Today we are going to do a detailed review of TDR Sky Beetle. This brand new foldable quadcopter first made its debut around early February. Not to mention that it is also a direct competitor of popular HS190 Mini Foldable Drone (See Price) and the DROCON Scouter (See Price). However, in this article, we will talk about the TDR Sky Beetle and why you might be interested in getting this quadcopter.
That being said, it comes at a slightly higher price tag. But let’s not forget to take these upgrades into account that makes the TDR Sky Beetle a strong contender. To find out if this is the drone you have always wanted, read further down to learn more.
Design & Performance
The TDR Sky Beetle has taken a different approach to its design style. With two popular colors: black and yellow, it resembles the style of a bee. Similar to famed HS150 Bolt Bee (See Price) and Hasakee H1 (See Price) The TDR Sky Beetle drone is foldable and small enough to fit in your palm of a hand. I like how they add nice white streaks on top of it for finishing touch. Furthermore, it has a searchlight in the front for visual positioning assistance.
Not only the design looks to be sharp and professional, but you can also easily store it inside the transmitter. As a bonus, the transmitter comes with a built-in charger. That gives beginners and pilots the advantage of being able to charge the drone anywhere they want to go. However, there is a design flaw with that. To charge the drone, you must power on the transmitter which will drain the battery. Regardless, we don’t think it is a major set-back at all and only encourage doing so when you don’t have an access electric source nearby.
Performance & Features
If you are looking for a drone packed with serious performance that can shrug off wind like it is nothing, you might want to look someplace else like the X12 Drone (See Price) or IN 1802 Drone (See Price). Mainly due to the TDR Sky Beetle’s small size, it can be a little difficult to fly outdoor when the weather conditions are windy. However, as long as you have the speed setting on high and the wind speed is below 5 miles per hour. You will not have an issue flying outdoor. Like other drones, the TDR Sky Beetle quadcopter comes with incredible stability and easy flight controls.
The most notable feature is the altitude hold function. It is so incredibly easy to fly indoor thanks to that feature which ensures fixed height. This allows beginners and first-time flyers to focus more on the movement and learn the basics of controls. Before moving on to more advanced mode to experience its true and full potential force.
Along with altitude hold functions, it is capable of performing 360-degree tricks and headless mode. Furthermore, you also get more features by connecting the drone to an app on your smartphone. A single battery on average gives you 6 minutes of flight time and has a control range of up to 100 feet. Based on our impression, we felt that the TDR Sky Beetle is a serious contender for those who want an inexpensive drone that is easy to fly.
Camera Quality and Integrated FPV Mode
Like many drones with cameras, the TDR Sky Beetle is equipped with a 0.3MP camera. It is capable of taking stills and records video on 640p. However, these image quality aren’t in High-Definition quality that top 10 current popular drones with camera HD bring to the table. Let’s alone for its flexible and miniature size with a mobile charging station makes up for the price and quality. One of the key features is integrated FPV Mode that is especially important for beginners who want to learn how to take pictures while training on a drone.
This feature allows you to view the videos and stills on your smartphone. To enable this feature, simply connect the app to your phone via Wi-Fi. Then you can fly the drone and view the video at the same time. However, we want to give you a friendly warning to take latency into account. The further you fly the drone, the more latency it will have and videos will process slower, resulting in choppy frames. The cutoff is beyond 50 feet where the latency will kick-in. But don’t let this drawback set it back because the Sky Beetle drone has quite a lot to offer in terms of features and portability.
Final Verdict of TDR Sky Beetle
Overall, we think the TDR Sky Beetle is a serious contender packed with features and portability. Not just only you can take it anywhere you choose to. It comes with a mobile charging transmitter that makes it very easy for you not to worry about the need for access to nearby electric sources. Furthermore, the design and build quality give it improved durability that makes it tough to break on crashes. Consider the upgrades that the Sky Beetle drone has received, it is a great quadcopter that delivers the expectations for beginners and hobbyists alike. You can easily grab it under $50 here.
