surpassed, it still delivers excellent quality video and image stabilisation in the form of Hypersmooth 2.0 and TimeWarp 2.0, so you can achieve decent time-lapse footage as well, plus it's still capable of filming in 4K.

The Hero8 is also compatible with various GoPro Mods: features that allow you to boost the capabilities of the standard camera, meeting the increasing demands of vloggers and home filmmakers.

If you want to benefit from owning a GoPro but don't feel you need the latest and greatest model, the Hero 8 will serve you well.

The Insta360 One RS really impressed our reviewer, thanks to its modular design that allows you to switch out lenses to build a versatile setup suited to your shooting requirements. There are three lenses available for the One R - a 4K wide-angle lens, a 5.7K 360 module and a 5.3k Leica-engineered 1-inch sensor unit - as well as options for bigger batteries, dive cases and drone mounts.

The Twin Edition, as we've got here, comes with two lens options: the 4K wide-angle lens and the 5.7K 360 lens, the latter of which captures footage of its entire surroundings, which you can later edit to choose your preferred angle in post.

Admittedly in terms of video quality, the Insta360 isn't quite up to par with GoPro, which is arguably the leader of the action cameras market. However what it does offer is flexibility, versatility, and upgradability. With the Insta360 One RS camera, you gain the ability to choose the best solution for your creative vision and - particularly when it comes to the 360 lens - you aren't locked into a single direction. 

For many cyclists, the Insta360 One RS will be a bit overkill, and it's definitely more of a filmmaker's tool than a commuter cyclist's safety product. The quantity of video and photo modes is almost overwhelming, however, video makers that are willing to experiment and explore will be rewarded with features such as Auto Framing, Point to Track and Shot Lab transitions.

For more cycle-friendly functionality, we've also reviewed the Insta360 X3, which is compact, more water resistant and offers 360-degree images and easy, quick editing, so you're more likely to actually use your footage.

For more details, check out our review of the Insta360 One RS.

Cycliq's Fly 6 isn't quite an action camera in the traditional sense, but when many cyclists look to action cameras, it's not the 4K footage, live streaming capability and deep-sea diving compatibility of the camera they're looking for. Much of the time, the best action cameras for cyclists offer a simple function of being able to record the ride, in the event of an incident or accident. Now in its third generation, that's exactly what Cycliq's Fly 6 offers. 

Integrated into a 50-lumen rear light, the camera offers highly stabilised 1080p / 720p footage at up to 120fps, shooting at a 135-degree angle. The footage is stored on a removable SD card (compatible with up to 32GB), which when it fills up, will automatically wipe the oldest footage to provide a continuous recording of the most recent footage. 

However, the Fly 6 Gen 3 comes with what the brand calls 'Black Box' technology — automatic incident detection that auto-saves footage when a crash is detected. This means it will cleverly preserve the footage from the incident and not overwrite it, so you can rest assured it will still be there when you return home.

If you want to record your mate being taken out by a kangaroo, the Fly 12 will do it for you if you've let them go ahead. It offers similar functionality to the Fly 6 and incorporates a light as well, although it's not got all the features of the best action cameras like horizon lock, wireless data transfer or editing - your footage is on your Mini SD card. 

But the Cycliq Fly 12 does offer image stabilisation and a long run time of seven hours, which is useful for cyclists. It can be mounted either above or below the bars and you can overlay the footage with Strava data. All the configuration of the light and camera is done via the app, although there's no ability to control it from your cycling computer.

The light is now 400 lumens, down from 600 lumens, which may be a little low for night riding but is probably adequate as a daytime running light. On the other hand, there's now a higher camera resolution 

You can read our full Cycliq Fly 12 Sport review for more details.

If you're already a Garmin user, then this addition to its ecosystem could be a welcome sight. Not only is the Garmin Varia Radar a good rear bike light in itself, but the rearview radar informs you via your bike computer or many smartwatch models of vehicles approaching from behind and can flash to alert them to your presence.

You can also control it remotely from your head unit (dependent upon which model you're using), and use the same apps you're already familiar with to download your footage. 

Similarly to the Cycliq Fly 6 listed above, Garmin's Varia Radar RCT715 also offers automatic incident detection, which isolates the important footage from the rest and preserves it while the recording continues to loop and overwrite older footage. Compared to the Fly 6, the Varia Radar is more affordable and comes with a lot of device and app connectivity potential. For many, this may seem like a no-brainer.

However, it's important to note that it does have some downsides. It lacks 4K video, to keep the battery life maximised, and the key issue our reviewer discovered was that in low-light conditions, the lack of image stabilisation meant that it was impossible to decipher car number plates, which would prove to be unhelpful should you be involved in an incident after sundown. 

Still, it's a worthwhile investment that our reviewer had a lot of praise for in our Garmin Varia Radar RCT715 review.

While creating 360-degree content can offer both immersive virtual reality content or super abstract angles it's actually the GoPro Max's Overcapture and Max HyperSmooth Video Stabilization features that are the real selling points.

Recording full 360-degree video, you can reframe it in post-production using the GoPro app to get the perfect shot. Gone are the days of poor framing and missed moments behind the camera. The footage is automatically stabilised in post-production using the Fusion Studio app and produces unrivalled gimbal-like footage.

GoPro isn’t alone in the 360-degree camera market but the Max manages to pack a bunch of features, extra sensors and voice control into a classically rugged waterproof GoPro design making it appealing for hectic action sports and creative filmmakers.

Although the DJI Pocket 2 doesn’t offer the rugged exterior of an action camera, if you're looking for a camera to simply record the action rather than being a part of it, the Pocket 2 has a unique feature.

The Pocket 2 is built around a three-axis mechanical gimbal that promises to put all electronic stabilisation to shame and produce smooth professional-looking footage. The gimbal has further party tricks in the form of ActiveTrack which follows a selected subject keeping them in frame and Motionlapse to create perfect panning time-lapses.

Unsurprisingly this spinning gimbal mechanism is not very robust and isn’t designed to be strapped to a helmet and ridden down a mountain in the rain. However, if you are looking for a pocket-friendly camera that can produce professional shots for vlogging then the Pocket 2 is going to fare well.

How to choose the best action camera for cycling

Pre-2006, filming action sports was very different. Bulky camcorders weren’t waterproof or tough enough and if you wanted a point of view (POV) action shot it would involve an element of DIY'ing to make mounts or harnesses. Now action cameras can be easily mounted to almost anything, record your adventures in 4K video with built-in stabilisation and be shared straight to social media.

The most important consideration when buying a new action camera is what you plan on using it for. While most cameras can record high-quality video and take photos, it is important to consider what other features are a priority. A wide array of video, photo, time-lapse and connectivity options as well as stabilisation, waterproofing and build quality make this decision more complicated.