Hover Camera Passport:Could you get what you pay for?

Drones have evolved quickly in the past few years, but lately we’re entering a new era. These new models are more compact, less expensive, and – for many consumers – more appealing. After all, not everyone wants to lug around a massive backpack or case in order to be able to take aerial footage.

The new, foldable eyes in the sky are: The Mavic Pro, by DJI. The Karma, by GoPro. And the Hover Camera Passport, by Beijing’s Zero Zero Robotics.This last model, at $599 US, is the least expensive. And, as a result of its unique design and some cool features, has been getting a lot of attention. We can sure see why.

For starters, the Hover Camera Passport doesn’t look like any previous commercial drone. When folded, it’s about the size and shape of a video cassette. What? Yup – it’s like an elongated cube (also known as a cuboid). But it unfolds to reveal two wing-like cages, each of which contain two motors. Those cages are lightweight carbon fibre, and they serve a couple of purposes.

Structurally, they allow for the mounting of the motors and the encasing of the propellers (which means the protection of your fingers!). They also allow for that folding mechanism, which is pretty slick.

But what’s cooler (and what’s grabbing a lot of attention) is one fairly unique feature of the Hover Camera Passport: Once you unfold it and turn it on (kind of like opening a lightweight hardcover book and pressing its spine), you can position it in the air and let go – and it just stays there. A downward facing-camera and sonar hold its position. If you want to reposition it, you can just grab it (without fear of the props), reposition it in the air, and it will stay there.

When you first see it happening, it looks kind of magical. And it is a neat trick.

What’s more, you can control the Hover Camera Passport with your smartphone from up to 20 metres away via WiFi. Anyone can be up and flying in a flash, and taking selfies with its 13-megapixel camera (which is also 4k video-capable). The camera can pitch up 30 degrees and down 90 degrees, so you’ve got some control over the angle of the shot. It comes with two LiPo batteries, each of which can fly the Hover Camera for ten minutes (most drones only ship with one battery).

Plus, the Hover Camera Passport has some brains. It has face-tracking (if you’re close and in good light), body tracking (if you don’t move too quickly – because it tends to lose people), orbit mode (where it flies in a circle around a chosen object while keeping the camera end pointed at it), and a panorama mode where it rotates in a single spot while capturing what it can see with its 28mm field of view.

When you add all that up, it appears to be really great value. Couple that with the ability to grab it and position it by hand, and you’ve got something pretty unique.

But – as with everything in life – you get what you pay for. Two batteries is great, but each of those batteries allows for very limited flight times. (The Mavic Pro, in optimal conditions, can get 27 minutes of airtime off one battery. That’s nearly three times what the Hover Camera Passport can do.)

As for range, 20 metres isn’t bad. But if you want to capture a breathtaking landscape, you’ll want a little more distance between your aerial camera and the earth. With the $999 base Mavic Pro, using your phone alone gives you control from up to 80 metres away. (Add on the Mavic Pro’s optional folding remote control, and it has a range of an incredible seven kilometres – all while streaming back live 1080p or 720p video to your mobile device.)

The biggest issue, however, is that the Hover Camera Passport lacks what both the Mavic Pro and the GoPro Karma have: A stabilizing three-axis gimbal. This feature keeps their cameras rock-solid in the air, immune to vibrations and buffets of wind. That’s why video from either of those models will vastly outshine anything the Hover Camera Passport is capable of producing – even if it has the desirable ultra-high-def 4k spec on paper.

That’s not to say this machine doesn’t have some merits. But if you’re considering the Hover Camera, we’d encourage you to invest less than 10 minutes watching that review before investing $599.

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