GoPro Karma Hits the Market…Again

With much less fanfare than the first time around, GoPro has relaunched the troubled Karma drone. The camera giant has fixed the minor problem that caused previous models to fall out of the sky.

A few months ago stories began to circulate that the first batch of Karma pilots were experiencing some pretty serious technical problems with GoPro’s new drone. Things were looking bad. So bad, in fact, that the latest manufacturer to make moves in the drone industry decided to issue a recall for all sold models – around 2,500 at that point.  

Many in the industry – some of us at DroneLife included – feel as though the damage has been done for GoPro in the short term, and that the company will struggle to regain the confidence of pilots. But despite that, it’s good to see that there’s still life in the Karma. After all, total market domination by DJI isn’t in anybody’s interest, even if the Chinese manufacturer is far ahead of the competition in terms of quality.

After designing a new latch to hold the Karma’s battery in place more securely, GoPro today announced that the product billed as ‘more than a drone’ is back on sale at GoPro.com and select U.S. retailers. To begin with, shipments will be limited but production is expected to ramp quickly. Karma will be available in international markets in the Spring.

GoPro Karma – Hollywood in a backpack or a bit of a let down?

The jury is still out on whether or not the Karma will prove value for money. On the one hand, it was never going to live up to the enormous hype stirred up (and since dissipated) during the marketing campaign and product launch. But Karma does have originality on its side. It’s essentially three products in one and is compact enough to fit in a small backpack.

Part drone, part image-stabilizer and part action camera, there are clear reasons why you’d consider a Karma bundle.

You can read more about GoPro’s drone in our dedicated feature. 

The GoPro Karma on its own still costs $799. Bundled with HERO5 Black it will cost $1099.99.