SymaToys Quadcopter X5UW Drone Review
SymaToys Quadcopter X5UW Drone Review
Buy it at Amazon: SymaToys Quadcopter X5UW Drone [Affiliate Link]
Takeaway: Great toy grade drone; stable, easy to control, camera better than expected, 720p video/photos.
You'll receive the drone, remote control, two sets of replacement fan blades, two batteries, a USB battery charger, 720p camera with included 4 GB microSD card, a USB card reader, 4 blade guards, a mini screw driver, the instruction manual, and a cute little build your own model helicopter (like erector set pieces).
The drone is made of a lightweight plastic and is a medium size measuring 12" square and 3" tall. There is some assembly required but it's pretty straightforward. The instructions are very poorly translated though. Assembly consists of snapping the four blade guards around each propeller into place, loading the battery, and attaching the camera (optional). I like that the battery uses a simple slide in/slide out connection rather than trying to fit a small plug on delicate wires into a tiny port. This is the first toy grade drone that I've used that had this feature. The remote control requires 4 AA batteries which are not included.
Connecting to the drone via the Syma Go smartphone app for first person viewing of the camera was quick and easy. I was able to use the camera and video buttons to toggle on and off video recording and snap photos too. However, I wasn't able to get the on-screen flight controls to work so I'm assuming that those are for use with a different model. What I really liked about this drone is that it has a one-click take-off and landing key (top right shoulder button). This makes it easy to lift off to start the flight and take the drone down for a soft landing if you get into trouble. The drone takes off pretty smoothly and is easy to control once you get the hang of it. It's very stable compared to earlier model toy grade drones. It can hover with minimal movement indoors and can achieve high speeds. But outdoors, it can't fight the wind very well and there is no auto return on this drone. The range of the controller is 30-40 ft, so if it goes outside this range you could lose control of it. If you lose connection with the controller, you won't be able to bring the drone back to you so don't let it get too far away from you. The drone is also capable of doing 3D flips which is does nicely.
The camera footage doesn't have any sound but has HD 720p resolution and I was impressed with the quality of the video and photo footage compared to some of the other drones I've used in its price range (those typically have 2 MP or less resolution that's choppy and grainy). The camera performs best outdoors in bright conditions and dark environments may cause the image quality to degrade. Other than that, the drone flies pretty well and having the first person view from the camera on the phone is pretty cool. With two batteries fully charged you can get about 15 mins of flight in a single session. If you remove the camera and don't utilize the WiFi, you'll be able to squeeze an extra minute or two out of each battery. The caps on top of the propellers do pop off easily though, and I've already lost one in a crash, so I wish it had come with some spares.
Buy it at Amazon: SymaToys Quadcopter X5UW Drone [Affiliate Link]
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