HoverAir X1: Road Test

It’s a drone with a difference: a flying selfie camera that takes off from the palm of your hand and operates autonomously.

In action: the HoverAir X1 takes off from the palm of your hand

WHAT IS IT? Just the thing for anyone who wants to take their narcissism to the next level. It’s a flying selfie camera!

YOU MEAN A DRONE? Well, yes – but a very specialised one. It takes off from the palm of your hand and flies autonomously, “locking on” to you and capturing awesome footage as you hike, run, ride, ski, whatever. If you stop and hold out your hand, it’ll automatically land on your outstretched palm.

SO THERE’S NO SKILL INVOLVED? No, you just use a button to select a flight mode: it can follow you from the front, side or back, or take in a bird’s eye view; you can fine-tune things (like how closely it follows you) in the companion app.

VITAL STATISTICS: It weighs 125g and folds to a pocketable size. The four props are encased in a flexible plastic cage, so it’s very crash-resistant (which is just as well, as there’s no collision avoidance software). Top speed is 25km/h, and unlike pricier drones there’s no “return to home” function – if it loses track of you it’ll just stop and land on the ground.

From $299, global.hoverair.com