HoverAir X1 - Pocket Sized Self-Flying Camera (Honest Review)

[@growingupisatrap6688]

Had mine a couple of weeks, I love it! It a great compliment to my DJI M4 pro. So easy & quick to use for those times when you don't want the extra faff of a regular drone 👍

[@PhillipSkraba]

Yes, exactly!! It's great, and so quick and easy to use. Literally zero hassle.

[@prmath]

I just got mine and I enjoy watching these vids before I jump in and fly👍🏼 Thanks

[@PhillipSkraba]

Oh it's so much fun, and it can't go wrong, I've hit so many trees on purpose to test what happens, and it's a tank, it just bounces off, my DJI drone would have cracked props lol.

[@OutdoorWeekend]

To be honest... this is more fun and enjoyable to use Hoover Air x1 than Dji drone. I feel that you cannot easily come into conflict with other people. Nice review and honest👍

[@PhillipSkraba]

I've had so much fun with it, love it!

[@clementyeo1942]

Dji is sleeping!

[@jer3006]

Yes! A question: If there is no remote, what is the Hover X1 keyed to in Follow mode? If someone jogged by you what keeps the Hover X1 Following you/Dollying you rather than the jogger? 🤣

[@samanthacarpenter9892]

Hi Philip, I’ve had the X1 since it came out and love the simplicity. I use the 8BitDo Micro as a controller and have so much fun. Since your video there have been lots of updates, including gesture control. Any thoughts about an update vid? 😊

[@droneartmedia]

Wow, not a bad little drone at all 😉 I remember seeing an ad for this a month or so ago, definitely surprised at how well it performed 👍👌

[@PhillipSkraba]

You and me!

[@ragndroneman]

2 mins in, and, its confirmed. That is very cool. Been looking at this for a couple weeks and wondering if it was another dud! Cant wait to see what else you have to say.....

[@PhillipSkraba]

When I got it, I was like, hmm, okay, it's a toy. On further inspection, it's actually very useful and can go places a DJI drone can't, so I have to say I'm very impressed by what ZeroZero have achieved here.

[@bertschuh5720]

Nice review! If its in Follow mode, can you have live view on your phone to see what the camera sees? Or do you have to be in manual mode to get live view?

[@-Viceroy-]

Maybe an odd question, but does it float? That would be so cool for fishing trips on the river

[@PhillipSkraba]

I'm sure it does as it only weighs 125g, but I'm pretty sure if you put it in water, that would be the last time you'd ever use it.

[@-Viceroy-]

@@PhillipSkraba Lol, i'm not planning to put it in water. Just was wondering, because with my luck it would malfunction over water.

[@alyiga]

​@@-Viceroy-The sensors don't work reflecting off water so you'll loose it that way

[@PhillipSkraba]

It won't like the water, and will probably try landing over it, so I'd keep it away from water if you like it.

[@nieograniczony1]

This is so cool and just works!

[@PhillipSkraba]

It's a ton of fun!

[@nieograniczony1]

@@PhillipSkraba This is so more practical than mavic series in vloging :) nice to watch Your progres and grow in this hard times :) Take care and i wish You the best !

[@TechWithBruno]

What a great little drone!

[@PhillipSkraba]

It's fantastic!

[@zantigar]

That is friggin' AMAZING!

[@PhillipSkraba]

It is awesome!

[@seahog32]

I ordered one and sent it back without using it. My intention was to use it for recording skiing videos. The stated maximum speed for the object to be followed is 7 m/s or 25 km/h. That is quite slow but I'd say it's still acceptable for backcountry skiing. However, this thing is certainly not water resistant. The coils of the propellers' electromotors are exposed. I never owned a drone so I'm not sure if this is a norm. However, even with the utmost care I can't see a chance it would not land (or crush) on snow occasionally. And again, I'm talking backcountry powder, not that firm groomed surface you encounter in the ski resorts. I don't think it would survive that kind of situation for long. And lastly, the paperwork included in the box states that it's unsuitable for flying above 2000 m above the sea level. That is probably a somewhat arbitrary number and likely kept on the safe side but still a piece of information I have not encountered in any of the reviews and something to consider.

[@DoctorMikeReddy]

They don’t do well over snow anyway; you need a more robust GPS drone, but third party software can put back some of the AI features that aren’t available out of the box with cheap DJI drones

[@albertlim8079]

So what at night, can it run normally? So far there aren't any KZbin showing night flight videos

[@PhillipSkraba]

I have tried it in my studio in pretty much low light, but I have to get a written letter to go outside after dark from my two small children and my partner. I'll try to get one, it won't be easy, but that is an interesting question!!

[@albertlim8079]

@@PhillipSkraba thanks Phillip

[@miguelmolano6611]

How does it follow you? How long does the batteries last?

[@PhillipSkraba]

Like a ninja. The battery lasts about 10 minutes, like an RC car.

[@miguelmolano6611]

@@PhillipSkraba would you recommend it for scenic Instagram reels?

[@PhillipSkraba]

Sure, it works pretty well in vertical mode too!

[@wolfmccarron]

Did you upscale the 2K footage or did you use Topaz AI to do it?

[@PhillipSkraba]

I upscaled it to a 4K timeline.

[@mattwenkman1]

Gonna pair this up with my Skydio2 & GOPRO MAX 360

[@PhillipSkraba]

GoPro Max is great!

[@PiotrBagniewski]

Can it take photos without the use of an app?

[@mikevega5364]

I will buy the X2, it will be awesome with a better and actually 4k camera.

[@PhillipSkraba]

I'm sure the X2 will be an upgrade, you can't argue with that!

[@genefoxgreenmountaindroning]

Very cool

[@PhillipSkraba]

Thanks! It's surprisingly good as a cameraman, really loved playing around with it over the last few weeks.

[@genefoxgreenmountaindroning]

@@PhillipSkraba it dine a good job from what I saw .

[@PhillipSkraba]

It did, to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to, and to be even more honest, I don't think a DJI drone could follow me in half the places this did.

[@genefoxgreenmountaindroning]

@@PhillipSkraba I agree but I wish it was a little cheaper. Little experience for my budget

[@PhillipSkraba]

@@genefoxgreenmountaindroning The cool thing about it is you don't need to know anything about drones at all, this thing does everything for you at a touch of a button.

[@MaartenPrinsen]

3 degrees? so cold in Poland?

[@PhillipSkraba]

Yes, the mornings were cold recently, warm today with 21c, but from Monday it looks like the high will be 6 during the day, so here comes winter, I hate this part of the year.

[@bourdon845]

Cool !!

[@PhillipSkraba]

Thanks!

[@DangerousDaveKincaid]

Great AI drone love mine BUT it cannot do with my DJI and Skydio drones do. Use along with my GO3 camera...

[@PhillipSkraba]

That's true, yes.

[@furistasTedis]

Impressive little buddy

[@PhillipSkraba]

It's a ton of fun!

[@furistasTedis]

@@PhillipSkraba I blame you that I want to buy things again😂😂

[@brianheppell4506]

WOW !! But why cant it fly over water ? ( i have a kayak )

[@kevindarkstar]

As it has no GPS it pretty much relies on the sensors under the unit to know it's height and location of ground, over water it will not be able to get a good signal to judge its height

[@BSmallssalonfindermagazine]

I just purchased this drone, and I like it! But there are pros and cons. On the positive side, it does most of what it says it does; on the negative side, there is only a 10 or 12-minute battery life, even though it comes with two batteries, and it takes up to 4 hours to charge 1 battery. I see the advertising showing people getting followed on their bikes; I guess the bike ride is less than 10 minutes long. There is minimal instruction on how to really use it; also, when sharing the video or picture, it's not as clear as the original. I had to research KZbin to find how to work things; with that being said, I give it a 7.5 out of 10 rating.

[@pdtech4524]

Great little gadget, definitely a must have if you want a drone camera type experience without all the faff of owning a drone! One thing I was curious of, how do you stop the drone or land it during the dolly function, if it keeps moving away from you?🤔 I think another cool thing I'd like to see is something we can clip our phones into, a similar type cage, with props that utilises the camera built into our phone.👍🤔😁

[@coleycole2nite]

Does anyone know if it still works in Dolly Track mode if you are wearing a mask? I thought I heard it needs facial recognition 🤔

[@coleycole2nite]

When it hit you towards the end 😂

[@mattwenkman1]

What’s better? 2.7K/30 or the HDR 1080….

[@PhillipSkraba]

2.7K in my opinion, just looks way cleaner.

[@alyiga]

Cool little drone. The 3rd gen would probably have better sensors and also follow of none human objects. Really cool well priced drone

[@PhillipSkraba]

I actually love it doesn't have sensors, I think sensors will screw with how well it follows, though following non-human objects will be great and 4k will be awesome. Such a great idea!

[@kevindarkstar]

Well priced 😮

[@garylinnane917]

The future is here

[@PhillipSkraba]

Yes, yes it is.

[@BlairAir]

​@@PhillipSkrabaIt's Tough to Make Predictions, Especially About the Future. The future ain't what iyused to be.

[@ChrisQuadFPV]

It flies itself , just like DJ I 🤣🤣

[@PhillipSkraba]

I bet you'd never get any DJI drone to follow you through the paths I crossed in this video, I mean that was insane.

[@ChrisQuadFPV]

@@PhillipSkraba true that 😃

[@caine-chow]

Has anyone tried using it for mountain biking? Will it hit a tree?

[@PhillipSkraba]

I've seen people use it on mountain bikes, it seems to do a pretty good job.

[@fishdiaries]

If I was 6 years old and no money would be loving this but I’m not I’m much older and have money and can afford a DJI drone makes more sense

[@PhillipSkraba]

I guess it really depends on your use case scenario, it’s a ton of fun.

[@furistasTedis]

The only problem is DJI for 399 don’t have follow me function

[@PhillipSkraba]

Yeah, I think it's for a totally different type of consumer.

[@timoryan4441]

You look like you’re having fun with this…. Tempted. Add it to my Mini 2 or finding upwards of £1k for mini4 pro… darn!

[@PhillipSkraba]

@timoryan4441 that is a hard choice, it really depends on what you want it for. Fun, yeah, tonnes of fun 👹

[@graziflorida4377]

bs

[@PhillipSkraba]

As in Big Sexy? Thanks!

[@kevindarkstar]

It's too expensive for what it is

[@PhillipSkraba]

Well, that really depends on your perspective and needs.

[@kevindarkstar]

@@PhillipSkraba possibly, but at almost £400 it's a bit steep for a flash flying selfie stick, especially in the modern economy 🤷🏻‍♂️