Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When the Autel first released the X-Star drone in the US they reached out to me and asked me to test it and provide feedback to them. They agreed to cover the cost of the drone. Sounded like a good deal, but I figured there would be a catch. I pictured a drone that would barely work (if at all). One that I would have to spend countless hours trying to troubleshoot and re-test. I also pictured a tech support without the skills to fix problems and multiple levels of escalations. Worst case I feared the drone might fall out of the sky (which apparently happened with the new Xiaomi drone). When I looked at the planned price this seemed surely to be the case, but I've never used a drone and have been curious about them so I couldn't resist and accepted a free drone to test. The following is my personal experience with the drone I was sent. I figured it might be helpful for others. I must say, I was completely shocked (in a good way). The X-Star drone comes in a case that feels incredibly professional. I felt a bit like James Bond setting it up. The components seemed to be well made; about what I'd expect for any drone. I did notice that there was lots of clear plastic protective covers stuck over almost everything. Some of them cover vents so make sure you remove them before flying the drone. There were a few steps to getting it set up. I ran into a couple of snags / frustrations. All minor, but wanted to share my experience: - On the drone battery, it has a sticker on it that tells you to press the button to check the level and to hold the button to turn the drone on and off. Super simple. It looks like there is a protective plastic cover over the top of this label. There is a tab to remove the cover. I pulled the tab and the whole label started to come off. It is printed on this protective cover, not on the battery itself. Probably to make it easier to print in different languages, but I wanted this label to be more permanent. I stuck mine back on. Hasn't fallen off and the instructions are so simple I don't think I'd be too bothered if it eventually did. - I needed to install the Starlink app. I used an iPad for the screen and searching for Starlink in the AppStore (like the instructions indicate) brings up a Subaru Starlink app. That's not the right one. I added the word Autel to the search term and that got me the right one. I wish the manual told me to search for Autel Starlink. - There are two different ways to connect the iPad (or Android device) to the main unit. One is with a USB cable and the other is through a WiFi connection. I spent a while trying to get the WiFi connection going only to realize the WiFi is only for the base model and the cable is for the premium model. I hadn't realized I'd been sent a premium model for the testing. I could see that being point of frustration for others, particularly if it is a gift. I think the manual could have guided you better in figuring out which model you have and which connection is appropriate. - Every time you start using it, the instructions recommend you re-calibrate the compass on the device. This involves rotating it 360 degrees and then tipping it on its side and rotating it 360 degrees again. There are lights on the bottom to tell you how you when to tip it on its side and when you are done. The Starlink app also guides you through this with pictures. It's tough to see the lights on the drone so I used the app to tell me when to switch to rotating on the side. However, it would take multiple rotations to tell me to switch to rotating on its side and then when it told me to rotate on its side it would only wait a couple of seconds before telling me it failed. I hit the same problem multiple times. I figured maybe the app wasn't in sync with the lights (or there was delay) so I held the unit above my head and did the rotation watching the lights. That worked well. Only catch is that the confirmation flash is very quick at the end. I would like to see that last a little longer. Apart from that initial snags getting it going, it is amazingly easy to use. It starts in beginner mode which restricts height and distance. I really liked that since I almost got it out of sight while playing around with it. I was afraid of losing it, but it wouldn't go beyond a threshold (until you disable beginner mode). Then I noticed I could point to a map on my iPad and tell it where to fly. Really cool. I was in a pretty windy area for my first test. I was debating waiting until the wind died down, but I couldn't resist trying it out. When the drone was flying, I could see the gust of wind pushing it a little, but it would always make small adjustments and return to where it was hovering. After a while I forgot it was windy at all since it didn't seem to faze the drone at all. I got a little concerned when it came to my first landing. What if I come down too fast? How will I know when to kill the motors etc? I'd already seen the take-off button is also a landing button so I hit that when it was really high in the sky. It moved over to the same spot I launched it from and slowly lowered itself down. It did a small bounce on the ground (like it was testing where the ground was) and then shut off the motors. Super smooth. In future uses I wished it would descend faster, but then I found I could bring it close to the ground on my own and then let it handle the final few feet of the landing. Works really well. Another cool feature is that when the battery is low it will automatically return. So when I lose track of time having fun, I don't risk the battery draining to 0 and the drone falling out of the sky. I'm told other drones do this as well. It is a must have feature in my book and one the X-Star has. At one point I figured I'd have my wife try it. She didn't read the manual and had no experience with drones. She's not even really interested in them. I gave her a 2 minute overview of the buttons and she was flying it on her own. She had no problems. I'm really impressed by that. Especially because she wasn't motivated to learn. It was just that easy. Ultimately I never needed to reach out to the Autel tech support team. I was curious if the support number they provided went to some automated system with a huge wait line. I called them after hours once just to see. I got a message saying it was after hours and I could leave a message or call back. I figured I'd call back later and just hung up. Then, 15 minutes later I got a call from Autel saying they'd had a call from my number and asking if I needed help. I was totally shocked. What kind of company provides that level of support? Unfortunately I didn't have any problems to have them help me with so I don't know how skilled they are. Based on the other reviews I've seen, it sounds like they are really helpful. Per my agreement with Autel I provided written feedback on my above experiences. They told me what they were going to do about it (particularly app improvements). Seems that have a few big ideas for the compass calibration. They also really care about getting the experience right for customers. I have no hesitation in recommending this drone to others both based on the design and quality of the product and the company standing behind it.