Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've owned five drones and I'm extremely impressed by this drone over all the others. The pictures I've attached are taking off at maybe 30m, view looking straight down from about 100m high during daylight, and skyline at night at about 120m (max height allowable by FAA). Do note it was pretty windy up at 120m the night I took that picture. These are just the ones that were sent to my phone; pictures saved to the SD card are of higher quality. Pros: Outstanding power - this drone can fight, and win, against light and moderate wind! The app even tells you when the wind conditions are getting dangerous for flight! Well done. Folding profile and carrying case is extremely well done - over and beyond convenient. Folding arms snap into place, so they aren't going to jostle out of alignment during flight. Case is soft yet protective; no trouble fitting it in a backpack and hiking along with it. ABS plastic + reinforced aluminum frame means this thing is durable and built to last. Using the 5GHz wireless signal and my phone I've gotten steady real time video transmission from over 300m away and 120m high, consistently, without losing connection. That's impressive at this price point! Return to home/GPS is ALWAYS spot on; you can count on this drone coming back exactly to you! Major plus. This really does fly for up to 30 minutes as advertised. This will of course depend on wind, speed setting, and how aggressively you're flying it though, so your flight time will be influenced by your conditions and flight pattern. Extremely responsive controls, and steady enough flight to get quality pictures and video. Three speed modes; I like to put it on the lowest speed setting once it gets close to the ground for landing, or when I'm steadying it to take a picture relatively close up. Putting it on max speed and racing it around is a blast too. This drone uses 5GHz band to connect with your phone wirelessly. This is good; better video quality and better signal transmission means you can communicate with it from further distances without being crowded by numerous 2.4GHz signals usually in any given area these days. You want this over 2.4GHz for a wireless connection to your phone. (Of course the pictures and video are saved to the SD card, but for maintaining a good real time image and connectivity you want the 5GHz channel.) I really can't recommend this enough; skip the toys and get this - it's worth every dollar of the price! Cons: I have to nit-pick here, and there's not much to dislike. These are very minor points I include to make this review fair and unbiased. It is loud; not at all hearing unsafe or offensive, but it is noticeable compared to a toy-grade drone. Any drone with this much power (read: not strictly a toy) is going to make some noise. It is not offensive though; you won't bother the neighbors. The camera has a slight fish-eye effect when you're trying to look straight ahead. You can see that in the first picture I posted and the nighttime picture. Do note the camera is in-flight adjustable, so you can go from straight ahead to straight down, and all points in between, on the fly. So big plus for that. I can't knock the camera too much because it doesn't have a stabilizing gimble. That's a necessary trade to fit the profile. Plus if you're watching the ground at an angle the fish-eye effect goes away. It can be just a bit slow to get a GPS lock. Don't be put off though; it's not difficult to obtain one, it just takes a couple extra seconds. It never loses the GPS signal once it's got it. (So you can hold it up high to get a signal quicker, then set it down for takeoff.) You do have to register it with the FAA (it just barely meets their weight requirement for registration). Don't be put off: this process takes less than 5 minutes on their website, and there's zero waiting on paperwork. Just fill out the form and you're ready to fly immediately (register as a modeler/recreational flyer and you're good to go with no hassle). Tips: Disconnect your phone from any wireless networks it is auto-joining. This will ensure you maintain a video feed to your phone as you fly greater distances away. Android users: when you connect to this wireless signal, you have to tell Android OS to keep connected even though there is no internet connectivity. This is a quirk of the Android OS, not the drone. Be sure to do this the first time you connect to the drone and you'll be fine. To get a GPS signal quickly, calibrate the compass and the gyroscope as per the included instructions then hold the drone up off the ground while it searches for a GPS signal. You'll get the necessary 3 bars of signal much faster than sitting flat on the ground. (Also note - to unlock the motor to take off you must have 3 bars of GPS signal! If your drone motor is not unlocking for take off, this is why. Do not fly without GPS mode! You'll be thankful when your drone is auto-returning to the takeoff location from who knows where you've flown it - trust me!) Then just set it back down, unlock the motor, and take off. On the geo-fencing feature, set the auto-return minimum height high enough to clear any trees in your immediate area. That way, when auto-returning, it will climb safely over the height of any trees between the initial location and the drone's current position. This will avoid crashing into anything on its automated return path. Overall verdict: this has all of the features of more expensive, professional grade, drones at (if you catch it on sale as I did) an entry level/toy price point. Buy this. Grab an extra battery - you'll need it to feed your addiction! I can't imagine how fun this will be using VR glasses in first person view.