Hover Camera Passport Drone Review After 1 Year Of Use

I decided to write a full review of the Hover Passport Drone now, instead of a year ago when I got it, mostly because I felt like I wasn’t ready to write about a Drone without using it in different situations, places and weather conditions.

Now, a year has passed and my Passport Drone followed my ID Passport to many countries and I feel like the right moment to write about it, and more when the Passport 2 drone from ZeroZero has been delayed.

If you ever tried to fly drones, you can agree that they are somehow complicated to fly and hard to master. Forget about that. This drone it’s released on air like a balloon and it can fly itself, even landing it’s just a button away.

It’s all about portability

The Passport Drone it’s small, fits in any backpack or even in most handbags so it’s the perfect companion for casual videos and photos from a different perspective.

Let’s check the specs:

Hover Camera Passport Drone Specifications
Max Flight Distance	20m
Battery	1360mAh 7.6V LiPo 2S
GPS	Yes
CAMERA	13MP + 4K video
WI-FI	2.4GHz/5GHz
Memory	32Gb built-in
Size	Height: 3.3 cm/1.3 in Length: 18.2 cm/7.16 in Width: 13.2 cm/9,6 in
Weight	242g / 8,53 oz

Smaller than an iPad, most like an iPad Mini size, it really stands for his “Passport” name, and I can relate that you can take it thought airport security in your handbag without any problem beside the curious looks of the Airport Security forces.

It comes with a charging dock for 2 batteries which are also included on the package giving you an extra 10-15 minutes of flying time.

You can be tempted to buy some spare parts, but in my experience, and I can tell about 2 big falls of my drone while flying on windy conditions, most likely you will be fine without. The fans are enclosed, which prevent any harm to your fingers while operating and also protect the drone of any accident.

About pictures

With his 13MP built-in camera you can expect nice photos that will rival with your phone ones in daylight conditions. Having some time to get used to the “perks” of flying will improve dramatically your results.

You could ask what about night photography, well it’s just not possible. The Passport Drone refuses to fly on low light conditions. This is due to the camera system used to measure distance to the floor. You can say, this is one of the biggest improvements that Hover 2 can bring to the table.

Here are some shoots taken with my Passport Drone.

One VERY useful tip you need to know about the Drone Passport Hover App, it’s that you can actually focus on any place of the image by touching it on the screen like on the camera App of your phone, this can seem obvious but the results will be blurry if you don’t.

Videos results

When I had the first though about getting a drone, it was all about the great pictures possibilities and angles. What I couldn’t imagine was that Videos will became the main usage of the drone for the past months.

Talking about quality, you can shoot on 4K or 1080p with software stabilization. There is a choice to make and after some testing, I can say that filming in 4K it’s recommended for pro users that are going to use Adobe Premiere, iMovie or any other software to get image stabilization afterwards. If you are gonna do some casual filming, mostly for social networks, 1080p will give you the “plug&play” solution you need.

Here is a video compilation I made for Anna:

You can see more of it on the articles we made in previous trips.

Conclusions

Hover Passport Drone it’s a very handy device that I would recommend every photographer to have on their bag. Professional drones are costly and bulky, they can deliver better shoots for sure (for 3 times the price), but sometimes it isn’t about the camera quality, it’s about the camera you have with you. And Passport Drone can accompany you to nearly all occasions.

So, after one year using my drone, here are my thoughts:

Pros

• Usability and portability are impressive. It gets ready in seconds and fits everywhere.
• The phone App has plenty of modes to make easier to fly your drone.
• Image quality of stills.
• Quite resistant due to enclosing.

Cons

• Image stabilization on videos needs improvement.
• Lowlight flying it’s complicated.
• Face recognition it’s far from perfect.

So if you can’t wait another 6 months until the new version comes out, Hover Passport Drone it’s a fantastic opportunity considering the nice deals you can find over the internet. I can’t see any better drone on the 500USD tag, and it’s under 200$ now!