Review on 🚁 Hubsan H501S X4 Quadcopter: GPS Altitude Mode, 5.8GHz Transmitter, 6 Axis Gyro, 1080P FPV, Brushless, Mode 2 RTF (Black) by Shane Bullion

I bought this to replace a Sky Viper 2900 GPS drone that had big claims but was riddled with bugs in the phone app that came with it. When the company finally admitted there was a problem, we returned it and found this one. And I wish we were the first to find Hubsan! For starters, the controller has its own screen so you don't need to tether your phone to use it! It was literally as easy as just recharge your batteries, hop out and fly! We tested it in light winds, maybe up to 5mph, and the GPS kept it well positioned. It staggers a bit in gusts of wind, but not bad, especially since the device is not very heavy. It behaves similar enough to the DJI Phantom 3 (which I also have) that I didn't really have to learn how to fly it, except that it's a third the size of the Phantom and isn't as good. good in the wind. The brushless motors are powerful and it might climb a little faster than the Phantom! Battery life is good - we got up to 15 full minutes of flight time (and went further, but I didn't want to risk it!). The build quality is also very good for a device at this price point. I haven't had any crashes so far, except for a flip when landing on uneven ground, but it hasn't taken any damage and seems to take hits well. other offers in this price range! This drone requires compass calibration before each flight. This is done the same way as the Phantom, by rotating it either horizontally or vertically with your hand. This is not a problem, but can be annoying. The Phantom rarely needs frequent recalibration unless you are flying it in an area with truly different environments. --- However, to be on the safe side, you should do this often anyway, so I'm not criticizing this aspect. But as with all good things, there were a few flaws that prevented me from giving this one 5 stars. The first and biggest problem is the very weak live video downlink signal; We even saw video clips from less than 100 feet away, and it was sensitive to drone pointing. (The antenna is quite directional). But BEWARE. There are TWO controller options that you can purchase with this unit:. The cheap one has built-in antennas (and very small ones) and the upgraded version has 2 external antennas, one for control and one for video transmission. We have a cheaper version and I would recommend you to switch to the updated version. Note, however, that the control range was good on a cheap controller, up to at least 400 feet - it looks like only video was affected. so that you can still fly safely! The control channel seems to have a much narrower bandwidth than the video (I expected that), so it's much more sensitive. Additional antennas are available for a cheap controller, but installing them requires some trimming and chopping. Another problem is the lack of a camera mount. Of course, we didn't expect that at this price point, but it means your videos can make you a little seasick unless you're shooting while hovering in place and rotating slowly; Any maneuvering will cause the drone to tip over and your videos will show it! Another detail to note, at least on my device, is that the drone's battery status indicator shows that it's draining much sooner than it actually is. The first time it turned red after only 5 minutes of operation I panicked but I lowered it to just 5ft off the ground and hovered for a while to see what would happen to the voltage and it held another one while good. . This *may* be a sign that a new battery is being used; Some rechargeable chems usually require a break-in period, so we'll see how it goes. But so far no problems. To sum up, if you have $$$ then just go and buy a Phantom. But if money is an issue, you can't do better than Hubsan in the $230-$250 price range!