I’m big enough (in my thirties for sure) to remember a time before we all carried digital cameras with almost unlimited memory. With a roll of film, you had 24 opportunities to capture a moment. What you had was what you had. When I was a kid, the only chance I had to really perfect my posture was when my mom took me to the mall to take our glamorous photos.
He reminded me of this when I showed my coworker my sunken Pixy selfies, and he commented that it looked like he was releasing a garage rock album. De course he did it! Punk and grunge photos are ostentatiously unexposed and unfiltered, which is exactly how the Pixy rolls.
The new Snapchat teen camera drone is adorable and incredibly easy to use. But battery life is so short that even when you carry multiple batteries, you don’t have many opportunities to get the picture you want. And with a camera on board that’s just decent, the pictures can look a little flat.
But that is far from a big complaint. After all, our selection of the best drone on a budget is the DJI Mavic Mini S (8/10, cable recommended), which is significantly larger, costs twice as much, and requires you to learn to fly it. The Pixy flies by itself, throws itself from the palm of its hand, takes a selfie or a ussie, and lands on its hand again. If you don’t want to waste time and money on cheap drones on Amazon and want more dynamic selfies than you would get with a selfie stick, the Pixy is a good buy. My kids love it too.
Small world
The Pixy is the size of a small paperback (do we even carry them yet?) And weighs less than a deck of cards. It’s so small that even my 7-year-old son can grab it and operate on it. Also, I forgot what pocket I put in my bag.
To get started, pair your drone with your phone’s Snapchat app via Bluetooth. Then play with the small silver sphere at the top of the drone that shows five icons for different flight modes: Hover, Landscape, Follow, Orbit, and a star for a favorite mode that you can customize. Once you’ve chosen a mode, press the yellow button at the top of the drone. Then hold the drone in the palm of your hand and move it up close to your face so that the Pixy can lock in the location of your head and body; once done, a light on one side of the camera turns green. Watch Pixy take off. While it’s floating, wait again for the light on the other side of the lens to turn white, which is an indicator that Pixy has started recording. After about 15 seconds, marvel as you fly towards your outstretched hand.
To remove your videos from the Pixy and put them on your phone, turn the silver dial on the drone to standby mode. You can import videos and pictures to both Snapchat and your phone’s camera, and the drone can store about 20 videos. This will last you, oh, one day. Because the drone doesn’t capture audio, you can also add any music you like, to the app, or anywhere else. You can also do all the usual Snapchat stuff, such as adding stickers or video effects.
The camera captures 2.7K images, which are noticeably graier than the now standard 4K video I normally watch on my iPhone 11. (It would probably have helped if I had remembered to clean the lens every time I flew it, but the dangers of carrying a handheld pocket drone.)
Also keep in mind that my three-year-old iPhone has three separate lenses and features like Deep Fusion to take much more beautiful photos computationally. The Pixy has none of this stuff. However, that was more than offset by the fact that I had never seen my ass in jeans before. Thanks, friends and family, for never taking pictures of me from this particular angle.
Slow show
Photo: Snap
The grainy footage also reminded me of the dead woman in a TikTok meme from the movie. The women (and men!) Shot parody videos of themselves as the wife that is nothing more than a very sad memory at the beginning of a movie. The footage consists mainly of gathering under the covers and playing irresistibly as they walk away from the camera in chiffon suits.