Bionic Bird (XTIM SAS, France) Bionic Bird MetaFly / X-Fly (1)

Bionic Bird (XTIM SAS, France) Bionic Bird MetaFly / X-Fly (2)

$119 – $149MetaFly $119–$144.90 (Standard/Upgrade kit); X-Fly $119–$149 on bionicbird.com (September 2026). MetaFly was crowdfunded on Kickstarter from March 5 to May 2, 2019, raising €595,940 from 6,437 backers.

AvailableNot programmableConsumer ornithopterRC insectUnder 10 g

Possibly ≤ 1 weekShipping: Days. Sold direct from bionicbird.com with free express shipping to the USA advertised. Bionic Bird US store ↗

Remote control: Not possible. Flown only with the bundled RC controller (MetaFly) or phone app (X-Fly).

MetaFly ↗X-Fly ↗Shop ↗

Overview

The most accessible flapping-wing flier, a sub-10-gram carbon and liquid-crystal-polymer insect flown with a small RC transmitter that also charges it. The newer X-Fly adds gyro-based flight assistance, a swappable battery and a phone app, and a faster 'The Swift' model was on pre-order in 2026. Toys rather than robots in the programmable sense, but they fly remarkably like the real thing.

Specifications

Category	Flapping-wing fliers · Flapping-wing robots
Released	2019
Availability	Available
Programmability	No programmability
Best for	Ages 12+ (estimated)
Vision sensors	No vision sensors
Actuators	DC / gear motors
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Arduino / ESP32 / microcontroller
Remote control	Not programmable
Size	MetaFly: 19 cm long, 29 cm wingspan, 9.5 g; X-Fly: 38 cm wingspan, 12 g
Locomotion	Single pair of flapping wings with tail steering; can glide and take off from the floor
Compute	Simple RC receiver (MetaFly); X-Fly adds a flight-assist controller
Camera	None
Sensors	MetaFly: none; X-Fly: 6-axis gyro/accelerometer
Runtime	MetaFly 8–10 min (Bionic Bird quotes both figures; 12 min charge); X-Fly flight time roughly matches its approx. 12 min battery charge
Speed	MetaFly 5–20 km/h
SDK	None; MetaFly uses a 2.4 GHz handheld controller, X-Fly a smartphone app over Bluetooth 5.2