If you’re someone who’s never flown a quadcopter before, then it’s important to choose a model that’s stable, easy-to-fly, and that won’t break the bank. Let’s look at this cute little RC bugger for beginners: at a mere 32 Dollars, the Hubsan X4 H107C gives you a sporty flight experience and the opportunity to record great-looking video.
This micro quad weighs just under 50 grams, which is still a bit heavier than equally-sized competitors (more on that later), and fits in the palm of your hand. Out of the box, it comes with pretty much everything you need to take off:
- Battery
- USB cable
- Extra rotors
- Manual
- Transmitter
In addition to the whole system, we recommend you get a micro SD card for your digital videos, and four AAA batteries for the transmitter.
We found that the H107C’s rotors are quite delicate, and we recommend being very careful with them. It’s great to have the extra rotors out of the box, but you don’t want to have to use them right off the bat.
If you want to protect the little guy while bumping into things (between us: you do), definitely mount the included blade protector: you’ll need to look to find it, but it’s in the box! It’s attached to the bottom of the packaging.
And, before we go any further, a word about the manual: it’s not the most helpful. You may want to check out a few of the useful tutorials available on Youtube before you reach for the sky with this little dude.
Flight Characteristics of the RC Quadracopter
Charge the batteries, and off you go! You’ll find that, thanks to a built-in 6-axis gyroscope, the quad flies very stable and level even in windy outside conditions. This very satisfying flight behavior is also due to its weight, with the Hubsan H107C being heavier than equivalent models.
The quad’s battery will take 30-40 minutes to charge and keep the it in the air for anywhere between 7 and 9 minutes. We recommend you get extra batteries for extended sessions. Thankfully, those are easy to find and you may even be able to use packs from other quads or helicopters you own.
The RC transmitter, sturdy and easy to use, features a standard and expert mode. In “Expert”, you can do flips in all 4 directions! We appreciated the fact you can choose this mode, which means you won’t start flipping unless you want it.
Video Features Of The Hubsan
Now, flying is nice and fun per se, but of course, we’ll also want to record video. For that, you’ll first need to get a Micro SD card.
Use a button on the drone to start and stop recording (a bit annoying: you can’t do it from the remote).
The camera records at 720p (that’s a 1280×720 resolution) and provides crisp and lively footage – we were quite impressed! Thanks to the good flying behavior, you can get quite stable video – just make sure you shoot under good conditions, because, well, wind is wind. It’ll shake it up.
The camera quickly adapts to light changes, e.g. when looking out through a window and then quickly panning to the inside of your living room. The colors are nice and even, though clearly not as natural and strong as more expensive, dedicated cameras. When you film at night, you’ll see ghosting when e.g. making fast turns – again, this isn’t anything you wouldn’t expect and doesn’t detract from the overall solid impression!
One thing we didn’t experience, but users seem to have run into more than once, is problems with the camera: sometimes, it will refuse to record, and you may wonder if it’s broken. Fear not! Chances are you can fix the issue. Check out this forum thread for easy approaches.
Summary
No two ways about it: we’re quite fond of the Hubsan X4 H107C! Any drone newbie will appreciate this model’s strengths:
- Fast and sporty
- Stable flight thanks to gyroscope, weight
- Solid video quality
- Competitive price
There’s only a handful of quibbles you can easily live with or work around:
- Battery life: get extra batteries
- Can’t start/stop recording from transmitter
- Camera might develop issues: fixes here
- Blade protector included, but hard to find (bottom of packaging)
Whether you want to perform acrobatics outside, get some cool aerial shots of your house or freak out your cat in the living room (yes, good times were had), this is a perfect way to start off your new quad hobby.
You’ll want more. And that’s why we have more drone reviews for you.
Thinking of buying the Hubsan X4 H107C? Here are all the compatible extras and upgrades that you can get for it.
Hubsan X4 H107C Quadcopter Includes batteries and remote (Required)
Hubsan X4 H107C Crash Pack (Recommended)
