Is this Quadcopter fun? Yes! Is video good? Yes, very crisp close-up and distance. Was it easy to control? No! I have not been able to bring it back and we always had to chase after it once it fell. Because we did not have good control of the copter we could only fly it over a large fields, where there was no fear of getting it tangled in a tree or falling into water. In attached video I including both video taken by the copter as well as the video I took of the copter flying.
One of the challenges with the copter is the documentation included in the package. Documentation is missing several steps in assembly and the information on how to enable the video mode. It is written in hard to understand English. I am including what I learned below, I hope this will be helpful to other budding pilots.
The following assembly steps were missing from the instructions:
❶ You need to snap on propeller shields by snapping them over the propeller. I am included a short video of this step in the video.
❷ You need to remove white "feet" that attach the copter to the shipping box, and install landing gear. I also included a short video of this step.
❸ The package includes two batteries. One is already installed into the copter, another is a spare. The battery inside the copter is shipped disconnected from the copter. I charged it up and then connected the battery cable to the cable that goes to the tiny computer board in the copter. These wire connectors are very fragile. One of the insulation tapes got dislodged on the third day of usage.
❹ One of the critical steps missing/unclear in the instructions is how to turn on video.
Here are the steps (also shown in the video):
- start by turning off and then turning on both the copter and the controller
- pair them (throttle up and then down, confirm pairing by spinning the propeller at low speed or while holding the body in your hand so it does not fly)
- at this step you will see that the on/off button is glowing red color
- press right center button to start video mode, you will see that the on/off button will turns steady blue
- then press up on the left control button for photo or down to start video
- if you turn the copter upside down you will see that it glows red when you take or photo or stays red if you taking video. I show it in the video with dimmed lights in the room. In the bright light outside the red glow is very hard to see. I tested photo/video by taking them at home, the copter does not have to fly to take photos and videos. You can figure out how it works by holding it in your hands, then checking the micro SD card in the computer. I was also able to check what the videos we took by using OTG cable with my phone.
The copter has 5.5" wing span. The copter appears to be quite durable. It survived many many falls from high elevations.
Documentation says that the battery takes 40 minutes to charge and lasts 5 minutes of flying time. We got much better life out of the battery. Since we were doing video during each flight I can tell that the battery took video for 13 minutes every time we flew it. The battery charging time appears to be a little less than 40 minutes. We recharged it in the car. When the battery is fully charged the light on the connector turns red.
The copter comes with an SD card (512MB) and I replaced with a larger SD of my own. The SD only goes in one way (copper down). The micro SD compartment does not close, so the copter is not water proof.
If the copter stops responding to the controller, turning it off and then back on resolves the issue. If it stops responding it is an indicator that the battery is running low.
The controller provides no feedback other than the blue flashing light for the photo mode. If the controller provided more feedback it would be easier to use.
Camera carrying drone is a really cool idea! This copter a promising start. It is not perfect but it is fun! In the future I see these types of drones being controlled from a phone app, so you can see a live feedback from the camera and use the touch screen for controlling the movement.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.
Ali Julia review ★★★★☆
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