Two options to launch your Mavic Pro

Getting the Mavic Pro from unboxing to flight is about as simple as it could be. First you unfold the Mavic and then find an area clear of tall buildings, wires, planes, people and cars. You get the picture; it can be difficult to find legal places to fly a drone these days (also, don’t forget to get your $5 drone license at the FAA.gov).

The Mavic Pro comes pre-paired with its shockingly small remote. This is easily my favorite drone remote ever. It’s light, rugged, comes with a built-in monochrome LED screen and grippers that fold out to hold your smartphone. You don’t need to use a smartphone to fly the Mavic Pro (you can also fly with just the phone app), but then you miss out on the live feed of what the Mavic Pro’s 12-megapixel, 4K gimbal camera can see. There is also a significant amount of touch-screen control added through the excellent, free DJI Go app.

As soon as you power up both the drone and the remote, they pair. The bottom of the remote unfolds and acts as a secure holder for your smartphone. The default plug on the drone one I tested was a micro USB. I flew the drone with both an iPhone 6 and a Samsung Galaxy S7. For the former, I had to use a separate lighting cable that plugged into a USB slot on the remote and then directly into the iPhone.

Take-off is easy and you even have two launch options: Lift-off through the app or via the remote-control joysticks. In the app, I selected the takeoff icon on the screen and then used an on-screen slider to initiate the take-off. Launching with the remote joysticks is more fun and maybe a tiny bit easier.  To launch with this mode, you have to simultaneously push or pull the sticks to the inner or outer corners. Once the motors start, you release the joysticks and the Mavic Pro takes off. It’s drone flight simplified.

Like every other drone I’ve flown over the years, the Mavic Pro is full of sensors. It has ultrasonic sensors to know its altitude, so it automatically hovers to a little over a meter high, waiting for instructions. There are also forward-facing vision sensors for obstacle detection and, of course, a GPS and compass. Put simply, the Mavic Pro knows where it is, where it’s going and if there’s anything in its way.

When I launched the Mavic Pro and started using the remote control, I was immediately impressed by its control. Not only is the Mavic Pro responsive, but I could precisely control its movements in a way I have never experienced before with a drone. While I comfortably flew in a large open field, I also successfully flew it in my tiny backyard, did a couple of test-flights inside my house and one in Mashable’s New York City studio space (without GPS, it had a little trouble responding to my land command).

It also helps that, obviously, the Mavic Pro has built-in obstacle detection. Anytime the Mavic Pro got too close to anything and it would slow down or stop, the Obstacle Detection Bar on the app would turn orange and the remote would vibrate. I could not force it to run into anything. The drone can still back into stuff; there are no rear obstacle detection cameras.

If you want the Mavic Pro to respond more quickly (or radically) to the control and to fly at its max speed of 40 miles per hour, there’s a small slide switch on the side of the remote that lets you enable Sport Mode. I wouldn’t suggest drone newbies using this or enabling this mode indoors.

It’s also worth noting that the Mavic Pro is among the quietest drones I’ve flown. I’m not saying it’s not loud, but once you get it a hundred feet in the air or so, it’s fairly hard to hear.

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Is Hover Camera Passport for you?

Hover Camera Passport is a delightful little gadget: It’s a foldable, portable drone that do not need FAA certification because they are below the FAA’s limit of 250 grms, this simply means that potential users of Hover Camera Passport will not have to register the camera with the FAA!

Pros 

• Simple to Use
• FUN

Cons

• Pricey
• A little to unprofessional
•  Need a better Camera here!

DESIGN

The Hover Camera Passport’s carbon fiber prop cages, they protect the propellers from run-ins with obstacles, which drastically reduces the likelihood of a crash. More important, though, the prop guards also protect the pilot from the spinning blades, which makes it safe to launch the drone from your hand, or even pluck it out of the air when you’re done flying. However,covering the propellers comes at the cost of increased weight and reduced efficiency.

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE

The complete package includes a protective and portable carrying case with strap, two batteries with a wall adapter that can charge both batteries at the same time, extra propellers, a USB cable, a bag.

CAMERA QUALITY

Hover Camera Passport features a 13-MP camera that is capable of shooting and delivering 4K videos. The camera comes equipped with a dual-tone flash that makes use electronic stabilization. The camera can also capture video using the 3-MP camera that is located on its underbelly. Apart from the enclosure, there is a guidance system that was made up of several sensors like the Sonar at the bottom. The camera is good but not great as it’s a fixed camera and uses a combination of software image stabilization and single axis motion to keep the image from shaking, now, this is not the best solution here and this does show in the finished videos.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The most impressive features are the two that make use of the Hover Camera Passport’s image recognition software: Face Track and Body Track — both of which are self explanatory. To use them, you simply tap on the face or body that you’d like to follow, and the Passport will do whatever it takes to keep the subject in frame. The software isn’t quite as robust or intuitive as DJI’s Active Track technology (which can track any object you select), but it’s pretty effective, and definitely one of the Hover Camera Passport’s best features.

iOS APP

The Hover Camera Passport has an accompanying app that gives you a fair number of controller layout options. You can fly with two virtual joysticks if you’re familiar with traditional controls; use the simplified layout if you just need to get the camera in position; or even turn on tilt mode and steer the drone around by tilting your phone in any direction. As with most smartphone-based controls, the Passport’s manual modes do feel a bit loose and imprecise.

CONCLUSION

The Hover Camera Passport can’t be on par with some high-end portable drones like Mavic Pro, Yuneec Breeze. But it’s just designed to snap selfies.It could follow you everywhere and makes for a fun travel companion though the 8mins flight time is not enough.

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How to select a new camera drone?

Now all kinds of drone camera are hitting the market,Some are incredibly well-engineered flying camera platforms that come complete & ready-to-fly with camera, gimbal & software integrated and tested.Others are outdated junk you should avoid at all costs.So you need to learn about the features that really matter when selecting a new camera drone.

A camera drone is a radio-controlled aerial flying platform (fixed-wing or multi-rotor configuration) designed to carry an HD camera that shoots high-quality videos and still photography,vibration-free.

Most camera drone today are multi-rotors like quadcopters, because multi-rotors are exceptionally stable and maneuverable flying platforms.

The most popular camera drones today either come ready-to-fly – with an HD or 4K camera installed – or, they can be easily fitted with a popular 2-axis or 3-axis gimbal capable of carrying a camera of your choice.

Many leading camera drone also come equipped with advanced software-driven features that simplify the planning and production of a video shoot, for example:

• pre-flight planning software: create your flight plan by drawing waypoints on a map using a tablet or touchscreen interface
• GPS autopilot: execute your flight plan hands-off, via autopilot, so you can focus on getting a great shot
• automated trick camera shots:  follow-me (3PV), region of interest (ROI) targeting and circle-me are some of the newer automated camera modes making life easier for film makers
• safety features: Auto Return Home (RTL), Low Battery Return, and Pause-and-Hover modes are now available in many models. These will help you avoid damage to your aircraft and injury to others.
• flight simulator: learn how to fly before risking your equipment
• video editing and publishing software
• and more

While it may take a little time to master all of the features of your camera drone, today’s best-selling drones are exceptionally easy to fly and take crisp, stutter-free HD video and still shots.

For most amateurs and professionals just starting out, a ready to fly(RTF) camera drone is by far your best option.

RTF camera drone like the ones made by DJI and Yuneec have worked-out the bugs and inconsistencies among their onboard and ground station systems. This integration makes taking high quality shots on every flight as easy and stress-free as possible.

RTF camera drone do sacrifice some flexibility in camera & payload choices, but most amateurs and semi-pro film makers won’t notice.

Building your own camera drone from scratch is another option, but it isn’t realistic for most people. Instead, most hobbyists prefer to mount a camera and gimbal of their choice to a proven commercial-grade flying platform like the DJI Matrice 600 that meets the minimum requirement for film making and photography – features such as:

• accepts professional gimbals and cameras (mounting space and payload capacity)
• includes an onboard GPS with an integrated flight controller and autopilot
• comes with integrated flight planning & control software
• has been proven in the field for camera work.

Custom-mounting a gimbal and camera to a drone requires care due to center-of-gravity and possible equipment interference issues.

In addition, custom-built camera drone may lack advanced camera control and direction such as follow-me (3PV) and region of interest (ROI) targeting.

Finally, warranties may not cover a DIY flying camera.

If you need a camera drone for specialized jobs such as data acquisition, agriculture or surveillance, then you may want to consider purchasing a special-purpose work drone, instead.

Industry-specific drones tend to be more expensive and more complex to operate, however. This is why many professionals opt for “prosumer” drones like the Inspire 2 or Phantom 4 Pro, whenever they can.

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Yuneec Breeze aims for sky already covered by DJI Phantom 3 Standard

Yuneec Breeze,the starter RC quadcopter from Yuneec, falls short.

Initial marketing says the Yuneec Breeze is an RC quadcopter for beginners with a price just shy – and marks an important entry point for casual drone users who want some close-up aerial video and photos.

That seems wonderful until you realize that the DJI Phantom 3 Standard claimed that title and space more than a year ago. At the same time, the low-cost entry-model Yuneec Breeze has some major limitations.

The maximum flying speed of the Yuneec Breeze for example is 5 m/s—mostly because of software-imposed limitations linked to the smartphone app controller. That is significantly slower than the 19.4 m/s for the bulky Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter, which isn’t all that great either.

And flight time of the Yuneec Breeze is about 12 minutes, compared to around 25 minutes for the DJI Phantom 3 Standard and the same for the Typhoon H. The beetle-shaped Yuneec Breeze is also called a “selfie drone” for a reason; you need to keep it at arms-length to avoid getting a hand caught in one of the unprotected blades. The Yuneec Breeze unit is compact and is certainly divergent from other Yuneec models such as the Q500 4K.

Still, the smaller Yuneec drone lacks a collision sensor, an intelligent rechargeable battery or a dedicated controller for solid gimbal handling, thereby making the Yuneec Breeze cheaper for a reason. It is true that mastering a flight controller may be more of a challenge for users used to phone screen touch commands.

But that touch pad ease has a downside too, as the range is limited to about 80 m before the phone WiFi signal gets choppy, potentially sending the Yuneec Breeze on its way to home base, or worse, a flyaway.

And as a review on Stuff says, the short range goes with the short battery life, which itself is another hidden cost because a spare is certainly needed.

“Admittedly, you won’t get far before the Breeze’s battery life gets you, either,” Tom Morgan writes. “Twelve minutes per charge really isn’t a lot, so it is a good job the battery pack is removable. You only get one in the box, so it might be worth picking up a spare if you’re going to be out all day.”

Morgan also wonders about the comparison of the Yuneec Breeze to the $499 DJI Phantom 3 Standard, which does have lower specs than models such as the DJI Phantom 4, but also comes with more features and a dedicated controller and also works with most phones.

Skimping on features does help lower the price, but it also makes the Yuneec Breeze a poor comparison with other low-end models that retail for as little as $99. There is certainly a market for a reliable beginner drone that can allow close-up video and photography—it just seems that the Yuneec Breeze has missed that spot.

 

 

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Hover Camera Passport battery life

The Hover Camera Passport from a Chinese startup Zero Zero Robotics retailes at $599. It comes in the unique form of a foldable cage while packing cool features like body tracking, face tracking and orbiting.

One thing that sets the Hover Camera Passport apart from the other high-end foldable drones like DJI’s Mavic Pro and GoPro’s Karma is its size,weight and caged propellers.At just 242 grams, or 0.53 pounds. The Passport is unlikely to hurt anyone should something go wrong, as its propellers are shielded by a carbon fiber enclosure. When folded, it’s just 33mm (1.3 inches) thick, and even in its 45mm-thick protective case (which stores the drone and two batteries), it fits in my backpack with plenty of room to spare.

Unlike most other drones, the Hover Camera Passport can only be launched from one’s hand: Hold up the powered-on unit with its wings open, tap the power button to rev up the propellers for about one second, and then release the unit to let it hover. Similarly, you can retrieve the hovering Passport with your hand without ever having to worry about the blades: Grab it and tap the power button to kill the propellers, or you can first tilt the unit downward to slow the propellers down before tapping the power button. When the battery level is critically low, the drone can slowly land itself using the sonar sensor under its belly; you can also use the One-Touch Landing button to toggle automatic landing at any time.

It’s safe to say that the Hover Camera Passport is one of the very few — if not the only — drones that can be launched and retrieved so safely. This is guaranteed to impress your family, friends and strangers alike.

While the Hover Camera Passport is impressed me and is ahead of similar drones like Dobby, the pocket-friendly drone category still faces some limitations. The worst problem is the battery life which is fairly shot. Expect about 10 minutes of air time from Hover Camera. Though with a charge time of about 40 minutes, it won’t be long until you’re back in the air again.

The Yuneec Breeze, another selfie drone, offers about 12 minutes of flight time.While,you can fly the DJI Mavic Pro for over twice as long, a reported 27 minutes of battery life, giving you much more time to the shot you want. And according to Xiaomi Mi drone, you can expect to get 27 minutes of flight time on a single charge.

This might not seem like a big deal if this is your first drone and you’re just getting used to flying in the first place, but having to change the batteries just to get less than a half hour of flight time is going to get really old, really fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The comparison between Yuneec and DJI

Now the drones could be seen almost everywhere.The China’s two drone manufacturers are outstanding in the market of the world. Talking about comparing brands, we have decided compare two brands in the technology business; one is an oldie and the other is a newbie.Do you know the two brands?If not,let me tell you-DJI vs Yuneec.Let’s make the comparison based on their features and market value.

• Market Price:Considering the drones these brands have in the market. Their prices are relatively the same. Their prices range from $1000 to $3000 even though the prices of DJI drones are higher than those of Yuneec drones.

• Flight Time:These brands have drones that run approximately the same time. DJI have drones that run for 15-25 minutes, while Yuneec drones run for 20-25 minutes. For a new brand, we think Yuneec is stepping up to DJI on this one.

• Model Size, Dimension and Weight:DJI drones come in various sizes ranging from small and medium sizes to large sizes. On the other hand, Yuneec drones are mostly medium-sized drones. In any case, product variety is an advantage DJI has over Yuneec.

• Flight Automation: The kinds of features in drones are determined by the manufacturer. DJI drones have the latest features but come with a high price, whereas Yuneec have relatively similar features to DJI but not all. DJI have one of the coolest drones with multiple flight modes, but some people would ditch it for Yuneec due to its price affordability. Yuneec offer awesome drones for a reasonable price, too.

• Accessories: Agreed, both brands have smart features such as follow me, return to home, watch me features, GPS, camera frame and focus, multiple control mode. Yuneec drones are packed with accessories such as batteries, controller, propellers and other accessories, while DJI drones are not fully packed with accessories. Yuneec latest drone comes with two batteries but DJI doesn’t have such advantage.

• Design: Yuneec drones have a rugged look or mean-looking designs, while DJI drones have sleek and awesome designs.

• Mode of Operation:Yuneec drones are easy to operate compared to DJI drones. Yuneec would be the best option for a beginner. DJI drones require a separate phone for set-up and connectivity while Yuneec drones do not require that.

DJI has been the king of drone manufacturing companies in recent years, but Yuneec has given them a run for their money. Yuneec have proven consistently that they are a formidable competitor that can outshine DJI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Who will be the first to buy Hover Camera at this price?

Hover Camera unveiled at CES 2017 is striking for its unique design. Unfortunately, not all the attention has been favorable. Many people are expressing displeasure with its price $599. Before you part with your hard-earned cash, consider the following complaints regarding the Hover Camera Drone:

“Are they joking? $600 for this ? I will not name it, cause that would be downgrading on myself. I honestly wonder who will be the first to buy this thing at this price. Great joke for 2017, can’t stop laughing. I know, i should behave better, but just can’t .These people may think that consumers are complete idiots.”

“It’s a shame the Hover Camera price is so high. Guess we will see how it goes. I do love the fully enclosed design, but way too high of a price point. From the video and performance I have seen out of that thing (in various videos) it’s nowhere near 600 bucks.”

“Of course people will buy this! people have got enough money for $5000 drones so this will be cheap.”

“Yep waaay too expensive for little more than a toy that won’t get used much. The website states 6,500 feet max height but no more than 65 feet controller range! Love to see this at 6,500 feet!!! Where did they get that figure from??”

“To expensive, my first impression would be $299-$399 max…”

“Sadly if they can’t figure out a way to lower the price this likely won’t do well. The Hover Camera drone does look like a great product. But that price will really hurt them in the long run. Which is really too bad. But hey I do wish them luck. Maybe they will find a way to drop the price a bit and find their nitch.

“The AI tech and functionality is really good. The price-point may cause ppl to select another product. It’s like choosing between a great electric car and your dream sports car.”

 

 

 

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