NEWS: Xiaomi to Unveil Their First Drone Tomorrow

The consumer UAV market is about to welcome a new member to the club as Xiaomi, a prolific Chinese technology company are all set to showcase their first drone tomorrow. First revealed in a teaser image (which doesn’t give all that much away), Xiaomi’s drone has managed to retain enough mystery to get the speculation train rolling out of the station and sparking lively discussions online. Rumoured to have the ability to shoot 4K video and possibly even containing gesture control functionality, it’s no wonder that people are excited to see the grand unveiling. These whispers stem from a drone app accidentally released to the Play Store by Xiaomi which teased the 4K recording capability. As for the gesture control, the Chinese tech giant has patented an unmanned craft able to be controlled from a smart wristband. Until yesterday, that was all people had to go on but now there’s a teaser video available to watch which gives you a much more comprehensive look at Xiaomi’s new drone. The facts as they stand are that the drone will most likely be a white quadcopter complete with a ball-cam able to swivel, giving its user a wide field of view whether they’re filming or taking stills.

---

Xiaomi and DJI

Now you’ve had a chance to look, does the sleek white finish of this forthcoming quadcopter remind you of anything? Understandably there have been comparisons drawn to DJI’s incredibly popular Phantom 4 released in April this year. It looks like Xiaomi are posing direct competition to the current world leader in consumer drone manufacture, although this will prove to be a hard task given DJI’s popularity amongst both professional and vocational drone users. Xiaomi’s background is in selling high quality tech (such as the Mi 5 Android smartphone) at affordable prices. If they intend to use this same pricing strategy for their drones, this might be enough to give them an edge over DJI in the short term and ensure successful entry into the market. So when can we expect to see this drone in Europe and the US? After all, Xiaomi’s phones haven’t made it over here yet. All is not lost though, as they do sell accessories to these markets and the company has increasingly hinted that they are looking to expand the sale of their non-smartphone offerings on a global scale. Here at heliguy™, we’ll be watching the unveiling of Xiaomi’s product with interest and we’ll keep you posted about any developments. Keep checking back to heliguy™ Insider for the lowdown on new releases and, of course, the latest news from the drone industry.