Propel RC Atom 1 Helicopter with Gyro Stabilization and Bluetooth Control

The Bluetooth controls are the real weak spot for this. It's very touchy to use and difficult to control. I would recommend a rc helicopter instead of the Bluetooth version.

No longer supported by iOS. Apple i store no longer supports this product. I updated my system and the app stopped working and is no longer abailable

I bought this copter from a retail store because it was marked down and thought it'd be fun to play with it on my iPad.It was definitely fun to say the least. The box contents are a USB charging cord for copter and some replacement parts.There is a learning curve with it and after about a week I can finally take off and land on objects without crashing. Bluetooth will stop on occasion, but not a big deal. Fly it once and then everyone wants to try. IPad 3 was very responsive to it.This thing is pretty durable. It's been crashed from 15-20ft high ceilings to carpet or on occasion tile floors. Be cautious of open water (sinks with water in them & doggy dishes). The heli has taken a dip in water twice now. Just take it out, turn it off and blow dry it or let it sit for a couple of days til the moisture evaporates...works like new afterwards.Overall tits been very fun to play with. I bought a Syma S107G shortly after owning this Bluetooth. The remote control Heli's are much easier to control.In summary, Bluetooth was ok, but knowing now the difference don't waste your time on the Bluetooth. Just get a Syma like I did...you'll be glad you did.

I bought this helicopter as a Christmas gift. It comes completely assembled, and, once charged, is ready to fly immediately. Connecting the chopper's Bluetooth to my iPhone was a cinch: I just waited for it to appear on my phone's list of Bluetooth devices and selected it. There are no buttons to be pushed on the copter, and if it is turned off and later turned back on, it relinks itself automatically.The app itself is not highly polished, but it functions very well. I found the motion control (tilt phone to steer) difficult to use, so I mostly stuck with the "manual" (virtual joystick and throttle) while flying it.Handling: The helicopter moves forward and backward using a small prop on the tail to tilt the body. This is very effective and allows for fairly high speed maneuvering. The helicopter rotates itself by altering the speed of the top and bottom props; this is also pretty effective. After a day or so of practice, you should be able to land the chopper on an object as small as a plate. The range on this helicopter isn't always the best, but as long as you stay fairly close and keep your hands off of the Bluetooth antenna on your phone, you should be fine.Construction: You get what you pay for, and the construction on this chopper is superb. While all three props are obviously plastic, the frame of the helicopter is metal, as are the tail and all screws holding it together (along with the rotor shaft). The landing gear at first seems flimsy, but after a few crash landings from 10 ft you'll see how this actually acts as a spring to avoid breakage.Durability: The only part of the chopper I would worry about breaking is the plastic shell that goes over the frame (which is structurally and mechanically unimportant). Other slight concerns: there are two small plastic braces holding the top rotors to the rotor balancing beam. These fall off easily, and I think the company is aware of this problem, as the kit comes with 4 spare braces. Just check them after every flight to make sure they're secure and you should be fine. The landing gear, which I said seems flimsy, is actually durable, and I'm not worried about it breaking.Charging: The one possible weakness of this helicopter. Unfortunately, my chopper didn't come with a wall adapter for the USB charging cord, so I was left plugging it into my computer to charge. The battery life on this thing, as with most RC helicopters, is fairly short: I normally get 5-7.5 minutes of TOTAL AIR TIME out of each charge. After 25-30 minutes of recharging, the chopper is ready to go again. While the USB cord is supposed to light up red when the battery is full, I've found that this isn't reliable at all. This is clearly a quality problem with the charging cable, and not the chopper itself. Also: when I first began charging this chopper I was annoyed to find that, no matter how long I plugged it in, it didn't seem to charge. I soon realized that I wasn't actually plugging the cable in all the way, so you'll have to apply some force to get it to slide all the way in (there will still be a couple millimeters of metal sticking out of the charging port.Overall enjoyability: I've had an enormous amount of fun with this helicopter and might purchase another one. It's certainly worth every penny: you can't beat the convenience of not having to carry around an additional remote. With a little bit of practice hovering and making turns, you should be able to make this chopper tour your house, and travel in and out of rooms and through rafters in no time.Price: I personally purchased this exact same helicopter for $50 at a local RadioShack. This helicopter is overpriced on Amazon, but for $50 its wonderful.

I was skeptical of this at first as my experience with small helicopters hasn't been great. Turns out to be quite fun and durable. I seriously recommend this. I use an iPhone 5 and there is very little lag. You do have to get used to the sensitivity of controls, but afterward the learning curve it is rewarding and enjoyable to fly. Propel will ship free replacement parts for just a shipping fee. Overall though, it has turned out to be very durable after falling from ceiling height.The flight is very stable and controllable. That being said, some people are better at flying it than others in my family.Seriously, get this. It is so fun to use and mesmerizing to watch fly.

I got 3 different helicopters, This bluetooth version is the worst of them. Controller is quite inaccurate. After the first couple of falls one of the balancing weights of the wings broke. I was able to fix it by gluing it back toguether. After the using it for a total of 10 days one of the gears that connects the rear motor with the lower propeller got dislodged. This is imposible to put back or glue. I contacted the company and I am still waiting. You will do much better with a 30 bucks version like the other ones I got. Not happy with this product from brookstone.

This was a Christmas gift for my daughter. Was able to download the app the day after Christmas with no problem. Flew and trimmed the helicopter to hover well and is rather fun. However, the controller is your Bluetooth enabled device (I used an iPod touch) and that is very poor. The connectivity just stops occasionally and the helicopter falls to the ground. The controls are difficult to use with just touch sensitivity. I would recommend buying a helicopter with a real controller. Wanted to remove the app and re-install, hoping that would help and now the app is now longer on itunes - seems like the company is out of business as soon as Christmas was over. When it works, it works well, but too tempermental of a control device to be a great toy.

We bought 2 of these at the Brookstone outlet store in Kittery Maine. What a piece of junk. One wouldn't pair with the I phone and the other would but no functions at all!