Hey guys. There's this new egg-shaped drone called PowerEgg by PowerVision that's supposed to be arriving in October of this year. Well you can order it now actually, and it ships by October. It's definitely a worthy competitor to the DJI Phantom 4. Currently costs around $1288.

What's most interesting about it is that it's shaped like an egg, looks very technologically advanced. And it may be a Phantom 4 killer from what I've seen and read. It has a 4K 360 degree camera, retractable landing gears that automatically pop in and out as it takes off and lands. Has a operating range of around 3.1 miles with it's 2.4 GHz Base Station. Comes equipped with waypoint flying, follow me, orbit, and other intelligent autonomous flight modes. Comes included with a backpack too.

It doesn't have Obstacle Avoidance features, but it does have a cool looking remote that you can use to fly the drone with simple gestures; swipe up to increase altitude, swipe left to fly left, etc.

There's this newly uploaded YouTube video here by Tom's Guide that shows the drone off:



Let me know what you guys personally think of it. I may purchase it, I'm not entirely sure yet. Still thinking about the decision and waiting for more information and hands-on videos about it.

Easter-egg?

g.guaragna Posted at 2016-8-24 17:27
Easter-egg?

Eggsactly

Pretty trippy looking. It did say that it avoids obstacles.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-25 00:49
Pretty trippy looking. It did say that it avoids obstacles.

I think the guy said that by accident. It doesn't state anywhere on the product's site about there being any sort of obstacle avoidance capabilities. Only optical positioning for indoor flight.

Bit of a shame that it doesn't have obstacle avoidance capabilities but it still has potential to be a great drone. Maybe not as great as the Phantom 4 though with it's self awareness of it's surroundings during flight. Everything else about the drone puts it on par with the P4 as far as I can tell.
I like the retracting landing gears and the egg-shaped design, very compact and easy to sling into a backpack.

Enkeixpress Posted at 2016-8-25 01:12
I think the guy said that by accident. It doesn't state anywhere on the product's site about there  ...

It is strange that they quote 3.1 mile range which is the exact same as DJI with Lightbridge technology. I'd be curious just how they plan to get that range. Lightbridge is an amazing technology and the video/RC are on the same exact frequency. I'd like to see how they are doing it.

Probably a bunch of former DJI developers that got pi$$ed off and left or were treated unkindly.  It happens.

So you going to put all your EGG in one basket?

Not going to be any new kids on the block kill anything anytime soon without some severe testing and reports, especially at the $1300 price point.  On the other hand this technology is cloned even before real production starts so it might be interesting to see where it goes.

I always love it when someone comes to a company's website and puffs up someone else's product. Those same people will probably come to this site for tech support of the other person's product. No accounting for...

I always love it when someone comes to a company's website and puffs up someone else's product. Those same people will probably come to this site for tech support of the other person's product. No accounting for...

iFlyMyDrone.com Posted at 2016-8-25 01:46
I always love it when someone comes to a company's website and puffs up someone else's product. Thos ...

Don't get me wrong, I love DJI with their Phantom 4 drone. It's just that I recently experienced a rather unfair accident with my Phantom 4 drone. It didn't return to home properly, and instead proceeded to land by itself on a very high hotel building in the Central London area. As in, it's lost for good. I can't get it back. I also only had it for like 3 days, 1 hour of flight-time with it.

Upon contacting DJI's customer support after the accident had occurred, DJI didn't want to send me a replacement drone as they claim the incident isn't covered under their warranty terms or something like that. The most they could do is give me a 25% discount towards a replacement, which is nice but I still don't think that I should pay anything for a replacement drone as this accident happened entirely by the drone itself, no pilot error at all.
I am currently saving up for a replacement drone but will not be purchasing the drone directly from DJI as I am able to purchase it elsewhere for much cheaper, even with their discount applied.

This PowerVision PowerEgg drone looks and sounds really cool, I'm interested to see where things go with it, how successful it will be, what problems will pop up in real-world use. I still think that the Phantom 4 is the current king of drones right now.

Enkeixpress Posted at 2016-8-24 18:56
Don't get me wrong, I love DJI with their Phantom 4 drone. It's just that I recently experienced a  ...

You say no pilot error, what were you doing flying in the middle of a congested city, much of which has restrictions on any flying at all.

Guess you can play rugby with it when the battery is flat.
Several others on the market that are of similar design but generally cylindrical as apposed to egg shaped.

I flew a multi rotor made by 3D Robotics for two years.  I followed a couple of 3DR forums during that time,  The percentage of people reporting crashes and fly-aways on those forums seems to be about the same as I see on DJI Phantom forums.   I'd be willing to bet that any future egg-beater forums will be similar.

Nothing's perfect.

Aardvark Posted at 2016-8-25 02:15
You say no pilot error, what were you doing flying in the middle of a congested city, much of whic ...

I was trying to get some far-off 4K quality footage of the Palace of Westminster and the Millennium Wheel, preferably both in the same shot, which I did by hovering just above St Thomas Hospital. The footage would have looked fantastic on a big-screen 4K TV. I just didn't manage to have the drone arrive back to me intact. My plan was to only be there for a short amount of time, just enough to not get noticed by the authorities at least.

After getting the footage I wanted, I decided to go for a couple of more minutes flight around the surrounding area as I had a lot of battery left-over. Big mistake that was because when I had used the return-to-home button on the remote to call the bird back after my little bit of extra play-time, it instead went towards a large hotel and landed there. At least I think it did. I was disconnected from the drone the whole time, all I could see was a black screen. Could have landed anywhere at this point.

Either way, lesson learnt.

I'll most likely be flying the new one close-by and away from any high buildings, at least until I've had the drone for longer than a month. It's very annoying having to save up £1000 again after having this high-tech toy for less than 3 days, but I have no choice. I must save for a new one. The Phantom 4 was just too awesome. It loses signal quite a bit though, have to admit. Regardless of it having that oh so powerful DJI Lightbridge technology.

Enkeixpress Posted at 2016-8-25 03:52
I was trying to get some far-off 4K quality footage of the Palace of Westminster and the Millennium ...

I'm sorry you lost your aircraft, if your P4 was losing signal all the time then it was the device you were using or an issue with the P4 and should have been sent in to be warranty repaired.

jwt873@gmail.co Posted at 2016-8-25 02:51
I flew a multi rotor made by 3D Robotics for two years.  I followed a couple of 3DR forums during th ...

The reports may be about the same quantity BUT the  DJI aircraft out there is much greater than any other manufacture. So if both had issues equally then ther would be at least ten times more DJI issue posts.

This is bullsh**!, DJI ALL THE WAY.

Let's not hi-jack this thread with complaints about DJI.

That is one odd looking flying egg.  

the entire selling point of the P4 is the obstacle avoidance. Any drone not offering this is NOT a P4 killer in anyway from the start.

There is a physics issue with the design.  The bulk of the body extends far below the props.  Although this could possibly help stabilize the craft in certain scenarios, the video shows hints of a larger problem.  When the top of the bird moves  laterally, the elongated body with the camera at the bottom  swings like a pendulum.  The video show this in great detail with the operator making only small adjustments.  I believe the thing would swing wildly in a real world scenario.

Mabou2 Posted at 2016-8-25 08:04
There is a physics issue with the design.  The bulk of the body ecxtends far below the props.  Altho ...

I agree. It is as if the designer was obsessed with creating a 'cool' egg-shaped design and compromised everything in order to achieve it. Personally, I prefer to have legs that are always down, I don't want to drop mine from a height and then watch the legs unfold while it is lying on the ground.

And the reviewer mentioned that with the retractable legs you don't see the legs in shot 'like you do with other drones'. You don't see them with any of the Phantom aircraft either.

Enkeixpress Posted at 2016-8-25 05:52
I was trying to get some far-off 4K quality footage of the Palace of Westminster and the Millennium ...

You had less than 3 days experience and undertook complicated (and potentially dangerous) flight in a high interference area, unaware of all the things that could go wrong and how to ensure they didn't.
And you are unhappy that DJI won't give you a new toy?

Agree with above to posts, time will tell what it is like.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-24 13:20
It is strange that they quote 3.1 mile range which is the exact same as DJI with Lightbridge techn ...

3.1 miles??? Lol!!! More like 3100 ft.

Drop back and punt that thing about 30 yards, nothing to see here.

Also, phantom 4 killer, lol!! I don't think so.

Enkeixpress Posted at 2016-8-25 03:52
I was trying to get some far-off 4K quality footage of the Palace of Westminster and the Millennium ...

I think the DJI folks have been much nicer to you than I would have. I own a business. If you came into my house and started to puff up my competition I would show you the door. I only have one word for you: RUDE!

Eggsterminate! Eggsterminate!

The feet on this thing will look terrible after a few landings, which will definitely take away from the cool factor when it is all closed up.  I agree that we don't see the feet in our P4, but I believe the gimbal on the egg is 360 degrees, something we don't have with the P4.  Anyway, the egg is cool and cute, but as I mentioned above, it will have a nasty stability problem and will swing like a pendulum in the wind or with any maneuvering.

dgriffnz Posted at 2016-8-25 02:17
Eggsterminate! Eggsterminate!

LMAO that was funny!  Nice arrangement there.  Can I get that in a BNF or RTF version?

I like the way it folds up, would easily fit into a backpack. Kind of funky, but probably style over substance.

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2016-8-25 08:02
3.1 miles??? Lol!!! More like 3100 ft.

Agree - In the country, direct line of site - 3100 meters or 1.9 miles is the best I can get. I've seen video of 4 mile runs but darn if I can do it.  

Enkeixpress Posted at 2016-8-24 20:52
I was trying to get some far-off 4K quality footage of the Palace of Westminster and the Millennium ...

I'm sorry if this causes offence, but please don't take it ...

You've broken the law by flying in a No Fly Zone in the Central London area, where there are lots of NOTAMS and helicopters. Even if the authorities don't catch you, you aren't looking out for the safety of the other aircrafts in the the Class A airspace.

You really need to think about safety and the UK Drone Law.

Please read this before you buy another aircraft and don't be one of those who spoils it for all the legal operators in the UK.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/ ... ones/Flying-drones/

Sorry again if this causes any offence...

PS - thanks for sharing the EggDrone :-)

That's one... awkward... shape for a drone...

Lmao that thing looks soooo stupid

Killer?  No.

Competitor?  Yes!

One question - in the spec, what is gimbal 'Controllable Row Range'?

I started off with a P3A, before that a few Helis. i then sold it and bought a swell pro amphibious drone that can carry a 1kg payload to use to drop a fishing line. my P3A could carry exactly 330 grams. The Swell pro drone was a heap of junk. GPS did not work at all. bottom line is that i will never try anything that is not a DJi product again

It reminds me of the space craft Robin  Williams landed in on the TV show mork from Orc.

You know it doesn't do anything for me. I don't like the looks, the retractable landing gear makes me nervous. If the landing gear fails then landing upright is out of the question. I would have to say I would pass.

I like the design but I agree with the above comments that stability could be compromised and I think the fewer moving parts on stuff like this the better.  It seems like the landing gear could be a point of failure if you have a hard landing or land on uneven ground.  Also where is the front of this thing, I've had instances before when landing my P3 where if I hadn't known the orientation it would have crashed, I can see this being confusing unless it's foolproof.