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The GoPro Karma
In mid September GoPro annouced their first drone, the GoPro Karma. The compact folding arms make it a perfect drone for travelers like myself that would like to get a different perspective of the places we visit. I ordered the DJI Mavic Pro October 14, but due to production delays the estimated shipping date is still unknown. What’s worse, people who ordered in late September still haven’t received their orders.
The GoPro Karma came with a backpack, the drone, a GoPro Hero 4 Black, and a handheld attachment so you can use the detachable gimbal without the drone as well. The charge time is great taking only an hour to get a full charge on the battery, and 2 hours for the controller. When you first set up the drone it take a while to update the firmware for the drone, camera, and controller.
The GoPro Karma
Flying the GoPro Karma
I was a little nervous about flying the karma the first time because I never flew a drone before. Turns out it was a piece of cake! The GoPro Karma has auto take-off and auto-land functions, but I just pressed the climb controller up and we were off! The karma was surprisingly stable in the 10-15 mph winds and was very responsive to controller movements. One thing that the GoPro Karma is missing is obstacle avoidance. I was flying two or three days after buying it and lost my bearings because I was looking at the drone instead of the screen on the controller. I ended up in a tree and busting all four of my propellers ?. I found some replacements on Amazon, so I’m back flight ready!
Overall I think this is a great drone for the price (without the GoPro- $799). I am still very excited for the DJI Mavic Pro to ship because it has a lot more features than the GoPro Karma. As of writing this I just read GoPro is recalling all Karmas because of a glitch that causes them to lose power mid-flight. I imagine they will be able to fix this issue quickly and your are definitely way more likely to get your hands on a Karma than a Mavic Pro before Christmas. Check out my video of my unboxing and first flight below or on YouTube!
