Xiaomi FUNSNAP iDol RC Drone

FUNSNAP iDol AI Gesture Recognigtion Foldable RC Drone Quadcopter

The Xiaomi Funsnap Idol drone is running another project, resulting in a selfie drone that wants to be the opponent of DJI Spark. All the chances of this are based on the technical parameters, as it has GPS, ultrasonic and optical sensors, intelligently follows the designated target, has cinematic modes, has an internal storage space and resides in an adjustable 1080P camera. Does the practice testify to Funsnap’s engineers, and does the $190 quadcopter really compete with its biggest rival?

We bust out the name slogan, the Funsnap company basically grew out of an Indiegogos project, as did the Funsnap Captur3 / Eyemind bulb, Xiaomi did not take part in the production, I just gave money and possibly technology. That is why we will not find their logo on the product, in return they will be included in the Youpin Web Store, owned by Xiaomi.

Compared to the fact that the product is advertised as a folding, small selfie drum on the official site, its box is quite large, I say this as an ex DJI Spark owner, I also wrote the test on it. I think this is pretty strange if I say something small, it should be.

Opening the cover reveals that the situation is not so bad, Platinum – the largest package with extra battery and distance – includes a decent carrying case, two batteries and a charger, a near-perfect description, replacement propellers and a controller. Material usage is so high, especially in comparison to DJI, but it does not seem like the machine is going to break down quickly.

With an interesting magnetic mechanism, you can close and open the frame of the drone’s engines, so you can reduce its size to about half the size of the delivery, but I wouldn’t say it a little. The Simtoo Fairy is the small one and the DJI Mavic Air. 226x268x43 mm, and Spark only 143x143x55 mm, and the Funsnap is heavier, roughly 50 grams, which has already predicted the shortness of flight time for me.

When you rotate the body, you may notice some interesting things: the ultrasonic and optical sensors of the abdomen are responsible for position positioning and indoor flight, with a 1080p 30 FPS adjustable angle camera in the nose, a 1800 mAh 2 cell LiHV battery in the top . The machine is a brushless motor, which is usually good, and we can expect normal flight parameters.

The test for such very smart drones is a bit trickier than usual, because because of the multiple versions – from which I recommend Platinum to +1 and remote – we can only control the application or the application and the distance, but it is sure we have to take the program.

Because it is a selfie drone, it was primarily its knowledge that it could fly in all sorts of interesting modes, and activate a ton of sensory-based functions. With GPS, ultrasonic and optical sensors, we have the following features:

• Can automatically land and land
• To return to the take-off point
• To land in low battery conditions
• Fly, rocket and drone to fly in cinematic mode
• For indoor positioning
• Shoot or land on gesture control
• Gravity Mode: Use your phone’s gyroscope to make your body decide
• Headless mode: the machine always goes where the lever is pulled, regardless of orientation
• Able to track objects or people
• Save to internal storage (8 GB)

The point is that Xiaomi Funsnap Idol knows a lot on paper, but DJI Spark is inspired by the repertoire. The problem is that, unlike “Spark”, no stabilization – no bulb, no optical, no electronic – is not on the 1080p 30 FPS camera, which is quite painful for a CAMERA drone, so it’s not as attractive as the above features. In turn, we can turn the camera to a negative angle, which doesn’t have much meaning, let’s see the sky or another drone flying over us.

The machine works with a so-called ducted fan, a propeller with a circular frame, which in principle can provide greater lifting power. The airflow is so strong that it blows my mouse smoothly out of the table, so it’s a bit exaggerated. Indoors so loudly indoor, that it can be lowered down to 3 levels, start as an electric drill, then go into a massive coffee grinder, which is terribly annoying.

I mentioned double-sensor-based stabilization, which could be good inside, but not. Back and forth tumbling in the wind that you have made yourself, sometimes going up at other times and simply descending, I think it is primarily a programming error behind the phenomenon.

The colors of the camera and the picture as a whole are nice as well, the weaker action cameras are still beating, only the tilting camera is hard to hit where we stand, because the process is not nearly stepless. It is interesting that in rocket mode – when the Xiaomi Funsnap Idol arrow goes straight – it does not automatically translate the image maker, we have to do it manually.

The application is pretty good for Funsnap, it can be used intuitively, I missed a little bit of not being able to parameterize things in depth, such as the radius of the circle or the speed of camera tilting. Unfortunately, not all functions are perfect, in principle, “intelligent” tracking is pretty stupid, so it’s funny to describe it, rather to say it doesn’t work as the gesture of photography really does, but the rest do beautiful things.

The 720P live video is in the middle of the app, broadcast by 5 Ghz on Xiaomi Funsnap Idol. I have read forum posts where they are told not to be able to communicate with all dual-band phones, with the 153 channel – 5755-5775 Mhz – know the device. How can we find out without trying it out? Somehow, but who has the idea to write it to us, Xiaomi worked perfectly with Redmi Note 7.

The two-cell, 1,800 mAh battery is enough for about 10 minutes of flight time under ideal conditions, but it is always in the lab, in the wind, at optimum temperature, reality is around 8, which is very little. The range is also modest with a 50-meter application and a 100-meter remote, which is slim enough in this price range.

Speaking of pricing, when Xiaomi Funsnap Idol came out in mid-last year, he was asked to pay $ 280 for the Platinum package, now it has reduced to 190, which is roughly $ 54,000, and then there is the smooth one, and the unmatched variant. also ask for less. This is a very friendly price, even if a DJI Spark knows much more, just three times the Fly More Combo.

The Funsnap Idol drone bleeds a lot of wounds, the main reason being technological imperfection. Even though there are many sensors on it, it still flies inside. Its range is scarce, there is no stabilization on the camera image, and even the operating time is small, so there are not many things that would be worth buying.

Such is the good video image, the adjustable camera angle, the folding, but it is not enough in a market where DJI Spark, Mavic and Xiaomi Fimi X8 drones can be obtained, much more expensive. The real best buy in this category, however, is the Zerotech Dobby at a realistic price , which should be a hundred times more than the Funsnap Idol drone.

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