Description

The HoverAir X1 is a camera drone by the Chinese drone manufacturer, ZeroZero Robotics — and it could be a non-DJI alternative, particularly to the company’s lineup of tiny drones, the DJI Mini Line. Much like the popular DJI Mini drones (including the new DJI Mini 4 Pro), the HoverAir X1 drone is intended for beginners, people on a budget, and those looking to up their selfie game — and it’s highly portable. And because Skydio ended production on all consumer drones earlier this year, it is rare to hear about a non-DJI drone in the consumer field. So how does it stack up against its DJI competitors? I put this DJI competitor camera drone to the test in this HoverAir X1 review: The drone markets at $439, but is currently on sale for $399 on its own website. While that’s a pretty low price point compared to other camera drones, it’s still not cheaper than Drone Girl’s top-rated drone under $400 — but we’ll dig into that later. Unsurprisingly, the low price also means that many of the key HoverAir X1 camera specs (e.g. flight time, flight distance, storage) are pretty unimpressive. However, don’t write off the HoverAir X1 completely. It can do some things that most drones can’t: fly indoors, fly near people, record sound, and fly totally hands-free (no app, no controller needed). This drone is less of a drone and more of a self-flying camera (which is even on how the company markets it). If you are a vlogger, who is looking for something on the go, and not too concerned with high image quality, then this might be for you. Here is my full HoverAir X1 review — showing off a small folding drone that can take video and snapshots hands-free.