I’ve played around with a few DJI drones over the years but always found them to be too cumbersome to master and use spontaneously. The $349 HoverAir X1 from Zero Zero Robotics is different. This so-called “selfie drone” is so easy to use that it’s already an indispensable tool for my work and play, right out of the box.
Technology
The HoverAir X1 is the first drone I want to use all the time
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25556630/IMG_8670.jpeg?ssl=1 "The HoverAir X1 is the first drone I want to use all the time")
For example, the HoverAir X1 is responsible for this review photo, this 360-degree GIF, and this overhead shot, as well as all of the follow, orbit, and zoom in / out shots used in this e-bikepacking video and this ID Buzz e-camper review. Each shot was made with just a touch of a button on the top of the drone — no controller required.
The best drone is the one you have with you and the ultra-lightweight HoverAir X1 can easily fit inside a pocket to be taken everywhere. It launches so quickly that I can impulsively grab a more interesting drone shot instead of just defaulting to my iPhone. It returns automatically to land in your hand.
The HoverAir X1 is not without limitations, and I did manage to break one review unit after falling on it. But I have to admit I love this little guy precisely because of its shortcomings, not in spite of them.
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The HoverAir X1’s flying weight is about half that of DJI’s sub-250g Mini drones, so it, too, is exempt from registration and licensing requirements in most countries. It folds up into a 5 x 3.4 x 1.2-inch (127 x 86 x 31mm) package that’s so small and lightweight that I could comfortably carry it in a thigh pocket on long bike rides or trail runs.
The primary user interface for the X1 is two buttons on the drone itself. One turns the unit on, and the other cycles through five presets that lock the camera onto the user as the drone completes a predetermined flight path, shooting video or taking photos along the way:
- Hover — floats in fixed space and tracks your movement
- Follow — flies behind or in front of you at different heights and distances
- Orbit — makes a wide circle overhead around a fixed center spot
- Zoom out — flies away and up and then back in
- Bird’s eye — for top-down shots directly over a fixed spot
There’s also a sixth mode that lets you assign a lightly customized flight pattern. The hover and follow modes can record videos or take photos for several minutes at a time, while the other flight modes begin and end at the point of launch and last for about 30 seconds.
The HoverAir app lets you tweak each of its automatic flight modes, including the altitude, distance, swapping between photo or video captures, portrait or landscape, and image quality. After some early experimentation to see what I liked, I rarely had to adjust these again.
In a metric I like to call “time to drone,” I can pull the X1 out of a pocket, unfold it, turn it on, select a predefined flight path, and set it aloft from an outstretched palm in less than 20 seconds. No DJI drone can come anywhere close.
That’s not to say that the HoverAir can compete with DJI’s consumer drones on features or capabilities. The X1’s diminutive size means compromises were made, starting with a max video resolution of 2.7K/30fps.
Shots also start looking a little shaky in light winds around 10 knots (5.1m/s), and the X1 can’t even fly once winds exceed a moderate 15 knots (7.7m/s). It’s also relatively slow. The X1 can track me fine on a trail run, but it’ll start losing its object lock when I’m road biking at a not-very-fast pace of just 12mph (20km/h). Even when it can keep up, it’ll lose me when the elevation changes rapidly on a steep climb or descent.
Otherwise, the X1’s computer vision tracking is very good — it’s the main reason you’d buy this drone. But when it does lose track of me for whatever reason, it’ll just stop, hover in place, and then eventually land, even over water or a busy street. There is no return-to-home feature to ensure a safe landing and recovery. It can, however, be configured to play a sound to help find it.
The X1 also lacks any obstacle avoidance. Instead, the drone’s four rotors are encased in a flexible plastic cage to protect the device from collisions. In most flight modes, the lack of avoidance tech isn’t really a problem so long as you give the immediate area a quick survey. It becomes an issue when the drone is in follow-me mode through narrow tree-lined trails, for example, or when walking around a sharp corner inside my home. Usually, it’ll just stop and hover in place if it runs into something, meaning I’ll have to double back to re-engage the tracking lock on my person or to collect it. But if it hits something when going faster — like chasing me on a bike — it’ll crash. My review X1 has already survived a few dozen crashes that sent it plummeting to the ground. It’s fine, other than a few scuff marks.
I did destroy another X1 when my full weight landed on it while testing some new clipless bike pedals (don’t judge!). The X1 is not indestructible, but it’s surprisingly robust for such a lightweight drone.
1/10
The HoverAir X1 also lacks any kind of advanced GPS positioning. Instead, it opts for a VIO (Visual Inertial Odometry) system to estimate its position in 3D space, indoors or out, so that its preset flight modes can return the drone to its original starting point. It worked very well in my testing, often living up to the HoverAir’s claim of “centimeter-level precision,” even when flying orbits around me with a 20-foot (six-meter) radius.
The drone also responds to a variety of hand gestures when the user is standing still. For example, you can send the X1 left or right with a wave of an arm or tell it to land with your arms crossed overhead. You can also just grab the drone out of the air and flip it upside down to turn those protected rotors off.
The HoverAir X1 does offer a manual Wi-Fi-connected flight mode whereby your phone becomes the controller. It’s fun, but I found it unresponsive at times, making it difficult to control flight with any real precision. I consider it a bonus feature you might want to use in a pinch.
The X1 is limited to 32GB of built-in storage without any option for microSD expansion. I’m currently using just 8.8GB to store the 113 videos and 60 images I’ve shot at max resolution over the last few months of testing. The footage transfers quickly to a phone over a direct Wi-Fi connection using the HoverAir app or over USB-C to a laptop. That USB-C connection will also charge the X1’s battery in about 55 minutes.
On paper, the X1 is dumb and unremarkable. But the HoverAir is so good at doing what many people actually need from a drone that its shortcomings rarely matter at all.
DJI is still the king of sweeping panoramas, but the HoverAir X1 makes a strong case for being the drone you choose to capture yourself doing things — indoors and out — especially for social media.
I do wish it was more capable so I could trust it to capture action over water when kitesurfing on windy days, keep up with me when road cycling at pace, or maintain its object lock when I’m bombing down a steep hill on a mountain bike. A 4K/60fps shooting mode would also be nice so long as none of these wishes increase the price too much.
The X1 does 90 percent of what I want a drone to do
Still, the X1 does 90 percent of what I want a drone to do without adding GPS, obstacle avoidance sensors, and a physical controller that’ll just make everything more expensive, more complicated, more cumbersome to carry, and slower to launch. Maybe DJI’s rumored Neo will fill in that last 10 percent because it certainly looks like a response to the HoverAir hype.
The HoverAir X1 lists for $429, but it’s nearly always on sale somewhere, often at or below $350. But I’d recommend opting for the $400-ish bundle that adds a dual-battery quick charger and two extra batteries that each only last about 10 to 12 minutes before needing a 35-minute recharge. Like the X1 itself, they’re so small and lightweight that you can easily bring them along to help document your next activity.
All photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
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Just days after showing off the Galaxy S26, Samsung is finally rolling out the ability for users to unlock their home with a tap of their phone or by simply approaching their door. The new feature, called Digital Home Key, will live inside Samsung Wallet and is powered by the Aliro smart home standard.
Samsung first teased its Digital Home Key feature in 2024 and said the feature would be available in 2025. That didn’t pan out, as the CSA’s Aliro standard — which will let users unlock smart locks with any phone — only arrived in February of this year. The new standard uses near-field communication (NFC) for its tap-to-unlock technology. It also supports ultra-wideband (UWB), giving users the ability to unlock their door as they approach and without pulling out their phone.
To add a Digital Home Key to your wallet, you’ll need to set up a compatible smart lock through SmartThings using Matter. Only some Galaxy smartphones support both NFC and UWB, including the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and up, as well as the Galaxy S22 Ultra and up. You can view the full list of compatible devices on Samsung’s website.
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When you hear “brain-computer interface,” you probably picture surgery, wires and a chip in your head. Now picture something quieter. No implant. No incision. Just sound waves directed at the brain.
That is the approach behind a new wave of ultrasound brain-computer interface companies in China. One of the newest is Gestala, founded in Chengdu with offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company says it is developing technology that can stimulate and eventually study brain activity using focused ultrasound.
Yes, the same basic technology is used in medical imaging. But this time, it targets neural circuits.
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Brain imaging highlights the regions researchers study as companies explore noninvasive ultrasound brain-computer interface technology. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What is an ultrasound brain computer interface?
Most brain-computer interface systems rely on electrodes that detect electrical signals from neurons. Neuralink is the most visible example. It places tiny threads inside the brain to record activity. Ultrasound works differently.
Instead of measuring electrical signals directly, it uses high-frequency sound waves. Depending on intensity and focus, those waves can:
- Create images of internal tissue
- Destroy abnormal tissue such as tumors
- Modulate neural activity without open surgery.
Focused ultrasound treatments are already approved for Parkinson’s disease, uterine fibroids and certain tumors. That clinical history gives companies like Gestala a foundation to build on. However, studying or interpreting brain signals with ultrasound is far more complex than delivering targeted stimulation.
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Unlike implant-based systems such as Neuralink, ultrasound brain computer interface research focuses on stimulating the brain without surgery. (Neuralink)
How Gestala plans to treat chronic pain with focused ultrasound
Gestala’s first product is focused on chronic pain. The company plans to target the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region linked to the emotional experience of pain. Early pilot studies suggest that stimulating this area can reduce pain intensity for up to a week in some patients. The first-generation device will be a stationary system used in clinics. Patients would visit a hospital for treatment sessions. Later, the company plans to develop a wearable helmet designed for supervised use at home. Over time, Gestala says it wants to expand into depression, other mental health conditions, stroke rehabilitation, Alzheimer’s disease and sleep disorders. That is an ambitious roadmap. Each condition involves different brain networks and clinical hurdles.
Can ultrasound read brain activity without implants?
Like other brain tech startups, Gestala is also exploring whether ultrasound could help interpret brain activity. The long-term concept is straightforward in theory. A device could detect patterns linked to chronic pain or depression, then deliver stimulation to specific regions in response.
Unlike traditional brain implants, which capture electrical signals from limited areas, an ultrasound-based system may have the potential to access broader regions of the brain. That possibility is one reason researchers are paying attention. Still, translating that concept into reliable data is a major engineering challenge.
The global race to build noninvasive brain interfaces
China is not alone in exploring ultrasound brain-computer interface systems. Earlier this month, OpenAI announced a significant investment in Merge Labs, a startup cofounded by Sam Altman along with researchers linked to Forest Neurotech.
Public materials from Merge Labs mention restoring lost abilities, supporting healthier brain states and deepening human connection with advanced AI. That language signals long-term ambitions. Yet experts caution that real-world applications are still years away.
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Researchers use MRI guidance to precisely target the anterior cingulate cortex with focused ultrasound during chronic pain studies. (Gestala)
The technical limits of ultrasound brain interfaces
Ultrasound faces technical limits. First, the skull weakens and distorts sound waves. That makes it harder to obtain precise signals. In research settings, detailed readouts of neural activity have required special implants that allow ultrasound to pass more clearly than bone.
Second, ultrasound measures changes in blood flow. Blood flow shifts more slowly than electrical firing in neurons. That delay may limit applications that require fast, detailed signal decoding, such as real-time speech translation. In short, stimulation is one challenge. Accurate readout is another level entirely.
What this means to you
Right now, this technology is experimental. You are not about to buy a brain helmet at your local electronics store. Still, the direction matters. If noninvasive ultrasound devices can reduce chronic pain or support mental health treatment, more patients may consider therapy without facing brain surgery.
At the same time, devices that analyze brain states introduce new privacy questions. Brain-related data is deeply personal. Regulators, hospitals and companies will need clear rules about how that data is stored, shared and protected. Finally, the link between AI companies and brain interface startups shows how closely digital intelligence and neuroscience are becoming intertwined. That connection could reshape medicine, wellness, and even how we interact with technology.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Brain-computer interfaces used to feel far off and experimental. Now they are a serious focus of global research and investment. China’s push to develop an ultrasound-based brain-computer interface adds momentum to a field already shaped by companies like Neuralink and new ventures backed by OpenAI. Progress is steady but measured. The potential is significant. The technical hurdles are real. What happens next will depend on whether researchers can turn promising lab results into safe, reliable treatments people can actually use.
If sound waves could one day interpret your mental state, who should decide how that information is used? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Lenovo put a foldable display on a gaming handheld. The Legion Go Fold Concept is a Windows-based handheld with a flexible POLED display, detachable Joy-Con-like controllers, and a folio case to turn the whole thing into a mini laptop.
You can use it as a standard Steam Deck-esque handheld with the display folded down to 7.7 inches and controllers attached at its sides, or you can unfold it for a bigger experience. When unfolded, the controllers can be repositioned to all four sides, allowing you to play with the screen in vertical or horizontal orientations.
In vertical splitscreen mode, you can put your game on one half of the screen and a second window (like your chat or game guide) on the other half. Horizontal fullscreen mode gives your game the full 11.6 inches of real estate in a 16:10 aspect ratio. To go into laptop mode, you remove the controllers and mount the handheld into a folio case with a stand, built-in keyboard, and trackpad. The controllers can be put into a separate grip mount to unify them as one gamepad.
There are a lot of ways you can use this folding handheld, including turning one of its controllers into a vertical mouse like on other Legion Go handhelds, but there’s one thing it doesn’t do: fold down to close and protect its screen. The Go Fold only folds outwards, so don’t expect a Nintendo DS or GameBoy Advance-like clamshell that closes for portability. Instead, it’s all about getting bigger than your average gaming handheld and offering more. (Though we’ve tried bigger before.)
The Legion Go Fold has some formidable specs: an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Lunar Lake processor, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 48Whr battery. The plastic-covered OLED has a resolution of 2435 x 1712 and 165Hz refresh rate. And there’s even a second, circular toushscreen on the right controller, under the face buttons. It doubles as a touchpad and can be a support display, allowing you to swipe between extracted UI elements from a game (which I wouldn’t expect to be widely supported), a clock, system monitoring, or an animated GIF (just for fun).
During my brief in-person demo I didn’t get to play any graphically-intense games — just Balatro, which can practically play on a potato. The screen looked plenty sharp, but like any foldable there’s a crease down the middle; it’s very visible, but you learn to look past it and ignore it after just a bit. The build and feel of the whole thing felt a little fragile, and detaching and reattaching the controllers was definitely janky. Build quality will hopefully be improved if this device ever actually makes it to market.
The laptop mode was a pleasant surprise for me though. I did not expect a gaming handheld to double as a conventional computer you could get work done on. The Legion Go Fold’s case took quite a bit of fumbling before I set it up correctly, but it shouldn’t take too long to get used to if you actually lived with it.
Then again, I don’t know if anyone is going to be able to live with this thing — ever. I’d love for the Legion Go Fold to go from concept to real product like other out-there Lenovo ideas, but I shudder to think what it might cost. The Legion Go 2 is already priced well over $1,000. And with the ongoing RAMageddon crisis we’re living through, there’s no telling how much more expensive an actual Legion Go Fold would be if it came out in a year or more.
But even if it’s not the kind of foldable I expected, and even though it may never come out, it’s certainly cool. Now somebody please make a folding PC handheld that goes from kinda-big to really small. I think that’d be the one for me.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
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