What is the Batwing Drone HD?
The Batwing Drone HD is a budget quadcopter from Propel, the company behind those fancy Star Wars battle quads.
There
are two models of the Batwing Drone. The HD model reviewed here has a
720p camera on board for taking snaps and videos, and it costs £80. But
if you’re not particularly bothered about filming your flight then a
camera-free model is available for £30 less.
The Batwing Drone HD
is a great way of living out that childhood fantasy of being Batman.
It’s also an excellent starter drone for novice flyers – although some
build quality issues mean you'll need spare parts. In the right
environment, though, this is a fantastic drone.
Batwing Drone HD – Design
Propel
has put plenty of effort into making the Batwing look like a tiny
plane, rather than just attaching propellers to a Batman symbol. There
are sections of the drone that look like they're for streamlining, as
would be the case on real planes.
I'm a fan of the glossy finish
of the cockpit section, which stands out against the matte black of the
rest of the model. It feels plasticky, and as a result a little cheap –
but I imagine such a finish is necessary to keep the weight down.
Being
a quadcopter drone, the Batwing requires four propellers to fly – eight
blades are supplied in the box, in case you break or lose some. There’s
also a propeller guard, which Propel recommends you use at all times.
I’m inclined to agree, unless you’re that confident (or vain).
The
drone is powered by a small battery pack, and inserting or removing it
is how you turn the drone on or off; there’s no sign of a power switch.
You get up to six minutes of flight time, and a full charge takes 60
minutes.
There’s a good-sized controller, well laid out
considering the number of buttons available to press. It comes with
small handles that you can attach for better grip, and you can switch
out the default thin-metal joystick tips for fat rubbery ones too. The
Batwing is very well accessorised.
Batwing Drone HD – Features
At
its most basic, the Batwing flies and hovers. The left thumb stick on
the controller adjusts elevation and yaw (but not pitch or roll), while
the right stick controls the trajectory. This means you can move it up
and down, rotate it, and move it forwards, backwards or sideways. There
is also a "stunt" button: press this and the Batwing will do a barrel
roll.
Besides flying, the Batwing Drone HD can also take pictures
and shoot video up to 720p resolution. The drone itself doesn’t have any
storage, but it does have a slot for microSD cards up to 32GB. You also
get a microSD card reader for transferring your footage to your
computer via USB.
The camera is just for recording, not
live-viewing. There’s no app link to mobile devices, which means you
must keep the drone in sight at all times.
Batwing Drone HD – Performance
I
really enjoyed flying the Batwing. The controls take some getting used
to, but this doesn’t take too long. I’d pass on the "quick start’ guide
in favour of the comprehensive instruction booklet, which provides
instructions on how to calibrate your drone so that it doesn’t
automatically start drifting into the wall. It’s crucial you do this –
otherwise, you’ll crash before you know it.
Which leads me to the
Batwing's negatives... While you’re learning how to fly the drone, it’s
inevitable that you’re going to crash. Why do we fall, sir? So that we
can learn to pick ourselves up and tweak the settings. Sadly, the
Batwing Drone HD doesn't deal with the "falling" part well.
The
propeller guard is flimsy and does little to stop the blades from
hitting the floor/wall when you crash. Propellers will either ping off –
good luck finding that in the park – or they'll break. Following three
low-speed crashes, I had lost one propeller and snapped two.
Basically,
you’re going to need spares – but the number supplied in the box isn't
adequate; it won’t be long before you find yourself with a flightless
ornament. To Propel’s credit, the customer service department is
excellent – a nice man offered to send me spare propellers for free,
with only a £2.99 charge for postage.
Sadly, it doesn't end there.
The Batwing’s lightweight plastic construction is rather flimsy, and
I've already spotted a crack in the chassis. This was merely a result
of clipping a door frame during take-off and crashing down onto wooden
flooring – I dread to think what it would look like if the drone had to
contend with high speeds, a tree, and concrete pavement.
Picture
quality from the camera, however, is decent – clear in good lighting
conditions and about as sharp as you can expect from something that's
moving and vibrating. Footage does become noticeably grainier and
noisier as the light becomes dimmer, though.
Should I buy the Batwing Drone HD?
If
you’re a novice flyer looking to get into drones, or if you’re a Batman
fan, the Batwing Drone HD is an excellent starting point. It looks the
part, it has some great features, and it’s easy to use.
The build
quality is a problem, however, and despite the good customer service, I
fear for the drone’s longevity. Still, if you restrict yourself to an
open field, where crash-landings can be softened by grass, you should be
alright.
Verdict
A fun, good-looking drone – while it lasts, that is.
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