Why it matters to you
The new Polaroid-branded drones don’t have any unusual features — except maybe the $50-$300 price point.
Polaroid’s iconic rainbow stripes have arrived on an entirely new type of camera — drones. The 80-year-old film camera company now has branded four new budget Polaroid camera drones in a range of sizes and features.
The new line starts with the Polaroid PL2900, a quadcopter sporting Polaroid’s iconic rainbow stripes. The drone doesn’t launch with any crazy new features, except perhaps the $299 price point. The PL2900 carries a 720P HD camera with Wi-Fi for streaming the footage directly to an Android or Apple smartphone. Video is stabilized with a six-axis gyroscope system.
The PL2900 can fly for 10 minutes at speeds of up to 16 mph. The drone cannot keep up that speed for the entire flight, however — Polaroid lists a travel distance of only about 1,000 feet on a single charge. The listing also says batteries are not included. The drone sports a “headless mode” which allows for features like auto return, altitude hold, one button landing, and emergency landings if the signal is lost.
The first drone is joined by a second at the same price point, the Polaroid PL1000, with a shorter seven-minute flight time but speeds up to 20 mph and a different design, sporting prop guards and a red exterior.
The third in the series is a smaller version of the first, sporting the same black and rainbow design on a smaller, circular body. The Polaroid PL3000 has the same 10-minute flight time with two speed settings, maxing out at 20 mph, and keeps the 720P resolution camera. The headless mode and six-axis gyroscope is also included. The PL3000’s smaller body drops the price by $50, listing for $250.
The final announcement is the tiny, $50 Polaroid PL 1300. The small size means the little blue quadcopter only carries a 480p resolution video camera — and only for up to six minutes. Headless mode is still included and the remote has three speed settings, with a max of 20 mph.
The new Polaroid drones don’t appear to list any features that major drone manufacturers aren’t already offering, but they sit at a lower price point and qualify as budget drones (Amazon, in fact, lists the new drones inside of the Toys and Games instead of Electronics). The drones also come with a 60-day warranty and free plastic parts for a year, which means breaking a propeller will only cost shipping and handling.
Without any details on Polaroid’s official website, the new drones appear to be the product of one of Polaroid’s many license agreements that kept the company alive after it declared bankruptcy, which means the drones are branded by, but not developed by Polaroid.
The new drones start shipping October 7 from Amazon and will also be available from Target and Brookstone.