Coupons and buy links below JJRC Elfie + Selfie Quadcopter Drone Flight Test Review - Courtesy of RC Moment
Unboxing & Assembly
This quadcopter came in a standard cardboard box, but once inside there was a hard fabric carry case. Inside the zipped carry case there was:-
1 x Quadcopter
1 x Gravity Sensing Transmitter
3 x Batteries
1 x USB Charging Cable
1 x Manual
Some spare propellers
More landing pads
1 x small screwdriver
Flight
This quadcopter is the second incarnation of the Elfie range, and comes with a new style transmitter. JJRC have called this new transmitter a gravity sensing controller, basically what that means is you move your hand around with this transmitter in it and the motion is relayed to the quadcopter forcing it to perform the same movements you have performed. This is the flight test video and wow did i have fun filming it, i hope that comes across. The flight was electric and extra features including auto takeoff and landing, including multiple speed modes make this an excellent copter.
Please use coupon code OR1520 for great reductions!
Hubsan H507A X4 Star Quadcopter Drone Flight Test - Courtesy of Gearbest
Unboxing & Assembly
The box is really quite professional, considering the quadcopter is by Hubsan i would expect nothing else. Inside the quadcopter is very nicely laid out with accessories either side of the quad. The accessories include:-
After flying quite a few Hubsan quadcopters over the years i had real high hopes for this quad, and to begin with it looked quite good. After about 3 minuters i started to have warning lights on the smartphone transmitter app and noticed the battery was at 40% and another 2 minutes and the battery depleted much quicker to 15%. Another minute or so after the quadcopter dropped from the sky and shut off as the battery was fully depleted.
I have now bought another few batteries so i can fully test this again. I was quite happy with the way the drone flew, it felt good, and stable, but i want to fly it more and see it fully in action.
Overall - I will be reviewing this again, and will give a full verdict then.
This box is HUGE, so much so i can't unbox it on my table as its twice the size of my table. Inside the box you can find the following:-
1 x Car
1 x Transmitter
1 x Click on Spoiler
1 x Battery
1 x transmitter steering wheel
1 x Battery Charger
1 x manual
The spoiler can be fitted, but it does fall off quite easily so i decided to not use it. Foruntaley it doesnt take away from the racing experience.
Test Drive
WOW this car is SOOOO FAST!!!! It blows away the competition, it is stated to be able to race to 33Mph top speed, although at the moment i cannot test this it does seem very close to it. It spins out very easily as there is so much power going through to the 2 rear wheels so care when taking off is needed, but once it has sped off then you can slam your finger on the accelerator and off it goes. Those rubber tyres are incredibly grippy so ripping around corners is doable and you dont even see any slippage. All in all i recommend this 100% what an incredible car!! An excellent Christmas gift.
This drone comes all nicely packaged in a stylish box. When you open the box the following greets you:-
1 x Quadcopter
1 x Battery Charger
1 x Battery
4 x Spare propellers
1 x propeller removal tool
2 x manuals
There is no transmitter with this drone as it is controlled via your smartphone / tablet using the JJRC app.
Flight
For once we have a beautiful day to fly this little folding copter. My first step was to push the small button on the back of the quad that releases the propeller arms, then to connect my smart device to the copter and start the flight. I like the JJRC app as its quite basic but has some great features to get you flying quick and safely.
My first impressions of the drone flying is that was is very stable, altitude hold works very well but there was one quite large problem, I noticed the quadcopter was climbing but not dropping altitude very quick, it even seemed to get stuck at the 8ft mark (approx), even using the automatic landing it didn't fall enough. So i assessed the situation as i was on my won i decided to keep flying it, about 3 minutes later the battery drained and the copter brought itself down quickly and it landed without any issue.
Overall - 5/10
Positive - Flies very well, altitude hold works well, video quality recorded by the camera is good, folding arms makes this super portable, controlled from your smartphone using the JJRC app
Negative - Battery life is far too short, 360 flips don’t work but not every option works with every copter on the JJRC app.
A very professional looking cardboard box is the first thing that greats you. Inside there is a plastic bed and inside that you will find the following:-
2 x Spare Propellers
1 x USB charger
1 x JJRC Cygnus quadcopter
1 x transmitter
2 x manuals
1 x Camera
2 x Landing Sprigs
The camera and landing sprigs need to be attached, firstly i would say attach the camera first as you need the extra room to attach the cable to the body of the quadcopter once the camera is attached, not before.
Flight
It is the start of Storm Brian here in the UK and in a few more hours flying won’t be possible. So i thought i would get up very early and see if flying was a possibility, which it was. This drone flew excellently in a 3 speed modes, of course speed mode 1 is quite slow, 2 is quicker and 3 is the quickest. Now, this isn’t to say the drone is underpowered, on the contrary it is extremely powerful (for the price). The overall flight lasted around 10 - 12 minutes and was very enjoyable.
Overall 8.6/10
Positive - Such an incredible flight, light weight but with powerful motors, 3 speed modes, good quality camera output, camera can be angled, transmitter is very responsive, smart device fits in transmitter very well and felt secure, crashed when landing but didn’t hinder electronics, battery lasts 13 minutes, auto landing and take off work very well.
Negative - Video quality could always be better, too many buttons on the transmitter, battery compartment within transmitter is very tight for ‘AA’ batteries.
Link to Quadcopter - https://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopters/pp_649769.html?lkid=11623776
JJRC H39WH Cygnus Quadcopter Drone Unboxing Video - This quadcopter looks amazing! It has been a little while since i have flown a JJRC and i have kind of missed it. Their quadcopters are mostly so good, in this box we have the Cygnus Quadcopter, the transmitter, a bag of accessories, as well as manual, camera and landing sprigs. This is the unboxing video.
The 'Sports Cam' as its called comes in one box with the camera on show through a plastic window. Once you take the camera out you will find the battery already inside the camera, it won’t have any charge and will need to be charged for 2 hours before use.
The camera does not come with a MicroSD card but does require one to record video and take pictures, i have used a standard class10 4GB card for this test and found it to work without issues.
The microphone on this camera is not that great and as such will need some volume adding to it in the video editing process, I did find i had to enable the audio through the camera's main menu as the first load of video i recorded had no sound.
Camera - Waterproof Case
The Sports Cam comes with a waterproof case that allows up to 30 meters of waterproof filming. I can confirm that the case keeps the camera totally dry, I would recommend drying off the waterproof casing before removing the camera. The quality and clarity underwater is good although the mic doesn’t pick up sound very well. In this test I kept the camera underwater for 10 minutes.
Accessories
There are also a load of accessories that come with the camera including:-
1 x Waterproof camera housing
1 x Back mounting clip
1 x Handle bar / Pole Mount
1 x Helmet Base clip
1 x Other mount
2 x Sticky backed mats
1 x Battery
1 x User Manual
4 x Velcro straps
1 x USB Cable.
Conclusion
So far I have used this camera solid for a day and have found it to be really useful and a good replacement to me taking my big video camera out. The battery holds a good charge, the back of the box states 1.5 hours of life but so far i have used it for approx 2 hours and am 3/4 the way through it. Sound is clear but low, make sure you enable audio in the menu before use.
Video 8/10
Sound 6/10
Battery 9/10
For the price you cannot go wrong with this little GoPro clone.
The box is relatively small and once again as we have seen with other UDI copters, inside the box we have a very neatly put together arrangement, included in the box is:-
1 x Quadcopter
1 x Transmitter
1 x Manual
There is a small accessory pack also that includes:-
4 x spare propellers
1 x USB battery charger
Flight
Having the two batteries means this quadcopters flight time has doubled, giving approximately 20 minutes total. I found that flying this drone was quite difficult to begin with but after approx 5 minutes I was used to it and it was zooming around. One of the main points of this drone was for it to fly upside down and flip around in mid air, this is accomplished very easily and the quadcopter handles it very well.
Overall 7/10
Positive - Well built, light, powerful motors, comes with 2 batteries, 3D stunts work very well, inverted flight works very well
Negative - Not the easiest to fly for beginners, LEDs not easiest to see which direction the copter is facing.
The box is quite large, there is a lot going on when it comes to the diagrams on the box. When you open the box and take the internal packaging out the first thing that you will notice is how well laid out everything is. In the accessory bags you get the following:-
8 x spare propellers
1 x propeller removal tool
1 x USB charger
1 x battery
4 x propeller guards
1 x FPV sun visor.
Flight
I was so looking forward to flying this copter, It bound to the transmitter very easily although it would not connect to the FPV although would connect to the WiFi. When i first took off the quadcopter took off and held an altitude of approx 1.5 meters, it flew around well, then lost connection with the transmitter and it took a dive. This would happen another 6 times during flight which makes it quite dangerous at any sort of distance.
On the whole in a straight line the copter flies very very well, but unfortunately when it comes to turning it falls down massively. I will be taking this drone out again for another flight in the near future.
Overall - 5/10
Positives - Small form factor, well built, flies very well in a straight line.
Negatives - FPV would’t connect, glides off on its own, keeps on disconnecting from transmitter,
A small cardboard box covers the package inside. Underneath a small amount of plastic wrap is a transmitter with the quadcopter nestled inside.
To release the quadcopter a gentle pull on the plastic lid will suffice, on the underside of the transmitter is another small hatch that holds a small accessory bag and propeller guards. The accessory bag contains the following:-
6 x spare propellers
1 x material lopp band
1 x manual
1 x USB charging cable
Attached to the bottom of the transmitter is a small cable, be careful here as this allows the transmitter to charge the quadcopter off the 2 x ‘AA’ batteries inside the black casing. I used the USB cable to charge the copter this took approx 50 mins to 1 hour to complete, this time may alter if you use the internal charging cable.
Flight
Normally flying nano quadcopters is quite difficult as they are pretty quick and difficult to see. Although this one didn’t differ in the speed department it but did from the control department, I almost didn’t notice how difficult it was to see.
We had a total of 6 minutes of flight and even after trying to charge the drone for 15 minutes there wasn’t enough battery to continue flying.
Overall 6/10
Positive - Charges off transmitter, very portable as copter fits inside transmitter, nice feeling transmitter, standard battery life, well built copter. -
Negative - No LED when copter is charging from transmitter.
The quadcopter comes in a small package, a nice, colourful box that inside houses a small plastic bed in which the quadcopter and transmitter lay. Inside the box is a small accessory pack that includes the following:-
1 x Set of 4 x propellers
1 x USB battery charger
1 x manual
The quadcopter sits inside its plastic housing quite snuggly, you can pull it straight out as there are no ties holding it down. Underneath the drone is the transmitter this is a standard nano transmitter that requires 2 x ‘AA’ batteries. The buttons on the transmitter are very tight and of good construction. The battery is already attached on the underside of the quad, there is a small cable that pops out, this is used for charging.
The battery requires 50 minutes to 1 hour to charge for a 10 minute flight.
Flight
The quadcopter doesn’t have a power button so as soon as you plug the battery cable into the quad it turns on. To bind the quadcopter to the transmitter a simple upward and downward push on the left analogue stick allows this to happen. Then the drone is good for flying, a halfway motion makes the quad airborne but into a hover, increasing the throttle increases the altitude of the drone, the first thing to notice is the quad is so quiet the motors and propellers almost generate no noise.
The flight was very positive, fun and the battery lasted a good 8 minutes as there was a bit of side wind that would cause the battery to drain a bit quicker than normal.
Verdict 8/10
Positives - A very good nano, fun and light, motors are very quiet, handles well, Great design and build quality.
Negatives - Battery life could be longer, LEDs aren’t bright enough,
This box is small and packaging is minimal which is a refreshing change, once the box is opened the drone is waiting for you inside its snug plastic bag wrap. Under the quad is a small accessory pack which contains:-
4 x spare propellers
4 x spare propeller motor cogs
1 x manual
1 x USB charging plug
Along side all those goodies is a small velvet quadcopter carry bag, this is great for taking your drone out with you and keeping it tidy, clean and in one piece.
Charging will take approx 50 mins to 1 hour, flight time is between 6 to 10 minutes.
Flight
On a snowy morning we start off and found our take off point, did our pre flight checks, bound the copter to our smart device, and opened the UFO WiFi app, now with the touch of the ‘up' arrow we were airborne. A lot of trim was needed to stabilise this quad as even with us setting up the gyros we were pulling to the right, badly. Now we were set up and all good to go i could see what this quad was made of. The speed as standard was set to 30% (Novice) so i increased this to 60% then 100% i was shocked to see that even at 100% there wasn’t a massive difference in speed. Video was recording all this time, i started with the lens pointing straight forward then changed to a downward perspective, one thing that really stood out then flying was the noise from the motors, so loud doesn’t really cut it, this thing screams!
Total flight time was approx 8 minutes on one charge.
Overview
Verdict 5/10
Positives - Drone folds away, very small, very light, flies well once trim is used to balance, altitude hold works very well, LEDs are bright.
Negatives - Camera is acceptable, very loud motors,
A very stylish and very large box is what houses this quadcopter, 2 flaps on the front pull down for you to open the box where a bunch of manuals sit. Underneath the manuals and stickers is the quadcopter and accessories, the box contains the following:-
DJI Phantom 3 Drone
battery
8 x propellers
1 x charger w/ plug
1 x USB cable
1 x Transmitter
1 x manual box with stickers
1 x Accessory box w/ 4 x extra plastic screws, 1 x Propeller tightening clamp.
Assembly
There aren’t a lot of assembly steps required here, what is required (in no particular order):-
Attach propellers - silver dot on propeller to silver motor arm on quad and black dot on propeller to black dot motor arm. Once placed onto of the motor arms, twist until they lock into position, use the propeller clamp to ensure they are secure.
Attach battery
Unlock gimbal and camera from its housing.
Flight
These drones are automatically linked to their transmitter, all that needed to be done is to attach phone to the holder, open the DJI GO app on our smart device and touch the take off button.
Since this was the first time i had taken the copter out i had to calibrate the compass, this was a nightmare and took a fair while. What didn’t help was the DJI GO app wasn’t responding correctly and i had to uninstall, clear cache and install again for it to pick up my drone. Once this was all done (approx 45 mins) the drone flew right away and no other configuration was necessary or needed.
The camera records at a maximum resolution of 2.7k it can be turned down to 1080p if required.
The battery is another incredible feature, its high capacity means you get 25 minutes of flight time and with the very bright LEDs on the battery meter you can see from quite a long way away, of course you can see how much flight time you have left from the DJI GO app.
Landing the drone is so easy also, the decent is very controlled and within a few seconds the copter is safely on the ground, to switch off the motors pull the left analogue stick all the way down until you hear a click.
An excellent quadcopter for Beginners, Intermediates or Advanced fliers, also can be used in the professional sector for film making.
Overall 9.5/10
Positive - Great design, light, well balanced when battery is added, flight is incredibly smooth, motors are incredibly powerful, 2.7k camera is very sharp.
Negative - Transmitter is huge, FPV clamp is too flimsy and badly placed, no USB port for smart device charger.
As this quadcopter was lent to us by NFoxTV i couldn’t unbox the cardboard housing but luckily the quadcopter comes in 2 boxes, an external cardboard one and a polystyrene, hinged, and lockable box that is used when carrying the copter outside.
Once the lock is in the unlocked position and the box is opened the quadcopter and accessories are laid out right in front of you, the quadcopter is in the middle, battery to the left, propellers to the right, transmitter to the top, manuals to the bottom and some accessory cables (micro USB) in the top left of the box. All in all, a very neat layout.
Assembly
There aren’t a lot of assembly steps required here, what is required (in no particular order):-
Attach propellers - silver dot on propeller to silver dot on quad and black dot on propeller to black dot on quad. Once placed onto of the motor arms, twist and they lock into position.
Attach battery
Unlock gimbal and camera from its housing.
Flight
These drones are automatically linked to their transmitter, all that needed to be done is to attach phone to the holder, plug in USB cable charger, open the DJI GO app on our smart device and touch the take off button.
I must admit this drone not being mine had me quite apprehensive so i worked out how far i was going to take it and kept within that range. Having never flown a Phantom before its stability astounded me. The camera records at a maximum resolution of 4K it can be turned down to 1080p if required.
The battery is another incredible feature, its high capacity means you get 20 minutes of flight time and with the very bright LEDs on the battery meter you can see from quite a long way away, of course you can see how much flight time you have left from the DJI GO app.
Landing the drone is so easy also, the decent is very controlled and within a few seconds the copter is safely on the ground, to switch off the motors pull the left analogue stick all the way down until you hear a click.
An excellent quadcopter for Beginners, Intermediates or Advanced fliers, also can be used in the professional sector for film making.
Overall 9.8/10
Positive - Amazingly polished design, light, well balanced when battery is added, flight is incredibly smooth, motors are incredibly powerful,
Negative - obstacle sensors only on front and underneath, no smart device chargers included, oversized transmitter
Boxed with heavy duty cardboard you can be rest assured this package is going to travel well. Once it gets to you and you open the box you will be greeted with a warning sign alerting you to the problem of flying without enough satellites, as this quadcopter has GPS built in, i was quite impressed by this. Unfolding the 2 flaps reveals the quadcopter on top of the internal space diving petitions, under the copter is the transmitter, once again, with a warning attached to it explaining about the issues faced with flying without the minimum amount of satellites (6) quadcopter and (6) for the transmitter . Along side that is a spare part box which contains the following:-
8 x propellers - 4 x spare
1 x USB charger
5 x screws - 1 x spare
1 x Philips screwdriver
1 x FPV sun screen
Underneath the copter is a mini SD card slot, although no SD card is provided, so you will need to buy one separately.
Now we have removed all parts out of the box, lets start on the assembly.
Assembly
This quadcopter requires a small amount of assembly, this only consists of attaching the propellers, although that is quite a fiddly job. On the propeller, next to the Letter ‘A’ or ‘B’ you will notice a small mark that looks like ‘ I ‘ this matches a small ridge on the propeller arm. As long as they both match then the propeller will screw in with ease, repeat this method for the other propellers.
Flight
Once the compass has been calibrated, and over 6 satellites locked on the copter is ready to take to the skies, as with most flights they can start off quite shaky, while the quad was getting its bearings (literally). I found there was a whirlpool effect making the copter sway slightly from side to side, fortunately I found the more i flew, the more stable the copter got.
This quad is fast and moves at quite a steady pace, and shifting to ‘expert’ mode (mode 2) the speed increases again but is still very manageable, really opening this drone up to Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced fliers
Whilst piloting i notice the transmitter being really comfortable in hand, and with the added altitude meters built in you get a real sense of being up in the clouds with the quad.
The in place camera isn’t great at shooting video, its slightly whitewashed, and the resolution is quite poor but it doesn’t get affected by the usual jello effect as its built in to the body and not hanging under the copter.
Overall 8.5/10
POSITIVES = Stylish design, built very sturdy, GPS stability, built in camera, 12 minute battery life, great feeling transmitter, altitude and distance meter built in, FPV, real RTH function.
NEGATIVES = You need to stop the video before turning off the controller or you loose the video, waiting for satellites can take up to 10 minutes to complete for the quadcopter and an extra 3 - 4 minutes for the transmitter.
The box is pretty standard with a nice big high quality picture of the drone on the side, by removing one of the flaps at the top of the box a small plastic insert can be pulled out containing the quadcopter and transmitter. Dotted around inside the box are some small accessory bags that contain the following:-
1 x Screwdriver
1 x set of screws
4 x spare propellers
4 x propeller guards
1 x USB battery charger
1 x FPV sun shield
2 x Landing Sprigs
1 x spare battery (2 in total)
The only parts that needed to be attached were the two landing sprigs, this took approximately 3 minutes and teh 4 screws were included inside the springs themselves.
Charging took 1 hour per battery, flight time should be 10 minutes each battery.
Flight
The flight was incredibly smooth from the get go, its automatic take off function worked fantastically well first time and i was astounded when i landed her and the motors automatically shut off. The drones altitude hold feature is again excellent this barometer seemed to be a bit more technically advanced as even on the most still day there is still some movement, with this there was not. The movement of the quadcopter is very smooth, no jerking or sudden movements at all.
Overall
Verdict 8.8/10
Positives - Good Design, Bright colours and LEDs, Incredibly stable flight, good altitude hold feature, FPV, transmitter or app control.
Negatives - Small battery bay making it hard to replace battery, no GPS.
This box is small and packaging is minimal which is a refreshing change, once the box is opened the drone is waiting for you inside its snug plastic bag wrap. Under the quad is a small accessory pack which contains:-
4 x spare propellers
4 x spare propeller motor cogs
1 x manual
1 x USB charging plug
Along side all those goodies is a small velvet quadcopter carry bag, this is great for taking your drone out with you and keeping it tidy, clean and in one piece.
Charging will take approx 50 mins to 1 hour, flight time is between 6 to 10 minutes.
Flight
We have changed location this week, and we are now in the Woods instead of the park. I was dead excited to be taking this quadcopter out it very much appealed. We started off, found our take off point, did our pre flight checks, bound the copter to our smart device, and opened the JJRC app, now with the touch of the ‘up' arrow we were airborne. A lot of trim was needed to stabilise this quad as even with us setting up the gyros we were pulling to the right, badly. Now we were set up and all good to go i could see what this quad was made of. The speed as standard was set to 30% (Novice) so i increased this to 60% then 100% i was shocked to see that even at 100% there wasn’t a massive difference in speed. Video was recording all this time, i started with the lens pointing straight forward then changed to a downward perspective, one thing that really stood out then flying was the noise from the motors, so loud doesn’t really cut it, this thing screams!
All in all as a straight flying quad it holds up quite well, as a photo or video quad it is terrible! All video footage is dark, no sound and very grainy. The photos just came out black. There are examples of this in the flight videos.
Total flight time was approx 8 minutes on one charge.
Overview
Verdict 5/10
Positives - Drone folds away, very small, very light, flies well once trim is used to balance, altitude hold works very well, LEDs are bright.
Negatives - Camera is terrible, flips not compatible with model, very loud motors,
