AER Throw Your GoPro

Ever wanted to throw your GoPro? Now you can with AER!

What is it?

Dubbed ’the poor man’s drone’ the AER allows you to safely house your GoPro in an aerodynamic case that can be thrown around to capture aerial imagery. In simple terms its like sticking a GoPro in a Nerf throwing dart. This is something that has been a long time coming and it is quite a shock that GoPro themselves didn’t release something similar years ago.

The idea of the AER is very simple, you house your GoPro in its waterproof case and fit it in to the AER front section. Then the back tail of it twists on and secures it all in place. The front bumper is unobtrusive to the lens even in the super wide angle setting.

Limitations

Our only reservation about this product is the fact that AER is only crash-proof for use on snow, beaches, water and grass. This means that if it hits a hard surface that the AER and your GoPro are at risk of damage. The AER also has spares available to purchase, which could make this quite an expensive product if you need to keep replacing pieces of it.

But we are quietly confident that AER is going to be a great product, the young team of innovators behind it are based on the campus of the University of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands. They have access to some excellent resources and have partnered with HSV for the manufacture of the product.

Release date and pricing

AER started shipping in May 2017 and costs €49 / $54, you can order them directly through the AER website. AER comes in 3 great colours including black, blue and high visibility orange. It is compatible with the GoPro Hero 4 Silver and Black as well as the Hero 5 Black , it is still not clear if the Hero 5 Black is compatible using the Super Suit . AER comes bundled with a handy bag to store the AER and your GoPro so you can easily pack up and carry them around.

Now there are obvious limitations to this product and they are not claiming it rivals any kind of drone on the market. But if you have a GoPro and can’t afford a drone, then this could be a cheap and simple way to achieve some slick aerial shots in the meantime. The video captured with the AER does look great, you can see what is achievable from their promo video below.