Drone offers first-person view but controls let it down

Reporter

Jan 21, 2017 06:00 am

This is a drone that is made for first-person flying as it allows you to see what it sees through a pair of goggles.

Ehang's Ghostdrone 2.0, which was released here earlier this month, is a novel gadget because of the first-person view goggles .

Not only can you see through the drone's eyes (essentially a camera), you can also tilt the drone's camera up or down simply by moving your head - with the goggles strapped on.

While the goggles offer a breathtaking aerial view, the feed was rather choppy, which disrupted my enjoyment.

MOVEMENT

Controlling the Ghostdrone 2.0 initially can be cumbersome as it takes time to get used to it.

You have to pair it with your mobile phone using an app and use its internal accelerometer and gyroscope.

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For example, you send the drone forward by tilting your mobile phone forward.

Note that these aren't very precise movements - it would have been better with a controller - although the drone does roughly go where you want it to.

There are also preset actions such as sending the drone flying in circles, or making it land by tapping various buttons on your mobile phone.

BATTERY

Ehang claims the Ghostdrone can fly for 25 minutes, although I never pushed it even near the limit for fear of it crashing.

CAMERA

The drone can shoot up to 4K videos and can take 12-megapixel photographs.

OVERALL

While the Ghostdrone 2.0 provides a few interesting and fun features such as its first-person view, its lack of precision - particularly with the lack of a controller - means it's mostly good for recreational use.