PowerVision PowerEgg X
A modular, waterproof drone that’s much more than a drone.
In a market dominated by drones that you can’t fly in inclement weather, the PowerVision PowerEgg X provides an attractive option for photographers and videographers who want to be able to fly their drone in the rain and land it on water.
But that’s not all the PowerEgg X does. As well as being a drone, it can also be used as a handheld gimbal camera and an autonomous AI camera that can be mounted to a tripod and controlled using hand gestures. There’s even a built-in microphone, for use in the two camera modes.
The design of the PowerEgg X is like no other drone. It’s closest to the original PowerEgg, of course, but that drone featured foldable rather than detachable propeller arms.
As the name suggests, the PowerEgg X sports an egg-shaped body with a detachable bottom panel that neatly hides and protects the camera and gimbal, while the top panel is also removable. This is where the battery and memory card live, and there are also accessory sockets on the sides of the device.
Despite the unusual design, the PowerEgg X is easy to fly and handles well in the air. The waterproof housing and floats (which come with the PowerEgg X Wizard bundle) do change flight behaviour, but not to such an extent that it makes flying the drone difficult. Still, these accessories do reduce flight time due to the additional weight.
In terms of flight technology, the PowerEgg X offers front obstacle avoidance and downward sensors to aid with landing. Rear obstacle avoidance sensors would have been a great advantage, as flying backwards is a popular way of capturing aerial video. But their absence isn’t a deal-breaker.
Landing on water is a strange experience at first because it goes against everything you expect from a consumer-level drone, but this quickly subsides and you can enjoy an entirely new way of flying and capturing stills and video.
Naturally, image quality with the waterproof housing isn’t as good as without it, because you are shooting through plastic. This can produce a small amount of distortion depending on the angle of the camera, but being able to shoot stills and video in the rain alongside the ability to land the drone on water when the floats are attached make the PowerEgg X Wizard unique. This opens up a range of creative and operational possibilities for photographers, videographers and commercial drone pilots.
The PowerEgg X Wizard is a surprisingly good drone to fly and provides a great deal of stability in the air thanks to the large propellers. Image quality is good, if not outstanding. But it’s the waterproof housing and floats for landing on water that make this unique drone stand out from the crowd.
James Abbott