I'm really just starting to work with this drone, but from what I've seen so far, this is an amazing piece of technology. I am so blown away by this little drone. It's really like having you're own personal cameraman and that cameraman can fly. Pros and cons:
Pros:
1. It follows you dutifully and in pretty difficult terrain. It is pretty hard if not impossible to lose once it locks on to you. I am really shocked at how good its optical tracking is. It's better than my Mini 4 pro on tracking people.
2. It is easy to use and requires no controller. Most of its functions are just a matter of pushing buttons on the drone itself.
3. Its hard to crash and pretty unflappable if it does hit something. If it makes a hard impact it just rights itself and lands. I put it into some small branches and it just pushed through. I hit a wall and it just landed. Its probably possible to crash it but I've not been able to yet. If it does crash it weights next to nothing and has a lot of semi rigid cage surrounding it to cushion the blow.
4. Its compact. You can carry this thing easily and it folds and unfolds instantly.
5. The video quality in good light is surprisingly good for 2.7k @ 30fps. It can shoot 1080p @30 or @60fps but I've not really used it yet to test how good it is. It always seems to be perfectly in focus and perfectly exposed. Also the image stabilization gimbal is first rate, it is a very smooth shooter.
6. You can use your phone to control its functions and it can use your phone to record audio which it automatically noise cancels the drones sound. Its pretty incredible. Sure, that can be done in post but this is just so easy to use and very effective. If you want to shoot and upload stuff immediately, this can do it.
7. It can download all the videos and photos you shoot to your phone and its very quick and easy.
Cons:
1. Battery life. The battery is small and light and it will give you anywhere from 10-20 minutes of flight time depending on how many demands you make in the way of movement. If its tracking you on a bike expect the low end of the scale, if it just hovering and tracking you, it will use less battery. The upside is you get 2 batteries with it, a very nice double charger and the small capacity mean they charge fast. I didn't time it but it seemed like about an hour to do the two batteries. The batteries are charged sequentially.
2. No 4k camera. That said, the camera is very good in descent light and starts to show some grain in low light but still not bad.
3. No removable SD card. It has 28gb of onboard storage if memory serves, which I've thus far come no where near using, but a removable card would be a nice touch.
4. No collision avoidance sensors. It is very good at following people, I used this in the woods that confounded my Mini 4 pro and was totally unflappable. It just sticks to you like glue and its so small it can really squeeze through tight spots. Granted the Mini 4 Pro is an all around great drone, super sophisticated, can do incredible things too, and its quite good at not running into things, but as far as being a close in robotic cameraman for shooting people, the Hover X1 is better. Turning corners in a house are probably its biggest struggle. That's where collision avoidance would be helpful. If it does hit a wall, it just lands itself so its not really a big deal.
5. No GPS positioning. All guidance is done via optical sensors. Whether its truly a con for the specific mission of this drone is debatable. It can operate in a building with ease as it doesn't need to connect to a satellite to be stable and follow your moves. It does need some light however to see you. If it cant see you, it just stops.
6. Range of operation. This drone is not going to fly more than whatever wifi range is. It is not intended to take high flying panoramic scenes. It is for shooting people relatively near the ground and it is very very good at it. If you need to fly far away this is not the drone for you. It does have very nice manual controls on the app with full flight control and gimbal control. It uses Wifi so while Ive not tested the limits of how far it can fly, it's going to be within Wifi range. That said, it doesn't require Wifi to do any of its major functions, only if you want to fly it manually.
7. Sound. Like any drone, its pretty loud and this thing whines like a giant swarm of mosquitoes. Of course it has the sound canceling so even though your talking in a what sounds like a banshee howl, your audio will come out pretty much pristine as long as you have your phone on you to use as a mic.
Honestly, the cons are in some ways not really cons, its a purpose built drone that does what it was designed to do almost miraculously well. If you like to shoot selfies or need a robot camera man to do tracking shots for any film making endeavor , this thing is fantastic.
| Brand | HOVERAir |
|---|---|
| Model Name | Hover X1 standard wt |
| Special Feature | Triple Stabilization, Intelligent Flight Paths, Visual Inertial Odometry technology, Enclosed & Foldable Frame |
| Age Range (Description) | Adult |
| Color | White |
| Video Capture Resolution | 2704*1520 |
| Connectivity Technology | Wi-Fi |
| Included Components | Storage Bag X1, HOVERAir X1 Self-Flying Camera(with battery) X1, USB Cable X1, User Manual X1 |
| Item Weight | 125 Grams |
| Video Capture Format | MP4 |
| Control Type | Remote Control |
| Media Type | HDR |
| Wireless Communication Technology | Wi-Fi |
| Battery Cell Composition | Lithium Polymer |
| Are Batteries Included | Yes |
| Video Output Resolution | 1920x1080 Pixels |
| Rechargeable Battery Included | Yes |
| Product Dimensions | 5"L x 3.39"W x 1.22"H |
| Manufacturer | Shenzhen Zero Zero Infinity Technology Co.,Ltd. |
| Item Weight | 4.4 ounces |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | X1 |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacturer Part Number | X1 |
| Special Features | Triple Stabilization, Intelligent Flight Paths, Visual Inertial Odometry technology, Enclosed & Foldable Frame |
