HOVERAir X1 - I'm a Drone Guy Now

I've never been all that into drones.

I mean, it seems like a whole world of its own; a lot of high-tech, high-skill and high expense.

Most of the drone enthusiasts I've come across in the past have either been wannabe pilots or obsessive photographers. The first group wants to simulate the experience of flying - in many cases as fast and as crazy as possible. The second group just wants to capture the perfect shot from the perfect angle - even more important for budding movie-makers.

I don't have the skills or the desire to fit into either of those groups, although I have to admit, there have been plenty of times I wish I had another person to be my camera operator when I'm filming my very amateur-hour review videos.

It turns out, I didn't need another person at all. I just needed a smarter camera. With wings.

The HOVERAir X1 had my full attention before I even opened its box.

I knew I was being sent a drone to review... but what sort of drone would fit in such a small package? I've made toasted sandwiches bigger than this thing. When it's folded up, it literally fits in my jacket pocket.

The HOVERAir X1 comes in white or black and has its own soft carry-bag, a spare battery and a double charger included in the box. Every part of this device has been designed for performance, ease-of-use and efficiency - including the charger. Although it holds two batteries simultaneously, it charges one and then the other. This means instead of having two half-charged cells, you're more likely to have one all ready to go while the other finishes juicing up. Each 1050mAh cell only takes about 35 minutes to reach 100% in the charging hub anyway.

And that's the boring stuff out of the way because everything else about the HOVERAir X1 is just pure, unadulterated fun.

You can update and customise the drone using the Hover X1 app - a strangely set-out yet easy-to-follow interface that has a library of useful tutorial videos for someone like me, who's never even held a drone before, let alone used one.

But the thing is, with the HOVERAir X1, that doesn't matter because all the best bits are already pre-programmed and ready to go.

Amazingly, this drone, this tiny little drone, is quite capable of flying itself. There are only two buttons to worry about; the big one turns it on and the little one toggles through the six Flight Modes; Hover, Zoom-Out, Follow, Orbit, Bird-Eye and Custom.

Choose one, rest the HOVERAir X1 on your palm, push the big button again and away it goes. Yes, you can be filming yourself from a flying drone in a matter of seconds. The first time I used it it seemed far too easy but the results spoke for themselves.

Once the HOVERAir X1 is flying in the selected mode, it starts recording - as indicated by the LED above the camera turning red. The camera is on a fully automated gimbal mechanism that always keeps you in shot and makes up half of the hybrid image stabilisation system which guarantees the smoothest footage possible - even in fairly gusty conditions.

You read right, by the way. There's a Follow mode. Don't ask me how but this little piece of engineering magic will get a fix on you then stay the same distance away from you as you move... be that walking, running, cycling, skateboarding - whatever. Again, this is another thing I just couldn't believe was actually happening when I first tried it.

Each of these preset flight modes can be adjusted through the Hover X1 app - you can change things like the distance away from you in Follow Mode, the diameter maintained in Orbit Mode and of course the height in Zoom-Out and Bird-Eye modes.

Furthermore, once you've flown the HOVERAir X1 a bit, you'll unlock several custom flight modes, including Dolly-Track, Side-Track and manual control.

I'm not enough of a video expert to have known what Dolly-Track or Side-Track meant before I started using the HOVERAir X1 - but get used to a lot more of that sort of thing in my review videos from now on. Before drones, the only way to get a smooth walking-and-talking shot was to use either an expensive steady-cam arrangement on gimbals or an even more cumbersome camera-on-actual-tracks system.

Now you can move toward the camera (or along side it) resulting in a very professional travelling shot, no extra cameras or crew required.

As for flying the HOVERAir X1 manually from your phone - although you can do it, it's challenging to adjust all the flight controls in concert with the camera controls. I certainly get much better results from the automated flight modes, although you can pair a remote control which I'm sure would do a better job than stabbing at a phone screen.

Note; this isn't one of those drones you need to worry about getting in the way of low-flying aircraft, its maximum height tops out at 15 metres.

In fact, there are a few limitations you need to be aware of. The HOVERAir X1 can't fly in high winds, a fully charged battery will only sustain about ten minutes of continuous recording and its maximum speed is about 25km/h. This means it's probably not going to be the right device to film your cycling adventures - unless they're low-speed cycling adventures.

Excitingly, higher-spec models are on the way, promising not just greater speeds and increased range but also extra "pro" features like obstacle avoidance.

Meanwhile, I have to admit I should have read the instructions when it came to recording sound with my videos. I naively assumed the HOVERAir X1 was equipped with its own built-in mic and I was gobsmacked when I heard the results of the noise-cancelling on offer, cutting out the sound of the four propellors completely.

What I didn't realise is the sound recording happens on your phone, not the drone. This makes complete sense of course - how would the HOVERAir X1 be able to hear you properly from 15 metres away? I didn't discover my mistake until I recorded a bunch of videos without my phone and when I played them back, they were silent movies. Of course, the other advantage of this system is you can plug an external mic into your phone for even better sound quality.

As a first-time droner, I couldn't have asked for a better option than the HOVERAir X1. The wide range of automated flight modes accessible at the touch of a button make a potentially over-complicated device so damn easy to use. The fact you can literally take it out of your pocket and have it up and flying and filming in under a minute, makes this my favourite gadget of the year to date.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the HOVERAir X1.