If you've always thought you might be kind of keen on owning a drone (or buying one for someone else) but have no idea where to start - we've got you sussed.
The HoverAirX1 is the world's first palm-sized autonomous drone, designed to help you capture hands-free aerial photos and videos.
We asked two of our best digital video producers, Jacob and Bethan, to give this little puppy a whirl while filming on location in two beautiful spots - Queenstown and Fiji. Here are their thoughts:
JACOB
I flew my first drone back in 2017 when I worked in retail. Back then, the technology was still quite new and a lot of things hadn’t quite been worked out such as obstacle avoidance and strong radio signals between the controller and the drone itself (yes, I crashed a few drones in my time).
Nearly 10 years later, the technology has advanced so much that the power of a gigantic drone such as the original DJI Phantom 3 which weighed 1.2kg, can now be packed into a smaller package such as the Mavic Mini 4 Pro weighing a measly 172 GRAMS!
DJI has always been the market leader when it comes to drone tech, so when a new kid such as the HoverAir X1 comes on the block, I’m naturally curious to compare and see how it holds up.
Off the bat, the thing is SMOL. Weighing a mere 125 grams, it doesn’t take up much room in a camera bag.
It claimed to have a 2.7K res camera , which is not quite 4K but still miles better than standard HD. My inner camera nerd was immediately sceptical as there are plenty of products which boast a high res camera but the images still look like they were shot on a potato due to a cheapo sensor.
I was pleasantly surprised though that the quality actually holds up! The 2.7K res camera reminded very much of a GoPro’s camera quality, or the kinda quality you might find on a mid range Android phone. It’s plenty fine resolution for posting on social media, but maybe not quite enough for shooting a Hollywood film.
The stand out feature for the HoverAir X1 is definitely its smarty pants AI features. The drone does offer a manual control mode you can unlock, but if you’re wanting some easy, cinematic looking shots then the preset flight modes will have you covered!
My favourite was definitely the follow mode. Once you’ve taken the drone off from the palm of your hands it’ll recognise your face, or the face of the person whose hand it took off from. And from there on out it’ll follow only you around! If someone or something interferes and gets in the way, it’ll stop in its tracks until it sees you again - very clever!
For a bit more 'professional' use to compare with a bigger drone from the likes of DJI, I took theHoverAir X1 with me down to the beautiful Queenstown for a client video shoot. The day was perfect for drone flying - no wind and clear blue skies.
Check out some of the footage Jacob and Bethan captured with the HoverAir X1:
The drone doesn’t come with a remote controller, you power the drone up and have it take flight by pressing the large button on the top and then everything else is controlled from your phone. After unlocking manual control, you can view a live feed of what the camera sees and go crazy! You fly the drone till your heart's content … or the battery runs out after 11 minutes (the combo pack does come with 2 batteries for an easy hot swap though).
The HoverAir X1 functions just like any other drone, though I found that being only able to control from a phone didn’t allow me to quite get the precise movements I was after which I could with a physical joystick / RC controller.
Being attached to a phone also meant the range was very limited. DJI drones have a dedicated RC controller that connects to the drone via radio signals which gives you a stronger, more reliable signal. It also means you can go for hundreds of metres, sometimes kilometers!
The HoverAir X1, was only able to get maybe 15M off the ground, and fly about 30M away from me before it stopped in its tracks and said it couldn’t go any further. This isn’t a mega deal breaker, but if you’re wanting those extreme birds eye view or landscape shots, then you’re tough outta luck.
Overall, I think the HoverAir X1 is a fantastic small drone to have in your kit for those quick and easy shots you want to get to elevate your footage and get a more dynamic camera angle.
It’s perfect if you want to travel light, or are maybe in an area where larger professional drones are restricted. Pack this in your bag for your next holiday, like Bethan did going to Fiji, and your Instagram followers will be in AWE.
BETHAN
What better way to test out a drone than taking her over to Fiji for a hoon?
When travelling the last thing you want is bulky camera equipment taking away from your sacred 30kg weight allowance. Lucky for me, I could pop the drone right in my handbag as it’s no bigger than my wallet.
Operating it through your phone via bluetooth also means there's no need to carry around a secondary controller taking up more space.
Not only is it the size ideal, it’s also so simple to use. Firstly, no need to stress about SD cards as it records internally and the step by step instructions make it one of the easiest drones to operate. It even has cute wee illustrations!
I loved the drones homing feature. After taking off, you can place your hand just underneath as it senses your hand as a landing platform.
It also made posting to social media a dream. Right after you’ve got your money shot, you can quickly download the footage straight to your phone - no janky cables or adapters required.
The camera is insanely good for such a small operation too. It was able to pick up a beautiful sunset without being too under or over exposed all while being in auto.
This drone is great for calm weather, when the wind picked up there was a noticeable amount of camera shake but that's understandable for a drone this size.
Overall, the HoverAir X1 is a super handy bit of equipment that pretty much anyone can use.
