XbotGo Falcon Reviewed by Mashable: A Soccer Dad's Verdict

Mashable has published a standalone review of the XbotGo Falcon, written by senior tech reporter Matt Binder. A longtime soccer dad, Matt spent a full youth soccer season filming games with the Falcon, from full-field 11v11 matches to 9v9 games on smaller fields. Here's what he found.

"Risen Above the Rest"

Matt starts with a problem every sideline parent knows: holding a phone up for an hour to record a match. His answer is an AI sports tracking camera, and he names one in particular: "For most parents, there's been one AI sports tracking camera that has risen above the rest: The XbotGo Falcon."

His bottom line is just as clear: "I can see why the XbotGo Falcon is hands down the most popular sports tracking camera on the market without a subscription."

Reliable Tracking, Sharp 4K Footage

Over the season, Matt found that the Falcon "properly tracked the game at least nine out of 10 times," and he only had to take manual control "once or twice per game." On image quality, he wrote that "the camera produced very high-quality footage, too." He described the footage as "a crisp, clear 4K," captured by the Falcon's Sony IMX678 image sensor. That extra detail also let him zoom in further when clipping highlights.

No Subscription Required

The Falcon starts at $799 as a one-time purchase. Comparing it with a subscription-based rival, Matt wrote: "Paying $799 once is certainly a lot less than $2,298 upfront, followed by $999 every year after that." The review also explains how the Falcon avoids ongoing fees: instead of filming the whole field and processing the footage on company servers after the game, the Falcon physically pans, tilts, and zooms to follow play in real time. Matt also liked using his phone as a remote monitor during the game and recording to a swappable microSD card instead of filling up his phone's storage.

Support Behind the Product

Matt gave XbotGo credit for its update pace: "The company is very proactive when it comes to releasing firmware updates, which often add brand new features and fix ongoing performance issues." He points to a recent update that lets users draw field boundaries so the camera stays focused on the right game.

A Setup Tip Worth Sharing

Matt's top tip: mount the Falcon high. Set the tripod a few feet from the sideline near midfield and raise it to around 12 feet or more. The higher the camera sits, the more of the field it can see, and the better it tracks.

Read the Full Review

Thank you to Matt Binder and Mashable for putting the Falcon through a real season. The full review covers setup, performance, and honest notes from the sideline. Read the full review on Mashable.