This Chinese brand just combined a pocket gimbal camera and an autonomous drone into one ingenious device
HoverAir’s new Versa is the flying DJI Osmo Pocket no one saw coming
by Matt Kollat · T3
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HoverAir has unveiled the Versa, a curious new vlogging camera that can be used in your hand one moment and transformed into a drone the next.
It’s effectively HoverAir's take on the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, a compact camera mounted on a three-axis mechanical gimbal.
The difference here is that by attaching wings to it, you can turn the Versa into a selfie drone.
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On the ground, the Versa operates as a pocket-sized handheld camera for recording walks, vlogs and everyday footage.
Attach its enclosed propeller assembly (not dissimilar to the brand's X1 Pro model), and it becomes a self-flying camera capable of tracking its owner without a traditional drone controller.
HoverAir says the Versa will offer more than 10 automated flight modes, along with AI subject tracking and automatic composition.
The company has not yet revealed important details such as its sensor size, video resolutions, flight time, weight, price or release date.
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It has, however, made some ambitious claims about dynamic range and low-light performance.
One of the more exciting features – called 3D Worlds – allows the Versa to perform a controlled 360-degree flight around a scene and reconstruct it as an image that can be explored from different viewpoints.
HoverAir keeps finding gaps in the drone market
The Versa is unusual, but it also feels entirely consistent with HoverAir’s approach to product development.
The company helped establish the modern selfie-drone category with the Hover Camera Passport and later refined the idea with the pocket-sized HoverAir X1, concentrating on automatic tracking, protected propellers and one-button operation.
Then it took that same formula onto the water with the HoverAir Aqua, an IP67-rated camera drone that can land on, float upon and take off from water.
Now the company has spotted another potentially lucrative gap, the increasingly crowded market for pocket-sized vlogging cameras.
DJI, Insta360 and numerous other manufacturers are all competing for creators who want stabilised footage without carrying a full mirrorless camera rig.
The Versa enters that contest without abandoning the feature most closely associated with the HoverAir brand, namely, autonomous flight.
HoverAir has yet to confirm when the Versa will go on sale. More information is available on the official HoverAir Versa page.