HoverAir X1 PROMAX drone review

Whether or not you believe that bigger equals better, the HoverAir X1 PROMAX is the highest-resolution selfie drone available that also beats most camera drones. With up to 8K video capture, 10-bit HLG, up to 4K slow motion video capture and 48MP JPEGs, this small and highly portable selfie drone punches well above its weight in terms of image capture. The PROMAX could be one of the best camera drones.

Selfie and even vlogging drones like the DJI Flip are growing in popularity. These drones feature built-in propeller guards to keep you safe while the drone autonomously tracks you using clever algorithms that work like magic. The first drone of this type was the HoverAir X1 which has subsequently led to the more advanced HoverAir X1 PRO and the HoverAir X1 PROMAX.

The higher-end HoverAir X1 PROMAX is aimed at professional content creation which is why it features a 1/1.3in CMOS sensor and a 16mm equivalent lens alongside the high-resolution image capture capabilities. Whether you’re walking, running, cycling or skiing, for example, the PROMAX’s autonomous intelligent flight modes will track you with impressive precision.

There’s also a range of optional accessories that can improve and enhance the performance of the drone. These include physical controller options that offer alternatives to the excellent app control for manual flight. The PROMAX can be operated drone-only for the intelligent flight modes, with the app for flight modes and manual flight, with the Beacon and with the controller, with the latter being comprised of the Beacon and joysticks.

HoverAir X1 PROMAX: Design

• Compact and lightweight folding design
• Built-in propeller guards
• Multiple control options

The X1 PROMAX is a compact and lightweight folding drone with built-in propeller guards that fold out from below the small airframe. These keep objects and people safe when the drone is flying autonomously, since the propellers are encased in a protective frame. This feature also allows for safe palm take-off and landing.

The drone is small enough to fit in a jacket pocket at 4.13 x 5.86 x 1.34 in / 105 x 149 x 34 mm when folded. Unfolded, it’s still pretty small at just 6.81 x 5.86 x 1.53 in / 173 x 149 x 39 mm, with a weight of 6.79 oz / 192.5 g. This means that US-based pilots flying the drone recreationally won’t need to register it with the FAA. UK-based pilots will still need to register with the CAA as an operator.

The design is simple with a single circular button and two directional buttons around this in a circular design. There’s also an OLED screen above to show the currently selected flight mode and this is most useful when flying the drone autonomously without any other control device connected. The battery slots neatly into the top of the airframe.

The batteries are small and lightweight with a 1920mAh capacity, and battery life is extremely close to the advertised 16 minutes of flight time. This may not sound long, but for a drone that’s primarily designed for subject tracking, which typically takes place in short bursts of a minute or two at a time, this is perfectly adequate. Although, higher capacity batteries would still be useful.

The PROMAX can be flown ‘drone only’ and with the Hover X1 app. The app is required for setting up the drone, to set the parameters of the intelligent flight modes and to adjust settings, alongside offering excellent virtual controls for manual flight, like a camera drone. Several other controller options are built around the Beacon, which is an optional accessory.

In isolation, the Beacon improves tracking capabilities and offers some crude physical flight controls. This can be paired with one of the Joysticks for a one-handed motion controller. Other options include pairing the Beacon with both Joysticks to provide a camera view on its small screen, or with your smartphone acting as the screen when attached to the Beacon and Joysticks. All of these options work well for smooth flight. There’s also voice control available if that’s your thing, but it’s not really necessary since other options are so easy to use.

The drone features 64GB of onboard storage alongside a microSD card slot that’s compatible with cards of up to 1TB capacity. If you’re capturing video in 8K, it would be worth installing a microSD to extend storage to be sure that you don’t run out because file sizes are large.

HoverAir X1 PROMAX: Functionality

• Highly effective subject-tracking
• Palm take-off and landing
• OmniTerrain feature

The PROMAX is incredibly easy to set up and fly using the intelligent flight modes for autonomous flight, or for traditional manual flight using any of the controller options. To get flying, all you have to do is unfold the drone, switch it on, select the flight mode using the arrow keys then press the main button with the drone camera facing you. To land, simply place your open palm beneath the drone and it will land. For manual control, simply open and connect to the Hover X1 smartphone app or connect the Beacon and Joysticks.

The manual flight interface in the app offers excellent virtual on-screen controls. They’re so good that you can perform smooth and complex maneuvers, alongside moving the gimbal with the on-screen control to adjust the pitch. These are all less effective than physical controllers, as you’d expect, but they are fantastic for quick and easy flights with a transmission range of up to 1640 ft / 500 m. The transmission range is extended up to 0.62 miles / 1 km with the Beacon and Joysticks.

The drone is fast and nimble despite its small size. Although, to get the fastest flight speeds in manual flight mode, you have to adjust the settings since the defaults are fairly slow. Flight speed is up to 26 mph with bursts of up to 37 mph when tracking, so during testing the drone was always able to keep up when cycling. The wind resistance of the PROMAX is Level 5, which equates to 24 mph. In gusts around the level, however, the drone did return to home with a high wind warning, so this level appears to be slightly optimistic.

The intelligent flight modes are the feature that seems to work almost like magic. This is highly effective on its own, but you can increase tracking precision using the Beacon accessory. The intelligent flight modes available include Hover, Zoom Out, Follow, Orbit, Bird’s Eye, Dolly Track Side Track, Ski Mode, Cycling Mode, Indoor Follow and 360° Spin — there are many to choose from. They all perform incredibly well and the PROMAX was able to successfully fly in complex environments thanks to rear-side collision detection provided by proximity sensors and vision-based sensors.

Other features include Return to Home functionality and OmniTerrain, which when active means the PROMAX can be safely flown over water, snow, cliffs and at night. You just have to be sure that the OmniTerrain icon is highlighted green and active in the Hover X1 app or on the Beacon screen before flying in these environments.

HoverAir X1 PROMAX: Performance

• Excellent video quality
• Photos in JPEG only
• Effective stabilization

The X1 PROMAX camera features a 1/1.3in CMOS sensor with an equivalent focal length of 16mm and a 107-degree field of view. This provides a great wide-angle view where the subject and their environment can be captured. Although, you can set the tracking distance in the Hover X1 app, and with the propeller guards, it is safe to fly close to subjects for tighter shots.

The video quality produced by the X1 PROMAX, like the majority of drones, is better than photos, while both are most effective when captured in brighter conditions. This isn’t a huge issue because this is a drone that’s designed primarily for subject tracking and that is where it excels.

Photo image quality is good, but not as good as the DJI Mini 4 Pro, for example. It’s also much better at lower ISO levels since high ISO noise reduction and JPEG processing are stronger at higher settings. The camera only captures photos in JPEG with noticeable processing even at ISO 100. ZeroZero Robotics has said that Raw photo capture is on the way with a future firmware update, and this should hopefully improve photo quality and open up flexibility for photographers.

Photos can be captured in 4000 x 3000 px dimensions, which equates to 12MP, or 8000 x 6000 px which is 48MP. There’s also a 2x zoom that captures these dimensions, and image quality only reduces by a small amount, which is impressive since digital zooms usually degrade image quality significantly.

Please note the footage below was shot in 8K but our video player only plays in HD.

Moving back to video, this can be captured at 8K up to 30 FPS, 4K up to 120 FPS, 10-bit HLG (HDR) up to 60 FPS and FHD up to 120 FPS. The maximum bitrate is 160 Mbps. You can also capture vertical video in 4K up to 30 FPS, 2.7K up to 60 FPS and 1080p up to 60 FPS, which includes 10-bit HLG. This is cropped on the sensor rather than the camera rotating 90 degrees, but 4K vertical using this method is an impressive and useful feature.

Image Stabilization is provided by SmoothCapture 2.0, which is a combination of the two-axis gimbal and Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS). It works as well as you’d hope with videos looking smooth regardless of the speed and movements of the drone.

HoverAir X1 PROMAX: Price

The HoverAir X1 PROMAX is available in a Standard kit, which includes the drone, one battery, a USB-C cable and a soft storage bag for $699 / £639. The Basic Combo kit includes all of the above plus a second battery, a two-battery charging hub, a 65W charger and a combo case for $879 / £799. This Basic Combo kit will make sense for many people because of the useful accessories that are included.

The drone itself is part of a wider accessory ecosystem where you can buy further kits that include certain accessories or you can purchase them separately to enhance the performance of the drone. Accessories include the Beacon and Joystick bundle for $228 / £208, The PowerCase for $169 / £155, the Multi-function Carry Bag for $79 / £69, the HandleBar Mount for $20 / £19 and the ND Filter set for $69 / £65.

Should you buy the HoverAir X1 PROMAX?

The HoverAir X1 PROMAX is an impressive selfie drone offering excellent intelligent tracking modes, camera drone functionality and up to 8K video and 48MP photo capture. It’s also lightweight and compact, which is ideal for a drone designed to be carried around and deployed in a matter of seconds.

The drone does exactly what it’s designed for and does it well, but for many people, the cost of the PROMAX will make it difficult to justify. In this situation, the X1 PRO may be an appealing alternative. However, pair the PROMAX with the accessories and you get an interesting and versatile drone with high-resolution image capture.

If this drone isn’t for you

The HoverAir X1 is the older and more basic selfie drone from ZeroZero Robotics, but it offers the same intelligent tracking modes and is the most affordable of the X1 models available.

The DJI Neo is a multi-use selfie drone with several control options including drone only, app control, a standard DJI controller and it can even be flown as an FPV drone using DJI FPV accessories.

The HoverAir X1 PRO is extremely similar to the PROMAX but video tops out at 4K. For many people, this will be sufficient, and it’s also much less expensive making it a more affordable option.