Top positive review
6 people found this helpful
This is a nice drone for beginners like me
By Paul Havemann on Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2018
This is a nice drone for beginners like me. It's larger than the description claims -- it's a full two feet wide, if you measure across the body blade-tip to blade-tip. BTW, getting those blades on was a pain, as I've never done it before. I don't look forward to having to replace one. The controls are quite sensitive, and controlling the drone will require a few hours of practice if you're new to this hobby. It's best used when there's little or no wind. I quickly discovered that a flat, open field was preferable to my hedge- and tree-filled yard. (This is how I discovered that this drone works well as a leaf shredder.) It's easy to lose control given the sensitive controls, because your impulse when there's trouble is to slam the joystick around. A gentle touch is required! Luckily, there's an auto-land button on the controller, which saved my bacon -- and the drone -- several times. I'm still getting the hang of it. I experimented with the camera. No need for a 32-gig card unless you plan on filming long events (and changing the battery pack every 10 or so minutes). The 720 HD camera takes decent-quality photos and video. Have not yet tried the streaming video feature. Speaking of battery life, I would highly recommend getting the three-pack of replacement batteries you'll see suggested. Swapping in a fresh one is a snap. (You'll know when it runs down; the four lights will begin to blink, and eventually the drone will land itself.) Haven't yet tried the app on my smartphone, but FPV sounds interesting. I wonder whether it will enhance the experience, or make it more difficult for this beginner? BTW, there is an error in the user manual on page 10: the illustration says "Long press (hold for 3 seconds) RIGHT stick to enter headless mode", while the paragraph below it tells you to "Press down and hold LEFT stick for 3 seconds to enter headless mode." I haven't tried it yet -- which is it? Bottom line: Nice drone -- I recommend it!
Top critical review
great toy drone for first timers!
By DC on Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2017
This is my first drone and it is easy to fly. Flight time is decent. My only gripe with this drone is the transmitter range isn't the greatest in high altitude. Camera quality is ok to not so great, but for the price it works. *update a couple of weeks back my drone suddenly lost connection and fell out of the sky while hovering at 40-50ft. It's now just spare parts. Stay away from this thing, buy a Mjx bugs 2 with GPS
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This is a nice drone for beginners like me
By Paul Havemann - Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
This is a nice drone for beginners like me. It's larger than the description claims -- it's a full two feet wide, if you measure across the body blade-tip to blade-tip. BTW, getting those blades on was a pain, as I've never done it before. I don't look forward to having to replace one. The controls are quite sensitive, and controlling the drone will require a few hours of practice if you're new to this hobby. It's best used when there's little or no wind. I quickly discovered that a flat, open field was preferable to my hedge- and tree-filled yard. (This is how I discovered that this drone works well as a leaf shredder.) It's easy to lose control given the sensitive controls, because your impulse when there's trouble is to slam the joystick around. A gentle touch is required! Luckily, there's an auto-land button on the controller, which saved my bacon -- and the drone -- several times. I'm still getting the hang of it. I experimented with the camera. No need for a 32-gig card unless you plan on filming long events (and changing the battery pack every 10 or so minutes). The 720 HD camera takes decent-quality photos and video. Have not yet tried the streaming video feature. Speaking of battery life, I would highly recommend getting the three-pack of replacement batteries you'll see suggested. Swapping in a fresh one is a snap. (You'll know when it runs down; the four lights will begin to blink, and eventually the drone will land itself.) Haven't yet tried the app on my smartphone, but FPV sounds interesting. I wonder whether it will enhance the experience, or make it more difficult for this beginner? BTW, there is an error in the user manual on page 10: the illustration says "Long press (hold for 3 seconds) RIGHT stick to enter headless mode", while the paragraph below it tells you to "Press down and hold LEFT stick for 3 seconds to enter headless mode." I haven't tried it yet -- which is it? Bottom line: Nice drone -- I recommend it!
A good starter drone for novice
By NilatS - Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2017
Verified Amazon Purchase
A good starter drone for anyone trying for the first time (*) It is easy to set up the drone. After thoroughly reading the manual it took me less than 15 min to assemble it (*) The manual is very clear. It even has the explanation how the drone move USING AN PAPER PLANE. It is a smart decision (*) I am able to use it properly in the park. This is not for indoor. (*) The quality of the video is not exceptional, especially in evenings/low light. Daytime photos and videos are good. (*) I am not able to connect to my phone properly. So, I am recording it on the memory card
great toy drone for first timers!
By DC - Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2017
Verified Amazon Purchase
This is my first drone and it is easy to fly. Flight time is decent. My only gripe with this drone is the transmitter range isn't the greatest in high altitude. Camera quality is ok to not so great, but for the price it works. *update a couple of weeks back my drone suddenly lost connection and fell out of the sky while hovering at 40-50ft. It's now just spare parts. Stay away from this thing, buy a Mjx bugs 2 with GPS
Fun Drone with Awesome Features!
By Drewsak - Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
5 star drone! I have had other SYMA drones and this one I like the most so far. For one, it’s not really expensive...as in thousands of dollars. It is very easy to operate...the controls/toggles are like most drones on the market. It’s cool to see first person view through the camera via the SYMA app. What sets this drone apart from the other SYMA drones I have owned are that this one has a “Auto Take Off” feature. All you have to do is push a button on the top of the remote and the drone begins lift off. Also, the drone has a “Auto Landing” feature. By pushing the exact same button as the Auto Take Off, the drone automatically lands itself on the ground. These features are great for any beginner. Lastly, the drone comes with a battery cell that just clicks in the back of the drone. I love this about the SYMA X8SW! Every other drone I have used I have had to shove wires into the drone body after plugging in the battery and you don’t have to worry about that at all with this drone. Definitely a great drone. Not something I would use for professional work but one that is fun to learn on and fly around.
No good Android App
By Jesse Anderson - Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
Unfortunately, I could not get the App to work on any of my Android devices. The App version on the store was something like 5.2 and would crash every time I opened it. Using the QR code on the box takes you to their web page where you can download a newer version of the app (version 8.something at the time) The newer app didn't crash but it would only give me an error that the camera wasn't connected. This was the case on three different Android phones. Just to be sure the unit was not defective I also tried it on an iPad. That worked fine. In short, iOS support seems to be ok but android support is terrible. That means I only flew the drone for about 10 seconds as the whole reason I bought this was because it had FPV capability. Not sure how well it actually flies.
I guess you get what you pay for.
By Randy - Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
I have not flown it much because of the winds here. It seemed to do as advertised with auto hover, but the wind would take it away. Real problem is the camera. First, when I downloaded the program to my smart phone, the camera would not be recognized, so that function would not work. Second, when I used an SD micro in the camera and tried to play back the image, everything was garbled. So, the three star rating. Probably should have given it a 2, but it does fly and that is what a drone should do.
My son loves it
By cool_home - Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
Got this drone as a Christmas present for my son who had flown a smaller drone indoors. This is much bigger and meant to flown outdoors. It took him just few flights to master this drone. He was all praise at the ease of handling it. It has altitude hold which makes it easier to fly and control.Even i tried flying in headless mode which makes it so easy. The camera takes decent pictures and videos and could been better.All the stunts could be achieved with dedicated button. He crash landed it few times but everything looks perfect and well built. Overall a good drone for beginners who want to fly outdoors
Good size and quality
By Diana Sweeney - Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
It’s larger than I expected.
So much fun!
By Matias Ulloa - Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
This is my very first drone and was a little concerned about whether I'd be able to fly it without crashing it. My very first flight was almost bad but only because I didn't finish reading the instructions before flying it (I was too eager). The drone wasn't damaged which was great news and it even comes with a few extra propellors, just in case, which I find reassuring. Anyway, after I finished reading the instructions, I learned how to fly it properly and it was sooooo much fun! It even has a feature to do a flip which looks really cool. I still have plenty of practice before I'm able to use all the features, but so far my experience has been very pleasant.
Great drone
By Amy - Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2018
Verified Amazon Purchase
This drone was easy to use. It came neatly packaged in the box. The drone had a couple minor things that needed to be assembled, but overall very easy to do. Charging the drone was relatively fast, you get close to 10 minutes of fly time with a fully charged battery. It does take some learning to operate the drone. I crashed couple of times since I was new at it, but overall it was easy to learn how to use it after awhile. The drone is very durable as well, considering I crashed it a couple of times. The controller range is decent. Overall, this would make a great gift for kids or for someone getting into drones.
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