Hover Camera X1 Review

The Hover Camera X1 is a revolutionary flying camera designed to unlock a spectacular shooting experience. With its ultra-lightweight design, foldable portability, and intelligent flight modes, it’s a drone that’s all about ease and creativity. The unique selling points include easy flight without a controller, object avoidance sensors, and a fully automated approach. It’s small, light, and incredibly simple, making it one of the most accessible drones.

The Hover Camera X1 is well-built and robust, with a protective propeller cage made from strong, flexible plastic. The palm take-off and landing feature is almost flawless, and the sensors do an incredible job of helping the drone avoid obstacles. It’s designed with safety in mind, and the overall build quality is excellent, considering its small size and weight.

The Hover Camera X1 offers a variety of intelligent flight modes that enhance the shooting experience. These modes enable the drone to fly autonomously, with options like Hover, Orbit, Follow, and Bird’s Eye. The user can select the desired mode using direct control buttons on the drone, making the flight experience incredibly user-friendly. The object avoidance sensors add to the drone’s intelligence, detecting objects and taking aversive action when needed.

Weighing only 125g and with folded dimensions of 127mm × 86mm × 31mm, the X1 is one of the smallest and lightest drones available. This ultra-lightweight design impacts its portability and usability, allowing it to fit easily in a backpack pocket or the palm of your hand.

Safety is a priority with the X1. A strong, flexible plastic cage protects the fully enclosed propellers, preventing fingers from getting near the blades. The sensors help the drone avoid objects, and a return-to-home feature ensures a safe landing when the battery level is low.

The Hover X1 app offers quick share functionality, editing, and adding filters and background music to create instantly shareable content. This feature allows users to enjoy more time in the moment and less time editing.

Equipped with advanced VIO (Visual Inertial Odometry) technology and a ToF laser altitude positioning system, the X1 guarantees centimetre-level precision during flight. This ensures that users can capture the exact frame they want, even without GPS.

The X1’s triple image stabilization combines a gimbal, electronic image stabilization (EIS), and horizon levelling to keep shots steady, regardless of wind conditions. This integrated system guarantees stable images no matter how the drone moves.

The real-time preview feature in the Hover X1 app allows users to view shots in real-time, check framing and angle, and switch to photo burst mode to seize every fleeting moment.

The camera offers various photography and video modes, including Standard and Burst for photos and resolutions up to 2704*1520@30fps for videos. With a 90° FOV and 19mm equivalent focal length, the camera provides flexibility for different shooting styles. HDR support and a max video bitrate of 32Mbps ensure quality captures.

With a 1050mAh capacity, each battery supports about 20 intelligent flight shots, and the package includes two batteries. Charging is efficient, with 100% charge achievable in 35 minutes with the charging dock.

The Hover Camera X1 shines in its ease of use, with centimetre-level positioning precision that’s truly remarkable. The sensors on the base of the craft do an incredible job of keeping the drone steady in the air, even without GPS. In slightly windy conditions, the drone holds its position admirably, and the protective propeller cage ensures it can withstand a few nudges without losing its place.

The autonomous flight modes are at the heart of the X1’s performance, enabling it to fly completely autonomously. From Hover to Orbit, Follow, and Bird’s Eye, the drone offers a variety of creative options. The palm take-off and landing feature is almost flawless, adding to the overall ease of control. The manual flight mode via the app is available but feels clunky, showing that the X1’s strength lies in its automated features.

The video quality of the X1 is good, especially considering its target audience of family and friends. With a max resolution of 2.7K and a max bit rate of 32Mbps, the footage looks clear and crisp. The processing creates pleasing footage without visible pixelation, even in low light. The combination of mechanical tilt stabilization, electronic image stabilization (EIS), and horizon levelling ensures a stable image, making the video quality impressive for its category.

The still images are less impressive, with the 12MP resolution showing limitations. However, the quality is acceptable for casual use with family and friends. The images are fun and capture the moment, but they may not meet the standards of more serious photographers.

The real-time preview feature works through the app, providing a handy tool for composition in manual flight mode. While the quality is not up to the transmission standards of some competitors, it’s good enough for the style of use that this drone has been designed for.

The Hover Camera X1 is a unique product that doesn’t quite compare to other drones in its price range. It’s designed for fun and ease, not for professional use. The simplicity, autonomous flight modes, and portability make it a charming device for capturing casual aerial selfies and videos. While it may be seen as a gimmicky product, it’s a gadget that’s easy to love, especially for those who value quick, easy, and enjoyable shooting experiences.

The Hover Camera X1 is a delightful addition to the drone market, offering something unique and enjoyable. It’s a must-try for those looking to add a touch of aerial creativity to their photography toolkit.