Amazon's $35.99 Drone

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) sells drones for up to $9,999, according to a 24/7 Wall St. analysis from earlier this month. Currently, it is promoting one that is much less expensive. At $35.99, the cheap product can actually be called a working drone and not some simple toy. The difference between $9,999 and $35.99 shows what Amazon does across thousands of product categories: setting price points to draw as many customers, and sales, from it as possible.

The Eachine H8C Quadcopter with 2.0 MP HD camera 2.4G 6-Axis deadless mode RC quadcopter drone RTF Mode 2 does not qualify for free shipping, which requires an order to total $40. Beyond that, its basic features make it attractive, most especially for the first-time drone owner.

Among its features:

• 2.0MP built-in camera
• Headless mode
• One key to return
• Rolling 360 degree
• Remote controller has the indicator light, low voltage alarm function

In other words, a spy device with helicopter rotors.

The device shows how far technology has gone to create a cheap but powerful product. A 2.0 MP webcam sells for as little as $7.61 on its own.

And “headless mode,” according to Drone Arena Knowledge Base:

The functioning of headless mode is pretty simple. The only pre-requisite is that before taking off, you’re required to position the drone in such a way that its front is your front. Since yaw (the left stick on a Mode 2 controller) anyway doesn’t have anything to do with orientation (left is left and right is right all the time, regardless of where your drone is pointing at), it is how the drone reacts to rudder (the right stick on a Mode 2 controller) that changes.

When you take off with the drone pointing in the front, algorithms inside of the drone’s micro-controller ensure that any directional change is compensated. In other words, even when you turn your drone 90 degrees to the left, it’ll still go forward when you push the rudder forward (on a non-headless mode drone, this would make the drone go left).

Essentially, this helps keep the operator from losing the drone.

The featured Eachine H8C Quadcopter does have one big drawback. Its battery lasts only six to eight minutes and needs 60 to 80 minutes to recharge. But what can consumers expect for $35.99?