GoPro Introduces Karma - the Easy-To-Use Drone For All Of Us

By Staff Reporter - 27 Sep '16 01:10AM

The much-awaited GoPro Karma has been finally launched. Known for its sports and adventure cameras, GoPro had previewed the product at the Code Conference last year and had announced that it was entering the drones market by early 2016. The release date was however pushed back earlier this year, which only heightened expectations.

At the launch event Founder and CEO Nick Woodman had said that Karma would be more than just a drone, promising to offer a product better than what's currently available in the market the DJI Phantom 4.

With the product now hitting the markets, more details now available.

The GoPro Karma drone has been designed to be ultra-portable, a fully foldable design fitting inside a specially-designed backpack that comes with it. It however doesn't have a camera on board but is compatible with other GoPro products - Hero 5 Black, Hero 5 Session, and Hero 4, which can be placed at the front of the drone. The drone is also not very heavy, weighing 2.2 pounds but becoming four pounds when all accessories are included.

GoPro's Karma is said to be the most user-friendly and easiest-to-use drone to be launched while remaining powerful enough. It is ideal for first-timers - those who have never yet tried flying a drone but are interested in owning one. Woodman has said one of aims of the company was building a drone that offers an "out-of-the-box experience".

The drone is ready-to-use requiring no parts to attach. A few flips to turn the propeller arms and landing gear into its slots, and the Karma is all set. The propellers are 6 inches long and there are 6 of them in the set. Flying the drone is intuitive thanks to controller with two joysticks that mimic the videogame controlling system. The Karma has several pre-set modes, allowing users use the drone and film without needing technical knowledge.

The drone goes upto a speed of 35 mph, going up to a distance of 1000 meters. The drone can hit a maximum height of 4500 meters and it operates at a frequency of 2.4GHz. With a full charge, the Karma can fly for 20 minutes.

Priced at $799, the Karma drone has a competitive price, although the camera would need to be purchased separately. GoPro is offering several attractive deals bundling them both.