Cheerson CX-10W FPV Nano Quadcopter Drone Flight Test Review

Standard Cheerson CX-10 video is at the bottom 

Unboxing

The box for this quad is very small, intact it is 8.3 CMs squared, there are a few reasons for its smaller size. The main and first one of them is this quad is controlled by your smart device and as such doesn’t have a transmitter to take up the rest of the room, and the second reason is as this drone is a nano copter and is on the smaller scale.

There is however a small accessory bag inside the box, this includes:-

4 x Spare Propellers

1 x paper manual

1 x USB Charger (Not included in my box)

The battery will take 1 hour 30 minutes to charge, however it is rated to do so in 50 minutes but i found my flight only lasted 4 minutes. Maximum flight time on a 1 hour 30 minute charge is 7 minutes. 

Flight

I was looking forward to this flight as the standard Cheerson CX-10 is pretty fun, this however is not. Once the drone has been connected to the Wi-Fi on your smart device you are ready for take off, I found as long as the video isn’t recording when you take off the quad flies well, stable and is easy to control.  If the video is recording i found the quad to be quite slow to turn, accelerate, increase altitude, decrease altitude no matter what speed setting the quad is on.

I flew for a while with gyroscope enabled on my smart device and the quad responded ok, but any tight corners can be tricky, turning this off and controlling with the left and right paddles made the quad a lot more responsive.

Flight time was a total of 7 minutes.

Overall

Verdict = 4/10   —     POSITIVES = small and very portable, FPV camera, no transmitter to carry, flight is quite stable.  —   NEGATIVES = Desperatley needs a bigger battery, video recording effects flights if on when you take off, gyroscope flight doesn’t work well.

Normal Cheerson CX-10

Links to Buy

Amazon - http://amzn.to/2ia5wyK

Dromida Vista Heavy Duty Performance Drone - The Air Ballerina

Unboxing

A very colourful box is what greets you full of detail and does look very fun.   Once the box has been opened a very neat, tidy and professional layout awaits you.  The quadcopter sits on the right with the transmitter on the left and 2 accessory bags dotted around the box.  This quadcopter does in fact also come with batteries, this made me very happy as unfortunately this is not the norm when it comes to the world of R/C.

In the accessory bags there is:-

1. 4 x spare propellers
2. 1 x set of spare screws
3. 1 x Screwdriver 

Also included in the package:-

1. USB Charger
2. 1 x Drone battery
3. 4 x ‘AAA’ batteries
4. 2 x Manuals

The batteries will take approx. 50 minutes to 1 hour to charge, that will give you 10-15 minutes of flight time!

Flight

Before we start we need to calibrate the gyros which requires you to place on a flat surface.   Once done then you are good to go, and upon take off a few things are very apparent, the copter sounds like a clockwork contraption from the victorian times and that is quite refreshing.  The LEDs are very bright and easy to see when flying, there is an extra LED which lights up when the quadcopter and transmitter are bound, this is a very nice feature and one that should be on more drones.

You can throw this copter around from left to right, fly it high or very low, then add some flips and it will handle everything you throw at it.  It also crashes well too, being a very durable quad you will be very surprised how much punishment this will take, three times i crashed and 3 times nothing changed, the propellers didn’t crack or bend, the propeller arms are intact and you can take to the skies again immediatley.

All in all a very fun experience

Overall

Verdict = 9/10   —     POSITIVES = very durable, great crossover drone, fantastic fun, good battery life, slimline, very powerful, professional packaging   —   NEGATIVES = slightest breeze will take it off course, precise landing is very difficult on anything other than concrete  

Places to buy

Amazon - http://amzn.to/2hNGntj

Quadcopter Build Week 3 of 3 - Build Your Own Revell Kit Drone - Final Week

Its time to start building our own Quadcopter, this is week 3 of 3.  This particular build comes as part of a Christmas Advent Calendar made by Revell.

Get the calendar from here -

Maplin - https://goo.gl/5vbhW2

Quadcopter Build Week 2 of 3 - Build Your Own Revell Kit Drone

Its time to start building our own Quadcopter, this is week 2 of 3.  This particular build comes as part of a Christmas Advent Calendar made by Revell.  

Get the calendar from here -

Maplin - https://goo.gl/5vbhW2

JXD 510G FPV and Altitude Hold Quadcopter Drone Review

Unboxing

This drone has been made by X-Predators but the interior set up is the same as the JXD 509G, well, as this quad is the 509’s brother then you might expect it to have some similarities.   Everything is tightly packaged so care is needed when you remove the sellotape that holds everything in and together.   Most of the assembly had already been completed leaving just the propeller guards, should you choose to attach them then the accessory bags included hold all etc screws needed, others things found in the accessory bags:-

4 x Spare blades 

1 x USB charger

1 x Screwdriver

4 x Propeller guards

1 x USB card reader

Before we can take to the skies, the battery (found in the back compartment) needs to be removed and charged.  Charging time via the USB charger can be between 50-55 minutes.

Flight

Now we just need to insert the battery in the back compartment and plug it into the 2 pin connector then click the compartment shut.   There is a small ‘on' switch under the quadcopter, move this to the correct position then turn on the transmitter and move the left analogue stick up and down once to bind the transmitter to the quadcopter and push the ‘on’ button, the rotors will now start to power up.  

To start the flight i prefer to push the copter to a medium altitude then start the video.  As this quadcopter has altitude hold it makes flying easy, balanced, and manoeuvrable, even landing is easy as the decent is controlled.  Overall this quadcopter is excellent for beginners but to be honest it doesn’t offer anything different than the 509, this upgrade is certainly cosmetic, never the less this quad is such fun.

Things i would have liked to have seen  

• Slightly larger back, for a higher capacity battery 
• Better quality camera
• Smaller transmitter

Verdict = 8/10

POSITIVES = New cosmetic styling, stable as ever, as much fun as the JXD 509G 

NEGATIVES = Needs a bigger battery, needs more than just cosmetic changes.

Buy From Amazon

http://amzn.to/2glWFY5

Buy from BangGood

http://www.banggood.com/JXD-510G-JXD510G-X-Predators-5_8G-FPV-With-2_0MP-HD-Camera-RC-Quadcopter-RTF-p-1049045.html?rmmds=searchp=83081145795892016056

Quadcopter Build Week 1 of 3 - Build Your Own Revell Kit Drone

Its time to start building our own Quadcopter, this is week 1 of 3.  This particular build comes as part of a Christmas Advent Calendar made by Revell.   For the next 3 weeks we look at what's behind each door and in turn what parts we get so we can complete this wonderful build.

Week 2 can be found here

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4885856277865215884#editor/target=post;postID=298634096405222635;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname

Get the calendar from here -

Maplin - https://goo.gl/5vbhW2

Amazon - http://amzn.to/2ghwUeX

Syma X5UW Quadcopter Drone Review - Fully Feature, including FPV, Flight Plan

Unboxing

The packaging is made from quite rigid cardboard meaning the package arrived at my door in one piece even without any dents.  The outer box was affixed with a small amount of tape, once removed the copters polystyrene house could pulled out and removed.   On top of the polystyrene housing was a small lid that can just be lifted off revealing, without doubt, the most shiny and brightest quadcopter i have ever seen.

The drone was nestled next to the transmitter with both accessory bags lying on top, the accessory bags included the following:-

4 x Spare blades 

1 x USB charger

1 x Screwdriver

4 x Propeller guards

1 x USB card reader

When the drone is lifted out one thing to note is the propeller skids are already attached and screwed in nice and firmly.   Underneath the quad is the FPV attachment for the transmitter, it slots into place firmly.  Next to the transmitter is the Wi-FI camera attachment this needs to be plugged in, then locked into place by twisting the camera 45 degrees.

Flight

As with all Syma Copters this one is extremely easy to fly, with the added altitude hold it gets easier still.   To make things easier still there is an auto take off and landing button on the transmitter.  That function is great and I used it 90% of the time, heres what i found:-

1. The take offs are pretty brilliant, once the button is pushed the copter takes off and flies to an altitude and stays there ready for your either via the transmitter or by using the app.
2. The landings are, well, less than brilliant.  Don’t get me wrong the copter lands but its a bit brutal (as the flight video shows) just make sure you land on concrete.  Any landings on grass may cause the grass to get clogged into the motors and may cause breakages.     

A flight plan comes built into this copter, where you draw a plan on the smartphone app and the copter should follow it, I have found this to not work on most non-GPS drones, this drone is no different.  It didn’t work for me at all.  

As with most Syma copters it is quite light and as such shouldn’t be flown in windy conditions.  

Overalll

8.5/10

POSITIVES = Bright colours, looks good, great transmitter, excellent build quality, stable flight, automatic flight and landing works really well.

NEGATIVES = Camera is not too sharp, flight plan didn’t work, battery is too short.

Places to buy

BangGood

http://www.banggood.com/SYMA-X5UW-720P-WIFI-FPV-With-2MP-HD-Camera-2_4G-4CH-6Axis-RC-Quadcopter-RTF-p-1070825.html?rmmds=search?p=83081145795892016056

Amazon

http://amzn.to/2gjW8aA