The CES 2017 kicked off yesterday and we’ll the world’s biggest and most exciting consumer electronics manufacturers strut their wares to show you what you can expect from this year and some of their concept projects that may or may not see the light of day.
For drone hobbyists and action camera enthusiast, they will be expecting what GoPro will announce this year. In particular, what happens to the GoPro Karma drone which they launched last year but recalled the product as some of the 2,500 units that were released were falling out of the sky due to abrupt loss of power while in flight. The Karma drone is their first foray into the consumer drone market, which is now being dominated by the China-based DJI.
GoPro will still be pushing ahead with the Karma drone, amidst the recoil, as they acknowledge that problem was a mechanical issue in security the drone’s battery and in their press release issued prior to CES 2017 that they will detail their plans about the drone in February as they complete their testing.
What many drone enthusiasts and industry observers wonder if customers will still go for the Karma Drone. It is a nicely designed drone that comes with a Karma Grip handheld stabilize that you can use your GoPro Hero 5 with for smoother video capture. But when compared to the DJI Mavic Pro, it falls short feature wise for the price that. With the debacle over its release, drone owners who planned to get one probably have moved on purchasing the Mavic Pro or other drones that they can mount their Hero 5 action cams on.
Will the Karma that will be released this year will be the same Karma released last year or will GoPro add more features to entice former Karma owners back? We’ll find out next month.