GoPro Max 2 officially delayed – which means the Insta360 X4 remains the best 360-degree camera you can buy

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During GoPro’s quarterly earning call shared on May 8, CEO Nick Woodman delivered good and bad news for GoPro fans: he confirmed that all-new products are in the works for 2026, but the Max 2 is hit with delays.

The public announcement makes for a potentially uncomfortable year for GoPro, especially with the new Insta360 X4 upping the 360-degree camera game. In our Insta360 X4 review, we gave the 8K equipped shooter a five-star rating and it now looks like it’ll remain at the top of the 360-degree pile 2024 until at least Q4 2024 – the latest estimate for when the Max 2 will launch.

Speaking about GoPro’s plans for the next three years, which includes expanding the range of products, Nick Woodman said: “Due to the development process taking longer than expected, the launch of our new entry-level camera will push from Q2 to Q3 in 2024, and our new 360 camera will push to late Q4.”

It’ll mark five years between the GoPro Max – which was launched in October 2019 – and the GoPro Max 2, a period in which Insta360 has launched four iterations of its own flagship 360-degree that culminated in 2024’s X4 model.

If you’re keen on a new 360-degree camera now, the X4 is the one to get. We’ll have to wait a little longer than expected to see if the Max 2, due for launch at the end of 2024, can challenge Insta360’s flagship.

The announcement also piqued our curiosity with talk of all-new GoPro cameras and the action camera specialist’s widest ever product portfolio, tipped for 2026.

Brighter days ahead for GoPro?

(Image credit: Future)

In his quarterly earning address – you can read the full transcript of on The Motley Fool – GoPro’s CEO Nick Woodman said: “In 2026, we expect to have in market the broadest, most differentiated line-up in our history. We’re developing a full spectrum of specialized, diversified products to serve consumers’ capture needs in more convenient and enjoyable ways than ever before at price points ranging from entry level through professional.

“Rather than compete in a digital imaging market with me-too products, we intend to grow GoPro with fun and exciting alternative capture solutions that enable consumers and professionals in unique value-added ways. We see a long runway of totally new specialized products that can merge with our software solutions to establish GoPro as the world’s leading alternative capture company.”

Those new products look likely to feature in tech-enabled motorcycle helmets since GoPro acquired Forcite Helmet Systems in February 2024, and which is part of a $6 billion motor cycle helmet industry. Tipped for a 2025 release, we could be seeing GoPro camera tech in motor cycle helmets.

Letting our imaginations run further loose to speculate what other new GoPro action cameras could hit the shelves later in 2026, we naturally look at what GoPro doesn’t have in its action camera line-up already – an Insta360 Go 3 rival for instance. However, if true to his word, GoPro will not be going down the “me-too” products route, so we’ll have to wait to see what’s in store.

There’s a make or break feeling about the next two years for GoPro, and we’re rooting for it to deliver exciting new products to market and become the force it was once again.

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