Review: HoverAIR X1 ProMax delivers the 8K goods but one of the extras is iffy [Video]

Imagine an 8K-shooting camera drone that fits in a pocket, costs less than $700, and can be used with or without a remote. That’s the HoverAIR X1 ProMax, and while the drone itself is great, one of its optional peripherals is still a work in progress.

Manufactured by China’s ZeroZero Robotics, the US$699 HoverAir X1 ProMax was introduced this August along with its almost-identical 4K-shooting sibling, the $499 HoverAir X1 Pro. The two are the successors to ZeroZero’s 2.7K-shooting $349 Hover Camera X1, which I reviewed last year.

As was the case with that model, the big selling feature of the ProMax is the fact that simply by pressing a control button on the drone, you can set it to autonomously perform multiple flight patterns while keeping its gimbal-stabilized camera trained on you … recording ultra-high-def video the whole time.

No remote control unit of any kind, not even an app, is required. The drone uses …