Want to be an ace pilot before you buy an expensive drone? Practice with this $120 quadcopter

By Alexander Thickstun Published April 21, 2022

As far as drones go, the Swann Xtreem Gravity Pursuit is as stripped-down as a bowling ball. It doesn’t contain GPS, or any sort of piloting assistance to aid you in flying. But its $120 price point makes this one of the most affordable mid-sized drones you’ll find, and it’s perfect for those who want to get into the drone hobby without learning to fly for the first time on a $500+ platform.

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swann xtreem gravity pursuit drone review xtreem1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

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swann xtreem gravity pursuit drone review xtreem3 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

swann xtreem gravity pursuit drone review xtreem4 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

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Higher-end drones do have smart features to make it easy for anyone to fly, but they don’t always work all the time. So learning to fly on the Gravity Xtreem is akin to learning how to drive a stick shift car. You’ll have to be in control the entire time you’re flying, and you’ll also have to correct for wind and even occasional drifting. The learning curve is a bit steeper, but the experience will help make you a better drone pilot when you’re ready to up your game and graduate up to a more advanced multicopter.

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Alexander Thickstun

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Alexander graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2005 and an MBA in 2011. He's an outdoor enthusiast and avid…

Entertainment

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Waymo and Toyota have announced they’re exploring a strategic collaboration—and one of the most exciting possibilities on the table is bringing fully-automated driving technology to personally owned vehicles.
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But shifting to personally owned self-driving cars is a much more complex challenge.
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While the partnership with Toyota is still in the early stages, Waymo says it will initially study how to merge its autonomous systems with the Japanese automaker’s consumer vehicle platforms.
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This move also turns up the heat on Tesla, which has long promised fully self-driving vehicles for consumers. While Tesla continues to refine its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, it remains supervised and hasn’t yet delivered on full autonomy. CEO Elon Musk is promising to launch some of its first robotaxis in Austin in June.
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Cars

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