With more and more of the world population getting -or trying to at least- into the current drone craze, something really whirly has to give, as most drones normally cost hundreds of dollars, with some rather premium and frighteningly alien-speced ones costing almost as much as a small car. So, there you are heavily drooling and nearly cross-eyed from staring fixedly up at a sky filled with all manners of drone monsters pirouetting in the air, snapping pics and videos aplenty, while you are forced to count your pennies and resort to watching the telly and gorging on bacon rashers. Well, not any longer. Along comes the Zerotech Dobby drone that’s small enough to fit into your front pocket yet affordable enough to leave your savings largely unmolested and your bank manager breathing way easier. Best of all, it confidently packs most of the features of its far costlier rivals, so that you don’t have to hide your bald head in shame while flying it at the park.
The Zerotech Dobby is the ultimate personification of the ultra-portable, affordable and competent selfie drone we long have been looking for and manufacturers have woefully failed to deliver. Until now that is. It sports a relatively recent Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset to power its smarts and comes in an endearingly conventional, yet outstandingly designed package you won’t be able to keep your hands and lustful eyes off. The four rotors are on arms that fold right into the body, making for a surprisingly compact and pleasantly versatile and portable package. The battery is user-replaceable and swappable and delivers around 7-9 joyous minutes of use, so a spare battery is recommended. The camera is a sole 13 MP shooter capable of 1920 x 1080 video recording and astoundingly detailed pictures and videos. With the aid of its companion app and 16GB of internal storage, caching and moving pictures and videos from the drone’s camera to your smartphone is a total breeze. A few downsides though: the camera lacks zoom functionality, and the camera lens angle is not adjustable in air, nor is it gimbal-stabilized.
Outstanding features we totally love about the Dobby and can’t wait to reel out include: 4K video recording, image stabilization, automatic take-off and landing, gesture control, facial recognition and target tracking.
Landing the Dobby is where the magic fun is at. Just stretch out your crinkly palm, and it will recognize the distinct shape and light on it like a dragonfly on the princess’s nose. Just put this clever little cutie through the paces, and it performs mostly like a thoroughbred Arabian. Obstacle avoidance is not however enabled, which limits the Dobby mostly to outdoor use, except if you are looking to crash your sinfully cute acquisition into a bookcase.
No controller is provided, and none is needed with your smartphone doing the duty as the drone joystick and other necessary controls. The connection is done via Wifi and is effective while making for somewhat imprecise yet satisfactory controlling.
Price is a rather cheap $399, with a cute rating of 10/10!