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In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Hey DC,
It looks like the video is private, so I can’t sew it, not sure if others have the same issue.
Same for me here in Belgium.
Should be fixed in just a moment – sorry!!!
Still showing as ‘we’re processing this video, check back later’…
Sorry! Should be all good to go now!
Yep – got it! I’ve been waiting for something like this for running… I could be the perfect target consumer. Easy, light, small, no phone needed etc. Cheap too!
Thanks for this review Ray. The footage shows The Girl’s excellent running biomechanics – as opposed to yours. Another point against using a drone while downhill skiing is that (at least in Australia) this is either banned or very tightly regulated in every ski resort.
To be fair, it’s the same for Europe – you aren’t supposed to fly drones over slopes. If you go backcountry, however, it’s a whole other story.
In Europe it really depends on the country. France is ironically one of the best when it comes to ski areas, as long as it’s not in a natural/protected area (which honestly, most ski resorts aren’t). Beyond that you just need to follow the standard EASA EU-wide drone rules.
That’s actually one of the nice things about the EASA rules, is that it kinda does away with most of the per-country wonk. At least, till you get to Portugal…sigh.
Ah welcome to Portugal. Flying a drone here is such a bureaucratic process… My drone is stored and I rarely used it due to that. At least if you want to fly within the rules…
I can’t imagine doing this on the regular. I’ve never filled out so much paperwork for my trip next week to Maidera, so many times, for simple flights in the middle of nowhere.
I don’t really understand either, because the entire point of the EASA agreement/etc was to get rid of this exact mess. I’m honestly surprised someone hasn’t put up a legal case on it.
AFAIKS The EASA rules do allow you to fly a drone class 1 (<250g) in a ski resort over pistes as you have no control as to who is on the slopes.
Great review ! How about noise ? How does it compare to other drones ?
The noise is a higher-pitched noise than the DJI drones, but not really any louder more than a few meters away.
How well does it work following you if you’re with a group of other cyclists? Or is it designed primarily to follow someone alone?
It does a surprisingly effective job at following the single person it started following. With my daughter as an example, she was with four adults, and once it locked onto her, she tried hiding behind people, running around them, etc… and it only lost her once, in many many many tries (and she had put herself in a little ball behind the adults).
Hi Ray,
I asked myself the same question recently.
Would this drone be able to follow 1 member of a cycling group all cycling in the same jersey?
And how would a DJI perform in this situation?
thx!
peter
I think all the same cycling jerseys might get messy. Not in terms of following “someone”, but whether it keeps falling the right person. DJI is the same. It’ll follow someone for sure in that scenario, but it might play the field a bit.
This with GPS return to start on loss of track would be perfect. I would love to use this on water (swim, kayak, jet ski) but your example shows water and this thing is a bad idea.
I love true no-controller approach.
Thank you for the video, as informative and entertaining as ever!
I believe it does not really work over water at all especially if there are waves, wakes etc. (because it relies on some downward sensor for altitude and stability).
12 minute battery per flight seems kind of short. Is that typical battery life?
It’s short in the drone world (for non-FPV), but then again, virtually nothing else is this size/capability.
That said, as I mentioned in my video – it doesn’t much bother me. Unlike other drones where you might fly for 30-90 seconds or longer to get to the subject, then carefully set up your shots/etc… This is only going 100ft from you at most, and most shots tend to be 1-3 minutes at most. And finally, with the battery pack weighing a mere ~40g and the size of a pack of gum, it’s so easy to swap them out.
Obviously, if they could get to 20min with the same battery size/weight, I’d love it – but I never really found it a limiter. It’d usually crash into something before that point anyway. :)
Great Post Ray!
Ray – greetings! As a runner/cyclist, I am also intrigued. I tend to run before sunrise, sometimes in the dark and sometimes on lit streets. What is this drones like around that time of the day?
Many thanks.
I haven’t done much around those times, though, my understanding from others is that it doesn’t work well (if at all). Still, I’ll give it a whirl this week and report back.
Brilliant – thank you.
Thanks for that, I found to really interesting. As primarily a runner I can see it being useful for me not just for making videos but as a training tool to monitor my form, and even to chase for speed workouts! I can see it being huge fun and its compactness and simplicity is a great advantage for that. Anyone know what the legal situation in the UK for using this is? Are extra batteries easily available?
I’ll have to defer to a UK person on the rules there. I can mentally track both EU & US rules, with casually keeping an eye on Canadian rules when I make trips to visit the inlaws, but beyond that my head hurts.
As for batteries, yeah, you can buy extra batteries from them. It’s best to just buy them upfront though.
This could be the first drone I might actually be interested in. Very simple and easy to use. I have little interest in futzing with drones (or producing/editing vids) and don’t do anything epic enough to warrant expending effort to capture, so something I can just turn loose here or there for a few minutes while out hiking or riding seems ideal.
Needs a Zwift HUD overlay, so much wasted hilarity
There is actually not one but two remote controls for the hover made for a company called 8bitdo, and one of them allow you to map the buttons a similar as a DJI drone.
I can’t help but feel many of these shots could be replicated by a 360 camera like the Insta360 X3/4 while at the same time the camera could be useful for other shots too.
Yes but the hassle is to hold the magic stick and to do some video editing after the footage…
Speaking of the GO360 X4, just released, do you plan to review it, @Ray? It seems a fantastic piece of equipment and it’s no-drone stick looks like a great idea.
There’s certain shots where a 360 cam (Insta360 or GoPro Max) is easier than Hover. But I’d argue that most shots won’t come out as well. As noted, it requires a more complex mounting system (especially for cycling), or, holding the pole at a specific angle in a way that works. For running, it’s easier than cycling.
And as noted, the editing process is definitely longer (not hard, just simply longer than grab and go). But, resolution can in some situations be better (such as the X3/X4).
As for reviewing the X4, I might, TBD. It’s often hard to differentiate with Insta360’s 360 cameras (vs not 360 cams) whether there’s real demand for reviews, or if there’s just a boatload of influencer ones (none of which did super well this go-around, in terms of views for big channels or medium channels). I continue to think their non-360 cameras are doing impressive stuff.
Hi DC good review.
I also live in The Netherlands. Some questions still bothering me: Is this Hoverair X1 also classified as a “drone”? Does standard drone regulations also apply for this thing, like the fly zones restrictions…etc., or can we just use it anywhere? and last question, do we need to register the exploitantnummer with RDW for this ‘thing’?
Yes, by EASA rules, any drone with “a camera” immediately requires the regulations. It’s somewhat silly that we even have the 250g rule for drones, because every drone has a camera these days. But…it was designed to protect legacy RC aircraft flyers.
I did RDW, because frankly I can’t figure that out either and gave up trying. Easier just to have it on here.
In my case, I’m already certified for a few drone levels here, so I didn’t have to do anything more. But, you could basically follow the same rules as the DJI Mini series when looking up stuff.
This video mentions DJI comparison that I’m failing to find. Has it ever been published on YouTube?
So i was reading some of your posts on various drones I’m having a really hard time making a decision on what to get lol. I run a lot and have done various collaborations with different companies and so I’m trying to expand and grow my Instagram more as far as content goes. And I feel like a drone would help me capture some better and unique angles on some of my videos. I’m really intrigued by that hover air X1 since I feel like I could pop into my running bag and it has the follow mode, and due to the lightweight I wouldn’t need to worry about a drone pilot license
In the past I’d also looked at the insta360 which is an action camera and not so much a drone, but might be more versatile. But I’m honestly just kind of looking at something that I don’t have to hold my arm out for and I can just fully capture my running
It’s not cheap for the hover air x1, I don’t know if there’s a different one that’s more affordable. Or if you think it’s worth forking out the cash for that one
DC,
Any chance that you will be reviewing their new version, either the X1 pro or pro max or both? It looks like they addressed some of the concerns you had with the X1…
Thanks!
Would be great if you could get your hands on the Pro and/or Pro Max. I am considering upgrading from X1, but there are no quality in-depth reviews (yet)…
Mine is currently stuck (solidly) in DHL/Netherlands customs jail. :( Been there for weeks, no amount of poking has gotten it out.