I’ve performed round with a number of DJI drones over time however at all times discovered them to be too cumbersome to grasp and use spontaneously. The $349 HoverAir X1 from Zero Zero Robotics is completely different. This so-called “selfie drone” is very easy to make use of that it’s already an indispensable device for my work and play, proper out of the field.
For instance, the HoverAir X1 is chargeable for this assessment photograph, this 360-degree GIF, and this overhead shot, in addition to the entire comply with, orbit, and zoom in / out pictures used on this e-bikepacking video and this ID Buzz e-camper assessment. Every shot was made with only a contact of a button on the highest of the drone — no controller required.
The perfect drone is the one you might have with you and the ultra-lightweight HoverAir X1 can simply match inside a pocket to be taken all over the place. It launches so rapidly that I can impulsively seize a extra attention-grabbing drone shot as a substitute of simply defaulting to my iPhone. It returns routinely to land in your hand.
The HoverAir X1 shouldn’t be with out limitations, and I did handle to interrupt one assessment unit after falling on it. However I’ve to confess I like this little man exactly due to its shortcomings, not despite them.
The HoverAir X1’s flying weight is about half that of DJI’s sub-250g Mini drones, so it, too, is exempt from registration and licensing necessities in most international locations. It folds up right into a 5 x 3.4 x 1.2-inch (127 x 86 x 31mm) package deal that’s so small and light-weight that I might comfortably carry it in a thigh pocket on lengthy bike rides or path runs.
The first person interface for the X1 is 2 buttons on the drone itself. One turns the unit on, and the opposite cycles by means of 5 presets that lock the digital camera onto the person because the drone completes a predetermined flight path, capturing video or taking photographs alongside the way in which:
- Hover — floats in fastened area and tracks your motion
- Observe — flies behind or in entrance of you at completely different heights and distances
- Orbit — makes a large circle overhead round a set middle spot
- Zoom out — flies away and up after which again in
- Fowl’s eye — for top-down pictures immediately over a set spot
There’s additionally a sixth mode that allows you to assign a evenly custom-made flight sample. The hover and comply with modes can report movies or take photographs for a number of minutes at a time, whereas the opposite flight modes start and finish on the level of launch and final for about 30 seconds.
The HoverAir app enables you to tweak every of its automated flight modes, together with the altitude, distance, swapping between photograph or video captures, portrait or panorama, and picture high quality. After some early experimentation to see what I favored, I not often needed to regulate these once more.
In a metric I wish to name “time to drone,” I can pull the X1 out of a pocket, unfold it, flip it on, choose a predefined flight path, and set it aloft from an outstretched palm in lower than 20 seconds. No DJI drone can come wherever shut.
That’s to not say that the HoverAir can compete with DJI’s shopper drones on options or capabilities. The X1’s diminutive dimension means compromises had been made, beginning with a max video decision of two.7K/30fps.
Pictures additionally begin trying a little bit shaky in gentle winds round 10 knots (5.1m/s), and the X1 can’t even fly as soon as winds exceed a reasonable 15 knots (7.7m/s). It’s additionally comparatively sluggish. The X1 can observe me advantageous on a path run, however it’ll begin shedding its object lock once I’m street biking at a not-very-fast tempo of simply 12mph (20km/h). Even when it will possibly sustain, it’ll lose me when the elevation adjustments quickly on a steep climb or descent.
In any other case, the X1’s pc imaginative and prescient monitoring is very good — it’s the primary purpose you’d purchase this drone. However when it does lose observe of me for no matter purpose, it’ll simply cease, hover in place, after which ultimately land, even over water or a busy road. There isn’t any return-to-home characteristic to make sure a protected touchdown and restoration. It could actually, nevertheless, be configured to play a sound to assist discover it.
The X1 additionally lacks any impediment avoidance. As an alternative, the drone’s 4 rotors are encased in a versatile plastic cage to guard the gadget from collisions. In most flight modes, the dearth of avoidance tech isn’t actually an issue as long as you give the speedy space a fast survey. It turns into a difficulty when the drone is in follow-me mode by means of slim tree-lined trails, for instance, or when strolling round a pointy nook inside my house. Often, it’ll simply cease and hover in place if it runs into one thing, which means I’ll should double again to re-engage the monitoring lock on my individual or to gather it. But when it hits one thing when going sooner — like chasing me on a motorbike — it’ll crash. My assessment X1 has already survived a number of dozen crashes that despatched it plummeting to the bottom. It’s advantageous, apart from a number of scuff marks.
I did destroy one other X1 when my full weight landed on it whereas testing some new clipless bike pedals (don’t choose!). The X1 shouldn’t be indestructible, however it’s surprisingly strong for such a light-weight drone.
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The HoverAir X1 additionally lacks any form of superior GPS positioning. As an alternative, it opts for a VIO (Visible Inertial Odometry) system to estimate its place in 3D area, indoors or out, in order that its preset flight modes can return the drone to its authentic start line. It labored very nicely in my testing, typically residing as much as the HoverAir’s declare of “centimeter-level precision,” even when flying orbits round me with a 20-foot (six-meter) radius.
The drone additionally responds to a wide range of hand gestures when the person is standing nonetheless. For instance, you may ship the X1 left or proper with a wave of an arm or inform it to land together with your arms crossed overhead. You may as well simply seize the drone out of the air and flip it the other way up to show these protected rotors off.
The HoverAir X1 does supply a guide Wi-Fi-connected flight mode whereby your cellphone turns into the controller. It’s enjoyable, however I discovered it unresponsive at instances, making it troublesome to manage flight with any actual precision. I take into account it a bonus characteristic you may wish to use in a pinch.
The X1 is proscribed to 32GB of built-in storage with none choice for microSD growth. I’m at present utilizing simply 8.8GB to retailer the 113 movies and 60 photos I’ve shot at max decision over the previous few months of testing. The footage transfers rapidly to a cellphone over a direct Wi-Fi connection utilizing the HoverAir app or over USB-C to a laptop computer. That USB-C connection may also cost the X1’s battery in about 55 minutes.
On paper, the X1 is dumb and unremarkable. However the HoverAir is so good at doing what many individuals really need from a drone that its shortcomings not often matter in any respect.
DJI remains to be the king of sweeping panoramas, however the HoverAir X1 makes a robust case for being the drone you select to seize your self doing issues — indoors and out — particularly for social media.
I do want it was extra succesful so I might belief it to seize motion over water when kitesurfing on windy days, sustain with me when street biking at tempo, or preserve its object lock once I’m bombing down a steep hill on a mountain bike. A 4K/60fps capturing mode would even be good as long as none of those needs improve the value an excessive amount of.
The X1 does 90 % of what I desire a drone to do
Nonetheless, the X1 does 90 % of what I desire a drone to do with out including GPS, impediment avoidance sensors, and a bodily controller that’ll simply make every thing costlier, extra sophisticated, extra cumbersome to hold, and slower to launch. Possibly DJI’s rumored Neo will fill in that final 10 % as a result of it definitely appears to be like like a response to the HoverAir hype.
The HoverAir X1 lists for $429, however it’s almost at all times on sale someplace, typically at or beneath $350. However I’d advocate choosing the $400-ish bundle that provides a dual-battery fast charger and two additional batteries that every solely final about 10 to 12 minutes earlier than needing a 35-minute recharge. Just like the X1 itself, they’re so small and light-weight you could simply deliver them alongside to assist doc your subsequent exercise.
All pictures by Thomas Ricker / The Verge