ZeroTech Dobby review

Battery life

• Rated for nine minutes of flight time
• In practice we got a good bit less
• You can purchase spare batteries

The Dobby's small size does have one major drawback – the battery life is quite weak. ZeroTech rates the 970mAH power cell for around nine minutes of flight time, but in reality it's more like five. 

Stamina varies greatly depending on what activities you're doing – recording a lot of HD video naturally sucks the juice faster, and on a windy day the unit has to do more work in the air, which requires additional juice.

Adding in a larger-capacity battery would have solved this issue to a degree, but that would most likely have impacted the dimensions of the unit and its flight performance. 

You can at least purchase spare batteries, which you can charge up and take out with you, so once one pack is exhausted you can land the drone and pop in a fresh one before continuing your flight.

Camera and video performance

• 13-megapixel f/2.2 CMOS sensor
• Video quality can't compete with high-end drones
• 16GB of internal storage

The Dobby packs a 13-megapixel f/2.2 CMOS sensor which can capture shots up to 4208 x 3120 pixels in resolution, while 1080p video recording is also included. Still image quality is generally good, but the video isn't in the same league as you'll get from professional-standard drones on the market.

Still, if you're just looking to share some impressive aerial shots on your social media account or take a few group selfies, the results are more than acceptable.

There's 16GB of internal storage space for your shots and videos – to access them you have to download them to your phone, or connect the unit to your PC via the micro USB port on the bottom.

Sample images

Image 1 of 3

Verdict

The old adage that you get what you pay for has never been more true than when it comes to drones, but even so the Dobby represents excellent value for money, as long as your demands aren't too taxing.

The photo and video quality are generally acceptable, but fall short of being professional-grade, and battery life will limit your flights, but when you consider the size of the Dobby and its cost compared to other drones on the market, the trade-off is easier to stomach.

This is a capable drone which can fit effortlessly into your bag, and is ideal for impromptu aerial shots for those times when a larger, pro-grade drone is impractical.

Thanks to GearBest for supplying the Dobby Drone used in this review.

• The best drones: DJI, Parrot and more for pros and beginners