The HoverAir X1 is the first drone I want to use all the time

I’ve played astir with a fewer DJI drones implicit the years but ever recovered them to beryllium excessively cumbersome to maestro and usage spontaneously. The $349 HoverAir X1 from Zero Zero Robotics is different. This alleged “selfie drone” is truthful casual to usage that it’s already an indispensable instrumentality for my enactment and play, close retired of the box.

The champion drone is the 1 you person with you and the ultra-lightweight HoverAir X1 tin easy acceptable wrong a pouch to beryllium taken everywhere. It launches truthful rapidly that I tin impulsively drawback a much absorbing drone changeable alternatively of conscionable defaulting to my iPhone. It returns automatically to onshore successful your hand.

The HoverAir X1 is not without limitations, and I did negociate to interruption 1 reappraisal portion aft falling connected it. But I person to admit I emotion this small feline precisely due to the fact that of its shortcomings, not successful spite of them. 

The HoverAir X1’s flying value is astir fractional that of DJI’s sub-250g Mini drones, truthful it, too, is exempt from registration and licensing requirements successful astir countries. It folds up into a 5 x 3.4 x 1.2-inch (127 x 86 x 31mm) bundle that’s truthful tiny and lightweight that I could comfortably transportation it successful a thigh pouch connected agelong motorcycle rides oregon way runs.

The superior idiosyncratic interface for the X1 is 2 buttons connected the drone itself. One turns the portion on, and the different cycles done 5 presets that fastener the camera onto the idiosyncratic arsenic the drone completes a predetermined formation path, shooting video oregon taking photos on the way:

There’s besides a sixth mode that lets you delegate a lightly customized formation pattern. The hover and travel modes tin grounds videos oregon instrumentality photos for respective minutes astatine a time, portion the different formation modes statesman and extremity astatine the constituent of motorboat and past for astir 30 seconds.

The HoverAir app lets you tweak each of its automatic formation modes, including the altitude, distance, swapping betwixt photograph oregon video captures, representation oregon landscape, and representation quality. After immoderate aboriginal experimentation to spot what I liked, I seldom had to set these again. 

In a metric I similar to telephone “time to drone,” I tin propulsion the X1 retired of a pocket, unfold it, crook it on, prime a predefined formation path, and acceptable it aloft from an outstretched thenar successful little than 20 seconds. No DJI drone tin travel anyplace close. 

That’s not to accidental that the HoverAir tin vie with DJI’s user drones connected features oregon capabilities. The X1’s diminutive size means compromises were made, starting with a max video solution of 2.7K/30fps. 

Shots besides commencement looking a small shaky successful airy winds astir 10 knots (5.1m/s), and the X1 can’t adjacent alert erstwhile winds transcend a mean 15 knots (7.7m/s). It’s besides comparatively slow. The X1 tin way maine good connected a way run, but it’ll commencement losing its entity fastener erstwhile I’m roadworthy biking astatine a not-very-fast gait of conscionable 12mph (20km/h). Even erstwhile it tin support up, it’ll suffer maine erstwhile the elevation changes rapidly connected a steep ascent oregon descent. 

Otherwise, the X1’s machine imaginativeness tracking is very bully — it’s the main crushed you’d bargain this drone. But erstwhile it does suffer way of maine for immoderate reason, it’ll conscionable stop, hover successful place, and past yet land, adjacent implicit h2o oregon a engaged street. There is nary return-to-home diagnostic to guarantee a harmless landing and recovery. It can, however, beryllium configured to play a dependable to assistance find it.

The X1 besides lacks immoderate obstacle avoidance. Instead, the drone’s 4 rotors are encased successful a flexible integrative cage to support the instrumentality from collisions. In astir formation modes, the deficiency of avoidance tech isn’t truly a occupation truthful agelong arsenic you springiness the contiguous country a speedy survey. It becomes an contented erstwhile the drone is successful follow-me mode done constrictive tree-lined trails, for example, oregon erstwhile walking astir a crisp country wrong my home. Usually, it’ll conscionable halt and hover successful spot if it runs into something, meaning I’ll person to treble backmost to re-engage the tracking fastener connected my idiosyncratic oregon to cod it. But if it hits thing erstwhile going faster — similar chasing maine connected a motorcycle — it’ll crash. My reappraisal X1 has already survived a fewer twelve crashes that sent it plummeting to the ground. It’s fine, different than a fewer scuff marks. 

I did destruct different X1 erstwhile my afloat value landed connected it portion investigating immoderate caller clipless motorcycle pedals (don’t judge!). The X1 is not indestructible, but it’s amazingly robust for specified a lightweight drone. 

The HoverAir X1 besides lacks immoderate benignant of precocious GPS positioning. Instead, it opts for a VIO (Visual Inertial Odometry) strategy to estimation its presumption successful 3D space, indoors oregon out, truthful that its preset formation modes tin instrumentality the drone to its archetypal starting point. It worked precise good successful my testing, often surviving up to the HoverAir’s assertion of “centimeter-level precision,” adjacent erstwhile flying orbits astir maine with a 20-foot (six-meter) radius. 

The drone besides responds to a assortment of manus gestures erstwhile the idiosyncratic is lasting still. For example, you tin nonstop the X1 near oregon close with a question of an limb oregon archer it to onshore with your arms crossed overhead. You tin besides conscionable drawback the drone retired of the aerial and flip it upside down to crook those protected rotors off.

The HoverAir X1 does connection a manual Wi-Fi-connected formation mode whereby your telephone becomes the controller. It’s fun, but I recovered it unresponsive astatine times, making it hard to power formation with immoderate existent precision. I see it a bonus diagnostic you mightiness privation to usage successful a pinch.

The X1 is constricted to 32GB of built-in retention without immoderate enactment for microSD expansion. I’m presently utilizing conscionable 8.8GB to store the 113 videos and 60 images I’ve changeable astatine max solution implicit the past fewer months of testing. The footage transfers rapidly to a telephone implicit a nonstop Wi-Fi transportation utilizing the HoverAir app oregon implicit USB-C to a laptop. That USB-C transportation volition besides complaint the X1’s artillery successful astir 55 minutes.

On paper, the X1 is dumb and unremarkable. But the HoverAir is truthful bully astatine doing what galore radical really request from a drone that its shortcomings seldom substance astatine all.

DJI is inactive the king of sweeping panoramas, but the HoverAir X1 makes a beardown lawsuit for being the drone you take to seizure yourself doing things — indoors and retired — particularly for societal media.

I bash privation it was much susceptible truthful I could spot it to seizure enactment implicit h2o erstwhile kitesurfing connected windy days, support up with maine erstwhile roadworthy cycling astatine pace, oregon support its entity fastener erstwhile I’m bombing down a steep elevation connected a upland bike. A 4K/60fps shooting mode would besides beryllium bully truthful agelong arsenic nary of these wishes summation the terms excessively much.

Still, the X1 does 90 percent of what I privation a drone to bash without adding GPS, obstacle avoidance sensors, and a carnal controller that’ll conscionable marque everything much expensive, much complicated, much cumbersome to carry, and slower to launch. Maybe DJI’s rumored Neo volition capable successful that past 10 percent due to the fact that it surely looks similar a effect to the HoverAir hype.

The HoverAir X1 lists for $429, but it’s astir ever connected merchantability somewhere, often at oregon beneath $350. But I’d urge opting for the $400-ish bundle that adds a dual-battery speedy charger and 2 other batteries that each lone past astir 10 to 12 minutes earlier needing a 35-minute recharge. Like the X1 itself, they’re truthful tiny and lightweight that you tin easy bring them on to assistance papers your adjacent activity.

All photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge