If you want to buy a mini drone to get the feeling on how it is to fly one of these "creatures", you are in the right place. I started my drone pilot "career" exactly like that, with a mini quadcopter.
The models I like the most are Cheerson CX-10 and Eachine H8 Mini.
Comparison between Cheerson CX-10 vs Eachine H8 Mini
| Cheerson CX-10 | Eachine H8 Mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | Easy | Medium (it's very fast, can be unpredictable) |
| Protection | Cover available separately: you can fly the drone till it touches the ceiling | Integrated protection (but not as good as the CX-10 one) |
| Speed | Has several modes to modify the responsiveness (angle when steering) but the speed is basically average (good for beginners) | Very responsive, it's like made for racing |
| Control distance | Around 10m | Around 30m! |
| Transmitter | Small Needs: 2 AAA batteries | Small/medium Needs: 3 AAA batteries |
| Turning it on/off | On/Off switch | Plug/unplug battery cable |
| Battery | Integrated (can be replaced if broken) Flying time: 5 min Charging time: 30 min Charging mode: USB (cable included) | Separate (you can buy more spare ones!) Flying time: 5 min Charging time: 40 min Charging mode: USB (cable included) |
| Battery low voltage | The drone begins to blink, you see the power going down slowly and you have about 20 seconds to land it safely. | The drone begins to blink and after 5 seconds it dies. This is really bad as it's impossible to make it land properly, especially from a higher altitude. |
| Size | 40 x 40 x 22 mm (without cover) | 135 x 135 x 28 mm |
| Available colors | Orange Green Blue Pink Black (CX-10A) White (CX-10A) Gold (CX-10A) Silver (CX-10A) | Black White |
| Pros | Stable (good indoors) Low voltage: enough time to land | Racing feeling (good outdoors) Extra batteries |
| Cons | Short control distance No extra batteries | A bit unpredictable Low voltage: almost no time to land |
| Price and links to buy | Drone: 12.99 USD Cover: 0.79 USD Propellers: 1.55 USD Battery: - Total: 15.33 USD | Drone: 12.29 USD Cover: integrated Propellers: 1.89 USD Battery (upgraded 260 mAh): 3.87 USD 5-pack batteries + charger 15.50 USD Total: 18.05 USD |
Prices last checked and updated on 2016-11-25.
Final thoughts
Cheerson CX-10
I own several Cheerson CX-10 models (I convinced all my colleagues in the office to buy one) and I think they are stable and reliable to fly indoors in a little room. Outdoors, since the flying distance is not big, it's not exciting.
Eachine H8 Mini
I bought also an Echine H8 Mini and tried it in my living room. A first impression I think it's a bit unpredictable and thus dangerous. I think that this is best used outdoors, in fact the drone is very fast and because of its "random" nature during the flips and simply drops when the battery is low, you can feel safer when flying it over some grass.
Eachine H8S 3D mini inverted
Compatible with the same batteries of the H8 mini, this drone is even more fun as you press a button and it will flip and stay upside down and fly inverted. Really fun.
Eachine H8S 3D Mini Inverted Flight 2.4G 4CH 6Axis One Key Return RC Quadcopter RTF
16 USD (green), 18 USD (blue)
Advantage of owning both models:
- they support the same batteries
- if you wanna fly with a friend, the same models interfere with each other, but if you have an H8S it won't interfere with the H8 mini
Conclusion
If I were you, and I assume you like to fly drones or at least I think you wanna have some beginner fun, I would buy both of them (in fact I owe both of them). The links I posted point to bangood, which is an awesome website and the delivery is free of charge (unless you are impatient and wanna pay for expedited shipping for faster delivery). Make sure to buy 1 propellers set for both (props for Cheerson CX-10 / props for Eachine H8 Mini. Note: the packages already contain a set of spare props, and if you buy the protecting cover you won't break many props, thus 1 set is enough I believe, up to you). Buy the protecting cover for the CX-10. Buy one (or two) more batteries for the Eachine H8 Mini.
Check my article Cheerson CX-10 vs Skeye nano drone to read more about the Cheerson CX-10, CX-10A and CX-10C models.
If you feel like buying something bigger, check these quadcopters. Have fun! :)
Note: I'm filming these 2 drones to compare their behaviour. I will update this blog post as soon as I have some good footage. Stay tuned.