Tech review

Is it a novelty gadget or a serious drone?

To be honest I had low expectations when the HoverAir X1 box arrived on my desk — the drone itself, about the size of a large pack of cards, seemed flimsy compared to the DJI models I usually fly.

The HoverAir was easy to set up, though. You can download the app and get into it, or if you are having trouble there is a library of tutorial videos to follow. With the battery charged, I had it up and operating in less than a minute.

There are only two buttons to worry about; one turns it on and the other toggles through the six flight modes.

I suspect most people who buy this drone will use it like a flying selfie stick, and the follow mode is indeed pretty cool if you are into filming yourself. Imagine the shots if Hillary had one on top of Mt Everest!

With follow mode activated, you can launch the drone from your hand and it will follow you with the video running. It’s a bit like having your own portable film crew.

Limitations are a fairly short flight time, about 10 minutes. It can’t fly in high wind and has a height limit of 15m (which should keep you out of trouble with aviation laws).

And despite the fact it already has six modes of flight available — hover, zoom-out, follow, orbit, bird-eye and custom — you can fly it manually via your phone too, although this is far harder.

If you link the sound to your phone while filming you can give a running commentary without the whine from the propellers.

With both of our major TV broadcasters dumping staff to save money, perhaps you may regularly see HoverAir X1 popping up in the TV cameraman credits.

My conclusion is that it’s a pretty cool gadget if you love posting videos about yourself. Perhaps you’re an influencer, you’re on holiday posting video to family and friends, or you’d like to critique your own yoga style ... this wee drone is a mirror to show yourself off to the world.

Stephen Jaquiery is the ODT’s Illustrations editor.