I've been writing at Techday NZ since as long as 2009, and I have reviewed a ton of different things over the years, including games, laptops, phones, and more. However, it's now 2024, and this is the first time I have had the opportunity to play around with a drone. The one we are looking at today is the HoverAir X1, manufactured by Zero Zero Robotics in China.
I don't have much experience with drones, but I researched online, and a lot of them come in different sizes and varying price points. The HoverAir X1 is thankfully slightly more affordable than some others I have seen, as you can currently get it for $699.00 NZD at Noel Leeming. This is still expensive for someone like me, but at least it's under $1000 NZD.
Aside from getting the HoverAir X1 drone itself, the package also includes an extra battery, a battery charging hub, a USB-C cable to charge the unit, and a cute-looking carrying case. If you want to know the size of the drone, it can fold up and fit inside the palm of your hand. The drone will probably look much smaller if someone large like Shaquille O'Neal handles it!
Before you take out your drone for a spin, the manufacturer recommends that you charge it. The USB-C cable that comes with the package easily fits to the side of the drone so you can charge it. It only takes around 55 minutes to charge the drone fully, or 35 minutes if you use the included battery charging hub.
Another thing that you need to do before you take it flying is download the accompanying HoverX1 app, which should be available on both Android and iOS devices. The app is quite important because this is where you can view and store all the videos that you may have shot using the drone. It can also be used to use the many available flight modes the drone has.
The last thing before you take full flight is to properly calibrate it. You need to unfold the device and gently place it on the palm of your hand at arm's length. After you do that, press the power button located in the centre of the device. The app will give you instructions on what to do next, but the device should fly and take a shot to recognize your face. To make the drone stop flying, all you need to do is open up your palm again, and it should be able to identify you and descend accordingly.
If you are new to droning like me, the HoverX1 app shows a GPS map indicating areas where you SHOULD NOT fly the drone. Since I live in Auckland, New Zealand, the app told me that I cannot fly anywhere near Auckland Airport, which is understandable. I tested out the drone in a local park full of flat ground that was away from people, buildings, and pets.
The coolest thing about the HoverAir X1 is that it is an autonomous drone, meaning that you don't need to control it using your phone or any other device. Instead, the drone itself comes with six preset actions you can set using the smaller button above the power button.
The default preset flying motions include Hover, Zoom out, Follow, Orbit, Birds-eye, and a custom option at the end. The app includes additional flight patterns such as Snapshot, Dolly Track, Side Track, and Smart Control. A Manual mode is also available if you're skilled enough to control the drone yourself!
If you want to take a selfie-style video, Hover literally just takes a shot of your face. Zoom Out is a cool feature if you are near the sea and mountains and want to capture the beautiful scenery. I used the Follow option when I was walking, but you can use it while skateboarding, biking, or running.
Orbit was really neat because it takes a 360-degree video of you. If you are wearing some cool clothes or like a wedding dress, this will make a cool video. Bird-Eye is if you want a top-down view, like if you are playing an old-school Grand Theft Auto game.
All the videos you take are stored on the app/phone, and you can edit out footage you don't want. The drone itself has a flight time of only 11.5 minutes, so this is probably the maximum amount of time you can record in one take, I presume. I don't think you can record long-length movies with this drone, but it still can record neat footage.
I'm not a YouTuber, so I rarely record competent videos on my phone, but I was really surprised by the quality of footage that was taken by the HoverX1 Air. The videos I took were super smooth and stable, even though the drone was flying at all times. I didn't record anything too special, but the park scenery looked nice. You can download videos from the app and quickly upload them to YouTube to share with the world. The app also includes videos from other HoverAir X1 users you can look at too.
The HoverAir X1 can shoot videos at 2.7K, 1080p and 1080p with HDR. Depending on the video quality you choose that is aforementioned, there are both 30fps and 60fps options for you, too. I think the Pro model I did not review records at 4K and above. It also has 32GB of storage, so you can shoot a lot of footage.
While I'm not a professional drone user, I was really impressed by how easy-to-use the HoverAir X1 was. The instructions were very clear, and I was able to take professional-looking videos with ease. Like I said before, the footage is stable, and editing is easily done through the app.
The only real downside to the drone is that you cannot take it anywhere. For example, it would have been cool to use the drone during the Taylor Swift concert, but obviously, security would have confiscated it on the spot. Auckland Zoo is another location where I would have liked to use the drone, but again, I don't think it's allowed because it could scare the animals away.
For $699.00 NZD, the HoverAir X1 could be pricey to some people, but it has very impressive tech behind it, and it can shoot professional videos with ease. If you are someone who goes travelling and wants to take cool-looking videos abroad, I feel this drone is worth it. Just make sure you don't fly it too close to buildings, people, and animals!
