Xiaomi Unveils Budget-Friendly Mi Drone, $460 For 4K Or $380 For 1080p (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi has officially journeyed into the drones product category. The Xiaomi Mi Drone is a quadcopter with a three-axis gimbal, 4K camera, and a remote control that uses your Mi smartphone as a viewfinder. The 4K version retails for about $460 while the 1080p model retails for about $380. When compared to drones from DJI or Yuneec, the Mi Drone seriously undercuts them as they typically retail for more than $1,000. Some other features of the Mi Drone center around modularity and serviceability -- the camera module and rotors are detachable. The 5,100 mAh battery that Xiaomi claims can last 27 minutes of continuous flight time on a single charge is also replaceable. It uses GPS and GLONASS for positioning. It even features a visual positioning system on the rear that allows itself to remain stable when flying at low altitudes in environments where a satellite signal cannot be reached. Some of the autonomous flight modes include: takeoff, landing, return to home, waypoint navigation and orbit, with the ability to create a geofence to limit its movement. The 1080p Mi Drone "will be crowdfunded on the Mi Hope app starting May 26, 2016," while the 4K Mi Drone "will be available for testing via an open beta program at the end of July." With such an affordable price tag relative to the competition, the Xiaomi Mi Drone may help increase revenues for the company whose sales barely grew last year.

Comments

Re:ban drones

[Thanshin]

3) Spying on people from above or looking in their windows

I wonder if Xiaomi's drones also mysteriously disappear soon after flying over other people's property.

I also wonder for how much will they sell on Ebay without a controller pad.

uh, what?

[Tom]

So, let me get this straight, a major electronics company brings out a new product - and crowdfunds it? Seriously?

Re:uh, what?

[Tx]

In the same way that some successful musicians have tried crowd-funding albums and projects, it's more of a marketing gimmick than a way of funding it per se. You get a whole bunch of people interested in the thing, and mostly committed to buying it, you create buzz as people follow the status of the crowd-funding campaign, and if you're particularly successful with the campaign and blow past your funding target in no time, that creates yet more hype. And in this case it sounds like you need to install their app to take part in the crowdfunding, which may be part of their goal in itself.

Re:uh, what?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Xiaomi is all about the hype. They see themselves as the Chinese Apple. Up to and including their chairman wearing a black turtleneck. Xiaomi's MIUI phone OS looks just like Apple's (and they ripped off GNU code and refused to release their changes). They copy Apple every way they can - in China this isn't seen as pathetic me-tooism, it's seen as clever because you're copying someone who is successful. Xiaomi is notorious for releasing only a small amount of product at launch and providing no other way to buy than at certain times from their official website.

But now, they've done Apple one better! Crowdfunding! This keeps them in the news for an even longer period of time, as various goals are met. Plus, most people in China don't know what crowdfunding is. The government doesn't like platforms that allow people to collectively organize in any way, even innocuous ways. Xiaomi loves, loves, loves getting publicity and now they're doing things that even Apple isn't doing. This is the beginning of them shedding their "student/inferior/listen to you" status and taking on the "teacher/superior/you listen to ME" attitude that will likely characterize their relationship with Apple from now on.

Re:uh, what?

[gnupun]

Perhaps crowdfunding sites should ban corps that exceed a certain market cap, say $100 million, from participating. Crowdfunding should be limited to small companies trying to bootstrap.

Re:ban drones

[Thanshin]

Sounds like there is at least going to be a parts market! ;)

A quick Ebay search reveals this market is already working as expected.

People seem to be losing their controller pads along with any warranty of proof of purchase. It's a coincidence that seems to plague drones.

Re:ban *foreign* drones

[Thanshin]

America shouldn't be trying to compete in prices with China.

The question I'd ask is "where is the best drone, no matter the cost, being built?".

If the answer is "still, not America", that would be the actual problem.

Re:ban drones

[Feral Nerd]

3) Spying on people from above or looking in their windows

These are all quite dangerous ways to use drones. Short of banning drones entirely, there's no way to stop this from occurring. Therefore, drones need to be banned.

I recommend a Mossberg 500 with, say... an M choke to give you the best compromise on pellet spread but you might want to experiment with that. According to Popular Mechanics you want number 8 bird shot shells with the largest pellet count you can find No. 10 or even 12 bird shot is even better if you can find it. If you live in an urban area blasting at drones with a shotgun might be a problem so your best urban-legal go-to option might be water based. Perhaps a powerful hose, or the most powerful super-soaker you can find but even that would probably not have the range of the shotgun. A more expensive option would be to build you own hunter-killer drone or a drone that snatches the offending one out of the sky and brings it to the ground so you can hold it to ransom. That last solution appeals to my inner nerd, my inner hill-billy likes the shotgun option best while shooting down drones with a super-soaker makes for a fun activity you can engage in with your kids. I also reserve a certain degree of admiration for this Russian reenactor who shot a drone out of the sky with a hand thrown spear.

Re:ban drones

[PvtVoid]

Or just fly a bunch of balloons, tethered with monofilament.

Re:ban drones

[tugboat0902]

How about fricken drones with friken lasers attached to their foreheads?

Re:ban *foreign* drones

[Thanshin]

Average American salary has been stagnated for the past 2 decades or so and you are giving us that 'no matter the cost' lecture?

Americans are not the only customers of American products. As long as America continues selling better, more expensive, products, there's a way out. Europeans and Asians with that money will also opt for the better product.

If the strategy changed to "let's have a cheaper, less protected workforce and compete with China in prices", the end would be a few decades in the future. I don't expect that to happen.

Therefore, news like these must push America towards the future. Towards products beyond what's being done in China. It makes no sense to compete on even ground if one can stay on higher ground.