The much-anticipated Disco drone finally launches next month, with maker Parrot hoping its fixed-wing machine can out-boogie competitors in a market currently dominated by quadcopters.
We first caught sight of Parrot’s latest drone at CES in January, its sleek and stylish design – and those wings – eliciting more than a few double-takes at the Las Vegas tech show.
With the Disco, the fun starts at the very beginning: take-off. Forget twiddling knobs on a controller to get the thing airborne. This particular machine just needs you to throw it skyward like a paper plane. And at just 1.6 pounds – about half the weight of the DJI Phantom 4 – that shouldn’t prove too much of a challenge.
The good news is the Disco won’t immediately crash nose-first like your flimsy paper effort always does – at $1300, you certainly won’t want that to happen. Instead, its smart built-in technology ensures it immediately balances itself while gently gaining altitude. The drone then flies autonomously in a circle until you’re ready to take control.
You’ll use the Skycontroller 2 to steer it through the sky, performing twists and turns and even complete rolls as you go. The included Cockpitglasses look like fun, too. Simply pop in your smartphone, strap them on, and enjoy an exhilarating first-person view of all the action direct from the drone.
With a top speed of 50 mph, the camera-equipped Disco could certainly offer some pretty dramatic video footage, making it an attractive proposition for drone enthusiasts looking for something markedly different to current offerings. An impressive 45 minutes of flying time on a single charge is an additional notable feature.
As for the name, we’re not sure where it comes from. Perhaps it has something to do with John Travolta’s Tony Manero character from the 1977 hit Saturday Night Fever – the Disco‘s colors certainly suggest that. As for which can pull the best moves, we’ll just have to wait and see on that one.
Parrot doesn’t give a specific date in September for Disco’s launch, but you can already check out DT’s in-depth hands-on review of the machine here.
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