parrot ar drone stockists
\Parrot has been known to put out good models of UAVs, but does the second AR Drone live up to this reputation? Find out here on our . , your go-to source for the best drone reviews, will take a comprehensive look at the design, performance, and overall value for money of this quadcopter. Unlike most available drones, this Parrot drone ships with nothing but the machine itself, the battery, and its charger. It has no controller, as its controls are dependent on either a tablet or a smartphone. This setup works for both the benefit and the disadvantage of the UAV (more on this later on our quadricopter review). Nevertheless, it comes out of the box ready to fly, provided you already have its app on your device. Average is a good word for the battery of the AR Drone 2.0, as it’s neither bad nor impressive. Depending on the package deal you choose, your UAV would come with a 1000 mAh or 1500 mAh battery. Regardless of your choice, the flight time would be more or less 12 minutes – depending on the conditions you are flying in.
It does drain easily whenever you pull off some flying tricks, though. For instance, if you want to do a barrel roll, a simple tap is all it takes to do the move. But be prepared, as that move alone would eat 30% or so of your quadcopter’s battery. What does the AR Drone 2.0 offer? Before we start with our full-on Parrot drone review, let’s take the time to check out its core specs: Now, let’s discuss the design of this Parrot drone. Obviously, it still mirrors the appearance of the first AR Drone, albeit with a few improvements. Our team has no complaints with the design – in fact, we even admire one of the add-ons for this machine: the outdoor hull. This hull is a thick brace for the dimensions of the drone that protects the propellers. It weighs down the quadcopter a little bit, but that’s not much of a sacrifice considering the cash it saves you on repairs. The padding and foam for the body are an excellent safety measure, especially for beginners prone to crashes and bumps.
The color isn’t exactly the best, plus the sharpness and clarity could both use some improvement. But given its , what this quadcopter has isn’t bad at all. The only time you can control this UAV with a physical controller is when you have NVidia Shield.
ar drone parrot gpsIf you don’t have this nifty gaming device, you’ll have to master the controls of the app available for both Android and iOS users.
where to buy ar drone spare partsThis is where things become a little problematic. To be fair, the navigation isn’t all bad. There are a few good points worthy of mentioning with the AR Drone 2.0. For one, it is easy to learn the basics of the app – how you maneuver the machine, perform a landing, and more. It also has fun camera modes and navigation shortcuts, all of which are useful for every pilot.
The machine could even fly indoors just fine. Unfortunately, the laggy and glitch-prone performance of the app outweighs these benefits. The lag causes some delays with the controls you input, thus risking a crash – or worse, a flyaway – if you have no idea what you are doing. The UAV tries hard to be precise with each move, but it remains inconsistent in doing so. In the end, this isn’t just about the lack of a physical controller to guide the drone – there really are a few glaring performance issues with this quadcopter. The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 is far from the best; drone reviews from other websites even say it’s quite a problematic machine. Factoring in our own Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Review, we can say that – to some extent – we agree with the consensus. While this presents the fresh idea of smartphone-only controls, there are still a lot of issues for the manufacturer to iron out. Until these issues get resolved, you might want to look for another drone with camera to play with.
Pros Easy to fly Great camera functions Well-designed outdoor hull Automatic stabilization for indoor and outdoor flying Decent autopilot feature Cons Average battery life Dependent on smartphones/tablets Glitchy flight app Expensive Limited range New absolute control system A whole lot of fun 12 minute battery lifeDrone 2.0 flying quadricopter provides a far better control system than the original model, making it much easier to fly. However, its build quality remains questionable, battery life is poor and it is pretty expensive for what is essentially a toy, albeit an impressive one. Would you buy this?Drone, a flying "quadricopter" controlled via an iOS device, was an impressive piece of technology but it was overpriced, difficult to accurately control and had questionable build quality. Parrot claims the new AR.Drone 2.0 addresses some of these issues but is it a big enough improvement over the original?Like its predecessor, the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that uses Wi-Fi technology to connect to an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch (and now an Android device) where it can be piloted using augmented reality.
In layman's terms, this is a helicopter with four blades that's controlled via a specially designed app for iOS and Android devices. Drone 2.0 generates its own Wi-Fi network on-board, without the need of an Internet connection or wireless router to get started.Getting it started is perhaps the best thing about the Parrot AR.Charge the included battery, download the AR.Freeflight app (a free download for iOS and Android devices) and connect to the AR.Drone 2.0's own Wi-Fi network in a few simple steps and you're immediately ready to fly. It's that kind of effortless user experience that makes the AR.Drone what it intended to be: a whole lot of fun.The biggest improvement the AR.Drone 2.0 offers over its predecessor is just how easy it is to fly. In an attempt to appeal to casual users, Parrot's "absolute control" mode ignores the orientation of the quadricopter and uses the person controlling the chopper as the reference point. Tilt your iPhone towards you and the AR.Drone 2.0 flies towards you, regardless what way the chopper is facing.
Tilt it away from you and the Drone 2.0 flies away from you. It's really that simple and makes for a much better overall user experience than its predecessor. For more advanced users, Parrot allows you to switch to the more difficult flying mode (which uses the AR.Drone 2.0 itself as the reference point) if you wish.Another big improvement is the AR.Drone 2.0's ability to record 720p HD video and snap photos as you are flying, neither which were possible on the original AR.The quality of images and video recorded aren't going to win any awards, but the idea of recording your flight videos quickly becomes addictive. Drone 2.0 allows users to save images or videos on a USB key through a USB port hidden next to the battery, while you can also upload any captured videos directly to YouTube, or still photos to Google's Picasa service through the AR.Both of these features worked without issues during our testing. A video of the AR.Drone 2.0 recording during testing. Parrot claims that the AR.
Drone 2.0 is usable outdoors with winds up to 16kmph but we found it performed fairly poorly in the elements. In a park where our flight was protected by the surrounding trees and bushes, wind did hinder our experience. For the most part, flying up to three metres above ground level doesn't pose too many issues with slight wind. However, attempting to fly the AR.Drone 2.0 any higher than that is asking for trouble. Officially, Parrot says a new pressure sensor allows the AR.Drone 2.0 to fly up to six metres.Drone 2.0 offers impressive stability during indoor flying thanks to an ultrasound sensor. Once it has taken off the quadricopter simply hovers in mid-air, awaiting a command. Keep in mind that you'll need a rather large indoor area to fly the AR.It is capable of manoeuvring down a narrow hallway, but the air the blades generate when flying makes it difficult to remain stable in confined spaces. Damage on the indoor hull of our review unit was noticeable after just a few flights.
Drone 2.0 looks nearly identical to its predecessor but Parrot claims it has an improved design aimed to combat the rigours of flying (read: crashing). The new model weighs the same as the original (420g with indoor hull, 380g with outdoor hull) but Parrot says it identified the weakest points on the foam hull and reinforced them to make the product stronger. Despite Parrot's claims, however, damage on the indoor hull of our review unit was still noticeable after just a few flights. Like we experienced on the original model, the foam on our AR.Drone 2.0 review unit chipped and cracked in various places after just a few flights. The visible damage did not appear to affect flying performance but on a unit commanding $300, we would have appreciated a design that didn't highlight so much wear and tear.Thankfully, almost all of the parts can be purchased separately and replaced if need be. We think you'll certainly need this extra insurance: after just a few flights we managed to break the arm of one of the chopper blades, as our AR.
Drone 2.0 went crashing helplessly into the grass during a routine test flight. Images or videos can be saved on a USB key thanks to a USB port hidden next to the battery.Unfortunately, Parrot hasn't managed to improve the battery life of the AR.Drone 2.0, which provides just 12 minutes of flying time before needing a 90 minute recharge. While we certainly don't doubt the battery challenges when it comes to a flying device packing this much technology, poor battery life is undoubtedly one of the AR.Drone 2.0's biggest weaknesses.Parrot includes two interchangeable hulls in the AR.Drone 2.0 sales package. The first is for indoors and protects the blades from crashes thanks to large, circular rings, while the second is for outdoor flying and leaves the blades exposed.Drone 2.0 is available through "leading retailers" in Australia including Dick Smith Electronics (DSE) and EB Games for $349.A demonstration of the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 at the Australian media launch and Parrot's promotional video for the device can be viewed below.