Gadget Review - UDI U818A Drone

Hey, first off, this thing is awesome. Straight out of the box, the drone batteries are pre-charged, so all you have to do is pop 4 AA batteries into the remote controller and you’re good to go! Packaging was secure and well organized. I recommend keeping the box as it acts as a great carrying case for travel and such. For you folks coming over from Amazon, I figured I would do my review here on my blog as to save space on Amazon’s review section of this product’s page. Anyhow, I have been using one of these units for the past 4 months now and saying it is cool is a complete understatement. In public, the question I get asked the most is “Don’t you need to register it with the FAA?” Sort answer: No, because it is under 1/2 a pound. Amazingly, with the battery installed, it weighs about 1/4 pound.

As you can see, the propellers and their driver motors are separated by a gear system in order to prevent strain on the motor thus making it last longer.

Flying. You will get the hang of it. Is has built-in flexible plastic bumpers all the way around, so run it into as many walls as
you wish.

The Remote Controller. Nothing special here. Although,
I do have to say the responsiveness from the drone is darn near immediate to my commands from the remote controller.

The Video. Yes, the video. My favorite part, and the primary reason for me wanting this thing. It is HD, low quality HD, but nevertheless HD. Notice I say video not sound. Obviously, all you hear is the propellers. Just that high-pitched constant noise. Here is some footage I took this past weekend, the sound is muted, other than that, the video has not been altered. From about 200 feet up.

Durability. This thing is very well built. In my testing, I have dropped this thing from upwards of 200 feet onto sheer concrete more than once, just a couple of scratches, no broken parts, still works 100%.

 Maintenance? No, just keep it out of the water. One of my favorite things to do with it is flying high and across ponds, lakes and rivers. That makes for great video. What I do, before I take-off,
I go-ahead and press the video button on the remote controller to begin recording because I can edit the video down later. It’s not like you are wasting film or anything.

Cost. Let’s talk about cost. What cost? This thing is 100 bucks. Totally worth it, it’s a bargain.

Trees. This deserves it’s own section. Trees are your worst enemy. I both lost it in the top of a 60 foot tree after the wind easily carried it over there for me and a 10 mph gust took it from me and carried it into a heavily wooded area where I searched for it for a good 30 minutes at sunset with less than 1/2 battery life left in it. In this situation, I used the remote controller drone signal meter to locate it, I likely wouldn’t have located it otherwise. Good engineering.
Avoid trees.

My Favs. Here are my favorite features of this product. Very lightweight. Great camera. Memory card for ease of media transfer. Return home function (Thank you gyroscopes.) Headless mode
(turn on to keep flying the direction you are pointing the joystick, regardless of the front of the drone. Thank you gyroscopes.)
Fast speed setting (for those windier days.) and durability
(not waterproof). Lastly, audible beeping from remote controller when drone battery starts getting low.

Pros. Very fun. Easy to fly and maneuver. Camera quality is very good (especially for how small the camera lens is on the thing).

Cons. Battery life = 10-15 minutes. ~200 foot remote control distance. Easy to loose in winds of +2 mph. Must be somewhat stabilized for good video shots. No GoPro/camera mount. No app.

Get it, now. I now own one.

 

Verdict:  out of 5