Hubsan H501S Review

GPS.

Something different.

It may be a toy from China but it isn’t cheap
and it really feels like quality, heavy and stuff.

The camera is fixed and has no gimbal,
which takes not ideal aerial videos/pictures.
But there is a 130$ option to make it a good camera bird if you want it.

It is my first step into a bigger drone world.

With the ‘advanced’ controller
you should get a better pic from the camera
and a bigger range and it is a bit more handy,
and by the way it is much less plasticky and more serious.

I actually was that excited I almost got all the accessories
before getting the actual quad.
I got a fitting suitcase, a dual battery cable, extra batteries
and lipos for the controller.

Also remember:
It should strictly be used outdoors.
I tested it indoors and hit something and it landed turned over
and the motors were that powerful they broke off a plastic propeller blade.

I even got carbon props,
which look really nice
and are more rigid if they touch the ground
and take abuse much better.
They may look nice but also gets you injured faster
when you accidentally reach into them turning.

Beginners:
Rather trash some cheap plastic ones first,
you don’t want to trash a 20$ propellerset everytime.

It helps beginners quite a bit
as when you panic (which happens quite a lot)
and lose control you simply hit a switch
and it will come back to you and land.

In GPS-mode anyone could fly this but remember:
Brushless motors are more powerful than regular brushed ones
so I don’t recommend it to beginners.
It will damage things or hurt you
when you accidentaly reach into the props.

Why GPS?
With GPS it will try to hold its horizontal positon even when windy.
So then it will bank a bit to fight the wind but it will stay in one place.
So it is less dependent on wind and you can fly it
with more breezes than the cheaper ones.
It is a much more easy flyer
where you can actually put the controller away
and it will still stay in one place.

Want one?

Dustin Dunhill Review

Get it!

edit:
I know I didn’t include any actual flight experience,
but honestly I had to wait for some parts and couldn’t take off.
Last parts came in last Thursday.

Resumée of a short testflight:
It is just awesome,
it really does just what you want it to do.
No drifting or similar, with the GPS activated
you don’t even have to trim it,
it will stay in one place.
Lost control?
Lost it in the sky?
Hit return-to-home.
It works really good and the functions work well.

The carbon props perform similar to the regular ones
but have a bit less punch, due to the shorter length, I guess.

edit:
I am using an external antenna now
that might help with the range as it is longer
and with the interference as the FPV antenna is almost 2mtrs away.

edit:
I’ve added a GPS-tracker,
so if I crash somewhere,
not only do I have the coordinates on the transmitter
but I can call the tracker to see where it is.
So I actually have two options to recover it.
Better chances to find it again.

Buying advice:
It is a reasonably priced GPS drone with some nice options.
GPS is much more easy to fly than its rivals.
Get it if you are a bit experienced and want a less toy-like quad.
Don’t get it if you just started or if you want a toy for the kids