Hubsan’s Zino Drone – A Well-Priced Contender

DJI has been developing quality drones with high-end specifications at decent prices for quite some time. Their dominion over professional, camera-equipped drone industry, however, is being challenged by Hubsan as they have launched Zino – their new line of drone products that offer the same specifications in much less than half of what DJI’s counterparts cost.

Hubsan has always had a share in the rapidly and abruptly developing drone industry. This is mainly because of their development of cheap, light weight drones – most of their major selling products standing less than $200. Hubsan X4 were some of the first small, light weight drones made for amateurs on a budget.

Specs

Zino gives DJI’s Mavic a run for the money with a gimbal-stabilized wide-angle camera 4K camera, 30 FPS of video recording, and a visual track and follow mode as its autonomous features.

Weight – The Zino weighs just about 700 grams, much lighter than Mavic Pro 2 but still heavier than Mavic Air.

Flight time and speed – It has a decent flight time of 23 minutes and a very competitive top speed of 60 km/h.

Smartphone compatibility – The Zino can be clipped to a smartphone for First Person View, using its compact controller.

Transmission range – Zino has a range of transmission around 1 kilometer, which is more than enough for most videography and photography work.

Camera – With an impressive viewing angle of 89 degrees and a wide aperture of F2.2, the camera mounted on Zino is a 4K gimbaled unit. Its maximum resolution available is 3840×2160, which records at 30 frames per second.

Stabilization and navigation – GPS-stabilization and pre-programmed waypoint navigation are some of the perks of Hubsan’s Zino that make it a very effective tool for professional videography.

Point of interest – The Zino has a tracking feature as per which the user can identify a “point of interest” on the live video and have the drone automatically travel to the identified point and circle it, taking shots.

Altitude hold mode – The Zino, like many new drones developed for professionals, has the ability to hold its defined altitude autonomously, continuously adjusting itself against weather conditions.

Headless flight – The drone’s orientation does not dictate its direction of flight like the case with helicopters or airplanes, allowing the user to fly the drone without worrying about adjusting its orientation continuously or without rotating the drone unnecessarily.

Automatic takeoff and landing – Loss of connection during flight can send the drone continuing in its direction and come crashing down after it runs out of power. To address the problem, Hubsan has equipped Zino with automatic takeoff and landing management.

Pricing and final word

Hubsan offers a pre-order offer, pricing the drone at just US $369. It’s market price is expected to be US $399.

The Zino offers around the same specifications as the Mavic Air at extremely low prices in comparison. Hubsan’s Zino is the first drone equipped with a 4K camera at this price point.