New Xiaomi Mi Drone undercuts DJI Phantom by significant margain
Thomas Wellburn
May 26, 2016
Xiaomi has taken the wraps off its newest product… and it’s a lot cheaper than the competition.
We all knew it was coming, but the company has officially announced the Mi Drone, entering themselves into the market with a bang. If there’s one thing that Xiaomi is known for, it’s keeping things cheap, and the Mi Drone pretty much exemplifies this. Coming in at 2,499 Yuan (around £259 or $380) for the 1080p version and 2,999 Yuan (around £311 or $460) for the 4K variant, it’s significantly cheaper than the comparative DJI devices on the market.
What you’ll be getting for the money is a four rotor device with detachable shields and a decently sized 5,100 mAh battery that’s good for 27 minutes of flight. There’s support for both GPS and GLONASS positioning standards, meaning you should be able to find its location in the event something happens. Designed to be modular and portable, blades can be detached and the landing gear folds away for easy transport. A carrying case will be included for taking the drone with you on long journeys.
The camera on the Mi Drone is no slouch; it uses a 12.4 megapixel Sony sensor complete with six-piece lens array. Video and stills can be captured, with RAW file formats supported for those who like to tweak further when they get home. Xiaomi uploaded a demonstration video on its YouTube channel to show the capabilities of the on-board camera; needless to say that it looks pretty good. There’s also the ability to stream 720p video back to a device that docks on the remote, so you can get a POV view of what the drone sees.
While the drone itself looks pretty familiar, there’s a bit of uniqueness to the remote. With it’s dual antenna’s and contrast coloured thumbsticks, some have said that it bears a passing resemblance to the Xiaomi bunny mascot. While we’re not sure if it’s quite that obvious, there’s definitely something cute about its appearance.
