We reported earlier that GoPro’s fabled Karma drone was falling out of the sky, which is obviously terrible especially since the drone itself has received a lot of praise from critics. Yeah, it isn’t as good of a drone as something like the DJI Mavic Pro, but you’re getting a solid package with the Karma, Karma Grip and GoPro HERO5.
Well, if you’ve been eyeing a stabiliser for your brand new GoPro HERO5 before the drones started failing, the good news is that GoPro is now selling their Karma Grip standalone.
Priced at USD299 (around RM1,330) without a camera, the Karma Grip has been priced to compete directly with the DJI Osmo Mobile that’s priced at RM1,299 (excl GST, with GST it’s RM1,376.94). Both of these grips work in roughly the same way, requiring you to strap your own camera on it before the grip will work.
On the Karma Grip, it’ll work the best with a HERO5 Black but can also support the GoPro HERO5 Session, HERO4 Silver and HERO4 Black with a USD29 (around RM130) adapter which doesn’t go on sale until Q2 2017. On the other hand, the DJI Osmo Mobile will work with pretty much any iOS or Android smartphone. As far as compatibility goes, the Osmo Mobile clearly has the edge here because you can even “hack” it to work with a GoPro action camera too, though you won’t have the Osmo’s intelligent tracking features.
When you look at it, the Karma Grip does seem rather pricey for what it does especially compared to the competition. However, if you’re someone who has a bunch of compatible GoPro cameras, this is good news for you.
What we’re concerned about is what will happen to the Karma Drone itself. The fact that GoPro is selling the Grip standalone doesn’t bode well for the drone because it likely means the company won’t be able to fix their drone in time for Christmas, or worse yet, won’t be able to fix their drone at all. And if they do eventually fix it, will they sell the Karma Drone without a Grip for those who have already bought the Grip?
While this does seem to be a move to “stop the bleeding”, we think that GoPro may have been a little overambitious with the pricing of the Karma Grip. For our money, we’d rather pick up the DJI Osmo Mobile because it’s far more versatile. And if you use it with DJI’s app, you get a ton of smart features too.
What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below.
