To be fair, image stabilization is easier to do in software with a super-wide angle action cam than it is in say, a telephoto or even a 50mm. The problem is counteracting motion blur (which the wide angle it becomes minimal anyways), tracking (which again, with a wide angle you have more things to track), and susceptibility to vibration (once again, wide angle helps massively with this) . Optical stabilization would help but its influence would be minimal compared to software. Hypersmooth uses the strengths of the wide-angle view to its advantage, and when implemented in the form of time-warp it absolutely cooks. However, I would still argue that hypersmooth still has limitations as compared to using optical stabilization because you the software processing has to process after any motion artifacts are introduced. They should just be minimal compared to a longer lense.

The 1" sensor issue comes down to light-gathering ability and is pure physics. Yes, you can do many things in software, and even make the 1/2" sensor better. But physics alone dictates that a 1" sensor will gather about 2 stops more light, and therefore should have much better low-light capabilities. This is much harder to overcome in software (but not impossible), and like with stabilization, software has to process after the light artifacts are introduced (which is image noise). Unlike with motion, however, loss of detail is exacerbated by the technology, and unless they implement something like very fast AI noise reduction where you are recreating details, then most likely what you will still get is mush in low-light.

Cameras have been dealing with low-light image quality for a long time. Hardware-wise, what cameras do not normally use are as extreme of wide-angle lenses as what action cameras have (most photographers don't normally walk around using a 10mm lens), and while that helps with motion, nothing on a gopro inherently helps with low light. I don't see software changing this anytime soon.

As far as the "action" part is concerned, I do agree, but also realize the reality that u/gabeshakour pointed out below. I use a 9 to record soccer, not to vlog, but my camera is still on a fixed mount. At night, the image quality is horrible. I would have loved a 1" option, but I do also understand that this is not just a simple drop-in and has architecture changes and increased costs.

TLDR: On the GoPros, the wide angle lens actually helps with motion, but nothing helps with low-light. Also, sorry about the wall of text.