Snapchat had a pretty intense start. It gained popularity very quickly, and that made Zuckerberg nervous, and he ended up copying many of the features for Instagram. Snap also opened up the hardware field with the Spectacles, glasses with an integrated camera. However, this division of the company put the brakes on when Facebook bet heavily on virtual reality glasses. Now, Snap strikes again with the Pixy , a drone intended as a photo-taking accessory for its social network.
Pixy, Snap’s new drone
According to Evan Spiegel himself, the Pixy is nothing more than a toy. It is a small disk-shaped drone that can take off from your hand and follow you wherever you go to take photos and videos.
The Pixy isn’t controlled with a controller, and uses predefined flight patterns that can be set using the Snapchat app itself. The idea of the company is to make this type of product more accessible, as well as to combine the full potential of the Pixy with its augmented reality applications.
As early as 2016, Snap thought about getting into the drone world as a complement to its camera division. However, Facebook managed to copy every Snapchat innovation, so they decided to leave this idea for the future. Six years later, drones have not been as successful as we thought they would be. Their prices are still not affordable, most are used for professional use and all kinds of laws have been established that force the user to get a license to fly them.
Luckily, the Pixy is a very light drone , and just like the DJI Mavic Mini, you don’t need a license to operate it. It weighs 101 grams and fits in any pocket. And their propellers are protected so we can’t hurt anyone.
How does this drone stack up against the competition?
The Snap Pixy is now on sale in the United States and France starting at $229. If we compare it with the first or second generation DJI Mavic Mini , we are looking at a somewhat cheaper product, but infinitely inferior. The Pixy has a fairly limited autonomy, as it can make between five and eight flights of 10-20 seconds. Its 12-megapixel sensor also falls short of DJI’s entry-level equipment. In its 16 GB memory, the Pixy can store up to 1,000 photos or 100 videos, but all of these will not have sound, as is normal for drones.
In general, there are even basic kits for less than 100 euros that are still more complete than the Pixy. One of them is the ToySky CSJ S162 , a very interesting drone that is even capable of recording 4K video for less than 100 euros. It copies most of the features of the original DJI Mavic Mini and has a more than decent autonomy. Another interesting alternative is the Eachine EX4 , for many, the drone with the best value for money on the market. It is worth less than 300 euros and it is a perfect equipment for beginners.
Therefore, we can conclude that Snapchat simply seeks to position its drone as a very attractive accessory for its users to generate content for its social network. The purpose of the Pixy is to take pictures of its owners. If you are looking for a broader experience, you will have to go through the alternatives that we already had until now.
