ScharkSpark Mini Drone, Portable RC Quadcopter for Kids & Beginners with Foldable Arms for Indoor/Outdoor Play, 2.4Ghz 6-Axis Gyro One-Key Return/Headless Mode/Altitude Hold/3D Flips (No Camera)

I received my SS41 Beetle two days after ordering it. Owning the SS40 definitely helped in getting this one going. I opened the box, and I figured out fairly quickly what to do. The battery came with some charge, and I installed the propeller guards. I determined that the transmitter operates similar to the transmitter on the SS40. So I transferred some of my skill over. I got the quad up in the air indoors the first day and I got it up outside the next day. In spite of 9 MPH winds, amazingly the drone hardly was affected. I am impressed with a number of things about this model. It has this way of hovering in it's position better and longer than the SS40. It runs smoother. It is sturdier. It does all the maneuvers circles, counterclockwise, ascend and descend, left, right and so on. It even lights up better, having 3 colors red, green, and blue. It's more sleek than the SS40. I think the price is quite reasonable for what it does. One slight drawback taking it outside is, it's hard to use it on grass. Just a little bit of grass makes it hard taking off, because two propellers sit above the drone and two sit below the drone. Those two below the drone get caught in grass and taking off is difficult. So I learned to maneuver it around grass. One other slight disadvantage is, the SS40 anticipates landing and throws out some thrust to cushion landing. SS41 seems to just drop right down without such cushion. I might be able to mitigate this by pushing up and down at landing. It does no harm. I've only used it with the transmitter. I'm not sure how to get the software going on my iPhone so can't speak from using the iPhone as a transmitter or working the video yet. All in all, I say it's a more solid machine that can do everything the SS40 could do, only a little better.

So I got this drone for my husband as an anniversary gift.He said he always wanted a drone. Funny thing is, he still hasn't tried using it as life has got in the way.But I'll tell you what I know so far:It's pretty small. Like a lot smaller than I expected it to be. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. Was just surprised about that.With that being said, it's also really light. That makes me nervous about actually using it. But at the same time I think for a beginner drone user it will be fine.I will also add the customer service for these guys is great. I was really impressed with that and there's even a ScharkSpark drone FB group set up for additional customer service and trouble shooting or flying posts. I was really impressed with that. So if we (husband) *ever* gets the drone off the ground, we'll already have some great additional resources at hand.Plus it comes with plenty of instructions and the opportunity to receive an extended 3 year warranty.Maybe in the fall we'll get to really put it to use and I'll update again if that happens.

This is my second drone, the first was a tiny indoor kid's drone, but learned some basic skills from it. This one has a forward facing camera, you can tilt it down or straight ahead. 1080p camera thats pretty good quality, but not great, but ok for the price and better than I was expecting. So, this is the first time I'm really flying outside, with trees and rooftops all around him, so I am restricted and have to be really cautious about flying too high or too far to see visually. Had a lot of crashes but am improving and haven't lost it in a tree or on top of a house; I did initially crash it on the edge of our roof, but I rebooted the transmitter and the drone started up again so was able to fly back off it. The controls work really well, the app works really well. You can fly it via the app and WIFI but its not even worth trying, stick with the transmitter controller. VERY maneuverable, will do flips (don't really care), you have live video on your iphone and you can record on your iPhone via the app. There are good demos on Youtube to check out. It has a down facing 720p camera but quality is very low and its really used for stabilizing the drone anyway via ground referencing. There is no GPS, no return to home, just basic controls and this is just what you need to master flying a hands-on simple drone before you pay more money to get into the cinematic stabilized serious drones. Now, the CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS FANTASTCLY GOOD. After your purchase you join the Scharspark Academy on Facebook, they give you a free 3 year extended warranty and a free battery and extra propellers. If you have any problems with the drone, they will send you a replacement quickly. I had one motor burn out on landing and got a new one within a week. Face it, almost all these drones are made in China and its highly likely that any of them, no matter price point, is going to have a problem. My replacement drone has been solid for a month now, no problems. Its a good idea to buy a couple extra batteries, to keep flying for awhile. It flies pretty well in minor windy days. The lights really help you discern orientation, red lights on the rear, blue on front. I've since taken it to a park and flown it quite high and had a lot of fun with that. My eyes aren't too great so I don't fly it so high I can't see the lights, but its so cool to go way up there and get video looking down on houses and parks etc. Before you buy a drone in the price category, pay close attention to what kind of customer service is being experienced by others. Thats where the rubber meets the road, and Scharkspark has the BEST customer service out there!

I’m not happy with this drone!After I received it, I notice one propeller was not spinning well, the drone could not fly.I thought it may need more charging.. then the cord to charge it, came out from the USB plug.. so now it is completely useless.. I contacted the drone company via fb page, they notified me that there has been motor issues with this drone( they were happy to replace drone and charger) however the fb page I was communicating with was not the particular store that sold me the drone.. so I’m now left waiting on a response from amazon to resolve this fault.. unfortunately I wouldn’t purchase this drone again.my cheap $20 drone has more life