I’d been waiting years for a drone like this! It’s truly a game changer in terms of action filming and doesn’t need gps, a controller, the internet or even your phone to operate it! Just turn it on and go. It takes off and lands in the palm of your hand, is small and lightweight, and the propellers are enclosed in its folding frame. It has a bunch of very cool modes, most of which can be customized for height, distance, etc. What also makes this drone so special is that it can track you as close as 5 feet away, capturing every detail. Here are just a few short videos I’ve made so far.
Terry, my understanding is that batteries last about 11 minutes of flight time? Are replacement batteries available and if so, how hard are they to replace in the field?
Also, how large of a memory card will the Hover support, and what size memory card would you recommend?
Lastly, you did a great job showcasing the different modes, thinking through the shots and how they would translate to video, and then editing the videos.
Hobo Dan already has a detailed review video where he goes over this exact drone camera from a unicyclist’s perspective, and discusses how it works for shooting footage for his unicycle channel. He claims the batteries are easy to replace and that a spare is a necessity, because it only lasted him about an hour total, but I don’t know how long of that was with the drone in the air. Here is the link to his video: Can a flying camera film you Mountain Unicycling? - How the Hover Air X1 works on the trails
It is brilliant. I’ve been using mine on rides for about 3 months and it’s great to get more fluid shots rather than the classic, and rather boring, ride past your phone balanced on a rock shot.
You get about 10 minutes if actual flight time out of a battery. But, by the time you’ve failed the feature/run a few times and had to repeat and the drone had crashed a bunch of times, that doesn’t get you a huge amount of useable footage. You need AT LEAST 2 batteries. I actually carry 4 if its gonna be a longer day with lots of interesting features to ride. Batteries are £40 each in uk.
It feels kind of flimsy, but mine has loads and loads of crashes and it’s not broken yet so they must be pretty sturdy. Obstacle avoidance is a feature i would like to see on a future iteration though; it’s fine when there is plenty of space, but twisting and turning through the forest, particularly in tight areas, it crashes alot and sods law it’l be on the 1 time that u actually ride a feature really clean that it crashes and misses it
I believe the HOX1 has 32g internal storage, which is way more than enough, at least for me. I had at least 20 clips in my album but still had 22g remaining. It’s easy enough just to delete clips when/if you need more space.
I carry one extra batt, the one that came included, but have yet needed to use it. My videos are rarely more than 3-5 minutes, and 90% of what is shot is used, so even after getting 20-30 10-20 sec clips, I still have power remaining.
Hi! I’ve been using the Hoverair X1 drone since the beginning of 2024. I bought it to film myself freewheeling and I’m very happy with it!
For road and muni use, there are limits (I ride too fast on the road and for muni use, there are too many trees in my area).
Yes, my initial aim was to finish with a close-up of them, Paul and Babe, but my drone didn’t want to follow me all the way… I tried to do other shots on the same day but there were too many people. I went back the next days but the wind had changed and I couldn’t do the whole coast…
