Consumer drones are largely divided into 2 categories – inexpensive small or nano drones, and bigger and more expensive quadcopter equipped with a lot of features. But the new ONAGOfly drone bridges the gap between the two and offers a quadcopter that is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, while also featuring HD video, obstacle avoidance and a Follow Me mode.

The ONAGOfly Drone Combines Big Drone Features In A Small Drone Body

The ONAGOfly drone can be controlled using an iOS or Android smartphone through Wi-Fi, and it has a range of up to 20 meters (66 ft). It can also use the flier’s smartphone GPS signal to fly along above them at a prearranged height.

It is equipped with 360-degree infrared sensors that prevent it from banging into obstacles within a distance of 20 cm (8 in). The drone can also automatically takeoff and land, and also features a Return Home function, where it autonomously flies back to the point it took off.

The ONAGOfly Drone

The ONAGOfly drone has a 15-MP camera and can shoot video in 1080p at 30fps. But the video is stabilized digitally so the image quality isn’t as good as from drones that use a gimbal. Fliers can recorded the footage on a memory card that is fitted in the drone itself, or can watch live feed on their smartphones for FPV flying.

It also features a smile-detection system that automatically takes a picture when the camera detects that everyone in the shot is smiling.

It has a 1,000-mAh battery that provides a flight time of about 12 minutes while recording, and 15 minutes when just flying, and it can be easily recharged using a USB cord. The 140 grams (0.3 lb) drone can also fly well in wind speeds of 3.3 m/s, which is impressive because even the big DJI Phantom 3 can only manage winds of about 10 m/s.

The ONAGOfly drone is presently a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, where you can pledge for US $199 to get the drone – but only if it reaches it goal, unlike the similar Zano drone. When the drone hits the market, it will have a retail price of $299.