GoPro teases first footage from its Karma ‘ultra-portable folding drone’

By Drew Prindle Published December 10, 2015

Rumors have been circulating about a GoPro branded quadcopter drone for the better part of a year now, but today the company finally gave us some tangible proof that the drone is indeed under development. Early this morning, the company revealed the name of the upcoming drone in a YouTube video. Slated for release next year, GoPro’s first foray into the world of consumer quadcopters will be known as the “Karma.”

Unfortunately, that’s all we really know at this point. The company has remained tight-lipped on the subject thus far, and hasn’t released any photos or videos of the drone yet — only a bit of aerial footage that first surfaced back in October. That said, the timing of this video release seems to suggest that GoPro is planning a big reveal sometime in early 2016 — perhaps at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

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We don’t have a lot of details on specs or features at this point, but GoPro’s website describes the Karma as an “ultra-portable folding drone.” Aside from that nugget of information, all we have is speculation — but because this is GoPro we’re talking about here, it’s probably safe to assume that the drone will also be equipped with a high-resolution camera (at least 4K) and a rugged design. As the video suggests, the Karma will be targeted at the same group of adventurous consumers at which GoPro’s action cams are aimed.

Specifics on the Karma’s price aren’t available at this point either, but those in the know suggest that the drone will be priced competitively with the Phantom series from DJI — the currently uncontested king of the consumer drone space. If that turns out to be true, the GoPro Karma will likely fall in the $700-$1,200 range.

Former Senior Editor, Features

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

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