Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K review

   Camera options for your average consumer drone are limited to either a mount for a GoPro or similar camera or a built-in camera that is permanently attached to the drone. The former is fine, though it may or may not give you a first-person view (FPV) from the air and it's one more thing to keep charged (and you'll have to figure in the extra cost of the camera). The latter, however, means you've got no upgrade path should a better camera come along, and it can only be used with the drone.
Yuneec's Typhoon Q500 4K is not your average drone. Slung from the belly of the $1,300 quadcopter (£960 AU$2,200) is a 4K-resolution camera combined with a three-axis antivibration gimbal. When not in the air, the camera-and-gimbal system can be quickly removed and attached to the included SteadyGrip, a battery-powered handheld mount that lets you use the Typhoon's camera on the ground. Combined with an iPhone or android smartphone, you can shoot completely control the camera and see what you're shooting. (Yuneec makes an updated and improved version of the SteadyGrip called ActionCam with a built-in rechargeable battery and the Q500 4K's CGO3 camera.)
The DJI Inspire 1 series takes a similar approach, but it's targeted at professionals and starts at about $2,700 for the drone and the handheld camera mount is an additional $270. The Typhoon Q500 4K is a better option for beginners, giving you an aerial and ground imaging solution that, while maybe not as feature-filled as some competing models, does what it does very well.

Design and features

The Q500 4K is big. Not like "How does that thing get off the ground?" big, but next to the relatively compact DJI Phantom 3, it's big. (The diagonal motor-to-motor measurement is 390mm for the Phantom compared to the Typhoon's 510mm.) The size does make it easier to spot in the sky from a distance, but you're not sliding the Q500 4K easily into a backpack for a trip to the park.

Instead Yuneec packs everything into a large, sturdy case. Along with the drone and its camera you'll find two batteries and a charger; two sets of propellers; the ST10+ controller, a neck strap and sunshield; a cable to use the charger in a car; and the SteadyGrip handheld mount. Unfortunately, Yuneec used Styrofoam inside the case instead of something a bit more long-lasting.

The Styrofoam is representative of the design and build quality on the whole: it's a good package overall, but lacks some polish. The black-and-gray plastic body looks nice, but pick it up and it feels a little flimsy. It's great that the camera can be removed, but to do it you have to keep plugging and unplugging this small cable and pushing in a plastic tab, both of which I feel might not last with frequent use. Nothing that's a deal breaker, but a little disappointing.

The controller for me is definitely a plus, though. Instead of relying on a tablet or smartphone for a live view from the camera as well as flight information, the ST10+ has a built-in 5.5-inch touchscreen display built right in. There's a bit of lag between the camera and screen, so I wouldn't recommend flying by FPV alone, but for setting up shots and giving you telemetry data at a glance it's great. It also means you only have to worry about having the controller charged, not a second device.

Having the fixed screen does mean you can't go with a larger tablet display, but since the drone doesn't support waypoint navigation -- where a larger screen to set up an autonomous flight path comes in handy -- and FPV flying isn't a great idea, it's not a big loss.

The controller also has buttons for starting and stopping video recording and snapping photos and sliders for setting the camera angle and limiting overall climb/descend and directional speed. A switch lets you move between flight modes: Smart, Angle and Home.

Smart mode is made for beginners. In addition to enabling a virtual barrier called a geofence to prevent it from flying more than 300 feet away from the pilot, the controller will always move the Q500 4K in the direction the right-hand control stick is pushed relative to the pilot and no matter which way the nose is pointed. It's fine if you've never flown before and you use it just to get a feel for how the quadcopter will fly, but I don't recommend using it much beyond that.

However, Smart mode is the only way you can use two of the drone's main attractions: Follow Me and Watch Me modes. With Follow Me, the drone uses a GPS signal from controller to follow whoever or whatever is carrying it. Watch Me mode works similarly, but keeps the controller -- or whoever's holding it -- framed in the camera no matter where and how it moves and the camera can automatically tilt according to the controller.

Carrying around a big controller doesn't make for the best video, though, so Yuneec developed the Wizard remote control. It's about the size of a TV remote, but can completely control the drone with simple gestures and a directional pad. It also has GPS in it, so it can be used with the Q500 4K's Follow Me and Watch Me functions.

If you want to actually pilot the Q500 4K normally, just switch into Angle mode. This will move the drone in the direction the control stick is pushed relative to the nose of the aircraft. As long as you've got a lock on six or more GPS satellites, the Q500 4K will automatically hold its position and hover in place when the right-hand stick is centered.

The Home mode is the drone's return-to-home safety feature. Flip the switch down and as long as the drone has a solid GPS lock and there are no obstacles in the way, it will fly back to within 13 to 26 feet (4-8 meters) of the pilot and automatically land.

Flight

Setting up the Typhoon Q500 4K for flight is about as simple as it gets. Spin on the props, charge up the batteries for the drone and controller and you're done. The controller, which is running on android, takes a minute to boot up and then, once you've turned the drone on, it takes another minute for the two to finish connecting. GPS satellite acquisition -- required for hovering in place and return-to-home among other things -- takes a little more time. All told, it took me about 3 to 5 minutes until it was ready to fly, basically depending on how fast I could lock onto more than six satellites.

There is no automatic takeoff, but the procedure is simple enough: Press and hold a button on the controller to set the motors spinning and press up on the left stick. There is also no automatic landing, though you can just switch to Home mode and it will land for you. Honestly, other than bouncing a bit when it's close to the ground, the Q500 4K is stable enough for beginners to take off and land without issue.

As long as it's locked onto plenty of satellites, flying is easy. It's not particularly zippy, but that's kind of a plus when you're learning to fly for smooth camera movements. It is remarkably quiet, too. Yes, you'll still hear it, but it's more like the sound of a fast-spinning fan than an electric leaf blower.

I occasionally experienced some erratic flight behavior, but calibrating the drone's compass seemed to straighten it out. The procedure isn't difficult, though the drone's size makes it awkward since it involves turning and rotating the copter several times. Also a recent firmware update improved performance all around. (That procedure requires little more than connecting the Q500 4K to a computer via USB.)

All in all, flying the Typhoon is a pleasurable experience. Flight times for me averaged around 20 minutes before the controller started warning me to land, which is typical battery life at the moment for this category. Perhaps because of its larger size, it moved smoothly and while there is some lag between the camera and the what's displayed screen, the controls were responsive.

Video quality

Yuneec gives you several resolutions to choose from for video, the highest being 4K Ultra HD (3,840x2,160 pixels) at 30 frames per second, but also does high-speed video in full HD (1,920x1,080 pixel) at 120fps for slow-motion. It records at a high bitrate of 50Mbps, and it shows in the details. Subjects look sharp (maybe a little too sharp), though on my camera subjects on the far left side appear softer.

The three-axis gimbal does a fine job of keeping the camera stable, so even if you're not making steady moves with the drone it won't show in your clips. You'll still see some of the effects of rolling shutter, but that's typical for the category. The video is best viewed at small sizes in general, so if your goal is to share your videos online and watch them on a phone or tablet, the Q500 4K's camera will yield some excellent clips.

Conclusion

Thanks to some useful accessories and a solid feature set, the smooth-flying, easy-to-use Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K quadcopter is a compelling package for video and photos in the sky or on the ground. The design is a little rough around the edges, and if you want autonomous flight features like waypoint navigation, you're out of luck. Otherwise, this is one nice drone for the money.

DJI Phantom 4 review

It's all in the experience.

While I could tell you all about the specs and the new features and the performance -- and I will get to those --it's the overall experience of using DJI's Phantom 4 that puts it above the rest.

Polished is the word that comes to mind. Other drones I've flown aren't necessarily more difficult to get started with and pilot, but DJI makes doing these things painless and uncomplicated. (Though, if you've never flown one before, you'll want to at least read the quick start guide or, god forbid, the full user manual). This, along with the Phantom 4's new Obstacle Sensing System (OSS) and streamlined design, are why it's quickly been tagged as being great for beginners. At least, beginners with deep pockets: The Phantom 4 sells for $1,399 in the US, AU$2,399 in Australia and £1,229 in the UK.

The Phantom 4 might truly be the drone anyone can fly and it is certainly worth the money if you've got it. Still, for however polished the experience is, it might be too much of a good thing for absolute beginners.

Crashproof? Yeah, not so much

If you've read anything about the Phantom 4, you know it's the first consumer model you can buy with an advanced obstacle-avoidance system that DJI calls OSS. The stout quadcopter has a set of optical sensors in front -- eyes that will help it navigate around or over obstacles within 0.7 to 15 meters (2.3 to 49 feet) of it or it will simply stop and hover until you pilot it away. (It also enables a couple new flight modes, which I'll get to in a bit.)

For the most part it works really well and it will likely prevent many accidental collisions. Yes, you can test it by flying it directly at things like fences or buildings or cars or yourself, and it will stop on its own. But what I worry about most when flying are trees.

Clip a tree at 100 feet in the air and it can either start an uncontrollable fall to the ground or, perhaps worse, get stuck like some cruel Christmas tree ornament you can see but never touch. Having the ability to avoid trees is especially important when using the return-to-home feature that summons the drone back to you.

The Phantom 4 fared better than I expected. I tested just as the Northeast was headed into spring, so I was flying around a lot of trees that were bare from winter. It had no trouble stopping itself before flying into a line of pine trees on an autonomous flight back to me. When navigating around sparse branches stripped clean of leaves, it didn't immediately recognize them as an obstacle. Had the branches been thick with leaves, it might have stopped in its tracks as it had when I flew near trees in full bloom. Or, maybe it was operator error.

You see, I was coming at the tree from an angle that could've been outside of the OSS's visual range. It senses what's in front of the Phantom, not above, to the sides or behind it. So while the system can stop a head-on collision, you'll have no problems crashing it from other directions. My point is, the OSS is great to have, but for new pilots it could create a false sense of security.

Sport mode is fun, but dangerous for newbies

All it takes is a flip of a switch on the controller and you'll be able to fly at speeds up to 45 mph (72 kph) using the Phantom 4's Sport mode. It's not just faster going forward and back, but it can ascend at 6 meters (20 feet) per second and descend at 4 meters (13 feet) per second. This is a really nice addition because it lets you get to a location that much faster to get the shot you want. It gives you a bit of a racing drone experience, too, and with an HDMI module for the controller you can connect FPV (first-person view) goggles to immerse yourself in the experience.

A little movement on the stick literally goes a long way, though. And the OSS doesn't work in Sport mode so if you're flying head-on into something, don't expect these sensors to save you. Plus, when it is travelling at top speed, it takes much more time for it to stop. The DJI Go app warns you of this the first time you enter the mode, but never again. Regardless, it's not a mode I would suggest for first-time pilots.

Alright, you probably get the idea by now: the Obstacle Sensing System can potentially keep you out of trouble, but it's no excuse to fly recklessly or not learn how to properly pilot the drone. Now, on to the good stuff.

Better video through autonomy

So yes, the Phantom 4 can use its optical sensors to avoid crashing into things when you're piloting. But it can also use them to automatically do your bidding in the air.

DJI's Go mobile app for iOS and Android devices is used not only for getting a view from the drone's camera, but adjusting settings and seeing all your important flight data and battery status. Connect your device to the controller via a USB cable, open the app and voila, it's all at your fingertips.

The app is also how you set the Phantom 4 up to fly autonomously using DJI's intelligent flight modes. These include the ability to have the drone follow you using a GPS signal from the controller and perform movements like orbiting around you or another point of interest and arranging a set of waypoints on a map for it to follow.

You can do all of those things with the Phantom 3 models, but new for the Phantom 4 is ActiveTrack, which uses the OSS to follow a subject. You just draw a box on screen around what you want to track, tap the Go button that appears and the drone starts following, keeping the camera centered on whoever or whatever you selected.

I tested it out on my daughter as she rode her bike and as long as she didn't move too fast, the drone was able to keep up. The subject has to be close or large to work effectively. When she did travel out of its range, the drone started tracking her when she got near again. Though it's not perfect, it worked better than GPS for keeping her in the center of the shot.

Another new mode called TapFly pretty much does what the name implies: Tap on a point on screen and the Phantom 4 will fly there, avoiding obstacles along the way. Tap another point and it will transition and pilot its way there. An on-screen horizon line gives you control over changing the drone's altitude by tapping above or below it. And you can still use your sticks to steer the drone for your shot, too.

Basically, it allows you to set up a single-point flight path on the fly, assuming that point is in front of the drone. Combine this with the drone's automatic takeoff with a swipe and a tap in the app and, well, yes, anyone could put the Phantom 4 in the air and "fly" it.

If at any point you want to stop and think about your next move, a Pause button has been added on the controller that will set the drone to stop and hover in place. (The Pause button works regardless of the mode you're in, too.)

A new design for a new era of flight

Making most of these new features possible required a redesign. DJI streamlined the body and gimbal design, putting more of it inside the body. It has more powerful motors and propellers that lock on with a simple push and twist instead of the endless spinning required to get the old props on and off.

Due in part to these design changes and a new battery, DJI was able to squeeze more flight time out of the Phantom 4 at up to 28 minutes. I was unable to reach that mark, but I was regularly flying in a fair amount of wind. I averaged between 22 to 25 minutes if I ignored the constant low battery warnings. The default settings start the controller beeping starting at 30 percent battery and then lands you automatically at 10 percent. These can be shut off, but, you know, they're there for a reason. Also, extra batteries are expensive at $169 (AU$289, £129).

The landing gear is slightly shorter and spread wider than previous models making touching down less likely to cause it to tip. However, the legs are still fixed to the body, so while the body overall is more compact, you're still not slipping this easily into an average backpack.

The camera is for the most part unchanged from the Phantom 3 Professional's excellent shooter. But DJI added a slow-motion option capturing 1080p at 120fps and it has improved the lens so there's less chromatic aberration and better corner sharpness. It, too, is not removable, which means it can't simply be upgraded or replaced.

DJI's Phantom 4 is in fact a pretty amazing piece of technology and -- for the moment -- has supplanted the Phantom 3 Professional as the consumer camera drone to get if you've got the money. That said, the out-of-the-box flight experience isn't all that different from the Phantom 3 -- any of them. To be sure, the Phantom 4 does more, but if you are a beginner, there are less expensive option for learning to fly and capturing nice video and photos while you do it.

DJI Phantom 3 Advanced review

    DJI currently has three versions of its Phantom 3 drone: the standard , Advanced and professional . While there are several important differences between the entry-level Phantom 3 Standard ($799, £649 or AU$1,299) and its two linemates, the feature gap between the Professional and Advanced amounts to two things.
The Phantom 3 Professional shoots video in 4K (3,820x2,160-pixel) resolution and has a 100-watt battery charger. It retails for $1,259, £1,159 or AU$1,950. The Advanced captures video in 1080p (1,920x1,080) and has a slower 57-watt charger, but costs $999, £899 or AU$1,550. That's it.
The 4K video from the Professional is a step up from the Advanced's full-HD results. But it's not a big step up, and unless you want or need the extra resolution and have a computer powerful enough to play and edit 4K video, the Advanced's 1080p video doesn't disappoint. And since the drones' features and controllers are the same, the Phantom 3 Advanced is as easy to recommended as it is to fly. Which is to say it's really easy.

Design and features

The quadcopter itself is, for the most part, unchanged from its predecessor, the Phantom 2 Vision+. You'll find all the same convenience features like color-coded, self-tightening propellers for easy installation and replacement, and a slot-loading battery pack, though it's a newly designed battery making the Phantom 2's batteries incompatible with the 3.

The three-axis gimbal on its belly stabilizes the camera in roll, pitch and yaw directions keeping the video looking smooth even with sudden stick movements or wind gusts. Plus, the camera can do a 90-degree tilt, letting you shoot straight down, straight ahead and anywhere in between. The camera is permanently attached to the gimbal, so if you irreparably damage one or the other, you'll have to replace the entire gimbal-and-camera assembly. It also means you don't have the option of using the camera for anything else, unlike models that use GoPro or other small cameras such as 3D robotic's solo or EHang's ghost.

The Advanced's camera features a Sony-made 12-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor behind a new f2.8 20mm lens (35mm equivalent), which gives you a 94-degree field of view. That's much narrower than the Vision+ camera's 140-degree field of view resulting in far less distortion.

Sitting to the back of the gimbal is the new Vision Positioning System, a set of sensors to help the Phantom 3 hover while indoors when GPS isn't available. There are many caveats for it to work properly, however, such as not flying over sound-absorbing materials, water or highly reflective surfaces. It's also only effective up to about 10 feet (3 meters). If you're thinking of getting the Advanced to fly above crowds in an arena or auditorium, you better up your piloting skills first.

When you're outside, GPS is used to help the drone determine its position and yours and is what makes it possible for the drone to stop and hover in place when you release the controller's sticks as well as delivering accurate location data for safety features like automatically returning to a home position. The more satellites it can lock onto, the better off you are, so DJI added the Russian navigational system, GLONASS, which lets it tap into more satellites than GPS alone.

Satellite acquisition speeds are noticeably faster compared to the Phantom 2 Vision+, so you can lock on and start flying more quickly. Also, with the Vision+ there were times I would struggle to get a solid lock on six satellites (the minimum for GPS-assisted flight). The Advanced never had a problem grabbing onto 10 satellites or more in a matter of seconds and regularly had upward of 15 in my testing. This makes a huge difference when it comes to putting the drone in the exact position you want for photos and video.

The controller and DJI Go mobile app (formerly called Pilot) are important, too, of course. The Advanced and its controller have DJI's Lightbridge technology for better image transmission between the sky and ground. Lightbridge allows for a continuous connection back and forth between the two and increases flight range over the wireless range extender used for the Phantom 2 and the entry-level Phantom 3 Standard. This does mean you'll need your iOS or Android device's charging cable to use it, but the performance improvement is well worth it.

On each of the top corners you'll find discrete camera controls for starting and stopping recordings, taking pictures, reviewing your shots and two wheels, one for adjusting exposure compensation, ISO and shutter speed and the other for the gimbal's tilt. Two customizable buttons are on the bottom as well that can be used for a handful of gimbal or camera functions. Overall it's a great setup, but more than a few times I accidentally switched to playback mode while trying to snap a photo.

DJI also included a Return-to-Home button for those times when panic starts to set in and you just want to bring it on back. The controller's battery is built in and will last through several flights before you'll need to recharge it. DJI simplified charging, too, using one power supply with two cables attached: one for the controller's battery and one for the drone's.

Connecting your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet is as simple as plugging in your device's charging cable into the USB port on the Advanced's controller. (It'll keep your device charged while you use it for flying, too.) Then, with the controller and drone turned on, you just open the DJI Go app and tap to get the camera view.

The controller's device mount can handle phones and tablets big and small, however the app is optimized for use with the iPhone 5S, 6 and 6 Plus. Android device support is thin, with just the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Note 3, Sony Xperia Z3, Google Nexus 7 II, Google Nexus 9, Xiaomi Mi 3 and ZTE Nubia Z7 Mini listed. I tested with both a 6 Plus and a Galaxy S5 and the app performance was clearly stronger on the iOS device with the S5 occasionally freezing up forcing me midflight to restart the app.

In addition to a first-person view from the camera, you get complete camera controls, meters for signal strengths, GPS and battery life and access to settings for the whole system. It will also notify you if a firmware update is necessary (which occur with some regularity) and, eventually, you'll be able to do the updates through the app; currently they're done by downloading a file to a microSD card and popping the card into the drone's camera.

The app can also be used for automated take-offs and landings, if you don't want to handle them with stick commands, and triggering the Return-to-Home safety function. Another new safety feature of sorts is the Beginner Mode. This sets up virtual barriers called a geofence with a maximum altitude and flight distance of 30 meters (98 feet), giving you a safe way to limit where the drone can travel. It's pretty amazing to see in action as you send the Phantom full throttle toward its limit and the drone stops as if it's been snagged in an invisible net.

As for the camera settings, video recording options include full HD (1,920x1,080-pixel) and HD (1,280x720-pixel) resolutions at 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60 frames per second and you can choose between MOV or MP4 formats. Thanks to the Lightbridge technology, you can even use it to live-stream video straight to YouTube and uses your mobile device's mic for capturing audio.

For photos, you can capture in JPEG, DNG raw format or both simultaneously. Shooting modes include single shots or bursts of three, five or seven; HDR and auto exposure bracketing (0.7EV bias) of three or five pictures; and time-lapse continuous shooting at 5-, 7-, 10-, 20- and 30-second intervals. You can also control ISO, exposure compensation and white balance.

At the time of this review the Phantom 3 Advanced (and Professional) didn't have DJI's Intelligent Flight features including waypoint navigation, point of interest (POI) flight planning or Follow Me function, but these are now available.

Waypoint navigation lets you set up a multipoint path for the drone to follow while you control the camera, while POI flight planning allows you to autonomously fly a circle around a subject, keeping it centered. Follow Me sets the drone to track your movement based on your orientation. Support for SDK apps already created by thrid party DJI developers is available as well, giving the Advanced more features and future potential.

Flying

If you're reading this review, you probably already know that DJI's Phantom quadcopters have a reputation of being extremely easy to fly (and fly away, but it's something I've never experienced). With the Phantom 3 the experience has only improved.

DJI has added a flight simulator to the mobile app (iOS only) that you can use to learn your way around the app and controls. I found it to be a little frustrating because the actual drone performs so much better in real life. Regardless of safety features and how stable the Phantom 3 is, I highly recommend taking your first flights out in an open area where there are no people or distractions.

Again, if you don't want to use stick commands, you can takeoff and land with a tap and a swipe on your screen. With GPS, the drone will just sit and hover wherever you leave it. Start flying a bit too close to a tree and you can just let go of the sticks and it will stop while you regroup and steer away. You can fly without GPS, but if you release the sticks the Phantom won't stop but instead continues to drift in the direction it was last headed. It's a gut-wrenching experience watching $1,000 float away seemingly uncontrollably, so it's best to fly with GPS until you fully understand the controls.

The app is well laid out and at a glance you can see all the information you need. There's even a battery timeline meter giving you estimates on everything from remaining flight time to the power required to return home or land.

Speaking of battery life, DJI says you'll be able to get up to 23 minutes of flight time. I was able to get to just under 21 minutes of flying -- nothing too aggressive, mostly hovering in place and in light wind -- before it took over and landed itself. That flight time is very good when you factor in all that it's doing to stay in the air while recording video. It does feel short, though, especially if you're trying to get out some distance for a picture and still make it back. And extras are pricey at around $149, £125 or AU$205 each.

Video and photo quality

Closely examining the 4K video of the Phantom 3 Professional or DJI's higher-end Inspire 1 straight from the camera against the 1080p clips from the Advanced, there are noticeable differences, mainly in the level of fine detail and sharpness of subjects. There is better detail from the 4K and it's especially visible if you're viewing on a large TV or monitor. So, if it's necessary for you to capture the highest quality video without ponying up a ton more cash, the Phantom 3 Professional is the better choice.

Frankly, though, the full-HD clips from the Advanced look pretty great as do its photos, and they're more than suitable for sharing online and/or viewing on a phone, tablet or laptop. It's also a huge jump in quality from the Phantom 2 Vision+. For those considering an upgrade from that model to the Professional, your needs might be met with the less expensive Advanced.

The live-streaming quality to YouTube is just OK. You have to have a pretty strong wireless connection to keep the video moving smoothly and even then the results were a bit glitchy and compressed. Still, it's sort of amazing it can do it at all and could be helpful for professional uses.

Lastly, whenever you record a video, a compressed 720p version is stored to your mobile device. To help make the most of these clips, DJI built in a basic video editor to the Go app. You can use it to cut up your clips, gather them up and then combine them into one movie. DJI also included some style templates with music you can apply before you save. Then you can just share away.

Conclusion

The DJI Phantom 3 Advanced is a great little aerial photo and video machine, however it's the whole system -- the drone, the controller and the app -- that make it so easy to pick up and just start flying. It's not inexpensive, but compared with the $900 parrot bepop with its skycontroller , you won't regret spending the extra money. And if you don't need the Professional's 4K video, you can put your money toward a spare battery or two so the good times don't come to an end after 20 minutes.

Blade Chroma 4K review

     The Blade Chroma 4K from Horizon Hobby is essentially a redesigned version of the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K, wich i liked quite a bit. It shares all the same capabilities, has the same remote controller with a built-in touchscreen and the same 4K-resolution camera and three-axis gimbal for stabilization.
Priced at $1,200 (£1,100, AU$2,000), the biggest differences are in the actual design. The Chroma is much smaller than the Typhoon and is closer in size to DJI's Phantom 3 models; the Chroma's diagonal motor-to-motor distance is 400mm compared to 390mm for the Phantom and 510mm for the Typhoon.
The Chroma's smaller size and the fact that it can be quickly broken down makes it very travel friendly. The color-coded self-tightening propellers spin off easily, the landing gear simply unclip, and if you disconnect the gimbal's power cable and release another clip in front of the gimbal, you can slide the whole assembly right off. All of the pieces and the Yuneec ST10+ controller will all fit into a large messenger bag or backpack.

Now, while the Chroma has its fair share of advantages, it lacks the autonomous navigation features others in this range offer, namely DJI's Phantom 3 Advanced and Professional quadcopters. Those two as well as Parrot's Bebop 2 also have visual positioning systems made up of cameras and ultrasonic sensors that allow them to hover in place without a GPS lock. This allows you to fly more easily indoors and helps with stability when the drones are within several feet of the ground.

If you can live without those features in favor of things like a nice remote control, a more travel-friendly design and readily available parts and accessories -- not to mention good customer service -- put the Chroma 4K on your short list.

Design and features

The Chroma weighs in at 2.9 pounds (1.3kg) and a chunk of that is the 6,300mAh battery that locks into the rear of the chassis. The body doesn't look particularly strong, but being more compact makes it feel tougher than the Typhoon. Even if you did crash, Horizon Hobby stocks all of the parts, so it's no problem to make repairs. And if you don't like the white frame, the site sells adhesive skins to give it a new look.

You don't have to assemble anything when you open the box, by the way. The quadcopter is completely assembled. Just spin on a set of propellers (two sets are included), slide in a battery -- after you've charged it, of course -- and you're ready to fly. Along with the Chroma, battery, propellers and controller, you get a battery charger and a sunshield to make it easier to see the controller's screen.

Most of the camera drones I've tested rely on a tablet or smartphone for a live view from the camera as well as flight information. The Chroma skips this and instead the ST10+ controller has a built-in 5.5-inch touchscreen display to deliver the same information. There's a bit of lag between the camera and screen and the camera has an ultrawide-angle lens making it difficult to judge distance from subjects, so I don't recommend flying by FPV alone. For setting up shots and giving you telemetry data at a glance, though, it's great. It also means you only have to worry about having the controller charged, not a second device.

Having the fixed screen does mean you can't go with a larger tablet display, but since the drone doesn't support waypoint navigation -- where a larger screen to set up an autonomous flight path comes in handy -- and FPV flying isn't a great idea, it's not a big loss.

The controller also has buttons for starting and stopping video recording and snapping photos and sliders for setting the camera angle and limiting overall climb/descend and directional speed. A switch lets you move between flight modes: Smart, Angle and Home.

Smart mode is made for beginners. In addition to enabling a virtual barrier called a geofence to prevent it from flying more than 330 feet (100 meters) away from the pilot, the controller will always move the Chroma 4K in the direction the right-hand control stick is pushed relative to the pilot and no matter which way the nose is pointed. It's fine if you've never flown before and you use it just to get a feel for how the quadcopter will fly, but I don't recommend using it much beyond that. Smart mode relies heavily on GPS and if the Chroma should lose its signal, you'll have to pilot manually, which will be very difficult if you've flown exclusively in Smart mode.

However, Smart mode is the only way you can use two of the drone's main attractions: Follow Me and Tracking modes. With Follow Me, the drone uses a GPS signal from the controller to follow whoever or whatever is carrying it at an altitude and distance you set, staying at the same distance and angle from the controller as you move. Tracking mode works similarly, but keeps the controller -- or whoever's holding it -- framed in the camera no matter where and how it moves and the camera can automatically tilt according to the controller.

Carrying around a big controller when shooting video of yourself doesn't look great, though, so Yuneec developed the Wizard remote control for its drones and works with the Chroma as well. It's about the size of a TV remote, but can completely control the drone with simple gestures and a directional pad. It also has GPS in it, so it can be used with the Chroma's Follow Me and Tracking functions.

If you want to actually pilot the Chroma normally, just switch into Angle mode. This will move the drone in the direction the control stick is pushed relative to the nose of the aircraft. As long as you've got a lock on six or more GPS satellites, the Chroma 4K will automatically hold its position and hover in place when the right-hand stick is centered.

Should you want to fly with complete control without GPS assistance, you can quickly use the controller's touchscreen to access the settings menus and turn GPS off entirely. While I don't suggest doing this unless you're an experienced pilot, you likely will have to in order to spin up the props and fly indoors.

The Home mode is the drone's return-to-home safety feature. Flip the switch down and as long as the drone has a solid GPS lock and there are no obstacles in the way, it will fly back to within 13 to 26 feet (4-8 meters) of the pilot and automatically land.

Flight

Setting up the Blade Chroma 4K for flight is about as simple as it gets. Spin on the props, charge up the batteries for the drone and controller and you're done. The controller, which is running on Android, takes a minute to boot up and then, once you've turned the drone on, it takes another minute for the two to finish connecting. GPS satellite acquisition -- required for hovering in place and return-to-home among other things -- takes a little more time. All told, it took me a couple minutes until it was ready to fly, basically depending on how fast I could lock onto more than six satellites.

There is no automatic takeoff, but the procedure is straightforward: Press and hold a button on the controller to set the motors spinning and press up on the left stick. There is also no automatic landing, though you can just switch to Home mode and it will land for you. Honestly, other than bouncing a bit when it's close to the ground, the Chroma is stable enough for beginners to take off and land without issue.

As long as it's locked onto plenty of satellites, flying is easy. It's not terribly zippy and even at full throttle feels restrained, but that's kind of a plus since the goal is smooth camera movements not racing. Also, just to be safe, you should calibrate the drone's compass before you fly, especially if you're in a new location from a previous flight. The procedure isn't difficult, requiring turning and rotating the copter several times, and Horizon Hobby has videos showing how to do it and more with the drone.

The Follow Me and Tracking modes work pretty well, but it since it relies on GPS it's not always accurate. It also won't stop on a dime and change directions all too fast and won't adjust altitude. If you're going uphill and it's following close behind, you'll have to change altitude for it or just start at a higher one. Since there's no obstacle avoidance, either, it's best suited for wide open spaces.

All in all, flying the Chroma is a pleasurable experience and it handles wind very well. Flight times for me averaged around 20 minutes before the controller started warning me to land, which is typical battery life at the moment for this category. Horizon Hobby lists it at up to 30 minutes, but I never got close. This could be completely stripped down without the camera and landing gear. Extra batteries are around $100.

Video quality

The Yuneec CGO3 camera gives you several resolutions to choose from for video, the highest being 4K Ultra HD (3,840x2,160 pixels) at 30 frames per second, but it also does high-speed video in full HD (1,920x1,080 pixel) at 120fps for slow-motion.

4K sample

Just because it records at a high resolution doesn't guarantee fantastic results. It records at a high bit rate of 50Mbps, and it shows in the fine details and subjects look sharp. There are a few different color modes including Gorgeous which pumps up contrast and saturation (and oversharpened) and Natural that is considerably more accurate. (The first one minute and 20 seconds of the sample video above was shot in Gorgeous and the rest was in Natural.)

The three-axis gimbal does a fine job of keeping the camera stable, so even if you're not making steady moves with the drone or it's windy it won't show in your clips. You'll still see some of the effects of rolling shutter, but that's typical for the category. The video is best viewed at small sizes in general, so if your goal is to share your videos online and watch them on a phone or tablet, the Chroma's camera will yield some excellent clips.

Conclusion

If the price was a couple hundred dollars lower, the Blade Chroma 4K would be easier to recommend. It flies very well -- right out of the box -- and the remote controller and flight modes make piloting easy and safe for beginners. Plus, Horizon Hobby offers good customer support and has all parts and accessories available for it. At its current $1,200 price, though, I'm not sure that's enough to steer potential buyers away from the DJI Phantom 3 Professional or Advanced, which are more polished and offer access to a growing assortment of autonomous flight options and other features.