In November 2018 Hubsan announced the Zino: a foldable 4K drone with a three-axis gimbal for about 400 euros, 300 less than the Parrot Anafi. Stuck in my car in the pouring rain, I shared my thoughts on what that could mean for the market.
Only on paper (for now)
The Zino had just started shipping a couple of days earlier, and the only YouTubers who had posted a video with one in their hands were RC Sailors, with an unboxing. Nobody had really tested or reviewed it yet, so everything here is based on the specs and on Hubsan's own videos.
The specs
It's foldable, and the design looks a lot like a Mavic. I think they wanted to copy it a little. Hubsan said it's built in carbon fibre. The interesting part is the 4K camera on a three-axis gimbal, something new at this price. On top of that: GPS positioning, hovering in place, brushless motors, Wi-Fi image transmission, failsafe and return to home (in their video it lands exactly where it took off), headless mode, barometer altitude hold and intelligent flight modes: follow me, waypoints, image tracking and panorama. And a claimed 23 minutes of flight time.
Hubsan released a video of two Zinos flying, one filming the other, nearly crashing into each other. Even uploaded in 1080p rather than 4K, the quality looked really good.
Who should be worried?
Let's be frank: with most toy drones, the footage from a 30-dollar camera isn't usable. You buy them to practise or to let the kids play. What came out of the Zino looked really good. So my guess was that Hubsan would attack Parrot's market more than DJI's. People who buy DJI want a professional product and are already trained pilots who know what they want. Parrot was the one with more to lose, especially with the Zino arriving just before Christmas. Only time would tell, and I was in contact with Hubsan hoping to get one to review.