T3 Awards 2019: GoPro's Hero7 White is the best budget action cam you can buy

The design, features and performance of GoPro’s action cams have positioned the brand ahead of the pack, providing adrenaline addicts with capable tools to capture their exploits. While GoPro continues to dominate at the high-end, their innovation in the pocket-friendly bracket has captivated us too. That's why the GoPro Hero7 White has clinched the T3 Awards 2019 Best Budget Action Camera accolade.

• Best cheap action cameras
• Best action camera 2019

Despite costing just shy of £180 (officially, though it's often on sale), the Hero7 White delivers bags of features, plus the reliability and rugged performance we’ve come to expect from this world-beating action cam brand. In fact, there’s enough here to keep everyone from fairweather cyclists to extreme adventurers happy.

Most notable is the slick and responsive touchscreen on the rear, which provides quick access to uncomplicated settings and menus – the GoPro Hero 7 White is clearly designed to capture unmissable moments quickly and easily. 

On that note, the shutter button can wake the camera and begin shooting within just a few seconds, while voice control makes hands-free operation a doddle. From recording a video to shooting a timelapse, just tell the camera what you need; this comes in handy if you’re wearing gloves or have the camera mounted to a helmet.

Footage quality at the top 1080p60 resolution is impressive, capturing darker scenes with confidence and displaying impressive dynamic range across most clips, while electronic image stabilisation helps smooth out any lumps. Ok so it’s not 4K, but the Full HD quality is more than serviceable for sharing to your Facebook page (this can be done straight from the GoPro app) or experimenting with YouTube edits.

The Hero7 White clearly benefits from GoPro’s unbeatable form. And with so many great features, plus a huge range of available mounting solutions, there’s no question that it deserves this Best Budget Action Camera Award.

Full shortlist: Sony HDR-AS50, OLFI one.five White, GoPro Hero7 White, YI 4K, Akaso EK7000 Pro 4K

Check out more of this year's award winners on our main T3 Awards 2019 page.