HoverAir X1 Pro Max - A Thorough & Honest Review

[@kovs-game]

This was a great review, thanks for all the effort you put into it ! BTW the landscapes shots are insane ! keep it up !

[@張德銘-x4h]

Best review of X1 Pro Max that I’ve ever watched

[@sgirard1984]

Great review! I'm glad you were able to use it from your kayak...this one of my use cases. I just hope that all the issues are only software related so everything can be fix in near future. I'll receive my Promax this week and I'll be buying the beacon and joystick once they fixed all issues and made some improvements. The specs are there. Now it's time to fix reamaining issues and enhance the product and accessories. There is so much potential with this drone. And hopefully they can add raw dng files soon to make it usefull for aerial photography too.

[@tomcat7525]

You do make beautiful reviews. 👏

[@ChristianHampshire]

Solid review! Mine is out for delivery today, and I can't wait for ski season to send some cliffs with it. Keep up the great videos!

[@TheSshadow7]

Great review, Roo. You're the only reviewer (and I follow A LOT) that I watch every single review and with haste. Nice music and sound again in this video, plus the cinematography.

[@peterrzepka1]

This is honestly the best and most comprehensive review yet. However, there is one point that makes me wonder: what makes you think that the drone would have lost you during the speed test on the bike without the beacon? Are you really sure about that? Did you carry out this exact test with and without the beacon? According to hoverair, the only benefit of the beacon is that it can find you again if you were obscured for a moment. It also does not help to enable more precise tracking. Perhaps you can compare this part separately.

[@Roos-Reviews]

My belief comes from my experience with the slower X1. When I cycle faster than it can keep up, it will just stop and hover. The X1 Pro Max top speed is 42 and I was cycling at 44 and at that point the distance between me and the drone was increasing. It may not have been enough distance for it to lose me entirely, but my point is, say I was doing greater speed still, and created a much greater distance between me and the drone, because of the beacon it would be able to find me and catch up again, whereas without the beacon it would lose me and stop. That is my understanding, but of course I could be wrong, so I appreciate your thoughts on this. If the drone knows where the beacon is, it doesn't matter if I momentarily outrun the drone, as long as it's within the maximum transmission range, it will still be able to catch up using location data coming from the beacon. I would like to test this properly and in depth. The trouble is I don't own a motorcycle, and none of my other bikes and such can go that speed.

[@peterrzepka1]

@@Roos-Reviews Thank you for your answer. You don't need a motorcycle to test it. You could do the test exactly as in the video, but just without the beacon. And my guess would be that the drone would still stick to you.

[@danewesterdahl3451]

great video. I wonder if the filters will improve the over exposure issue?

[@shep64]

Always look forward to your great reviews. Thanks

[@kpeterrafael]

You made the best review of the X1 last year, and now you did it again with the X1 Pro Max! Glad Hover sent it to you! Indeed the BEACON is very cool but had a lot of issues, it got much better in the last month, but it still needs many updates, and I'm afraid until it will be all fixed and ironed out Hover will lose many future customers... But I think it's still a great asset to have and if implemented in an original way it should be very useful... The goal for the beacon should be so we don't have to use our phones at all. All options/settings/parameters, hope all going to be on the beacon in future updates, so anything can be changed from it. Also for the full manual RC experience my suggestion for Hover was that the beacon could be used as a status screen. Just fill up the beacon's screen with status information on OT, HoverLink (aka GPS signal for both drone and beacon), sound recording icon, and battery percentage indicator for drone, beacon & joystick, distance and height of the drone and whatever else important. And this way the main phone screen is not full and loaded with many small hard-to-read icons, and it's left for a nice and better preview. The beacon's screen is a very cool asset, but they need to think about how to use it in an original way because other drones don't have this. PS: glad you included the founder, MQ Wang at the end, it's such a great message and he is such a humble person, and one of the main reasons I fully support this company! :)

[@Master0fHyrule]

I was so excited about this camera but after finding out I need a Part 107 to post on KZbin, I had to sell it since I have no time currently to get one. Also, good review!

[@Emuspaul]

I think you need Part 107 if your channel is monitized.

[@Master0fHyrule]

@Emuspaul it is

[@RoadkillBC]

This was a very well-done review, and an outstanding video. Well done, and thank you for your countless hours of work to produce it for us.

[@MagivaIT]

what a fantastic video, not just a review, really well put together. HDR night mode would look amazing wouldn't it.

[@mishka59]

I had the X1 and was amazed by this little thing. I got a couple of days ago the new Gen cycling pack. What they did with the Pro was everything I asked for as an upgrade to the original X1 and much more. Mainly the 4k res ( I got the 8k ...) At the end of the day this is an autonomous flying Camera and not a full blown Drone and that is the beauty of it IMO. Simplicity, ease of use, robustness, form factor !!! and time from off mode to flying/shooting mode. Pretty amazing !

[@lewismarriott1966]

Great review :)

[@robbart7599]

Bravo, really enjoyed, informative, recreative & honest !

[@Emuspaul]

Cool footage and editing. Excellent review. I think ZZR is fixing the overexposing issue.

[@ChasingTheSun1967]

Great review. You must have spent days in the making and post composition for this. I like how you did it in similar format to the previous Hover. 👍

[@pspr33]

As they say, third times a charm. Hopefully the next iteration will have all of your suggestions included as they make perfect sense and also arrive relatively bug free.

[@Rollerlife]

Those words from the owner, really got to me when I saw that video...

[@JetSurfingNation]

Thanks! Did you try Hover X pro over water and for watersports with self following? Following with the beacon?

[@decline.enjoyer]

Best review of this product

[@2limbo]

Beautiful video and review. Thank you so much. I have the "old" X1 which is still amazing. The words of ZZR President stuck to me and made me decide to buy the X1-Pro. Yes it has it's flaws but I am confident they will be dealt with in future updates.

[@ClassicCyclingCC]

Thank you for the video. The only reason I would consider buying this drone is for its tracking ability. My DJI drones, do everything else better than the X1. However, I will not buy this drone unless and until hover air 1) gives me the ability to adjust the exposure manually in both beacon and intelligent tracking modes and 2) fixes the beacon tracking. From the reviews I have watched it seems like this product is still in development mode. I would imagine that future firmware updates will fix all those issues but until then, and considering the price, I will pass.

[@UPHILLPHILL]

Absolutely superb video and wonderful style. Definitely gonna help me with my ProMAX. Subscribed 👍

[@RonaldBrown59]

This amazing technology, especially if you need a selfie drone that follows you. But as far as the 8k camera specs are concerned, i have older 4k drones (at around the same price or less) that record much better video that this does. And I would have liked to seen some example of the photo quality. Great review, thanks for doing such a through job.

[@cosmosk8s]

just got mine in the mail today!!!

[@CheikoSairin]

A very honest reviews and great footage. A big LIKE for the video. Thanks! Greetings from Singapore.

[@jontaba80]

Awesome video and review. Thank you so much 🙏

[@popcopone5172]

oh and really nice review and video too

[@epos_rising]

Cool video ! Can ProMax shoot 8K in vertical in all modes ? Can you switch to vertical during flight ?

[@popcopone5172]

nice ending for sure

[@Emuspaul]

I am just going to "sit" on my pro max for a while and not do any dangerous situations for a couple weeks until bugs are worked out. Meanwhile my Neo can go wild; and my Avata 2 can do photography. But I am amazed how slower and smoother the pro max flies indoors for real-estate type shots. Reviewers don't seem to point out this is the best Class 1 camera drone that meets FAA requirements for Operations Over People (although in reality you fly [transit] over people anyway). So this should mitigate for sustained flying over people at an event.

[@grabejud]

fantastic review.

[@kvmalley]

Really guess review @Roo’s Reviews!! 💯👊

[@bourdon845]

Cool !

[@GrayAngus]

Still image quality/examples would be good to see. Nobody seems to mention it.

[@Sledge0077]

Mine is getting delivered today. I can't wait for everything to get charged so I can quit work early! 😂

[@schroedingerskatze3299]

Very good and extensive review

[@EdHecht]

Interesting that the beacon/joystick seems to be unavailable as part of a combo or even standalone...

[@BlackPrimeMinister]

Wish the obstacle avoidance rear camera was better. A bit disappointed in that, to be honest - but the big surprise is low light. I'm delighted at the performance. It destroys the Neo. This is a pretty good camera and a fine little company. Mine arrived today. I went mad and got the most extreme combo with every tool - I think it's called the Skiing Combo, but do I ski? Do I feck! Amazing review - and like others in the comments, the only one I was waiting for.

[@MiyagisRant]

My first one was a defect, the replacement now is working as it should. We are seeing more and more firmware and app updates and it's getting better. This is what happened to the 1st gen X1. Definitely a better experienced now with a 'working' X1 Pro. great video Roo. Looking forward to future updates as it's getting better and better, still debating on pulling the trigger on the Beacon/Joysticks, another $250, ouch lol. p.s. How are you getting your NEO to fly in low light mode, mine just goes into Attitude mode and goes nuts and crashes.

[@MrConcord75]

Agree with all your comments on the issues. Did your kit come with the ND filters? That might help with the bright details.

[@johnnychirnside4513]

Fantastic review!! Great cinematography and music!! My X1 Pro Max arrived yesterday but it will not connect to my Samsung A54 phone via wifi. Put a real dampener on it. Anybody else having the same problem??

[@johnnychirnside4513]

Problem solved. Used an old phone that connected to the Hoverair and updated the firmware via the app. Now works with the original phone.

[@鄭博仁-m7w]

謝謝您的珍貴分享

[@ando81]

Would be nice to know the FW (Firmware) Version at that moment.

[@Roos-Reviews]

7.2.3

[@foljs5858]

This drone never saw a highlight it couldn't burn!

[@franziraible]

Really great!

[@infiveg]

Качество видео ужасное☹ Слишком сильно резкая картинка, цифровая резкость не добавляет деталей, а делает видео телефонным.

[@markshirley01]

Do you find it possible to fly the Pro Max at slow speeds using the phone app. I need to film hotels bars and restaurants in towns and cities in the UK.

[@Roos-Reviews]

Personally, I find flying it with the phone app less than ideal. Using controls on the touchscreen is much less precise than using real joysticks and I find it difficult to get smooth movements just using a touchscreen, especially turns.

[@joejacobsen6874]

The AI software that removes the drone noise and records your voice, merging with the video does not work. Have you had any luck with this.

[@Roos-Reviews]

Mine isn't working yet.

[@sibertiger17]

Great full and honest review. Up here in Canada, their full kit was still $1600 in the earliest deal and it's just not worth that at all. 8k is useless. Who needs that? No one. All issues is exactly why I'll never buy from Kickstarter. I fully believe it's a crime to release a product and charge full price when it's not close to ready. That's like buying a brand new car for full price and you only get three wheels and no steering but they promise you'll get the parts you need later. It's such poor business practice and a crappie model that all tech companies use now and it shouldn't be allowed. Apple....Microsoft...video games etc....

[@Roos-Reviews]

Unfortunately, the model of 'buy it now and we'll try to fix everything later' is ubiquitous across the computer-based tech industry. Action cameras, drones, VR headsets and such suffer from it a lot. And very often an update that fixes some bugs will introduce more bugs and break previously functional features. It's the state of tech today.

[@Ozpeter]

I just laboriously typed a very similar comment using my VR headset. Memo to self - read comments first, post comment after!

[@MrConcord75]

"Who needs that? No one." Thank you for tell me what I need or don't need. Anything else you want to control about others?

[@DarkStoneCastle]

The new firmware (7.2.5) seems to cause the video to stutter and freeze. I was fairly happy with the drone till this last update. Now, it's completely worthless until the next update.

[@creativecarveciteclimb5684]

4:07 This is impressive, but the DJI Neo can be used without a remote, just like the Hoverair X1 Pro Max.

[@Roos-Reviews]

I was talking about over water specifically, like when Kayaking as shown.

[@creativecarveciteclimb5684]

@@Roos-ReviewsWait, the Neo can't be used over the water without a remote? 🤔 Is it something with the downward facing sensors?

[@DannyFyffe]

Summary: Not ready for primetime so it is a pass. At $799 plus hundreds more for the accessories, it is not competitive.

[@hellohogo]

It just doesn’t look good. Maybe a layperson doesn’t notice at a glance on a phone, but the way it handles the transition from hard light to varying degrees of shadow is rough. The dynamic range and rolloff is very similar to older generation cell phone cameras

[@jean-marcnaud2838]

C'est carrément de la publicité , au final vous avez même l'impression que son patron ( un cadre de chez hover) apporte la touche finale à cette démonstration hyper retouchée en post production de la qualité indéniable d'un appareil qui pourtant n'a vraiment séduit qu'un seul testeur c'est à dire ce qui semble être un représentant de la marque qui se sent obligé d'emblée d'insister sur le côté honnête et non sponsorisé d'une vidéo en fait purement promotionnelle. J'y aurais volontiers adhéré si la grande majorité des autres testeurs n'avaient pas été unanimes dans leur manque d'enthousiasme sans oublier le prix qui compte tenu de la prestation réelle devient carrément prohibitif faisant de ce joujou un gadget de luxe

[@lonniesfilmmaking333]

It’s still overpriced…not a sponsored video but manufacturers still send you it…do you send it back?

[@Localtraveler2376]

That quote by the company guy at the end is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen in a review.

[@BlackPrimeMinister]

Why? It's a really touching statement by a man who has failed and failed again.

[@WethenorthBacani]

It actually made me teared up a little.

[@Localtraveler2376]

I would never buy one. Maybe they’ll send one for me to review 🤔.

[@beefydamngoodness]

Bro you got the best review so far! One thing you've missed though that I wished you included, using the ND filters to solve the overexposure problems if they actually help.😊

[@devangkankane]

👍🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡