The HOVERAir X1 Pro is my first drone (or flying camera). I was surprised about how very simple and easy it is to use. I’ve only used it in my yard so far and haven’t explored all of the settings that allow you to change the height and distance for all of the preprogrammed flight options but I’ve experimented a little and it’s all very intuitive. Even for an old man like me who finds it increasingly difficult to learn new things it’s super easy.
Easy to set up, easy to fly, easy to download video to your phone or tablet. Everything is simple and easy.
Even taking manual control using your phone is easy and surprisingly responsive. I wasn’t sure this was even possible without the beacon (sold separately) before I bought it. But you can take manual control using just your phone. I might get the beacon and joy stick controllers later for the extended range they provide. But I’m going to hold off that decision until after my upcoming trip to SE Asia where I’ll get some real experience with the HOVERAir.
When using the preprogrammed follow mode the object avoidance seems to work pretty well but it’s not flawless. It can have difficulty identifying leafy tree branches as opposed to uniformly solid objects. But it has successfully followed me through a maze of trees and bushes at walking speed. I suspect object avoidance won’t work well (or at all?) in side-follow mode where objects won’t be in the drone’s forward facing line of sight.
I would give 5 stars overall if the battery lasted a little longer. 20 minutes would be great. But I knew the battery might only last 10 minutes or so depending on wind and other factors before I bought the the X1 Pro. And HOVERAir was offering a deal that included a second battery free.
Recharging the batteries in the drone only takes about 35-40 minutes with a 65W wall charger. I’m sure I’ll be recharging on the move with the portable power brick I use for my phone but I haven’t tried this yet so I don’t know how long it will take. I used a different wall charger once and it required 2.5 hours to charge one battery! It wasn’t my charger and I’m guessing it was a 5W. But with my generic brand 65W it takes ~30 minutes to charge 99% and 5 minutes for the last 1%.
I’ll probably buy a third battery and maybe the dual battery charging dock.
Bonus for me: I spend 2-3 months in Laos every year and in that country drones weighing more than 200 grams (not 249g) must be registered with the government. So HOVERAir is pretty much the only drone or flying camera that doesn’t require registration in Laos.
