AirSelfie’s second-gen selfie drone with better flight time is now available

By Ed Oswald July 16, 2018

AirSelfie debuted its original drone of the same name more than a year ago, and now the company is back with a follow-up. The AirSelfie 2 was first shown off at CES 2018 in Las Vegas earlier this year, but now the improved device is finally available for purchase. The new drone builds upon the original design, upgrades the camera from five to 12 megapixels, increases the camera’s field of view to 85 degrees, and improves battery life by 50 percent.

If you’re a selfie addict, the AirSelfie2 might be the drone for you.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the original design was the fact that the AirSelfie could only fly for about three to five minutes, which was on the low end of the spectrum for smaller drones. That’s no longer an issue, and neither is memory capacity, as storage is quadrupled in the AirSelfie2 to 16GB.

Like the original model, you’ll control the drone through an app, which features various modes, including Selfie and Flight, depending on the type of pictures you’re trying to take. The drone also has the capability to hover in one spot and be safely retrieved out of the air using just your hand.

As far as we can tell, the new AirSelfie is about the same size and weight as the original drone, coming in at 3.72 x 2.71 x 0.45 inches, with a weight of just over two ounces. The company says the device is able to fly about 60 feet from its base.

“When you’re looking to capture life’s important moments, dramatic scenery, or large group shots, you want a combination of best-in-class technology and ease of use. The AirSelfie2 delivers precisely that,” CEO Stefano Cabella said.

The second-generation drone is a perfect choice for selfie-lovers out there. It’s available from the AirSelfie online store, as well as from Amazon as of July 17. The drone comes in at $199.95, and is available in silver, black, gold, and rose gold. The original only came in silver. In addition to the drone, there’s a power bank for recharging, a USB cable for connecting to a computer, and a protective bumper.

Update: The AirSelfie 2 is now available for purchase.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

For fifteen years, Ed has written about the latest and greatest in gadgets and technology trends. At Digital Trends, he's…

Photography

AirSelfie drone is small enough to stow away in a phone case

AirSelfie

Update January 26, 2017: AirSelfie has announced its Kickstarter campaign has come to a successful close, raising over $600,000 from backers. That is well above the original goal of just $48,000. The company has also announced U.S. pricing for the product, and is currently offering a 30-percent discount for preorder customers. That brings the AirSelfie drone with phone case to about $262, while the drone plus a power bank is available for $272. Preorders are open now.

The AirSelfie is the latest advance in the never-ending technological pursuit of the perfect selfie. The minuscule quadcopter fits in the palm of your hand and slides into a custom phone case for storage and charging. It can only fly for three minutes, but that is enough time for its intended use of capturing a quick group selfie when arms and even selfie sticks can’t extend far enough to get everyone in the picture.

Photography

Hover is a book-shaped selfie drone you just unfold and toss in the air

zero robotics launches hover flying camera

Update October 13, 2016: Zero Zero Robotics began selling the Hover drone today, with a surprisingly low introductory price of $549. After the first two weeks, the price will rise to $599, which is still quite affordable by drone standards. The full name of the product is the Hover Camera Passport and it is geared for travel use. It is the first in a new category of drones that are truly autonomous, with no input required by the user to pilot them. The drone is available for order online.

Drones are popular, but learning to pilot an unwieldy and unpredictable device can be intimidating. If you're more interested in aerial videos than Top Gun fantasies, what you want is something that can fly itself, like the Hover, the latest in autonomous flying cameras.

Emerging Tech

The US Air Force now allows any enlisted person to pilot a surveillance drone — not just officers

air force to allow enlisted pilots fly gobal hawk drones 140524 f xd880 018

To help meet the rising demand for drone surveillance and reconnaissance, the United States Air Force just announced it now allows enlisted pilots (including non-officers) to fly in missions involving unmanned aircraft. Essentially, instead of narrowing the potential field of pilots strictly to commissioned officers, any enlisted Air Force pilot now has the ability to contribute to the USAF's ongoing Global Hawk operations. Considered a "strategically vital mission," it's apparent the Air Force is doing all it can to assure a typically hard-to-staff area of its agency remains a thriving cog in the military machine.

Announced via a press release, the Air Force's new initiative is intended to help boost surveillance efforts and create an innovative new approach to "high-demand missions." Unlike other branches of the U.S. armed forces, the Air Force can't easily maintain a large, active labor force -- so this move to give enlisted pilots access to Global Hawk missions is designed to increase the number of available servicemen. Moving forward, the branch expects to increase its global drone efforts, thus opening the door for even more pilots.