Beginner drone suggestions (LiDiRC L15FW,Syma XH5C)

[TheDjape]

I am planing to buy my first drone and I have a big round zero experience in this. Please understand if I missed something important.

L15FW vs XH5C comparison

L15FW:
1-The headless mode
2-With one-key-return function
3-Amazingly waterproof
4-The impressive LED lighting effect
5-Adjustable flying speed
6-Hovering mode
7-Auto take-off, auto land
8-Controlled distance 100m
9-Camera
10-Battery

XH5C:
1-The headless mode
2-None
3-Not guaranteed
4-Impressive LED lighting effect
5-Adjustable flying speed
6-Pressure Hover Height - adjustable
7-None
8-Controlled distance 30-50m
9-Camera
10-Battery

They are similar but XH5C is bigger,bit more expensive (L15FW about 40e,XH5C about 70e), and has less features.

About the features:
2.Is the one key return function really that good, since its not a GPS drone ?
3.I am not planing to make it swim, but I guess XH5C can fly in light snow with no problems without the waterproof feature ?
4.I notices L15FW lights can be turned off, but cant confirm this for the XH5C.
5.It looks like they have similar performance (same top speed,climb speed etc)
6.I heard this is a really good feature, but is the one on the L15FW same as the XH5C ?
As I understood at L15FW the control ,,stick,, is forced in the middle position and in the XH5C it uses a barometric pressure difference device. Barometric should be better, but does it really make a difference in these drones ?
7.Sounds fun, but useless.
8.I heard the XH5C can be improved to 100m with a bit of controller tweaking.
9.Not important since I am planing to upgrade it to the real time monitor with its own camera and battery.
10.Also planing to upgrade.

Somehow XH5C looks like its a better quality drone and by the price, but by the features L15FW offers bit more for less money.

At first I wanted a camera drone for videos. They seemed unable to give good videos in this price range and the ones that could lift the GoPro seemed slow and bit boring to fly.
So I changed my mind to buy these faster smaller drones with a decent changeable camera and to have as much fun and practice with it. One day I will buy a more expensive camera drone.

Also I was looking at the:
1. Sky Viper 950HD -but its hard to find pars for them and the monitor camera would have to be improvised in order to fit. Has a Battery life problems.

2. Hubsan H502E - Is a GPS drone,has a return home function, so I guess no worries if you fly it too far away or over a river. Nice battery life, but cant upgrade the camera.

3. Syma X5C-1 - Sounds like the best choice for a beginner, but lacks in features.

Any suggestions are more than welcome !
Thank you for taking your time to read this !

 

[Jackson]

From what I see here, and seeing as spare parts are available, this would be my choice.

Seems that the high rate is also snappier than the Syma. To me 'upgrading' a first quad isn't important. Fly it hard, unless you are crashing you aren't learning. Those all white quads can be tough for orientation. I would suggest getting some red electrical tape and putting a stripe around each front arm and also a stripe on the front of the body from motor pod to pod. It will help immensely.

 

[hatfinch]

Would someone please be kind enough to post pairing instructions for the LidiRC L15(F)W? I have lost the paper manual and can't find an electronic version available online for download.

 

[sailorsam]

I only has experience wi the Syma. I found it to be cheap and easy to fly. camera quality not so good but a good starter unit.

 

[Davey59]

I love my X5 explores, which is the thinner old style body no camera. I bought a 2.0mp camera on eBay stuck it ion and it takes better pics and vids than I expected. I believe you can get a 1080p camera for it too.

I also have the Syma X5HC and X5Hw with the newer fatter body and new style props. Both with altitude hold. They can take a pretty good sized battery and fly real smooth. HC has a 2.0mp and the HW is the .3mp wifi and is not great pics .... but is wifi. Both are nowhere near as fast or as agile as the old X5's.

The X5 line seems bullet proof, I have crashed and bashed them all pretty good, I am a newb after all. Parts are plentiful and cheap and the reviews are very good. That is why I chose the Syma line.

I bought a WLtoys Q696-A first and quickly realized I needed something cheaper to practice with. X5's are only 20-30 bucks all day so why not.

No experience with the others.

 

[mozquito1]

Whichever has most available spares.

 

[Gyro Doctor]

has a return home function, so I guess no worries if you fly it too far away or over a river

The "Return to Home" feature may be useful for when a novice pilot gets disoriented and is unsure of how to control the quad to keep it in range or
if it cannot be clearly seen, but it does NOT prevent it from getting lost or flying too far away, meaning if you fly it too far away (out of range) that feature
is useless because the RTH signal is not going to be received.

 

[Gyro Doctor]

Would someone please be kind enough to post pairing instructions for the LidiRC L15(F)W? I have lost the paper manual and can't find an electronic version available online for download.

You just throttle full up then back down.
Here's a video that is helpful (fast forward to about 7:08 for just the pairing part).

 

[hatfinch]

Thank you, Gyro Doctor! On my remote, the throttle returns to the centre position rather than the down position, so I needed to push it down after having pushed it up -- that was what I had been missing.

 

[Gyro Doctor]

Thank you, Gyro Doctor!

You're very welcome
Now get out there and wear out some battery packs, bust some props, and have a blast

 

[blue79]

Well, I have Syma X5HC and it is a nice little drone. The price is 40$ on gearbest, tons of spare parts. What I don't like about it is no way to turn the altitude hold of and very poor range. I have done some mods with range and I can barely get maybe 60-70 meters with no interuptions.
If you don't need a camera I would definitely reccomend MJX cyclone x708 aka Eachine e708. There are spare parts easily available. It costs 26$ on Gearbest (no camera version) and it beats Syma in flying and range by far... It also doesn't have altitude hold and I think it is better for beginer to learn to fly that way. It also has standard battery connector (not the proprietary as Syma X5HC) so you can find batteries easily. Also the flight time is almost double than Symas.
I own both drones and I use Syma for videos of my little daughter playing and similar stuff but when it comes to flying MJX Cyclone is awesome for the price... Btw, I also have Bugs 3 but that is another story
Here is a test of MJX x708 Cyclone

 

[Rick M]

I've flown the Syma X5 series and the MJX X708, and both are good. If you're going the X5 route I would keep it cheap and simple and buy an X5C. They're bulletproof and easy to learn on. The X5HC props (check Ebay and Amazon) are a nice improvement to their flight characteristics once you're past the very basics. The X708 is also a beautiful flyer. I haven't tested its range much but so far seems to be comparable to the X5C. I would also suggest trying the Syma X5HC props on the X708, as I believe they have the same shaft and screw size and I'll bet they will improve the handling of that quad as well.

Both of these are wonderful learner quads. Keep them low and close when learning to fly! Most people will have a flyaway while learning and lose a quad. You can be the exception if you choose. Learn basic small movements first: hovering and forward backward/side-to-side with the quad facing away from you.

Edited to add: Oh, and save your $ and buy a basic X708 with no camera. The cameras work on all these inexpensive quads but don't produce any impressive results. The exception is the WiFi FPV quads, which product TERRIBLE results and aren't good at much of anything except lagging and possibly interfering with your control signal. Learn to fly, then think about pictures and video. The $ you save now you can invest later once you have learned the basics!

 

[Jeff Neese]

I vote for the plain-vanilla X5C-1. It has no features, which is what you want while learning. Instead of Headless mode you need to learn orientation, and instead of altitude-hold you'll learn proper control on your own. It's also tough as nails. There's a reason it's so popular. You don't outgrow it like you think you would either and it's always fun to fly.