GADGET GURU

Own the best drone for roaming, calm your homebound canine and pick the slickest non-stick lining

ACHRIS HENSON, GLASGOW

Ho ho ho: drones don’t walk, silly! They fly! Once Guru has served his full life sentence in dad joke jail, he will recommend you something that does automated person-stalking, because presumably you want a device that’s going to film you huffing and puffing your way along a trail for some kind of ill-advised posterity, you narcissist you.

You actually have a choice between person-recognition tech or drones that latch on to a GPS signal. There’s a vaster selection in the former bracket, with DJI’s latest Mavic Air 2 (£769) leading the pack. It’ll fly for around 30 minutes, and can transmit video from up to six miles away if you’re just looking to check the trail ahead for bears or unruly youths. For GPS following, try the significantly cheaper Holy Stone HS700D (£210), which is enough of a bargain that you won’t even care too much if it spangs itself into a tree. You’ll get about half the flight

It’s important to get the proof that you hugged the beast on the mountain top time of the Mavic, though; the £270 Holy Stone HS720, a foldable drone which looks copyright-infringingly close to the Mavic Air in design, ups the life to more like 26 minutes, so it might be a better choice.

“But Guru,” you whinge, as usual. “What if I want both GPS and person recognition?” Well, reader, either you empty your bank account buying two drones, or you empty your bank account buying one drone. Import the Skydio 2 ($999, around £785 before fees), and you’ll have the option of using either function, as well as the ability to send it up to a Civil-AviationAuthority-worrying 15,000 feet.

The Holy Stone HS700D is enough of a bargain that you won’t even care too much if it spangs itself into a tree