UPDATE Aug 18, 2022: Snap has killed the Pixy, at least for now. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has told employees that development on the Pixy has been halted as “part of broader reprioritization of company resources.” Though the drone’s development has apparently ceased, it is still currently available for purchase on Snap’s website. The Journal speculates that the Pixy will still be available to consumers for some time, though the future of the device remains unclear. As such, consumers who are interested in picking up a little flying selfie robot friend might want to act sooner rather than later.
Snap calls the Snap Pixy flying camera “a pocket-sized, free-flying sidekick that’s a fit for adventures big and small.”
In a press release in April, the company explained that Snap Pixy comes with four preset flight paths, no controller required and it apparently takes off and lands from your hand.
Naturally, the goal is more Snapchat content. Videos from Snap Pixy flights are wirelessly transferred and saved into Snapchat Memories. From there, users can tap Snapchat’s editing tools, Lenses, and Sounds to customize their captures; they can automatically crop into portrait and apply quick Smart Edits, like Hyperspeed, Bounce, Orbit 3D and Jump Cut, then, share to Chat, Stories, Spotlight, or any other platform.
Word in the consumer press is that Snap “didn’t make enough”. So until you can get your hands on one, here’s a chance to see what it’s about.
Now the reviews and videos are in:
RECOMMENDED REVIEW: Snap’s Pixy gets everything right except for one critical feature (Carlos Campbell, Input)
I know you can learn how to fly a DJI Mavic 3 without too much effort, but having to go to school to use a camera I only wanted to take on a vacation isn’t high on my list of things I want to do. Snap’s solution, however much it seems like a Fisher Price toy, is kind of perfect, for its size, its friendly design, and how stupid simple it makes fairly complicated drone shots.
Campbell took the time to film an example each of the Snap Pixy preset patterns, and did a thorough recap from build to battery. [email protected]
Here’s Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal testing the Snap Pixy
Pixy drone hands-on: A flying robot photographer for Snapchat users (S. Dent, Engadget)
The main camera takes 2.7K video at 30 fps and 12-megapixel images. It shoots in 16:9 landscape mode, which is a bit odd considering the Snaps are vertical. However, a cropping tool in the app lets you convert your captures to portrait mode. Once the flight pattern is selected, just hold the Pixy up so its camera can see your face and press the start button. It’ll take off and perform the selected maneuver, saving video and/or photos to the 16GB of fixed internal storage. That’s enough for around 100 videos and 1,000 photos, depending on the mode and settings. [email protected]
See also: Samsung launches Odyssey Ark monitor
