If you can get past the paltry 12-minute battery life, the $250 flyer easily captures professional-quality shots along pre-set paths.
By Hunter Fenollol Published: May 26, 2022 5:06 PM EDT Save Article
The Takeaway: Snapchat has released its first camera drone, the Snap Pixy. And after testing, I can say that no other selfie drone is as easy to operate. I’ve spent the past two weeks snapping beach shots, poolside portraits, and elevated mountain orbits, and the camera hasn’t faltered in nabbing shots at a variety of overhead angles. Along with the surprisingly clear and stable 2.7K image, the Pixy boasts fast export speeds over its built-in Wi-Fi connection. That said, this drone pilots itself—it isn’t a UAV that you have control over for racing or flight. And because this is built to be essentially a portable airborne camera, the lightweight non-waterproof body can’t stand up to elements beyond a drizzle or winds harsher than 12 miles per hour. But at $250 all-in for the drone, two extra batteries, and a bumper necklace for carrying it around, this is the drone that even new pilots can use to autonomously grab shots and capture memories from a whole new perspective.
Specs
The same easy-to-use Snapchat capture, edit, and storage experience carries into the Pixy. Simply click in the stick-like battery cartridge into the drone by lining up the metal contact plates, turning the dial on the drone to standby mode, and holding the capture button for seven seconds to sync the Pixy with the Snapchat app. There’s no assembly to worry about, and the propellers are protected within the enclosure of the 0.2-pound design so you’re up and recording high quality aerial footage in under a minute of unboxing. The pocket-friendly 5 x 4-inch Pixy sits on the palm of your hand and is comparable to the size on an iPhone 13 Pro, but it also comes with a bumper case necklace for secure and easy travel.
To use the drone, you hold it up to your eye in the palm of your hand and turn the silver physical analog wheel to select from five total capture modes—one custom and four pre-set flight modes (hover, reveal, follow, and orbit). Then press the yellow top button to kick off a flight. The LED indicator will blink green, then the drone takes off without the need for consulting a controller or the Snapchat app. Once it’s recording, the LED indicator will shine white. All video or photos are stored aboard the generous 16-GB storage space to be exported after each 30 or 60 second capture is complete.
Hover, the first of the five capture modes has the drone take off from your hand and act as a cameraman on a tripod. It will pan left and right as it tracks you at head level. Next on the wheel is the Reveal shot, which backs away for a wide view of your space and is helpful for zoom in or out shots. Third is the Follow Mode indicated by a circle and an arrow; while I ran down the beach or walked around the office, the Pixy accurately tracked with a stable over-the-shoulder view. And as I tried this mode inside, it even avoided kitchen cabinets, flew up steps, and followed me around an office building’s columns and curves without hitting anyone or anything. Next up is the Orbit mode, which sends the drone out to a capture a 360-degree surround shot. This is best for getting video from heights. The final icon—indicated by a star on the physical shot selection wheel—is a favorite setting to which you can customize shot type, distance, and recording timing.
I found myself pleasantly surprised by the 2.7K quality of each capture. The Pixy’s footage is stable and looks especially clear in sunshine, which can often cause overexposure or detail loss. I did push its limits by taking an orbit shot with the drone circling the water at the beach (Snap advises against this lest the drone plummet and you lose it in the waves). I did almost lose it in 14-mph gusts of wind. But at 7 mph or less, you have clear and smooth motion tracking. The camera even captured some of Connecticut shore line from the New York side of the Long Island sound, which is barely visible by eye and high resolution cameras. And when at the pool, it captured details like the cracks in patio bricks from 25 feet in the air and textures from the rubble at a construction factory over the fence.
There’s no sound to accompany the video. But this isn’t a loss, especially given that, with the previous two drones I’ve purchased, I cut the audio from the videos anyway due to interfering blade noise and muffled voice recordings. Your videos are stored on a generous 16 GB of onboard storage, which should be enough for around 1,000 videos. You can batch import them into the Snapchat app and edit them there or even export them to other platforms like Messenger, Instagram, and TikTok.
Opening the app gives you power over controls and edits. Everything is highly customizable, be it the distance you want to send the drone out, how high you want it to climb, or even how long the drone will take to complete an orbit.
The four edit options are one-tap effects: Bounce (creates a GIF), Orbit 3D (quickly adds space to the sides of a subject), Hyper Speed (which accelerates the playback speed of a clip), and Jump Cut (puts together the most engaging clips). With these to select from, I produced music-video like content. Beyond social sharing, you can easily export captures into your camera roll or preferred video-editing app in horizontal or vertical formats.
Swapping in a fresh battery cartridge from the dual charger base—something you’ll be doing frequently.
For all its benefits, the Pixy’s battery life absolutely needs work. All of this simplicity comes at the cost of flight time—even with the dual charger pack, I ran through all three batteries on an average of just four minutes per stick. That’s enough for two 30-second shoots of each shot type per battery. But don’t plan to shoot extensively without breaks to charge, or bringing a portable power bank. Batteries took, on average, one hour to fully charge from completely dead, which is good but not great, especially if you want to capture the perfect shot like a golden hour sunset.
The Snap Pixy drone avoiding objects while capturing an over-the-shoulder video along a curved indoor track.
Snap’s first foray into drones stands out for effortlessly capturing everyday moments and scenes from a new perspective. It’s lightweight, fun to use, and creates great looking images and video. The one-tap in-app editing suite is easier than even TikTok or Reels, so you can make some slick videos complete with jump cuts, lapses, and music pretty easily. I wish that the battery life was longer and that the drone was a bit tougher. You can’t fly the Pixy from a steep height like a cliff, hover it over the water, or take proper nighttime shots since the tracking tech relies on ample light to follow its target and land properly. But these advancements wouldn’t allow for the slim pocket-friendly design that makes this gadget feel so natural in everyday use. I’m impressed by this first iteration Pixy drone—the biggest problem will be finding it in stock.
