OnePlus unveils world’s smallest drone, and no, it’s not a joke

By Trevor Mogg April 1, 2015

An ad last month teasing a new product from OnePlus led many to believe the company might be about to launch a new gaming device.

Turns out that’s not the case at all. It is, in fact, a drone. A little one. The world’s smallest, OnePlus says.

Listed as a ‘special edition product,’ OnePlus’s DR-1 quadcopter is just 7cm across and 3cm top to bottom. It comes with an equally tiny controller, which can be used to initiate 4-axis flips via a simple flick of the thumb.

A 20-minute charge gives you eight minutes of flight time, during which OnePlus suggests you “challenge your friends to a sky race,” or, rather curiously, try to land it on a “ceiling fan while it’s spinning at full speed,” though it later admits this might not actually be a good idea.

Of course, any product unveiled on or just before April 1 needs to be considered with one eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other, but with the DR-1 lacking the wackiness to make it as an April Fool’s prank, it seems that OnePlus really is getting into the quadcopter business.

It’s almost as if its diminutive drone started out as an April 1 joke before the company realized it actually wasn’t that funny, prompting it to go ahead and make it. After all, a message following a rather elaborate product pitch on the DR-1’s dedicated microsite reads, “While we had some fun with this product pitch, we’ve also prepared a limited quantity of the DR-1 for you to buy.” This appears under the title, “Happy April Fool’s Day from OnePlus!”

It’s not clear how many units OnePlus has made of its debut drone, but if you’re quick off the mark, the DR-1 can be yours for just $20.

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